The Lesson in Loss
A reflection on the 2024-25 season
Looking back at this season, from the highs of Texas A&M, our playoff run, to the crushing low of NIU, to our run to the national championship, one thing became clear: adversity reveals character, but culture builds it.
Coach instilled principles that became our DNA:
Win the interval. A football play is just five seconds. That's it. He continuously challenged our guys to focus on those 5 seconds — Not the next play, not the next game - just win these five seconds in front of you. Simple, but powerful. When our backs were against the wall, we stayed focused on the present, on what we could control.
Choose hard. As Inky Johnson told us midseason: "Everything you want is on the other side of 'I don't feel like it.'" After NIU, we could have folded. Instead, we chose hard. Every day. Every practice. Every moment that asked us to decide between comfort and growth. We chose growth.
Wounds hurt but we need them. Our wounds became our strength. NIU wasn't just a loss - it was a mirror that showed us who we were and challenged us to decide who we wanted to become. We wouldn't have made it to the national championship without that wound. Sometimes you need to bleed to remember why you fight.
Elevation became our standard. Not just week to week, but day to day. Small improvements, stacking over time. Thirteen straight wins didn't come from looking ahead to a championship. They came from a relentless focus on being better today than we were yesterday.
These aren't just football principles. They're life principles. And that's why I'm optimistic about our team’s future. What Coach built here - this foundation of responding to adversity, choosing growth over comfort, focusing on the present while building for the future - this is what transforms boys into men, players into leaders.
When I think about our role in player development, it's about taking these principles and helping our guys apply them to every aspect of their lives. Truly helping them build their process for progress - winning the interval in the classroom, the field and the boardroom. Guiding their choices so they align with their goals, and reminding them that life is not linear they will fail, they will fall short, but its within these moments they will find their strength and the lessons that will allow them to continually elevate every single day.
Yes, last night hurt. But just like NIU, this is another wound that will make us stronger. Another opportunity to show what Notre Dame men do when faced with adversity. Another chance to choose hard, to elevate, to win the next interval.
The culture Coach has built isn't just about winning football games. It's about building men who understand that success isn't given - it's earned through focus on the present, through hard choices, through embracing and overcoming adversity, through an unwavering commitment to improvement.
That's why we'll be back. That's why the future is bright. Because we're not just developing football players - we're developing young men who understand and have embraced these principles to their core.
The scoreboard wasn't what we wanted. But the foundation we've built? That's undefeated.
Stay tuned 🍀