Greg McElroy explains why Notre Dame is a 'polarizing' team in college football

Why does Notre Dame move the needle so much? That’s a question college football aficionados have pondered for years, and ESPN’s Greg McElroy recently chimed in with his take following a high-profile snafu that left the Fighting Irish in the cross-hairs for detractors.

That issue being the pursuit of Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig for the same role at Notre Dame following Tommy Rees‘ departure for Alabama.

“The reason why they receive negativity as far as the Andy Ludwig coverage is because it gave off the perception — I’m not saying it was accurate, I’m saying it was a perception — that they weren’t willing to spend $2 million to hire the guy that they really preferred,” McElroy said. “That’s a bad perception to have. Now whether that’s accurate or inaccurate it could have been anybody. It could have been Ole Miss. It could have been Cal. It could have been Florida State.”

But those other programs aren’t necessarily under the microscope like Notre Dame.

For one, Notre Dame fits into a completely unique category when it comes time for the College Football Playoff.

“Their lack of conference affiliation does make them polarizing,” McElroy explained. “Why? Because they’re the only team in the entire country that gets to do things on their own terms.

“Lot of people are kind of jealous of that. Lot of people don’t understand why Notre Dame and their athletic director, why does he have an equal seat at the table alongside 10 college football commissioners?”

Notre Dame is a polarizing brand

McElroy made the case that Notre Dame sort of triggers all or nothing opinions from most college football fans.

“I think that Notre Dame is the most polarizing program in the country,” he said. “You either love them or you hate them. There is no in between. When you think about Notre Dame, nobody looks at Notre Dame and is like, ‘Yeah, I’m OK with them.’ It’s either like, ‘Man, I really respect Notre Dame’ or, ‘Man, I can’t stand Notre Dame.’ It’s one side or the other.

“And part of it, I think, too, look, they have a long, storied history. They have a national brand. International brand if you want to extend beyond. I mean they play games internationally and will continue to do so.”

But to have the public perception that you do command some unique attention in the college football landscape and then flop on a hire?

That draws some college football fans out of the woodwork.

“If you give off the perception that, hey, this is our guy, this is our coordinator, we want him. You roll out the red carpet as you’re wining and dining him and then all the sudden it comes time to put pen to paper and now all the sudden the buyout is prohibitive,” McElroy explained. “It didn’t matter, that could have been any school and people are going to say, ‘Really, $2 million, you can’t overcome that to hire the guy that you really want as your coordinator?

“So I don’t think they get unfair coverage, but they certainly get an appropriate amount of coverage as much as they move the needle.”