Playin’ ... “Nice” with One Foot Down

So we all saw lots of things over the last year that shouldn't distract us from the fact that Notre Dame went 4-8 in 2016. But how did Irish fans distract themselves from the fact that Notre Dame went 4-8 in 2016?

We all cope in different ways. Some got angry online. Others got angry offline. Still others deluded themselves into thinking everything was fine, like that meme with the dog sitting in the room that's on fire.

Personally, in order to forget 2016 and that damn record, I took my relationship with Hamm's Premium to the next level. I don't think I would have been able to survive the thought of 4-8 without my friends over at Hamm's Premium — the land of the sky blue waters.*

*Note: Hamm's Premium is not an official sponsor of Pat or of One Foot Down, but dammit, they should be, considering the amount of hype Pat gives them. Best super-cheap beer out there, folks.

Does Brian Kelly turn multiple colors to stay festive on New Year's Eve, or is purple really the only move he has?

He's certainly tried to pull off a beet-red shade before, but I do NOT think it worked well for him. Of course, I'm not sure the festive purple is a great look either. I don't think Brian Kelly being on the Notre Dame sideline at all is a very good look, to be entirely honest.

For real, what's the deal? This is the third bowl game we've played y'all with coordinator drama going on. There something in the Grotto y'all don't tell anybody about for these things?

If there's something going on at ND that causes coordinator drama/attrition, I'd LOVE to know why that mystical power allowed Brian VanGorder to stick around in South Bend for as long as he did. We really could have used some help from above in getting him out of there faster than Kelly was able to do it.

Don't count out the Grotto for making weird, supernatural things happen, though. That's a powerful place with a lot of prayers and religious significance at a school that really values its football team beating its opponents (even if it doesn't happen much anymore in bowl games). So yeah, sounds like LSU is falling victim to that. Maybe y'all should pray more? I don't know.

For all the names talk, is there something more...Notre Dame...than Mike McGlinchey?

Walk-on linebacker Kier Murphy has to be pretty close, but otherwise, no. There is nothing more Notre Dame than Mike McGlinchey, both in name and just in who he is (and I mean that as a compliment - the kid is a fantastic representative of the university and football program).