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Bagpipe Monday: Notre Dame Football And Smoke And Mirrors

Just checking on the fire.

By Joshua Vowles
/ new
Twitter @NDFootball

It's not uncommon for college football fans to get caught up in extraneous details of their favorite program. Uniforms, theme nights, kickoff times, schedules 10 years down the road, betting lines, stadium renovations — whatever it may be. Fans of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are certainly no different.

We have been flooded with updates about the new Jumbotron, the ribbon boards, and wearing alternate uniforms.

Coming this fall...

Posted by Notre Dame Football on Thursday, July 13, 2017

All of this after coming off of a 4-8 season, and an offseason that saw the overhaul of most of the staff.

Does it feel like a distraction to you?

Bagpipe Monday Notre Dame @phillykelly

I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to being enamored with all of this stuff. It's hard not to be with all of these massive changes at a place like Notre Dame. Maybe it's the irony of a Notre Dame football program that used to be an innovator, and is now a chaser — I don't know.

What I do know is that the Irish face a ton of challenges this season and have a lot on the line. If you follow recruiting, for example, you've probably noticed that things have got pretty stale lately. There's two reasons for that:

  1. Notre Dame went 4-8 last year.
  2. Negative recruiting suggesting that Brian Kelly won't be in South Bend next year.

So, there are more important things going on right now than our multimedia experience at Notre Dame Stadium.

That brings me to you. What's the most important thing for the Notre Dame football program this year once you get past the smoke and mirrors?

Poll

What's the most important aspect of Notre Dame football this year?

This poll is closed

  • 13%
    Quarterback play
    (166 votes)
  • 8%
    Offensive identity
    (103 votes)
  • 46%
    Better than expected defensive line play
    (588 votes)
  • 9%
    Strength and conditioning
    (115 votes)
  • 18%
    Brian Kelly
    (236 votes)
  • 4%
    Other (please note in comments)
    (53 votes)
1261 votes total Vote Now

It's smoky around here. Enjoy your pipes.

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