SOUTH BEND – Everyone remembers the ads. They appeared in the local and student newspapers promptly after Notre Dame’s 4-8 finish last season.

A group of Notre Dame fans and alumni raised thousands of dollars to publish the ads. They called for drastic changes to Notre Dame athletics, specifically the football program, outlining where the group believed it had failed under coach Brian Kelly and athletic director Jack Swarbrick.

Nearly a year later, the Fighting Irish are 7-1 and No. 3 in the first College Football Playoff poll. How are those fans feeling now?

“You can sit back and hope for change or make a call for change and hope people are listening,” said alum Mike Murphy, part of the group that took out the ads. “It seems they were.”

Notre Dame football underwent a significant makeover during the offseason. Kelly overhauled the program culture, himself and his staff. He hired seven new coaches including offensive, defensive and special teams coordinators, and added a new strength and conditioning coach. All have proved critical in Notre Dame’s quick turnaround.

But it's unlikely the ads had an impact on those changes. Kelly was asked this week what he thinks about the ads now as his team tries to finish the season 11-1 and make the four-team playoff.

“I really don’t give it much thought, and I didn’t give it much thought during the time that it occurred because it comes with the expectations of Notre Dame,” he said. “If you don’t live up to those expectations, you should expect those things to occur. You can argue about the circumstances and such, but the best way for me to work during those times is to find solutions and change the storyline, and that’s what I went about to work at it.

“To go home and get mad and be inactive about changing the storyline is poor leadership. So lead during those times is what you should do.”

With four games left in the regular season, the Irish have victories of 20 points or more over three top-25 opponents who are vying for Power 5 conference championships. Notre Dame has a running back in Josh Adams contending for the Heisman Trophy, the No. 6 rushing offense in the nation, a top-20 rushing defense (one touchdown allowed) and is top 15 in forcing turnovers. If the Irish run the table, there’s a legitimate chance they could compete in their first playoff.

Fans have liked the outcome thus far, but the ad buyers are not sold yet.

“What has happened this season isn’t that Brian Kelly and Jack Swarbrick have proved us wrong,” said alum and former Notre Dame athlete Christian Jordan. “It’s that some of the changes they made when their backs were absolutely against the wall are exactly what we in the group have been pushing for all along.

“We wanted the defensive coordinator (Brian VanGorder) changed because he wasn’t working out. They did that. We’ve wanted all along for Notre Dame to rely on its powerful offensive line and its great running backs and its tradition of a strong running game. And this year they’re doing that.”

Mike Coffey, co-owner of the popular fan website ND Nation, thinks the ads were warranted at the time. The message boards on his site were used to brainstorm ad ideas. Coffey wasn’t in charge of the ads, but he donated to them.

“I’m very happy with the way the season is going. I couldn’t be happier. I haven’t had this much fun watching Notre Dame football since 1993. This is fantastic,” Coffey said.

“Does this mean I’m all of the sudden a fan of Brian Kelly and Jack Swarbrick? Absolutely not. I still have a lot of the same issues I had before, but I’m extremely happy for the players. I want Josh Adams to win the Heisman Trophy, I want the players to play in the national championship game because the way I look at it, coaches like Brian Kelly come and go, but these guys will be alums forever.”

Kelly appears to have been working overtime to ensure what happened last season is not repeated. With the exception of the one-point loss to now-No. 1 Georgia in Week 2, his team has not faltered. Players have exhibited the famous traits he’s harped on since the spring, and those who haven’t do not get rewarded with playing time as they might have in the past. Kelly said this week he believes his team is stronger now than it was earlier on in the season, and that’s partly because their “blueprint” for sustaining success is different from previous seasons.

The team's 4-8 record was not the sole reason for the ads, though it certainly contributed to them. Jordan said the motivation was "support for the players and the team" because they wanted them to have "every opportunity to win with the tradition that so many of the past players and national champions and All-Americans have had."

Murphy added that the group's concerns were based off “several years of observed behavior,” including Kelly’s sideline demeanor, which the coach has been criticized for throughout his career. He also noted the NCAA academic violations after a former student-trainer helped eight players commit academic fraud. The NCAA plans to vacate all of Notre Dame’s wins from the 2012 and 2013 seasons. This does not sit well with fans.

However, they want to give credit to Kelly and Swarbrick for recognizing and addressing problems.

And the group is still very much cheering for the team.

“Absolutely,” Jordan said. “I cheer for every Notre Dame team and I cheer for this one, maybe more than most because they tried so hard last year and had such poor results. And it wasn’t their fault. To see these players be well-coached and get to do what they can do is really exciting.”

Will there be more ads in the future? It’s too early to tell.

“The facts are going to dictate whether or how we’re going to respond,” Jordan said. “We don’t come into this hellbent on being an opponent of Brian Kelly or Jack Swarbrick for the sake of opposing Brian Kelly or Jack Swarbrick. We will see how things go at the end of the year and I think their body of work will dictate our reaction.”

Follow IndyStar Notre Dame Insider Laken Litman on Twitter and Instagram: @lakenlitman.