All Things Notre Dame - The Clashmore Mike Memorial Thread

[Sanders Fan]

Notre Dame vs. USC had a higher TV rating than the BCS Championship Game last year.

[lineygoblue]

Maybe Terry Porter will be on the officiating crew...

Wiz...its at times like this when I clearly understand why you and I get along so well ...:-D

[iam416]

Gene Smith really hosed ND. They're probably a small favorite against OSU. They will more than a TD dog against Bama.

[Hannibal]

Bama-ND will be a slaughter. ND's stellar defense will keep the game out of 2004 Okie-USC territory, but it will be over before the 4th quarter starts.

[Clashmore Mike]

This article is making it's rounds across ND nation...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...Tabs%3Darticle


Honestly, I don't think it's been that bad...mostly because (as has been articulated here a couple times) people seem to really hate the SEC...also, that there seems to be a sort of grudging respect for some of the ND kids. Manti in particular...

[hack]

Mike, IIRC last year Kelly said some stuff about Weis-recruited players being losers in comparison to the ones he'd recruited. Accused them of giving up or something. Teo said something like ``we're playing the rest of the year for ourselves''. What happened with that? How did everybody patch things up?

[Clashmore Mike]

Some ENTIRELY UNSUBSTANTIATED rumors coming from some ND insiders that Kelly & Co. are out on the left coast chipping away at USC's class. Safety Max Redfield is a primary target. He visited ND then decommitted recently. That's an ND/Oregon battle.

A couple others that we're working that may be wavering: Ty Issac, Sebastian Larue, Eddie Vanderdoes and Chris Hawkins.

ND is working those last four, and though there is a sense that they may not end up at USC, there is little sense that they wind up at ND.

[hack]

Michigan is supposedly taking another crack at Issac.

[Clashmore Mike]

Mike, IIRC last year Kelly said some stuff about Weis-recruited players being losers in comparison to the ones he'd recruited. Accused them of giving up or something. Teo said something like ``we're playing the rest of the year for ourselves''. What happened with that? How did everybody patch things up?

That was after the disaster USC game last year.

"You can see the players that I recruited here...You know who they are. We've had one class ? that I've had my hand on. The other guys here are coming along. But it's a process. It can't happen overnight. They're getting there. We're making good progress." Brian Kelly

As brutal as the South Florida and Michigan losses were, that USC game was probably worse for the team and staff. First night game in 20 years...all of our blue-chip recruits on campus...the game was following a bye week with all kinds of hype piled on...USC was 6-1 and outside of Stanford, our last chance to make a splash nationally....and we came out flat and played like utter shit.



If you remember, there was already some tension amongst the older guys about Dayne Crist being replaced as starting QB at halftime of the S. Florida game. Against USC, we went down 17-0 at one point and actually battled our way back to 17-10 in the 3rd. With first and goal from the 2, Rees went out (mandatory after his helmet came off in the preceding play) and Crist came in. He fumbled the snap, USC recovered and took it 95 yards for a 14 point swing which we could not over come. That was the last time Dayne Crist saw the field...and I'm guessing the last time Kelly placated to the whims of the Weis upper-classmen.



A couple days later, Kelly made the comments after a practice. Part of me thinks that, if there is a vast difference between the mentality of the old regime and the new, there simply has to be a point where the new guy asserts himself. Obviously Kelly woulda/coulda/shoulda handled it better than he did, but I also think something along those lines had to be stated clearly...that tolerance for flat/lazy play was no longer acceptable.


Everything I hear is insider conjecture, but I understand that Kelly met with Swarbrick at the end of last season and supposedly told Swarbrick that he (Kelly) was spending too much time as an administrator and not enough time as a coach. That it wasn?t how Kelly had achieved previous success and that he was losing touch with his players.


Obviously, that?s the kind of thing that ND would never make public?but I can tell you that Kelly is obligated to less than half the typical alumni group functions he had to do the first two years?that at least one radio show was cancelled...that one of the weekly press conferences is now entirely via tele-conference?and that post-practice pressers have almost completely disappeared.


To borrow an Obama phrase, it sounds like Kelly "hit the re-set button" immediately following the season. Told the kids that he was here for them, but also here to win. That he'd be working side-by-side with them to get there, but that it was his way or the highway. 2-3 seniors (non-starters) with eligibility remaining didn't come back. Otherwise, the team seemed to buy-in.


Or, without paragraphs full of rumor and conjecture, it could be as simple as "winning cures all"...

[Clashmore Mike]

Michigan is supposedly taking another crack at Issac.

A bunch of our guys are fired up about Issac, but our insiders don't think there is anything there. We've got the inside track on Redfield and supposedly outside chances at Hawkins and Vanderdoes...remaining spots permitting.

If Issac is looking elsewhere, I would think you guys have as good a shot as any.

I am hearing that we are talking to Laquon (sp?) Treadwell more that in months past and that we aren't out of that race.

[hack]

Thanks the recap, Mike. I'd guess that's it too -- winning cures all. And, interesting if Kelly's desire to focus on coaching is the key. IMO coaching is about having the attention to detail required to avoid a whole bunch of little negatives that could bite you in the butt as well as having the time and ability to address things to actually improve what you do.

If Issac goes anywhere other than USC, I would be very, very disappointed if it wasn't to UM.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I can see a Bama-ND matchup being called Saints vs. Sinners...

[Optimus Prime]

Like most teams, ND did improve over the season but frankly Alabama is going to wipe their ass with them.

Michigan even with 6 turnovers, 2 in the ND end zone should have beaten Notre Dame in South Bend and that really doesn't say much.

Sure the Irish found a way to win a bunch of very close games but come the Orange Bowl, there will be NO place to hide. Just might snag tix to enjoy the carnage up close.

[entropy]

http://www2.kusports.com/news/2012/nov/26/ku-football-coach-charlie-weis-thrilled-former-not/

KU football coach Charlie Weis thrilled for former Notre Dame players on brink of national title

[THE_WIZARD_]

Yeah. Sure he is.