Losing is like dying say Notre Dame players and Brian Kelly agrees
Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 09:03 AM
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Losing is like dying say two key Notre Dame players as they comment on their 1-3 start to the season.
Senior Harrison Smith and junior Manti T'Eo say that Brian Kelly has instilled a new perspective in them about the difference between winning and losing a close game.
Smith stated that getting the right result is "kind of like life or death when it comes to winning" for the 1-3 Irish.
Smith says that attitude is relatively new among Notre Dame players who, unfortunately, have become accustomed to losing in recent times.
"I don't want to say it's new, but maybe there's just a lot more of it right now," Smith said. "After some of the losses, you can see it in everyone's face — not that we're actually dying, but that's what it's like.
"So the next week, instead of giving up and backing off and just taking it easy, everyone has ramped it up. It has gotten more intense every week because we're sick of it and we have to start winning."
Brian Kelly says the new attitude is needed,
"You have to operate with a sense of urgency, or it takes too long to build a house," he said. "I just don't like waiting that long. Our guys understand this isn't a transition year, this isn't a rebuilding year, this isn't 'Let's feel good about everybody before we start to click.' No, we have to do it right now."
Kelly says he feels no different than when he was coaching Cincinnati.
"The process is the same, it's just the expectations are different," Kelly said. "You take over a new company as the CEO, and you're having a rough quarter. You're going, 'OK, I'm not sure what's coming up here, but I'm going to stick with what I've been doing and know that it has worked in the past and it's just a matter of time.' That's kind of what we're going through right now."
