ND's recent domination of the ACC and appearances in the title game has seen it rise into UConn-like prominence, meaning that ND is now living in the fishbowl that UConn's been in for the last 15 years. That, plus ESPN's insistence on making UConn-ND into the new UConn-Tenn means that Every.Single.Thing. that Muffet and her players do and say are going to be magnified about 1000x.
Geno's done things that another coach could do and folks would shrug. Yell at the reporter for the campus paper? For most coaches, this wouldn't be an issue whatsoever, just a head-shaker - if it made the news at all. But Geno, man, he got dragged over the coals, articles and opinion columns were written, and Geno had to issue a public apology. Now, Muffet is starting to see some of the same scrutiny from fans and the press and I think it must be getting to her. When she lost her composure last year and unthinkingly blurted out some ill-advised comments about Geno, she was excoriated in the papers and on ESPN. Five years ago, it would have been a non-issue, but now she's a perennial championship contender and she's under the microscope. That's got to be causing her to feel a tremendous amount of pressure.
I think the pressure of undefeated seasons and championship games is wearing on Muffet. The more she dominates the ACC and more championship games she gets to, the worse it's going to get. Maybe instead of poking at Geno, the two of them should split a bottle of wine and talk about handling the pressure and the press because, currently, the two of them are in a class of their own.