Ron Carrothers is back in the game.

"You can’t go to war for 20-some years and then all of a sudden just stop and not miss it," admitted Carrothers.

Carrothers missed it alright. After 21 successful seasons as the girls head coach at Dunlap High School, where he guided two teams to the Elite-8, Ron managed to stay retired for one year. When the Notre Dame job opened he went for it. And it didn't take long for his new players to go for him.

"He always comes up to me and says, ‘we fear no one,’ revealed junior forward Elle Bielfeldt. "He expects us to play well. He doesn’t say we’re going to go undefeated, but he expects us to play well and play up to our ability."

Senior Lauren Purcell says while the Irish went to work on their game, Carrothers went to work on building up their confidence.

"He just said that, ‘I know that you guys can do this, you guys are tough.’ He told us that we are good and made us believe it."

The Notre Dame girls haven't had a winning record in 5 years. But with the hiring of Carrothers there's a feeling of renewed commitment. Bielfedlt says it started in the summer, long before Ron was ever introduced to any of his players.

"He came to some of our summer league games. People were pointing him out and saying that he was the coach who might come to Notre Dame. I had no idea which one he was (in the stands). There was a crowd of people and were all trying to look in the crowd to see which one you think would be the coach."

Purcell says that simple gesture of Carrothers scouting his new team had an immediate impact.

"We were really excited that he had a commitment. Even before he could be there he was there for us."

But Ron says it's all about commitment. And that's what he preaches.

"I tell them a story about getting up on a diving board. You can either climb back down or you can jump off. Once you jump off you’re committed. We’ve asked them to commit to the things we were doing and the positive attitudes that we’re trying to create. They’ve done a very nice job of that."