2024 feels different than 2006, 2016, 2019, 2021...
TL:DR crowd (in fairness that is probably MOST people for this screed):
ND is BACK and BACK to STAY this time! The 2024 team fell short, but played with a quality (and quantity - including TWO MAJOR BOWL WINS in the Sugar and Orange Bowls) of big game wins that recall the 1988-1993 era and the 1965-1974 era is in reach under HCMF!
Coach Freeman is definitely the right man for the job and he both 'gets' Notre Dame and is packing the necessary gear to lead the program to the promised land once more.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strangely, as a very long time fan, who remembers the '78 Cotton Bowl fondly as my earliest football memory (and tales of Ara's teams from my father and of Leahy's exploits from my grandfather), I feel less badly today than I did in 2013, 2019 or 2021 after those losses. I actually felt a lot worse after the 2006 and 2016 Fiesta Bowl losses (34-20 and 44-28 respectively, again to the goddamn couch-burners from Columbus) too.
The losses to Tressel and Meyer-led teams felt like exposures of Weis and Kelly in a way that I did not feel as acutely this time around. Maybe its the fact that 2024 team overcame the worst upset in school history to NIU to rattle off 13 straight wins, including 3 straight against top-10 teams...Maybe its the growth that Marcus Freeman showed in out-coaching Cignetti, Smart and Franklin along with the rallying of the team and the collective improvements that overcame so many injuries and adversity this year...or MAYBE
The reason why is that this years team actually responded to adversity and played to its absolute peak potential after NIU and Marcus Freeman showed immense growth as a Head Coach in the 13 game winning streak that followed. Freeman answered a lot of questions this year and while the pain of the finish dulls the luster, there is no RATIONAL doubt any longer that he IS the right man for the job and that he WILL be the coach to break the drought and win a championship.
The other reason, is that while we lament the loss and the odious opponent to whom we fell, there MUST be an acknowledgement of the difference in THIS year (and ALL future playoff runs) versus the PAST years - where a single bowl game (or MAYBE two wins) would get the title.
What exists now is an absolute meat-grinder of 4 games in roughly 1 month against all top-10 teams. To win the Sugar Bowl AND the Orange Bowl in a single season is an achievement in program history that should not be lost in the morass of the loss last night. To have as many wins over top-10 teams in the last 3 years as in the previous 11 years is also an achievement worth noting and following.
Notre Dame has its best coach since Lou Holtz (and quite possibly since Ara). The program in today's insanity of NIL and transfers and uber-conferences that span the country is in prime position to compete for and win championships and came the closest to the finish line as we have in a generation and a half (or more). My son is 21 now and has NEVER seen a season like this one, where Notre Dame not only played in, but won and belonged in every big game of the calendar.
In the Holtz years, we played in and won big games with regularity. '88 Michigan, '88 USC, '88 Miami, '89 Fiesta Bowl WVU, '90 Orange Bowl CU, '92 Sugar "Cheerios" Bowl UF, '92 PSU, '93 FSU, etc... We also beat coaches like Paterno, Bowden, Johnson, Walsh, Robinson, and more. The program was in the same place in the late-80's and early-90's that it had been in the late 60's and early 70's - in the mix annually, winning huge games and playing in some of the most memorable games of those eras. There were also many painful losses then as now - '64 USC , '89 Miami, '93 BC and too many more to list. There were huge bowl game wins (which are now essentially the first three rounds of the playoff).
Having dropped 3 games in 3 years to OSU is painful and the fact that we played them closer in the last 2 years would seem to be an indictment of the program's trajectory and path forward...but I do NOT believe that.
This year's team finally got caught by the attrition that had been happening all year with injuries and it showed the most in the pass rush and CB match-ups (where the missing guys would have made a HUGE difference, just B. Morrison alone would have made a huge difference and outcomes more favorable, but add in Mills and having the 3rd stringers play only spot duty instead of key reps, and the D looks a lot different last night)...
So in the aftermath of a disappointing end to a glorious revival season, I am hopeful once again that the future is NOT going to follow the path of Davie (just a back-stabbing asshat out of his depth), Willingham (lazy recruiting and lack of dedication were obvious flaws), Weis (blustery but not good at developing talent or maximizing it as a result), or Kelly (good but not ever great, and played small in almost every big game; additionally was quick to toss anyone but himself under the blame bus, repeatedly)...but that we will be at worst Devine or Holtz and a ceiling potential of a new Era of Ara in the coming years.
What was just done in December and January was INCREDIBLY difficult; and amazing to watch and experience, but the future promises more of the same in the best way possible now, whereas in the past (both 20 and 30 years), these kind of season ending losses did NOT feel as steps in the right direction, but more like exposures. Notre Dame was NOT exposed last night, they were revealed as a program to contend with, an ascendent head coach coming into his own, and a major player in the future of College Football (whatever form that takes) for the next few years at least. There will be a SIGNIFICANT recruiting bump in 2025 and 2026 classes on the back of this remarkable season as well!
2024 is done and in the history books. It feels like an improvement on 1987 (Lou's break through season to set the stage for 1988's surprise success) in every way possible and was just shy of 1988/1993 success results (maybe MORE successful than the last #2 season of 1993. With the uncertain future of "college" football in the next 5-10 years, the window is smaller than ever before, but it IS open and we have the best man for the job in place right now. As Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo said "...until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words,—'Wait and hope'"... Today I once again wait...but I have had my hope restored again!