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SOUTH BEND – David Grimes didn’t hesitate, not for even a second. In a season where not much is expected out of Notre Dame, Grimes’ insistence stands out.
“Win every game,” said Grimes, a junior wide receiver. “Win every game.”
His logic is sound. When does a team go in expecting to lose a game? But with so many questions on a team that lost so much talent and so many players (12 starters to graduation or the NFL and one other to another position), to hear any Notre Dame player talk about winning every game is somewhat stunning.
While pundits – much like 2005, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis’ first season – are predicting a rebuilding year for the Irish, no one inside the program is thinking that way.
Outside of it, though, that’s something else. Look at the difficult schedule – the Irish’s first eight games are as tough as any other team in the country – and the inexperience at critical positions, and the thought of Notre Dame as an underdog makes sense.
“Regardless of what people expect, I know our expectations trump everyone else’s,” Grimes said. “Regardless of if we are the underdog or the favorite, we expect to win.
“But being the underdog gives you that much more of an edge. You have that much more desire because people count you out and you want to prove to yourself and prove to people that you can get it done.”
If they do, they’ll do it with a new, yet-to-be-named quarterback, a quartet of untested halfbacks behind starter Travis Thomas, inexperienced wide receivers other than Grimes, three-fifths of a new offensive line and an entirely new defensive scheme.
So doubt? Why would anyone doubt? It’s not as if Notre Dame has the breadth of returning starters as it did in 2006.
“The coaches and us as fifth years are not taking the attitude that this is the year to rebuild,” Thomas said. “We came back for a purpose. We came back to win, and that’s what we’re working for.”
Weis, too, had fun with the perception of a down year. In his weekly news conference previewing Georgia Tech, he laughed and said “who says that,” when a reporter said the team could struggle this season.
Then, when asked whether they should exceed his expectations – which he maintains never dropped from the first season – his reply was “well, they better.”
About the only difference in Weis is how he treats the players. He has exuded more patience this year than in years past because of the youth and inexperience of the guys he’s coaching. He made it explicit, though, not to take that as a lowering of expectations.
Those remain where they are.
But in the preseason, Weis even admitted to the questions the public would have. But in a spot where the public sees a depth chart filled with unproven guys, Weis sees potential.
Weis has depth for the first time in his three-year tenure. But even he knows that the underdog expectations for his team, at least to the outsider, make sense.
Because realistically, even though his players expect to win every game, he doesn’t know exactly what he has yet. He can’t – not until his new players finally play a meaningful game.
“Even though you are really confident in the team – which I am – really confident in the team, the jury is still out.
“You have to go by what you see and playing in practice is a lot different than playing with 80-something thousand out there and screaming and hollering and ranting and raving. Your expectations are really high but you still have to go on what you see.”
And until then, the questions will remain.
mrothstein@jg.net
