Notre Dame 2011 Draft – Busted

The Fighting IRISH had nine players eligible for the NFL 2011 Draft.  But only one TE Kyle Rudolph was selected by the Vikings in the second round.  Why?

Many expected NG Ian Williams and CB Darrin Walls to get picked up late in the selection process.

Why weren’t they?

Now the eight are stuck in greed limbo between the NFL players and the owners.  Resolution and getting down to playing football is now anybody’s guess. 

To refresh your memory here are the nine Fighting Irish, eight seniors and Rudolph the junior.

Armando Allen – RB – Fought through injuries, ran behind a less than stellar offensive line for a couple years.

Robert Hughes – FB – A nice young man who played fullback for two coaches that did not have many plays in there playbooks for a fullback.

Duval Kamara – WR – Played in the shadows of Golden Tate and Michael Floyd.  Showed up overweight for fall camp and ended up in Charlie’s dog house.  Left Notre Dame and the Team before the Sun Bowl.  Strange.

Kerry Neal – LB - Hope Kerry got his degree.

Kyle Rudolph – TE - Nuff said.

Brian Smith – LB - Hope Brian got his degree as well.

Chris Stewart – OG - Chris may want to relook law school.

Darrin Walls – CB - So strange, he was such a high prospect coming out of high school.  That year he left Notre Dame for personal reasons was strange as well.  Someone will pick him up.

Ian Williams – NG - Someone will pick him up as well.

These guys are probably wondering what if they had chosen a school other than Notre Dame.  What if they had played the majority of their college careers under a different coach at Notre Dame. 

Hopefully they will all at least get a tryout with some NFL team.  Maybe Canadian Football.  Hopefully not Arena Football.

Joke of the Day:  Jim Tressel knew about the raid to get Osama bin Laden two weeks ago.  He just never bothered to tell anybody.  :+)

Notre Dame’s White Field North

Subway Alumni Tailgating UM Game 2010

Unless you are a Notre Dame student, faculty member, big shot season ticket holder with a parking tag or a ‘beautiful ND person’, if you want to tailgate then it is the White Field North Parking lot for you. Those fortunate enough to possess one of the above titles or $$ can get pretty close to the stadium to park and participate in tailgating activities. Not only are they close to the action, they do not have to put up with moronic, obnoxious Skunkbear fans. (More later) In addition, it is a lot easier and closer to haul loot back from the Bookstore.

For the Subway Alumni Fan at the bottom basement price of $25, you can park your car/pickup and catch a free shuttle bus to the main campus from White Field. For $120, you can park your RV there but no over-nighters! Years ago, you could park your RV right in the JACC lot, but thanks to some fans dumping their ‘holding tanks’ that got nixed for good. We always suspected it was disgruntled Skunkbear fans back in the Lou Holtz Era.

For $40, you can park on the Burke golf course (weather permitting) but no shuttle service. It is a little closer to campus, especially the bookstore. If you get bored you can always practice your putting.

They start taking your $25 parking fee at 8:00 a.m. game day; we showed up about 8:30 and got two spots in the second row. These were great slots with the port-a-potties close and the first shuttle stop just one row up. They are pretty liberal with the spaces too, which allows for setting up camp and games. There is plenty of room to throw the pigskin around or play Corn Hole. Most of the paved lots on campus for the privileged are pretty stingy with real estate, of course it's location, location, location.

Here is what White Field looks like relatively empty. Note the RV’s way in the back.

Been to many Notre Dame Football games but this was my first tailgate experience. Was extremely blessed to have my two sons with me plus one of my boy’s old high school friends. We no sooner got the tent up and fired up the grill than it started to rain. A cold, constant rain, one that when you looked to the West where it was coming from and all you could see was gray. Therefore, it became a matter of sitting under the tent, talking football and drinking beer at 9:00 a.m.

Who sets up behind us but a vanload of rowdy Skunkbears. They pull out a noisy generator and commenced being loud and stupid. The women were ugly and the music they played sounded like something only Bo, Mo, Lloyd, or Rich would find entertaining. All we could do was consume more brats and drink additional beer. Down near the port-a-potties two more carloads of the enemy showed up and they pulled out a flat screen TV and started playing last years (2009) ND-UM Game. Damn them!  A good time to head to the Bookstore and see what new buildings were being thrown up on campus.

By the time we got back, it was still raining of course, White Field looked like this.  Please note ememy encampment.

The Field was beginning to reach rain saturation point as well. What do you want for $25 bucks? Thankfully Rudy, Touchdown Jesus, or the Weatherman thought we’d had enough because it stopped raining just before kickoff.

Ate more brats but backed off the beer, the port-a-potty lines were getting pretty long by then and we did not want to have to go to the restroom in the stadium until halftime. (Who can hold it for 4+ hours worth of NBC timeouts?)

Great game, we came up short of course. It was interesting that 80,000+ fans were trying to text or call and find out what happened to Dayne Crist. It became more frantic when Rees, then Montana threw picks. The circuits were completely overloaded.

When Kyle Rudolph caught that touchdown pass, we went crazy. I never hugged so many total strangers in my life. That soon ended when the IRISH defense could not stop Denard Robinson for the final score.

After the game, we trudged back to White Field, the heck with the shuttle.  The lines were long and nobody wanted to sit on a bus with stinky Skunkbears. The Notre Dame fans next to us had left and completely trashed their space with beer cans, liquor bottles and miscellaneous junk. The obnoxious Skunkbear fans with the flat screen TV and fight song were ringed by about half a dozen campus gendarmerie. I guess they were expecting trouble. The Skunkbears soon packed it up and went back to Ann Arbor. It was getting dark but we could still pick out the UM fans, they were the ones laying on there horns as they drove off. Talk about rubbing our noses in it.

We sat around, cried in our beer and commiserated about what could have been with a healthy Dayne Crist or if Kelly should have went for a field goal just before halftime (well it could have been some much needed Mo).

Despite the bitter loss, crappy weather, goofy UM fans, we had a simply grand time. We agreed to come back in 2011.

Good ole White Field.

Editors Note: Apparently 6-8 members of Subway Alumni Station will be attending the ND-MSU Game on September 17th. Tailgating of course.  More info to follow in September if you want to tailgate and meet some of the Staff.

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A Window Of Opportunity To Enhance Notre Dame Football

Things are real slow down here on the Blog front. Just about every topic imaginable concerning Notre Dame Football and the upcoming Blue-Gold Game has been digested and reported by someone. Quarterback controversy, injuries, lack of running backs, early enrollee impacts (or lack thereof), Michael Floyd, Spring Practice, prospects for the fall and foes added to the out-year schedule. They have all been taken.  If you scroll down, you can see where Subway Alumni Station jumped right in with a number of those topics as well. Unfortunately the staff here at SAS prides itself in leading the pack in opinions, controversy, hard analysis, and holding persons accountable. After all we are Loyal Subway Alumni of Notre Dame. It is interesting to note that one major sports website periodically takes one of our topics and expands upon it and juices it up a bit. We have also been informed from an unnamed reliable source that certain persons associated with Notre Dame even take a peek at this Blog.

Anyway.

While riding in on the Red Line this morning I read where Mike Mayock has been picked to do color commentary for Thursday Night NFL Football. Dang, does that mean he won’t be working the booth for NBC and Notre Dame Football on Saturdays? Man, he was a breath of knowledge and insight compared to Tom Hammond’s vanilla play-by-play! He offered a lot more than Pat Haden did, even though Pat played at USC and in the NFL.


So can Mayock give justice to the NFL Thursday night and still cover the Irish Saturday afternoon? This may be a moot point considering the greed being engaged in by the NFL owners and players even as we speak. Who knows, Notre Dame may be playing on Sunday, right after the televised Mass in the Sacred Heart Basilica.

We called The Peacock to get a reading on this question and see if Mayock would be available to sit in the booth high above Notre Dame Stadium this fall. If not, then who? After explaining to the receptionist that I was from Subway Alumni Station she would not put me through to NBC Sports. Go figure.

Anyway.

This is a golden (blatant pun) opportunity for NBC and Notre Dame to bring in a whole new broadcast team. This is in keeping with the shrewd makeover that Notre Dame is undertaking to market the football program. See: The Subtle New Marketing of Notre Dame Football.

This would entail jettisoning perennial announcer Tom Hammond. Oh my, Tom is pretty much an institution around NBC. A regular jack-of-all-trades type announcer and part time commentator. Tom has done or does for NBC; the Olympics, NFL Football, The Triple Crown, track and field, gymnastics, SEC basketball, The NBA and probably some sports and events we couldn’t remember.

Don’t get us wrong, we like Tom we really do. It’s just like Bert Parks and the Miss America Pageant; he’s outlived his usefulness and relevancy. Of course you have to be careful what you ask for; we could end up with Kathy Lee Gifford’s husband.

Anyway, what do you think? Replace Tom? Vote on the right side. Vote early and vote often, just like we do in West Virginia.

Last Of The Mohicans

Now there are three. Notre Dame, Southern California and UCLA. These are the three remaining FBS schools that have never scheduled/played a FCS school in football. Washington State was number four but this fall they will dip down into the cupcake ranks to secure an easy victory over Idaho State. Of course Michigan may beg to differ on that “easy victory” account. Appalachian State University in 2007 defeated the then number 5 ranked Skunkbears, 34-32. Until surpassed, this game is considered one of the greatest upsets in all of sports.

The NCAA changed the rule in 2005, allowing a FBS school to count a victory over a cupcake, oops, excuse me, a FCS school each year. This opened the door for FBS schools to make/save some money and pretty much guarantee an easy win. Last year, FBS schools won 88% of the time against FCS opponents.

Remember a FCS school is only allowed 63 scholarships compared to 85 for a FBS school.

The reasons are also economic. A FBS school usually has to pay a minimum of $900,000 to $1,000,000 to schedule another FBS opponent. Not so with a FCS little guy, they will settle for as little as $400,000.

Scheduling cupcakes is big victories and easy money for the likes of the Mighty SEC. In 2011 all 12 member schools will play FCS opponents.

When will USC and UCLA succumb to the temptation?

Cameron Roberson Injury - When Will He Be Back?

So when can we expect Cameron Roberson back on the field?  Lot questions only a few answers.  We have called upon our resident Physical Therapist (PT) Alex Brenner to give us a run-down on what a PT would expect once he gets his hands on a patient such as Roberson from an orthopedic surgeon.

Brenner writes:

Kelly announced that his suspicions were correct about Cameron Roberson’s knee injury. It appears he has a torn lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). At this time I have very limited information on this injury and can at best give an educated guess on his recovery time. It would be nice to know if this was a contact or a non-contact mechanism of injury.

Quick Anatomy Lesson

The lateral collateral ligament (LCL) is a very strong ligament that runs on the outside of the knee and connects the thigh bone (femur) to the lower leg bone (fibula) while simultaneously providing lateral side-to-side support of the knee. It is what helps keep the knee to articulate as a hinge and plays a very important role in the lateral stability of the knee.

The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is the ligament in the knee that most people have heard of and is probably the most commonly torn ligament in the knee. It runs from the underside of femur to the tibia and crosses over the PCL. It also plays an important role in stability of the knee, especially in the anterior to posterior direction. On a side note (with Easter in mind), cruciate means “arranged in forming a cross” and comes from the latin word of “crux” which means cross. You can see above the two ligaments (ACL and PCL) forming that cross.

Injury

The ACL is most commonly torn during a non-contact event, meaning the player was running and made a cut to avoid a tackler and goes down without even being touched by a defender. A good example of this caught on tape was Dayne Crist from the 2009 season against Washington State. Other ways to tear the ACL include blunt trauma from a tackler that forces the knee into hyperextension. The lateral collateral ligament is most commonly torn from a direct contact blow to the outside portion of the knee. The blunt force causes the knee to be forced inward resulting in the tear. As an educated guess, Roberson sustained a lateral blow to the knee such that the LCL was completely torn and the ACL was partially torn.

Recovery

The big question here is whether or not Roberson will need surgery. Again, without examining this patient it is difficult to ascertain from a brief MRI report what his recovery might entail. Partially torn ACL ligaments are very common and are not typically repaired surgically unless it is hanging by a thread of tissue. It is very common for athletes even with 50-75% of the ACL torn to return to competitive play without having a surgical repair. The prognosis for an isolated partially torn ACL is very good and in fact, these do not need surgery and can recovery can be as quick as 2-3 months. Unfortunately, it appears that Roberson has a complete torn LCL. This makes the situation a bit more precarious. A completely torn LCL will most likely require surgery to repair because if there are no fibers of the LCL intact it will need to be sewed together by a surgeon. A partially torn LCL and ACL could heal on its own without surgery. I am certain the Ortho surgery team is currently contemplating these same questions and time is of the essence.

If he undergoes surgery they will most likely only repair the LCL and leave the ACL alone assuming he has at least 25% of the ACL fibers intact. Recovery for just the LCL repair is 4-6 months, best case scenario, start to finish. If no surgery is needed then we can assume the LCL and ACL are both only partially torn. Rehab for that scenario is more like 3-4 months.

Lastly, with a blunt force knee injury the meniscus (cups of cartilage between the thigh bone and leg bone) are almost always injured. I have not heard them mention that the meniscus is torn but if it turns out that he has torn meniscus on top of a LCL and partial ACL then the rehab time could be a few months longer.

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Why Notre Dame’s Dayne Crist Will Start Against South Florida

There is no quarterback controversy, no competition for number one, or questions as to who will be under center come September 3rd. This along with Coach Brian Kelly’s and various beat reporters who are baiting opponents concerning the mobility and option threat abilities of Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson make for excellent wailing and grinding of teeth by 12 opponents. Rest assured, Dayne Crist with start.

** Dayne Crist is one tough Hombre.  He has recovered and rehabilitated from TWO major injuries.

**  He is now healthy, fleet afoot and throwing exceedingly well.

**  Dayne is a senior. He is a proven leader.

**  He has the experience and total digestion of the play book.

**  He and Brian Kelly have a mind meld thing.  They are comfortable with each other.

**  If not injured in the Michigan and Tulsa games he would have been the quarterback for all of 2010.

**  He is leading the first team offense in Spring 2011 and will do so in the Blue – Gold Game.

It is expected that he will again invite his receivers to his home in California to continue to stay sharp and fine tune routes, patterns and timing.

Tommy Rees is nowhere in this equation as long as Dayne Crist remains healthy.

Michael Floyd Punishment Poll

Michael has a May court date in South Bend to determine the public justice in his DWI case. The talk has been that The Resident Life Board would act after that outcome in May. Apparently according to Coach Brian Kelly, Res Life is meeting next week with Michael. It is assumed and expected that his fate will be decided/handed down at that time. Yes, no sense in letting anyone twist in the wind any longer than necessary. We suspect Coach Kelly has asked for early resolution.

Becky from our advertisement department suggested a Poll to see where loyal readers of Subway Alumni Station (SAS) stand on the issue and outcome. Most of us here at SAS know that our Polls have received rather dismal attention. Unfortunately Becky is the first one in the office in the morning. She makes the coffee and often brings in ‘Fat Boy Pills" or bagels. Thus she gets her way. The Michael Floyd Punishment Poll is posted on the right side of the Blog. Vote and voice your opinion on Michael's punishment below this post.

Editors Note:  An article on Marketing Notre Dame Football was posted yesterday (see below) and a Dayne Crist starting quarterback article will be posted shortly.

The Subtle New Marketing of Notre Dame Football

It started with the much maligned former athletic director Kevin White. Yearly “Home Games” scheduled at neutral sites. The Irish versus Washington State in San Antonia Texas in 2009 although White’s brainchild, it came under current Athletic directors Jack Swarbricks watch. It worked out quite well, it filling the stadium for a prime time night game. While Notre Dame handled WSU quite handily, 40-14, Dayne Crist went down with a season ending leg injury and the game is remembered more for that than the marketing tool it introduced.

In 2010 a few new wrinkles were added. In addition to the first college football game played in new Yankee Stadium. It too played during evening prime time versus old rival Army but with the Irish wearing the Kelly Green jerseys. Throw in the Bronx, the original subway alumni and some very well produced NBC programming throughout the game, it was a great hit. The media and fans loved it. Of course it helped that Notre Dame won 27-3.

So what’s in store this year as a marketing ploy to promote the national fan base of the Irish?

The Blue-Gold game will be televised live by The Versus Channel on April 16th. This is a first and highly anticipated by loyal Notre Dame fans across the country that cannot trek to South Bend.

Michigan has added lights to the Big House and Notre Dame will play them in the first night game on September 10th. To provide additional fuel to the marketing fire, Notre Dame and Michigan will wear throwback uniforms. While this is not a new concept, it is for the two rivals. Here is a pretty good idea what the Irish will look like coming out of the tunnel, shamrocks and all. We’re hoping for the Kelly Green Jerseys instead of the White traveling uniform.

The University is not finished in 2011. The Southern California game will be played under the lights at Notre Dame. This is the first night game in 21 years for the Irish on October 22nd. NBC has to be pleased; after all they paid for the lights when the stadium was renovated. USC fans have to be pleased since the game does not start in the morning for them.

Down the road the schedule looks like this:

2011 Maryland at FedEx Filed MD

2012 Navy at Dublin Ireland

2012 Miami at Soldiers Field Chicago IL

2013 Arizona St. at Dallas TX

2014 Syracuse at New Meadowlands NJ

When the Notre Dame - Miami series and first game at Soldiers Field was announced it got the rivalry juices flowing. Unfortunately they were somewhat reduced by the 2011 Sun Bowl where Notre Dame dismantled Miami 33-17.

Conventional wisdom tells us Notre Dame is gearing up for the negotiations and rights to televise Irish Football in the future. The current NBC contract expires after the 2015 season. Where is Notre Dame headed? Continue with NBC or go with another Channel like Fox? Collaborate with a national network to provide a total Notre Dame Sports package. Hmmmm. The way marketing is going, anything is possible. $$$$.

Is this the start of how the University is going to combat the BCS, conference realeignments, Super Conferences and protect independence?

We hope so.

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The Call Goes Out For Rudy



Cameron Roberson

So is this the second leg of the Trifecta? View the first leg here.

Soon-to-be sophomore running back Cameron Roberson (6’- 218) went down Saturday in the third Spring Practice session of the season with a left knee injury requiring him being carted off the Loftus practice turf and headed for an MRI. Roberson could not put weight on the knee, a bad sign.

Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly did two things.

Immediately jumped into a golf cart and sped over to the Grotto and lit a candle hoping/praying the injury is only a hyperextension or bruise.

Put out the call to the dorms for running back walk-on try-outs at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning.

Rudy Ruettiger

Well modern day Rudy wantabees here is your chance. This is similar to the famous 12th Man coming out of the stands to help a depleted Texas A & M Team.

The 12th Man

The Irish are thin at running back and will be until reinforcements arrive in the fall. Cam Daniels is the lone pure running back recruit along with WR and RB George Atkinson. Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray are the only scholarship running backs on the Team. With the way Coach Kelly runs such fast paced practices and scrimmages, Wood and Gray have the potential for getting tanked and even hurt.

So how easy would it be to walk-on?

Apparently this is a Spring Practice only requirement. No long term commitment. It is also safe to say that the job description reads for a tackling dummy. It can be assumed that attempting to block the likes of a blitzing cornerback Robert Blanton is also in the cards. The same guy who blocks punts and runs them back for touchdowns.  The same guy who has walked into Spring Practice with an attitude.  Ouch.

Requirements:

*  Have a class schedule that is open Monday –Wednesday – Friday mornings until around lunchtime.

*  Undergo and pass a physical examination.

*  Be in pretty gosh darn good physical shape.

*  Have previous experience at running back.

*  Have some brain matter between the ears to quickly learn the plays. [This is questionable because if you had any gray matter, you probably wouldn’t be there trying-out in the first place.]

*  Get your Mom to say yes.  {This may be the tall pole in the tent.]

It would appear that the class schedule requirement would dictate a senior since they coast their last semester anyway and never have classes before noon when they finally arise from a night of closing local watering holes.

The reporters standing around Kelly when he made the announcement were also asked it they were interested. Kelly had no takers. Too bad. These reporters are always complaining about being shut out of football practice. This is their chance.

EDITORS NOTE: A previous SAS post was made on March 26th and is located below this one.

Mentoring Ohio State Style

We here at Subway Alumni Station (SAS) are not known for being the sharpest knives in the kitchen drawer but……………… When we read that Ohio State Football Coach Jim Tressel ‘volunteered’ to suspend himself for an additional three games in solidarity with the punishment received by his five memorabilia-selling football players (five game suspension), we could smell something very rotten in Denmark/Columbus.

If you have not read the latest revealed escapades of Jim Tressel, you can peruse it here.

SAS has commented on the corrupt Ohio State Football Program not once but twice before. Why? To level the playing field. In some small way publicize coruption and lying in college football. 

Notre Dame has taken a number of unfair shots concerning the deaths of Elizabeth Seeberg and Declan Sullivan. It is only fair that the hypocrisy of Ohio State Football be commented upon.

So Terrelle Pryor has a mentor? Ted Sarniak from his home town of Jeannette PA who helped with his recruitment to Ohio State.  Pryor works for Sarniak during the summer and drives a Corvette around town.  Must be earning nice money.  Interesting that Tressel e-mailed Sarniak and no one else.  Hmmmm.

Who is Ted Sarniak? Wow. Check him out here and here.

What exactly is a mentor? Someone who acts as a surrogate parent? An advisor? A counselor? A tutor?  A friend?  A role model?  Someone filling the role as in the Big Brother Program or Boys Club?
All of the above?  None of the above?

Why does a 20 year old college senior need a mentor?

Here are a few questions for the NCAA Rule Compliance Investigators:

Was Athletic Director Gene Smith aware of Pryor’s mentor Ted Sarniak?

Does Ohio State have a formal mentoring program involving the likes of Ted Sarniak?

Is the program open to other football players?

How about the Basketball Team?

Does mentoring include ensuring that Terrelle has sufficient ‘walk-around-money’?

How about clothes for Terrelle?

Air fare to get home for the holidays and spring break?

Does mentoring include looking out for Terrelle’s family to assist with food, housing, and transportation?

Did Troy Smith (former OSU quarterback and Heisman winner) have a mentor?

Was Smith’s mentor the guy who gave Smith $500? (Smith was suspended for the Alamo Bowl and the first game of the 2006 season for taking money). Only Smith and his Ohio State booster/mentor know the actual total amount.

Did Maurice Clarett have a mentor? If he did, the mentor did a pretty crappy job.

Gene Smith and Jim Tressel need to resign or be fired now.

The Trifecta and Michael Floyd

The entire Subway Alumni Station (SAS) staff has thrown their car keys into the middle of the conference room table and are slowing getting drunk. OK, OK, some are drinking white wine, however most of us are doing shots followed by Bud Lite. Spouses, Significant Others, and Designated Drivers have been alerted to pick us up and drag our sorry butt’s home.  Are you listening Michael Floyd?

That wise old sage and former Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz has repeatedly stated that bad things happen in threes (3s). So when will the other two shoes drop? Who is going to get hurt? Who next is going to screw up? This thing with Notre Dame Team Captain and 2010 MVP Michael Floyd sucks big time. How stupid? How Dumb? When will these Star, God Gifted Athletics ever frickin going to learn?

We all presume Michael is innocent. We all presume he is a lot smarter than his actions. So let’s move on Notre Dame Administration and Residence Life. Don’t stick the knife in our hearts please. We all bleed Blue and Gold. Help us Mother Mary.

Sure this is his second run-in with alcohol. Yet he is the pride and joy of the Fighting Irish. Coach Brian Kelly’s great hope for a stellar 2011 season and BCS bid. The SAS staff feels Floyd is going to get hammered like suspended from the Team permanently. Part of the blame is the crap at Ohio State and the Get Out Of Jail Free Card those morons and coach received. ND does not want to look lenient.

The semi-drunk consensus is that Michael Floyd is going to receive the Death Sentence.

We humbly offer the following alternative:

Suspension from all of Spring Football Practice.

200 hours Community Service with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.

$800 fine.

Suspension of driving privileges on Campus and Greater South Bend.

Forced to stand naked for three hours in the Notre Dame Peace Monument Pool holding a sign “DRUNK” while getting soaked with cold water.

While the final outcome is far beyond the control of SAS, we are glad that the decision on punishment/chastisement/castigation/retribution is not ours.

Go IRISH.

Notre Name Basketball

2011 Congratulations and the best of IRISH Luck to the Women’s and Men’s Basketball Teams in the upcoming NCAA Championship Tournament.

GO IRISH BEAT THEM ALL!!

Recruiting 101- Casting the Net

College football recruitment is an art, not a science.

It has been widely reported on the Notre Dame Blog/Web sphere that Head Coach Brian Kelly of The Fighting Irish has made over 100 offers to soon-to-be high school seniors to come to Notre Dame and play football. What exactly does this mean? The NCAA allows 85 scholarship players per team which translates into that you can normally recruit 20-25 incoming freshman per year. What the heck is going on?

Sure the SEC Teams get Letters of Intent from 40-50 guys but that is a whole other story and just another example of abusing the college football recruitment system. You hve to feel sorry for those guys that end up with no scholarship, no college, no prospects.

In 2010, Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh made 170 offers to high school seniors. How the dickens did he get away with that?

Let’s look at some Notre Dame numbers to assess where ND was and where apparently Coach Kelly is taking us on the recruiting trail.

Notre Dame offers over the last 11 years:

2002 75 Davie/Willingham

2003 58 Willingham

2004 69 Willingham

2005 65 Willingham/Weis


2006 59 Weis

2007 64 Weis

2008 57 Weis

2009 77 Weis


2010 103 Weis/Kelly

2011 125 Kelly

2012 100+ Kelly (and counting)

So do you have to make that many offers to sign the 20-25 prospects that you require at desired/critical need positions?

With the “elite only” recruitment type system, it was obvious that both Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham ended up having position holes that showed up eventually on the field and on the scoreboard. Of course part of Willingham’s problem was that he made the offers to play at wonderful Notre Dame and star with the likes of Knute Rockne while spending most of his time playing golf and working on his handicap.

The Kelly philosophy now appears to be the “wider net” recruitment system that gives the coaching staff some breathing room. So long as you know what you're ultimately looking for, there doesn't seem to be much downside to casting a wide net.

With the Weis approach, apparently he missed out too many times and it was simply because he didn’t make enough offers. No back- up for when a long sought recruit spurned his offer and went elsewhere.

You often read when recruits pick a school they talk about who was recruiting them early. If you restrict your offers on the basis of "exclusively" and a recruit focuses on another school, you end up coming late to the table after having lost the recruit you wanted the most.

Well how does this “wider net” approach work? If you recruit ten linemen needing four and your tenth choice yells out first “hell yes, sign me up Coach,” what do you do?

First it is assumed that each player offered meets Notre Dame admittance standards and Kelly’s Right Kind of Guy (RKG) criteria. This means a whole heck of a lot of research, homework, frequent flyer miles, film watching and analysis.

So how do the ten linemen know and understand where they stand with the limited number of spots available at their position? They know who is being recruited, the number of positions and their chances. This is big business and effects playing time and NFL chances down the road.

Is the “wider net” approach a crap shoot? The more offers you put out, the better chance you get to fill your needs. Here are three things Kelly is probably doing.

First, get the recruits Notre Dame desires engaged early. They don't take anyone seriously until they have an offer and offering late means you have to play catch-up because your few recruit that were made offers went somewhere else. It creates pressure for them to sign with ND. They can see that ND is offering 10 recruits 4 spots at their position and ND are going to take the top first 4 that say yes.

Second, Kelly doesn’t just offer anyone; those 100+ offers are for recruits ND would take a commitment from and honor.  The RKG mold.  Over the years as Notre Dame wins more and more, we all are going to understand and appreciate the RKG.

Third, if he offers say 10 offensive linemen, (C, G, T), they are secretly ranked OL -1 to OL-10. ND only needs 4, Kelly probably tells the bottom 6 (OL-5 to OL-10) since you have an offer, "we gave out 10 offers for four spots, the first top 4 that verbally commit and end up recruited will be honored by us, just hang in their".

Apparently too an "offer" isn't really anything but an offer of interest. If OL-7 jumps on an offer before the OL-1 to OL-4 choice recruits get much of a chance to consider the offer, then Kelly may tell the OL-7 recruit to wait a while. This makes a little bit of sense in that, a commit, when he goes public, usually says something like "I called coach and told him I'd like to commit." There are probably those that called Kelly, and he told them not to say anything publicly until other recruits have more time. If a recruit publicly commits early, it seems to mean he is a recruit the Notre Dame coaching staff really wants or are fairly certain that a better recruit isn't coming.

Also thrown into the equation is the ‘silent verbal’ and ‘soft verbal’. These drove Weis nuts and caused him to lose a number of top recruits at the last minute, leaving him no time to fill the position. A ‘silent verbal’ is when a recruit says ‘yeah coach I’m in the bag but I don’t want anyone to known’. A ‘soft verbal’ is one when the recruit says ‘yeah coach , I’m coming but still looking and going on campus visits.’ It appears that Kelly does not accept either of these recruit options, although he had to fight to the wire to get Aaron Lynch from Florida State back this past recruiting year.

Kelly and his staff do a tremendous job in sending out offers, pushing the right recruits to commit when they need them, while also holding onto recruits and asking them to stay patient to see if "more elite" or higher prospects jump on board.  Leave your ego at the locker room door.

Most of these are "verbal" offers, and a lot of times the staff must have to be very honest with the recruit and tells them what spots are looking like, if they need to hold off and wait it out. Also you are not going to get every recruit.

You definitely can lose recruits with this system because Kelly may have to go slow and easy playing a couple of slots, but at the end of the day more prospects will respect the honesty than those who will be upset and leave for another school (unless the offers is really strong as well).

Remember all the offers are verbal and written offers cannot be issue until the early Fall per NCAA rules.

These days the recruits have a backup position too.  Not only can they change their minds and de-committ.  If they get offers from Notre Dame as a OL-9 recruit and an offer from Compass U as a OL-1 type recruit, they can always commit to Compass U to make sure they have a place to go but if ND comes back at the last minute after losing OL-1 type, he can de-commit from Compass U and commit to ND. This appears to be happening more and more.

Normally recruits narrow down the field to three or four colleges and the coaching staffs have a pretty good idea if the recruit is going to fall into their laps or not.

Again, take Stanford with a slightly different approach. Coach Harbaugh must have a fallback position for his 170 offers. It seems as though that you weren't really 'committed' to Stanford until after the 1st semester of their senior year, once the admissions office gives the go ahead. It gives Stanford some leeway, but maybe a little less than honest. Maybe this is part of the decommittment process and strange numbers you read about.

Probably a good bunch of the 100+ offers or so are such long shot offers but it still makes the more serious (to ND) recruit take a good hard look early knowing they can't come back to ND later because slots have already been filled. It also steps up the pressure and forces other coaches to continue working and expending time to keep the recruit in their fold.

Go Blue, Beat Gold.
Go Gold, Beat Blue.

Anatomy of a Sleazy College Football Program

While this humble Notre Dame Football Blog in no way shape or form is self-righteous, it is impossible not to comment on the recent happenings in Columbus Ohio.

If Notre Dame would:

Fire George O’Leary, a newly hired Head Football Coach for padding his resume.

Suspend FB Rashon Powers-Neal for the season because of a DUI that he committed while at home on school break.

Push Head Coach Lou Holtz out the door for recruiting an academically and morally questionable Randy Moss.

How would the Administration have handled the Ohio State Buckeye incident?

A proud Ohio State Football Program that:

Fired Coach Woody Hayes for striking an opponent player in the face.

That recruited and put up with a common street thug Maurice Clarett because he helped them win a National Championship.

Produced a two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

The entire incident stinks worse than a week old bucket of dead fish.

Five prominent members of the Ohio State Football Team including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor were caught up in a larger Federal investigation. They were selling football mementos, uniforms, awards and Big Ten championship rings for tattoos and cash. They were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season, but not the pending Sugar bowl Game with Arkansas (Won 31-26). Conventional wisdom would suggest the Buckeyes would have lost the game.

Why the first five games?

In-state powerhouse - AKRON

In-state powerhouse - TOLEDO

Rebuilding - MIAMI (FLA)

Rebuilding - COLORADO

Stiff - MICHIGAN STATE

Why not first six games?

Duh. NEBRASKA

Then the bombshell.

Turns out Head Coach Jim Tressel knew about the whole incident that prior spring!

Cover-up?

Obstruction of Justice?

Punishment:

Public apology.

$250,000 fine.

Attend an NCAA compliance seminar.

Two-game suspension against mighty Akron and Toledo.

I remember well the stern warning Father Hesburgh made to New Head Coach Lou Holtz: Paraphrase “If you or your staff are involved with any scandal you will be gone off this campus by midnight.”

How would the Notre Dame Administration have handled the Tattoo Boys and the Liar?

“Should Notre Dame install a Jumbotron?”



Obviously Notre Dame Football news is awfully slow right now. The recruits are trickling in, two to be exact.  Compared to 15 or 16 for Texas A&M. 

Way back on February 2nd, Phil one of Subway Alumni Stations crack writers posted a piece on Traditionalism. One of the key points concerned erecting a Jumbotron or other type huge scoreboard and advertising signage in Notre Dame Stadium.


What do you think?

We decided to find out and post another one of our stupid and irreverent question polls.

Hey, reread the first sentence, we got to keep the interest up until Spring Practice somehow!

Anyway, somewhere on the right side of the Blog is the Jumbotron Poll.

“Should Notre Dame install a Jumbotron?”

Add your comments here to get a discussion going.

Kelly Lands a Cornerback for 2012

Wow, just as Notre Dame Football news was getting as rare as hen’s teeth, Coach Brian Kelly comes along and gets a 2012 verbal commitment. A defensive cornerback no less. The first!  Way to go! Nice tall guy at 6’1” too. T’Ajani (Tee) Shepard, welcome aboard lad.


Shepard’s high school coach mentioned that he intends to use Tee not only at CB but some safety as well this fall. Shepard will also get time on the offense. Sounds like one of Kelly’s RKGs to me. California dude no less.  Sorry U$C.  :+(

Betty our recruitment monitor has started a column on the right side of Subway Alumni Station Blog to keep you informed on the recruitment class of 2012. Check out Tee over there. 

Coach Kelly’s Big Questions Going Into Spring Practice

Spring Practice From Yesteryears

Well this is March so that means Spring Practice for the Fightin Irish will actually take place this month. No more flippin the calendar to see where March 23rd is located and having to count the days backwards.

So what are Coach Brian Kelly’s big concerns? What does he want to get out of 15, wet, cold, possibly miserable practice sessions between March 23rd and April 16th?

For the 62+ returnees, has Paul Longo’s strength and conditioning for January, February and most of March built upon what was started last year? How about the five early enrollees, have they bought into the system and taken advantage of the extra conditioning time? It would appear from Notre Dame’s finish last fall and the total physical domination of Miami that this guy Longo knows what he’s doing.

Can early-on some of the enrollees contribute immediately to strengthen the defense? Especially the two that drew all the late, last minute recruiting heroics? OLB Ishaq Williams and DE Aaron Lynch. You would expect them to make Special Teams, but can they at least make the two-deep depth chart? We are all looking for the defense to step it up another notch from late last fall and the Sun Bowl. Defense surely does win championships.

Speaking of defense. How will the much talked about decision of moving Bennett Jackson to cornerback and Austin Collinsworth to safety pan out? On paper it appears to make tremendous sense. Strengthen the defense. Get two guys on the field that show talent and ability and clear the logjam at wide receiver. Success will make Kelly look like a genius. Correctly utilizing talented players at the positions most needed is an art, not a science.

Can kicker Kyle Brindza push fith year newly annoted senior David Ruffer at PAT’s and Field Goals? Can he outperform Ben Turk and snatch the punting duties? Can Brindza finally give Notre Dame a kicker who can consistently create touchbacks and kick the ball through the end zone?

Will sophomore running back Cameron Roberson make enough of an impact competing for playing time with junoir Cierre Wood and senior Jonas Gray to keep Theo Riddick catching the football instead of carrying it? When healthy last year, Riddick drew enough attention to take some of the heat and pressure off Michael Floyd. You sure got to like that formula.

Will Dayne Crist’s legs be healthy enough to offer true competition at quarterback with Tommy Rees? Is Andrew Hendrix as good as the coaches say he is with his arm and his legs? Is early enrollee Everett Golson the quarterback Coach Kelly feels can best run his spread offense? We here at Subway Alumni Station cannot remember a Notre Dame spring where four intriguing quarterbacks with different unique attributes and god-given abilities will take the field at the same time in March. It is assumed that no depth chart decisions will be made until after the first week of fall camp. Kelly has too much to lose to show his hand.  Although the Team and insiders will have a much greater feel on how it all will play out come fall.

The Blue-Gold Game will be interesting to see certain talent perform but not an offense that will resemble what will take the field against South Florida come September 3rd. Coach Kelly is in a unique position to send a number of different quarterbacks onto the gridiron with multiple talents and specific play packages to wreck havoc with the opposing team’s defense.

It will be interesting who, what, and how he settles that question and the others he needs answered.

Charlie’s Stock Still Has Value

According to the Saint Petersburg Times, former Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis is making out OK. His jumping ship from the Kansas City Chiefs to the Florida Gators had a pretty soft landing. The new Gator offensive coordinator will earn $765,000 a year as part of his three year deal. He also received a $100,000 signing bonus and gets an additional $10,000 for wearing Nike gear. Then come February 1, 2012 he gets a $100,000 raise. This does not include potential income from annuities, sports camps and clinics, housing benefits, speaking engagements, TV and radio program, endorsements, and car leases. Weis is way behind Will Muschamp who has a base of $3.09 million but way ahead of the rest of the assistants. Like Dan Quinn the Gator defensive coordinator who will make palfrey base of $490,000.

Obscene, but get it while you can.

By The Way Where is Former Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis?

According to the just concluded informal Subway Alumni Station poll, 19 or 45% of responses "Don't Care".

ND Press Release - Jersey Number Changes

Notre Dame has justed announced a number of jersey number changes and new assignments.  Most interesting is between Robby Toma WR and Lewis Nix III NG.

Toma went from 19 to 9.

Nix went from 67 to 9.

For cryin out loud how are we ever going to recognize two players with the same number?

Hint: 

Basically Toma catches the football and is fast and difficult to tackle.

Nix tackles and throws players to the ground with wreckless abandon with the expressed intent of hurting them.

Preferred Walk-On Status

Nate Montana started out as a preferred walk-on and now Joe Schmidt (6'2", 225 lbs., LB, Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, CA) is doing the same. 

You don't have to go back any farther than David Ruffer (Special Teams - Kicker) or Mike Anello (Special Teams - Gunner) to realize the importance of walk-ons.

What exactly is a preferred walk-on status player compared to simply walking on and trying to make the team?

Here are some of the procedures and unwritten rules..........

1.  Coordination and correspondence between the walk-on and coaching staff is extensive.

2.  You do not have to tryout.

3.  No scholarship offer in the future is implied or promised.

4.  You are invited on the team because you are wanted by the coaching staff and have agreed to attend Notre Dame at your own expense.

5.  The issue of GPA is less than for scholarship athletes.

6.  Opportunity to participate in summer camp prior to fall practice and freshman year. (Where regular walk-ons tryout during spring training.)

7.  The athletic department and admissions office work together for enrollment.

Welcome aboard Joe.  Good Luck.  Go IRISH.

Joe Schmidt

Notre Dame Football Traditionalism

The goals have always been staggering:

*  Once again to be a college football power.
*  Return to relevancy, respect and fear. 
*  Expect true love or hate.
*  Independence from conference and BCS politics.
*  A national schedule with a national following.
*  Fielding an honest team and program with honest coaches.
*  100% graduation rate.

Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick in a recent interview cracked open the door to Notre Dame Traditionalism and initiated a flurry of ideas concerning the notion of a Jumbotron and fake grass in hallowed Notre Dame Stadium. The innocent “video board” discussion centered around the unique experience of the Notre Dame – Army Game in Yankee Stadium during the 2010 season. It was special, historic; appealing to the TV ratings and well produced by NBC, however, let’s leave all that at Yankee Stadium.

The issue of artificial field turf started with a comment concerning questions about “condition of the field” during a number of home games this year. Conditions did not appear idea; the reasons could be many from drunken maintenance crews to global warming. It is strongly suspected that natural grass technology experts have been all over the stadium playing surface since the Utah win. If the snow ever melts this spring in South Bend, changes will be made concerning care, maintenance and use.  Do not fear.

The discussion in no way indicated that Notre Dame was researching the possibility of erecting a Jumbotron high above the stadium in the South end zone. (No can do North end zone because of the Hesburgh Library). Nor is the natural grass going to be dug up anytime soon and replaced with recycled plastic water bottles and old car tires.

Please. Do we want a scoreboard that looks like this?  Advertisments and the like.

Or this one with a small screen?

At least our good friends and rivals up in Michigan have better taste and no advertisers!  But do they allow advertising on the screen?

The old saying rings true, either you love Notre Dame or you hate them.  The storied program is a throwback from another time and era.  Notre Dame has the responsibility as a nationally recognized football entity to maintain the college tradition.  No one else will.  So how about some blue plastic grass?

We cannot find a Notre Dame grad or Subway Alumni who would not want to watch the IRISH on this.

No team logo.  No conference logo.  No advertisements.  Touchdown Jesus and the Dome.  No strange design in the end zone, just slash marks.

Some other things that separate Notre Dame Football from the rest of the pack.

Simple gold shiny helmets without team logo decals or "See What I Did" stickers. 

The same goes for player names on the back of jerseys.  If you are too lazy to memorize the players number, buy a program.

Notre Dame is one of a handful of universities that do not allow the All State net in the stadium.  Creeping advertising.

Let us remain independent.  The greatest threat to tradition is commericalism.  Notre Dame does not need to follow other schools or the NFL.  We need to lead.

The Subway Alumni's of ND Nation have spoken.

Don’t forget to add us to your favorites list: http://subwayalumnistation.blogspot.com

23 Brave Young Irishmen

Just about every blog has a post on the great Notre Dame recruiting class of 2011. Mostly player and position analysis or some rehashed stories of the trials and tribulations of actually recruiting the class. The recruit flip-flops, decommits, soft verbals, the poaching, the Irish coaches predawn dedication to landing a recruit.

Here’s a little bit different take.

You have to admire and fully recognize the decisions made by Notre Dame’s freshman football class of 2011. The row they hoed was not an easy one. The pressure had to have been tremendous. Recruiting college football players has turned into a high tech, big money, dog-eat-dog process where the faint of heart are left way behind. It is reassuring that historically and statistically, 95% to 100% from the class of 2011 will graduate from Notre Dame. All will be given every opportunity to mature, learn, experience life and leave campus pretty much prepared for anything. Whether that be in the NFL, a professional career in the economy or simply a better person still searching for what life has to offer them.

Hokie talk? Idealistic garbage? Pie-in-the sky rhetoric?

There is much to complain about.

Let’s also face the fact that some of the recruits from other schools have some mighty big egos. Holding out to sign the letter of intent (LOI) on their birthday or waiting weeks after National Signing Day to ensure the limelight will only be on them. You could see the egos at work during the various high school All-Star games where a player/recruit announces his choice with his family behind him by picking up a team baseball cap and putting it on. All for the dramatics, the national audience and the show. The recruit from Rutgers even mocked North Carolina by first wearing a NC baseball cap and hiding a Rutgers cap underneath. Some ego. One mother forged her son’s signature to an LOI from a school he did not want to attend.

A high school coach in Georgia decided to be spokesperson for one family and limit all contact except to the recruit’s latest verbal commitment. That got straightened out by the mother and son rather quickly. You have to wonder what reward(s) were in store for that coach by Georgia Tech. Apparently outright lying was a common tactic used to discredit Notre Dame.

You read stories about unscrupulous agents dealing with college players preparing for the NFL draft. Are some of these high school coaches any different?

In another mother story, both the mother and grandmother were adamant that the recruit chose Notre Dame for the education and opportunities the school provides. Makes you think Brian Kelly should host a mother’s day visit for prospective recruits during summer camp for their sons.

The 2012 recruiting cycle is already in full swing; we just don’t see or hear about it. The whole process starts way too early and ends later than it should. The NCAA has a big fat rule book. Certain recruiting timeframes are called quiet periods where you can’t contact recruits. Coaches are limited to the number of actual home visits and players are limited in the number of visits they can make to a particular campus as well as total number of schools they can visit. Head coaches have periods where they cannot recruit at all. Phone calls, twitters, texting, e-mails are limited for everyone dealing with recruits. Yet, the internet has opened up contact opportunities with websites and Facebook pages. Computer software and programs track individual recruits and even provide player analysis on how they would fit on the team. Technology rules.

Five of the 23 recruits enrolled early at Notre Dane and gave up playing basketball, proms, friends, big graduations and the opportunity swagger around the hallways for one last semester. All to catch a break on spring practice, get credit hours under their belts and get acclimated to college life.

ESPN2, Scout, CBS and Rival all track, rank, grade and rate players by position, skill set and overall recruitment status. Individuals make a livelihood out of high school player analysis.

Personal trainers and dietitians are called upon to ready the recruit not only for their high school senior year, but also to give them a leg up with when they show up in the summer, ready for workouts and fall camp.

The call has gone out to move national signing day up. Restrictions are already in place concerning contact with high school juniors. What else can be done to even out this crazy process? It appears that it is only going to get worse.

Go IRISH!