Now that Jack Swarbrick...

...is taking center stage in the drama that is Notre Dame football, it's worth noting what Charlie Weis had to say about him:

“First of all, he’s a Notre Dame guy, which is always a good start, because he understands the place.”

He understands the place. What does that mean, he understands the place, he drinks the Kool-Aid? Because that's how I would interpret it. In other words, he's stuck in the 1970s. If I were to advise Notre Dame (and they haven't called me just yet), I would tell them to find a head coach who doesn't understand the place. Find someone who understands the real world, someone firmly grounded in reality. And that means understanding that national championships are just not that easy to come by. If you don't believe me, ask Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, Joe Paterno, or Bobby Bowden. Even really, really good coaches aren't in the hunt every year.

The Notre Dame community seems to think they are just a head coach away from competing for the BCS title every year. Like a lot of people, I expect them to hire Brian Kelly of Cincinnati and I expect him to work out well. But I thought the same thing about Charlie Weis. If Kelly coaches the Irish for eleven years and wins one national championship then he'll equal Lou Holtz's record and be mentioned in the same breath as Rockne, Leahy, and Parseghian. But don't tell Domers that he'll only win one title in the next eleven years or he won't get the job. And that's because they don't understand that the world has changed since 1988, the last time they won a national championship.

Just take a look at today's BCS standings. TCU, Cincinnati, and Boise State are ranked 4th, 5th, and 6th, respectively. To paraphrase Tom Friedman, the college football world is flat. And it may get even flatter.

I know that Notre Dame sees itself as unique--and it is--but would it really be so terrible to have a program like Northwestern's or Stanford's? They both field competitive teams while maintaining academic excellence. Is it really necessary to compete for the national championship every year? I'm afraid the answer for most Domers is "yes." In that case, good luck to Brian Kelly. And check back with us in five years.