Not unlike the Notre Dame men’s basketball season, I personally have come to a crossroad with the way I view the Irish program under the leadership of head coach Mike Brey.
Just about this time almost every season, as the critics swirl, I lend my annual support to Brey. He’s a good coach, an even better person, and the perfect ambassador for this university and its mission statement.
But after the loss to Rutgers on Saturday – the fourth loss in the last five conference games this season, and the 14th loss in the last 23 league games dating back to last season – maybe this program is stuck in neutral and the time has come for an engine overhaul.
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Brey is looking to turn Notre Dame's season around after a loss to Rutgers, which had been previously winless in conference play.
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My colleague Ryan O’Leary is running an excellent series (It Ain’t Brey’s Fault) on BlueandGold.com that outlines all the unique challenges Brey faces when trying to recruit to Notre Dame and compete in the Big East.
From academic standards, to geographic recruiting disadvantages, Brey faces greater obstacles trying to build his teams and keep his program competitive than any other coach on the Notre Dame campus. Yet, he has performed surprisingly well in his 10 years here, keeping a roster full of nice guys and great students relevant in the toughest basketball conference in the country. It’s not an easy job.
But the loss to Rutgers – even on the road – is that single moment that will officially mark the beginning of “Brey Watch,” not unlike the loss to Syracuse by Charlie Weis late in the 2008 football season. From this point forward, any tough loss or questionable coaching decision becomes magnified, patience runs thin and the cries for change become louder. The heat is on moving forward, and that’s a tough setting to work under.
Notre Dame shouldn’t have lost to Rutgers Saturday, or any day this season. The Scarlet Knights entered the game 0-8 in league play, with a 19.1-point average margin of defeat for the conference season and three straight losses of 23 points or more. Rutgers lost at home to Vermont earlier this season.
So how did it happen, and why is this Notre Dame program fading with a first-team All-American, experienced guard play, the best assist/turnover ratio in the country and a watered down league schedule from recent years?
It’s fading because the team lacks the necessary toughness to survive conference play – the players say it after every league loss – and that’s a reflection of Brey’s “good guy” approach to coaching. Loose balls, rebounding, hard fouls…none are part of the Irish personality.
The program seemed to hit its stride in 2006-07 and 2007-08 when it won 25 league games and Brey was awarded Big East Coach of the Year honors in both seasons.
As freshmen and sophomores, Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson brought an unmistakable infusion of toughness to those teams. The Irish expected to win, and they did win, especially at home where they willed themselves to a 45-game winning streak – a record run that Brey often called “burdensome.”
The program took its dramatic downturn last season when expectations were the highest they had been in the last 20-some years.
And there was Brey, caretaker of a preseason top-10 team with seven upperclassmen returning, publicly proclaiming that his team was not equipped to reach 14 regular-season wins in the Big East after doing so the previous year.
“With the way that the league is this year, that’s not happening,” Brey said.
With a tougher schedule and tougher Big East, we’ll forgive Brey for feeling that way, but to openly proclaim it seemed odd. Instead of talking about winning streaks and striving for great things, the consistent message from the last two seasons has been about dealing with defeat.
“It’s how you bounce back after losses,” Brey said on more than one occasion, when asked about the key to conference survival.
Instead of celebrating success, embracing expectations, overachieving, and challenging a veteran team that had won 49 total games and 25 Big East games when Harangody and Jackson were freshman and sophomores, the consistent message from Brey centers on losses.
This year, Brey is calling his team “fragile,” which might be true without a wealth of depth or athleticism. But again, why put those thoughts in the players’ minds? Notre Dame is in most every league game, but it doesn’t win most every league game anymore. Maybe a better mindset and message could make a difference late in one or two of these close losses.
Those negative messages have taken hold, the team has lost its edge, and the result has been a veteran group that has managed just two league road wins in the last 13 tries and looks destined for its fifth trip to the NIT in the last seven seasons. Is that really good enough?
And if the Irish couldn’t win this season or last season, what hope is there that great things are coming? Remember, Brey went to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons at Notre Dame, but only twice in the last seven since, if this season follows the course it is on.
If this is as good as it gets for Notre Dame under Mike Brey, then both the coach and administration should consider a new direction.
Similarly to Weis this past year, it looks as if next season will become Brey’s judgment year, without a dramatic turnaround to this season.
Mike Brey is a great guy and good basketball coach. My respect level makes part of me want him to shut up his critics, and prove how great a coach he can be at a program that doesn’t have this many obstacles to reaching success.
And after 10 years and seemingly diminishing returns, it might be best for all parties involved to part ways. Brey owes himself a new challenge and the locals seem increasingly ready for him to take one after the loss to Rutgers.
But be careful what you wish for. The Irish hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament in the 10 seasons before Brey arrived.
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