The last time Bob Diaco spoke to the assembled media, it was days after the Irish were demoralized by Navy’s option attack. Calling it one of the worst days in his coaching career, Diaco candidly (perhaps, too candidly) discussed the unsuccessful strategy the Irish employed to stop Ricky Dobbs and the Navy option.
“We went into the game with a plan and also understood that if the plan didn’t work, there was not much in the relief department to do during the course of the game,” Diaco explained.
Head coach Brian Kelly did his best to lay the brunt of the blame on himself, but many Irish fans openly wondered if Diaco was in over his head after getting outmatched by Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
Whether it was coincidental or not, Kelly made both Diaco and offensive coordinator Charley Molnar off limits to the media after the Navy game, allowing them to spend more time working with their respective units in an effort to right the ship. The results were certainly positive, as the Irish defense rallied, giving up only two touchdowns since the loss to the Midshipmen.
After two months away from a microphone, Diaco spoke to the media about Miami as well as the improvement of the Irish as the season progressed. The results were anything but telling.
“The players have continued to improve,” Diaco said. “From spring football to the end of spring. From spring to fall camp, from fall camp to week one, from week one to the last game, there has been improvement almost to a man. I can’t think of one person in the overall unit that hasn’t gotten better each week.”
You can continue watching Diaco’s interview with the press, but you’ll get a lot of the same answers, where Diaco — incredibly politely — gives absolutely nothing quote-worthy to a group of reporters looking for just something from a coach they haven’t spoken with since October. A few examples…
Diaco on the Tulsa game being a turning point? “I wouldn’t prescribe to that,” Diaco said.
Anything he’s learned in particular this season? “Not anything in particular,” Diaco countered.
What kind of moment was the receiving the game ball after Army? “I’d say it was a good moment that is like any other good moment,” Diaco said, comparing it to a film correction an outside linebacker made at practice that afternoon.
When pressed to answer what he learned at Notre Dame that he had to experience, Diaco still was unwilling to concede.
“Really, nothing,” Diaco said about the experience. “Football is football. Football is football at Western Illinois, football is football at Iowa, football is football here, football is football everywhere. Eleven guys put their pads on. They’re the same pads. They run full speed into each other. Fundamentally, they have jobs to do and if they don’t do them well, they’re going to get whipped. If they do them well, they’re going to whip the opponent. That’s football.”
When Diaco did open up, he made sure it was about Notre Dame, not Notre Dame football.
Notre Dame, what I’ve continued to learn is how awesome this place is,” Diaco said. “The community, the administrators everyone is about these students at this university. It’s unlike any other institution in the country. The community, the feeling of community, and the mission of everyone that is working to educate these student-athletes is the sole focus. There really is no other hidden agenda. It’s fantastic. That’s what I’ve learned about Notre Dame.”
Diaco’s media appearance may not give you much to read into, but it does underscore a certain point that Brian Kelly tried to drive home after the victory against Utah. When Diaco deftly parried any question about a moment where things turned, he did the very same thing that Kelly did after the Utah game.
“You missed the point,” Kelly told a reporter who asked Kelly essentially the same thing. “It’s not a moment. It’s the culmination of what we’ve been working on since December. You don’t just pull these out of a hat. You don’t just wake up and go, ‘Let’s rise up today.’ It’s the consistency of an approach from a day to day basis and how we go to work every day. We’re not a finished product by any means, but we’re starting to develop the mental and physical toughness for the way you need to go and approach this game.”
On paper, Diaco’s comments seem almost trite when calling football… well, football. But when you consider that this coaching staff has spent the entire year they’ve been in South Bend breaking down the aura and entitlement that surrounds the Irish tradition, it begins to make sense.
The Irish will win football games when they stop considering themselves Notre Dame. It may not make for great copy, but if Kelly, Diaco and the rest of the staff continue to promote the same message, the Irish will build on a promising final month of the season.
