Holtz says Irish can be contenders

What in the name of Lou Holtz has become of the once-fabled Notre Dame football program?

Notre Dame has not won a national title since 1988, when Holtz coached the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 season.

Perhaps expectations for a perennial contender are unrealistic in this era of college football parity.

Yet Holtz said the task should be easier than it was when he coached in South Bend, Ind.

“I don’t think there is any reason Notre Dame cannot win the national championship,” Holtz said before watching coach Charlie Weis’ Irish lose 24-23 to Syracuse on Saturday.

Notre Dame (6-5) lost to an opponent with eight losses for the first time in school history. The Irish are 9-14 the last two years with a daunting task Saturday at No. 5 Southern California.

Holtz, an ESPN college football analyst, believes Notre Dame is operating with an advantage. He coached there from 1986-96 and took the Irish to nine consecutive New Year’s Day bowl games. He still insists his ’93 team (11-1) should have been national champion, and that it is time for the Irish to regain their swagger.

“There is no reason it can’t be done,” he said. “I say absolutely none. I heard (former coach) Bob Davie say the other day in an interview that the situation is a lot better now than it was back in the ’80s and ’90s when we were there.

“The facilities are better. The school is as beautiful as anything you are going to see. They are one of the leaders academically. … ”

A familiar refrain when it comes to recruiting top football players to Notre Dame has been that the academic requirements are too tough, or that the schedule might be too demanding.

“When I was there, people were saying the same thing,” said Holtz, noting strong academics are an asset.

“Miami had beaten us 58-7 in Gerry Faust’s last game (in 1985). And everybody was saying, ‘The schedule’s too tough.’ But most of the teams we coached against were top-20 teams during my 11 years there.”

Notre Dame routinely faced the likes of Tennessee, Miami, Texas, Florida State and Alabama during his tenure. From 1986 to ’93, Holtz’s teams were 64-9-1. He guided Notre Dame to five top-10 finishes in the Associated Press national rankings. He said the recent Notre Dame schedules have been filled with lesser opponents.

“(On the 2009 Notre Dame schedule) you’ve got Nevada, you’ve got Connecticut and Washington State and Washington … the schedule is not as tough now as it was then,” Holtz said.

“I can’t see any reason that Notre Dame cannot continue to compete for a national championship.”

Before Holtz came along, Ara Parseghian had a 95-17-4 record, leading the Irish to national titles in 1966 and 1973.

“When Ara was here, the people who hired him had a little different approach,” Holtz said. “They wanted to be good. But now … you have a national TV contract.

“I hope that Charlie Weis will bring them to the national championship level. They should be a lot better next year because (the nucleus) is coming back for a third year.”