Notre Dame Football: 3 ways to improve from 2017

Fans of Notre Dame football are sure to expect more than 10 wins from the Fighting Irish in 2018. How can they reach that point?

Notre Dame football needed a bounce back season in 2017, after one of the program’s worst in recent memory in 2016 (where the Fighting Irish won only four games). Once a College Football Playoff contender entering the stretch run of the year, Notre Dame was in the national picture for much of the regular season.

Head coach Brian Kelly does deserve a lot of credit for the turnaround of this team. Notre Dame was not even a top 25 team entering the season, not even close actually. Yet, the Irish rounded things out with a big Citrus Bowl victory over head coach Ed Orgeron and the LSU Tigers.

To end 2017, Notre Dame finished with a record of 10-3, including victories over LSU, Michigan State, USC, and NC State. Notre Dame was a tough team to defeat in South Bend this year. The second-best team in the nation, and National Champion runner-up Georgia Bulldogs, were the only other team to knock off the Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. And, that victory came by just one point.

Notre Dame was extremely close to getting into the Playoff field. If not for an end of season collapse against two quality opponents on the road, Notre Dame would have been in great position. Losses to the Stanford Cardinal and Miami Hurricanes derailed a dream season.

It’s always a positive to take a team and put together a six-win improvement over the year before. There was a lot left to be desired for Notre Dame in 2017, but the overall takeaway from the year was a positive one.

Here’s a look at three ways the Notre Dame Fighting Irish can improve from 2017, entering 2018.