The Blue-Gray Sky

Jake in Progress

2009-07-15T10:55:00.011-04:00

Note on the title of this entry: I sifted through countless Nirvana and Pearl Jam references for a groan-inducing title to the Washington preview. Found Dead In the Greenhouse, while evocative, seemed in poor taste. Young Former USC Coach Behind the Counter in a Big Town was too long and detached from the original Pearl Jam track. A Google search for "TV shows about Jake" produced the eventual winner. John Stamos played Jake, and the show was eventually pulled in favor of Bachelor re-runs. While new coach Steve Sarkisian may eventually lead a Trista-and-Ryan charmed life in Seattle, roses are not in the program's immediate future.

Steve Sarkisian, like his former USC co-offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, has imported some Trojan coaching staples to Seattle. Sark has brought in a top-flight former USC defensive coach (Nick Holt), turned the Twitter volume to 11, and generally injected the Husky program with Carroll-esque optimism and energy.

However, Coach Sarkisian was not able to load all of Heritage Hall into the moving van. Traveler didn't make the trip. Neither did Keith Rivers, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Mike Williams, Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, Dominique Bird, Winston Justice, Ryan Kalil, Sam Baker, Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Mark Sanchez, Jeff Byers, Stanley Havili, Taylor Mays, Joe McKnight, Everson Griffen, or Ronald Johnson.

In short, Sarkisian has gone from a program that has "settled" for throttling Big Ten teams in the Rose Bowl every January 1st to one whose former coach was proud to play Hawaii in December. In a regular season game. That they lost.

The cupboard is not entirely empty. Lest anyone forget, Jake Locker returns at quarterback. The obligatory Jake Locker compliments feel similar to telling someone from a bottom-tier academic school that they "have a great nursing program." While true -- Locker is a talented athlete and a seemingly likeable kid -- the point feels a bit empty and condescending given the context.

The context is this: Washington has been terrible. Washington might become excellent during the Sarkisian Era. With access to junior college players, they could be good reasonably soon. But they will not be good this year. I do not think Notre Dame should or will lose a home game against this team.

With the conclusion out of the way early, let's take a closer look at the 2009 Washington Huskies.

The team starts with the nursing program. Locker, the dual-threat Bellingham, Washington native, was Willingham's recruiting pearl, albeit one who dreamed of Montlake since childhood. Locker has been star-crossed since arriving at Washington. His 1,000-yard rushing campaign as a redshirt freshman was cut a game short, with an injury against Oregon State, and he missed most of last season after breaking his thumb in the fourth game, against Stanford. He has also played for a team that has won nine games in three seasons. Still, if Sarkisian's pro-style system and Locker mesh, and/or Sarkisian adapts to the speedy quarterback, Locker might finally emerge and enjoy his finest year.

The other blue-chippers on offense are redshirt freshman running back Chris Polk (also injured last year) and two tight ends, sophomores Kavario Middleton and Chris Izbicki. Polk was Scout.com's 9th-rated running back in the class of 2008, with offers from USC, Cal, and Oregon, and he should be the nominal starter heading into the fall. However, he will likely share carries with some or all of Demetrius Bronson, Willie Griffin, Brandon Johnson, and/or David Freeman. Middleton and Izbicki should split time. At wide receiver, D'Andre Goodwin returns from a 721-yard campaign. Jermaine Kearse, a former four-star recruit who saw limited playing time as a true freshman, should also start. Devin Aguilar, who also played as a true freshman, Cody Bruns, Vince Taylor, and Anthony Boyle round out the receivers.

Washington's 2008 offensive line was even worse than Notre Dame's. Washington averaged just under 100 rushing yards per game last year and yielded 31 sacks. The good news for Husky fans is that two starters graduated. Some attention has focused on the big guys' weight. Though right guard Senio Kelemete and right tackle Drew Schaefer both weigh in at less than 280, the rest of the group -- particularly 335 pound left guard Ben Ossai -- is anything but svelte. Perhaps they just need assistance re-distributing that weight. Learning how to block could also come in handy.

Defense should be the way the Huskies first announce their return. New coordinator Nick Holt led the already legendary USC defense last year, and no reasonable observer questions the value he brings to the Washington staff. Every 2008 starting defensive lineman and linebacker returns. Top tacklers Mason Foster (outside linebacker), Daniel Te'o-Nesheim (defensive end), and Donald Butler (inside linebacker) are back, as is outside linebacker EJ Savannah, who had left the team before last season. Sophomore Quinton Richardson returns at corner, along with Matt Mosley and Justin Glenn, and safeties Nate Williams, Johri Fogerson, and Greg Walker.

Special teams could doom the Huskies in any close games. Neither their kicker nor punter have played Division I football. Punter Will Mahan is a Juco transfer, while kicker Eric Folk did not play in his first two seasons at Washington. Their return game is also unsettled, although Polk could become involved in that capacity.

After an 11-37 run under Tyrone Willingham -- which featured, among other ignominies, the retention of just 17 total players from the combined 2005 and 2006 recruiting classes -- at least Washington fans finally have hope. Wins may not come early. Washington opens against LSU, and USC visits on September 19th. If Sarkisian can keep morale intact, his experienced defense might pull off a surprise at some point this season. Just not on October 3rd.

Add One Moore To The List

2009-07-14T09:20:00.002-04:00

Chalk up another recruit. ND is up to 12 in the current recruiting class with the latest announcement. North Carolina linebacker Kendall Moore picked ND as his school of choice at a presser this past weekend.

"It's just a whole bunch of things, a combination of things," said Moore about why he chose Notre Dame. "Academically and athletically it was the best choice for me."

Moore liked ND enough during his unofficial visit this summer that he committed to the staff before leaving, making the public announcement on Saturday. He's the first linebacker recruit in this class and gives the current tally an even split of six offensive recruits and six defensive recruits.

Rivals put the 6'3" 232 pound Moore in the 4-star category and the 167th overall recruit. He's also their 14th ranked outside linebacker. Scout thinks his future lies on the inside as they have him as a 3-star guy and the 17th ranked middle linebacker. ESPN handed out a 77 ranking and says he could potentially play either inside or outside. His offers included Florida State, North Carolina, NC State, South Carolina, Clemson, and others. Credit Corwin Brown for pulling Moore out of ACC/SEC territory.

Highlights-wise, ESPN has free clips of Moore last season while Rivals has some up-close shots of Moore from a combine earlier in the spring. From first glance, Moore looks quick enough to play on the outside, but if he keeps growing and adding weight, he might wind up a middle linebacker candidate.

Something to keep an eye on though, Moore used his commitment presser to also mention he was still sorta, kinda looking around.

"Yes sir, definitely," Moore told Irish Illustrated. "I felt like this is the start of my decision. I'm still going to wait throughout the whole season and see what goes on. I haven't talked to coach Weis about it, but I think that's pretty much accurate."

On the one hand, let's wait until Moore has that chat with Charlie first. On the other hand, Moore is merely doing what many top recruits are going to do this season. They want to see first-hand how the ND team looks before jumping on board. Moore liked ND enough during his visit to pull the trigger, but it can't be too comforting that he's already giving himself an out. Still, until he starts taking visits, it's probably still safe to keep him in the "commit" pile. (It's also a safe assumption that ND is looking for other possible LB candidates.)

Here's the chart for all of the linebackers. Granted it might be a bit more precise if this was broken down into inside versus outside guys, but with Moore's ultimate position a bit up in the air, not to mention the same dilemma for a number of younger linebackers on the squad, here is the 2010 list for the entire linebacking position.

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
	Brian Smith	Darius Fleming	Manti Te'o	Kendall Moore
		Steve Filer	Carlo Calabrese
		Anthony McDonald*	Zeke Motta
		David Posluszny*	Dan Fox

Some exciting names on there that could form a potentially stellar linebacking corp in 2010. There is also a noticeably big cluster of players in the junior and sophomore classes, which was needed given the lack of LBs in the 5th year and senior classes. It's possible that Te'o could be on a mission in 2010 and Zeke Motta might be listed with the safeties, so keep that in mind when taking the above table and mentally constructing a two-deep. Still, while Moore might be physically ready to play when he shows up, but his first crack at playing time might be on special teams given the returning list of players.

Impound It - The Toss Play

2009-07-13T09:00:00.004-04:00

Pop Quiz: What's the longest rushing touchdown by a tailback in the Weis era? (Answer below.)

That piece of trivia nagged me after a few observant readers commented on the conspicuous absence of the running game from last week's 2008 top ten list. Likewise, a quick scan of the new Top Plays of the Weis Era poll on UND.com reveals only one tailback run out of thirty plays, and that play is likely included more for its significance (Irish sealing a BCS berth in 2005) than anything else. Even in 2007, the worst rushing offense in Notre Dame history ironically produced two memorable runs by James Aldridge and Robert Hughes that would have likely made this list. Also consider: Hughes's 45-yard rush would have tied Kevin Faulk for longest run by a Patriot back during Weis's tenure there, and Aldridge's 43-yard scamper would have placed him third. Breakaway touchdown runs have been scarce on recent Weis-coached teams.

But back to the Irish. After a little research, the longest rush by a back last year was a rather embarrassing 21 yards, achieved three separate times by Armando Allen against Purdue. Sadly, no one else in the Irish backfield broke the 20 yard plateau for the rest of the season. Fast-forward a couple months, and Frank Verducci is coaching the offensive line with Tony Alford handling the backs. Fast-forward a couple more months, and there are obligatory "the running game is improving" comments from spring football. Keep fast-forwarding, and there are hints from local beat writers that one offensive line starter is moving to center to replace a weak link in last year's line and make room for a rapidly improving youngster. It all sounds so perfect, right?

Back the truck up. Let's take one last look at 2008, one running play concept at a time, in ascending order of usage.

The Toss Play

Diagrammed to the right, the running play utilized the least last year was also the worst. The toss play averaged an abysmal 1.32 (that's no typo) yards per carry on only 19 carries. The Irish ran it to the weakside and to the strongside, and when run to the weakside, it always employed a fullback as a lead blocker. The toss play wasn't always so horrendous. In 2005, the toss play was called 51 times and averaged 4.57 yards per carry. In 2006, those numbers dipped to 34 carries and 3.08 yards per carry, still twice as productive as the '08 version.

The toss play owns the dubious distinction of losing the most yards on a single carry, as the Irish lost seven yards on two separate occasions against both Hawaii and Boston College. Worse yet, the starting offense ran it to the strongside left six times all year, and only once did it result in positive yardage. For the season, the strongside left toss averaged -0.86 yards per carry, and that's with a ten-yard gain by Jonas Gray in garbage time against Washington. Below are two familiar examples from games against Southern Cal and Hawaii.

Feel free to analyze those plays in the comments section, but here are some quick thoughts. One, Kyle Rudolph's lack of strength is obvious. I can't speak to blocking fundamentals, but it's doubtful that spring football caused a regression in either. He had nowhere to go but up. Second, there's usually one player who causes bad things to happen. In the first play, it's Stewart. He can't block the weakside tackle, who makes the play in the hole. Maybe the play had a chance otherwise. In the second, it's Rudolph. When he gets pushed back, it forces Schwapp wider, which forces Hughes wider, which allows the linebackers to run away from the linemen trying to block them. It looks like Eric Olsen makes a poor attempt at a block, but the reality is, if Rudolph isn't pushed back, forcing the entire play wider, that linebacker would be within his grasp.

There is little doubt that an improved offensive line and a stronger Rudolph should result in improved production and greater usage. Another item to watch closely is whether Aldridge's speed is utilized as a lead blocker. When the play was successful in 2005 and early 2006, some of the most successful toss plays were with the more athletic Rashon Powers-Neal at fullback or John Carlson as a move TE or h-back.

That clip from the 2005 Washington game was one of five toss plays that picked up 13 yards or more. Powers-Neal was a lead blocker on four of them. When he played, the toss play averaged 4.9 yards per carry with a median carry of 6 yards. By contrast, although the toss play averaged 4.8 yards per carry with Schwapp, the median carry was only 3 yards. If Aldridge welcomes the blocking assignments of playing fullback, his speed should be an asset. If not, it's up to Steve Paskorz or one of the tight ends.

Lastly, the offensive line must play more consistently. The play of the backs and tight ends is important, but everything begins up front. Watching Ryan Harris in those clips reminds one that Notre Dame hasn't had that kind of dominating offensive line play since he left. Ditto Mark Levoir. It was nice to see Trevor Robinson land on top of his man in the first set of clips, just as it was great to see Mike Turkovich stone his defender in both. The Irish offense is going to need more of that kind of line play in 2009.

Next up: The Jab Counter

Trivia answer here. As far as 2008, the longest score by a back was a boring, straight-ahead 16-yard rush by Allen against Purdue. No broken tackles, no jukes, not even a stiff-arm. Allen was in the endzone before a lineman could even pancake his opponent.

Pieces of Steele

2009-07-11T19:46:00.003-04:00

Phil Steele always appends his jam-packed preview guide with a few pages of feature articles concerning various football metrics. This year is no exception. I thought I'd highlight two of his metrics and see what they say about the Irish and their opponents this year. Both of these metrics try to predict improvement (or regression) based on some simple counting items.

"For Better or Worse: Close Wins, Close Losses." This metric posits that a team that suffers a lot of close losses (defined by Steele as a touchdown or less) will probably improve the following year; likewise, a team that benefits from a lot of close wins stands to regress.

Steele runs the numbers for the past seven years and finds that teams that net more than 2 close losses improve their record 68% of the time the following year. On the flip side, a team that nets 2 or more close wins will see their record worsen 64% of the time; with three or more net close wins, that number climbs to 71%.

The Irish had 2 close wins (Stanford, Navy) and 3 close losses (North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Syracuse) for a net of -1, so the indicator probably doesn't indicate much for us. (Steele mentions that he sometimes throws out late scores that skew the results; perhaps you could treat the Navy game with its late touchdown in such a fashion, which would lower the ND score to net -2 and provide an indicator of improvement).

The other teams on the ND opponent slate look like this:

2009 Schedule	Close Wins	Close Losses	Net
Nevada (7-5)	1	3	-2
Michigan (3-9)	1	4	-3
Michigan State (9-3)	2	1	+1
Purdue (4-8)	2	2	0
Washington (0-12)	0	3	-3
Southern Cal (11-1)	1	1	0
Boston College (9-4)	4	2	+2
Washington St. (2-11)	1	0	+1
Navy (8-4)	4	1	+3
Pittsburgh (9-3)	4	1	+3
Connecticut (7-5)	3	2	+1
Stanford (5-7)	2	3	-1

So Nevada, Michigan and Washington would have a high chance to improve according to Steele, while Boston College, Navy and Pitt would stand to regress.

"Turnovers = Turnaround." Similar to the "Close Wins, Close Losses" metric is Steele's assessment of net turnovers as a predictor of improvement/regression the following year (drawing a line at net double-digit turnovers). In this study he looks over the past 16 years and finds 235 teams that had a net plus 10 turnovers or more. 154 of those then had weaker records the following year (65.5%). He also finds 191 teams minus 10 turnovers or worse, with 130 of them having better records the following year (68%). Again, these are pretty good indicators.

Turnovers Gained & Lost in 2008

2009 Schedule	Gained	Lost	Net
Nevada (7-5)	25	24	+1
Michigan (3-9)	20	30	-10
Michigan State (9-3)	24	22	+2
Purdue (4-8)	20	23	-3
Washington (0-12)	10	27	-17
Southern Cal (11-1)	29	22	+7
Boston College (9-4)	36	33	+3
Washington St. (2-11)	13	38	-25
Navy (8-4)	30	15	+15
Pittsburgh (9-3)	24	27	-3
Connecticut (7-5)	25	29	-4
Stanford (5-7)	21	25	-4

Only four teams make Steele's net-10 cutoff: Michigan, Washington, and Washingston State all stand to improve, while Navy should expect a dropoff. Washington State, by the way, led the field in futility; their net -25 was the worst in college football last year.

For the Irish's part, they gained 25 turnovers but gave away 28, for a net loss of -3.

more 'brick

2009-07-11T10:31:00.022-04:00

Jack Swarbrick gave an interview to BGI the other day where he talked some more about scheduling concerns. In it, I was dismayed to hear Swarbrick trot out that old cliché about how N.D. fans, in their desire for more competitive schedules, want to face a "top 10 team every week." We heard this canard from White over the years while he was rationalizing a crummy slate of games; I heard it personally from Heisler at a seminar at N.D. This line really is a strawman: as Doug over at WeIsND points out, there are exactly zero folks clamoring for a murderer's row year-in, year-out.

I will allow that if you are the one answering the athletic department mail, it may seem that N.D. fans want lots and lots of big name teams; surely Swarbrick's office is getting a lot of letters imploring him to add Texas and Alabama and Georgia and so on. But there's a huge difference between wanting a couple of more "name" teams at the top, and something stupid like "top 10 teams every week." ND fans aren't stupid. Nobody wants 12 games in a row against top 10 teams. So it was disconcerting to hear Swarbrick prop up the same strawman. It makes us, the fans, sound like delusional masochists, which we aren't. (As Jack Lipnik would say, "Let's put a stop to THAT rumor right now!")

What folks do want is something much more reasonable and attainable: we want more diversity to the schedule, as befits a true independent, and we don't want to be locked into the same old teams year in, year out. And yes, we need to stay competitive, but not insanely so. Most of all, we'd like to make sure we have some interesting top-end names headlining each season -- not just Southern Cal and Michigan. That's about all the fans are looking for, Jack.

Despite the strawman utterance, there are, I think, important differences in what Swarbrick is saying about the schedule and what his wrongheaded predecessor wanted to do.

For one, Swarbrick simply isn't selling it like White did. In fact, it seems like he's leaving himself an out, just in case the whole 7-4-1 thing doesn't work:

The hardship Swarbrick faces is finding those teams who are willing to come to Notre Dame for game, without the benefit of a return visit from the Irish.

“Implementing it is very hard,” Swarbrick said. “Our fans would like to see us play a top-10 team every week. Well, top-10 teams aren’t going to come on a non home-and-home basis. Top 30 teams aren’t going to come on a non home-and-home basis. And so you have to balance those things…It’s much harder than I might have thought prior to sitting down and trying to fill in those blanks.”

I heard similar sentiments from Swarbrick relayed to me by a friend who heard him speak to an alumni group in Omaha recently; he talked about how "hard" it is to make it work. By repeatedly citing the hardships in executing the 7-4-1, I think he's setting up one of two possible outcomes: A) because it's impossible, we'll be getting zero bigger-name teams in the future, so prepare yourself for a lot of MAC and WAC and Sun Belt filler, or B) we're going to see some welcome backsliding on the rigidity of 7-4-1, cracking it open to include some more home-and-homes with the top 10/top 30 types.

This leads to my second point: given the profundity of on-the-record interviews Swarbrick has given on the topic, I don't think we should read the BGI piece in isolation. As we've documented here, there has been a lot of smoke concerning marquee matchups with Miami, Wisconsin, Texas, and the like emanating from Swarbrick's office recently. To our knowledge, none have been scheduled yet. But this chatter seems more in line with scenario B than scenario A, doesn't it? We shall see.

Rees is Missing Piece

2009-07-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

The phones in the Gug kept ringing this week as Illinois quarterback Tommy Rees made a quick decision after getting an offer from Notre Dame. Jumping at the chance, Rees committed to the Irish. He's the second QB to commit and the 11th overall member in the 2010 recruiting class.

‘‘I felt comfortable with [Notre Dame],’’ Rees said. ‘‘I like the coaches a lot. I’ll get a good education ... and the football tradition is something that’s important to me.’’

The recruiting sites for the most part haven't evaluated the 6'3" 195-pound Rees yet. He is still unranked on Rivals. Scout gave him 3 stars and slotted him as the 83rd-ranked QB in the class, but there is no indication that they have actually evaluated him, and it certainly looks that his ranking is merely a placeholder for now given the lack of highlight clips, bio, and the rest of the info usually found in a recruit's profile. ESPN didn't have a review of him up when he committed either, but they quickly rectified that and gave him a 78. They also issued a review that contains the same sleeper/upside buzzwords the last few recruits have elicited:

The first thing that jumps out about Rees is his release. In fact, we are surprised he has not received more attention due to his delivery alone at this stage. He is a prospect that coaches may look at and see an intriguing prospect three years down the road with upside and late bloomer potential.

ESPN also has the only highlight video of Rees I could find, so check him at the above link.

One of the reason Rees has been flying under the recruitnik radar was lack of attention from bigger programs. His initial set of offers included Central Michigan, Miami-Ohio, and Bowling Green. But then Stanford offered (granted, they "offer" anyone with a pulse these days) and so did Tennessee, apparently, after Rees went to a Vols football camp and was named QB MVP of the camp (granted, Kiffin gave out three QB MVP awards in the same camp). I say "apparently" offered because he's listed with a Tennessee offer on Rivals, but this UT article says the Vols were close to offering but never actually did.

How did the Irish get to know this unheralded prospect? ND had a chance to watch Rees work out and throw after he came to ND for this summer's football camp. After his showing, ND made the call to extend an offer.

Rees comes from a football family. His older brother is a punter at UCLA and his father has a long scouting and coaching history in both college and the NFL, last with the Browns. When asked to give a scouting review of his son, here is what he said.

''He could be an athletic pocket passer,'' Bill Rees said. ''He can move around and get out of trouble. He is a very accurate passer with arm ability. He can throw with touch and velocity and can throw deep. A college coach must ask: 'Does he fit into what we are doing?''

With two quarterbacks in this class, ND is definitely done recruiting the position for the year. After Clausen departs, Rees and Hendrix will battle it out to see who will back up Crist. In case Clausen goes pro after a strong 2009 season, ND will have three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, even if two of them are freshmen. Taking two quarterbacks in this class is a good move to make up for the gap in last year's class and likely shouldn't have a big impact on next year's recruiting (just like it didn't during Clausen's recruitment after landing Jones and Frazer the year before).

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
	Jimmy Clausen	Dayne Crist*		Andrew Hendrix
		Nate Montana*		Tommy Rees

The Enemy of My Enemy

2009-07-08T11:09:00.004-04:00

After a longer-than-anticipated hiatus from fall opposition previews (see the links for entries on Nevada and Michigan), I am moving forward with a familiar, frustrating foe.

If Michigan State were the fat bearded guy from "Lost," the hatch code would read "Notre Dame." That's a confusing way of saying MSU has our number. Davie never beat them. Ty did OK, with the help of Bobby Williams and a spectacular last-second play from Arnaz Battle. The Weis Era has been closer to Davie's in this respect. In 2005, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead, relinquished it, then kicked off a flag-planting ceremony with an overtime victory. 2006 looked to be more of the same, but a Terrail Lambert pick-six led to an Irish victory (and ended all speculation as to John L. Smith's sanity). Coach Mark Dantonio's 2007 and 2008 teams have easily handled ND, winning 31-14 and 23-7.

Though late losses to Penn State and Georgia took some of the gloss off a successful 2008 season, the Spartans finished with a top-25 ranking for the first time since the 1999 season. After losing their starting quarterback and an All-American-caliber tailback, where should the Spartans stand in 2009?

The battle to replace the moderately successful Brian Hoyer (he had 33 touchdowns and 23 interceptions as a starter and led State to back-to-back bowl appearances) features Sophomores Keith Nichol and Kirk Cousins. Both are west Michigan products (Nichol went to Lowell; Cousins to Holland Christian). Nichol started at Oklahoma, but transferred after one season, losing the starting job to He Who Defeated God Himself for the Heisman Trophy. Nichol is bigger (about 6'2", 215 lbs) and was the higher-rated recruit; Cousins has more experience in the MSU offense after serving as Hoyer's backup last year. At the end of spring practice, Michigan State coaches had still not committed to either -- or even the idea that one or the other would exclusively hold the job.

Either quarterback should benefit from more reliable receiver play. Blair White returns from a 43-reception, 659-yard campaign in 2008, as does Mark Dell, who had over 200 receiving yards against Cal before battling injuries.

Commenter and MSU fan witless chum correctly pointed out that I forgot about the Tight Ends. Here is his take on State's TEs: "The one thing you don't mention that's a big strength is TE. Charlie Gantt played very well last year and Clemson transfer Brian Linthicum looks very good. Garrett Celek is a good backup (whose brother played for Dantonio at Cincy and plays for Philly, now) and true freshman Dion Sims is supposed to be a physical freak."

Few teams this year must replace an offensive player as prolific as Javon Ringer. I liked Ringer as much as any opposing player (NB: because Moss was kicked out of Florida State before the 1996 Orange Bowl, he does not count here). At 5'9" and 200 pounds, logic would not predict a "workhorse" label for Ringer. But Ringer played each game like he just found out his girlfriend cheated on him. In 2008, he ran for 201 yards against Notre Dame, then 198 against Indiana the following week. A more enjoyable performance was the 194 yards and 2 touchdowns he tallied against Michigan. For the season, Ringer finished with 1,637 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. Despite questions about his size, he was drafted in the 5th round by the Tennessee Titans. I think they might enjoy this anti-LenDale.

In his place, Michigan State may turn to a pair of incoming recruits, Edwin Baker and Larry Caper, who were part of a recent surge in blue-chippers coming to East Lansing. Rivals.com listed Baker with dimensions similar to Ringer's (5'10", 204 pounds), yet with 4.40 speed. Even adjusting for the typical self-reporting hyperbole, Baker sounds like a back who could do some damage in Dantonio's power running system. Caper sounds similarly dangerous, at 5'10", 215, with a 4.41 40. Freshman running backs have found instant success at other programs in the past -- Jahvid Best, Jacquizz Rodgers, CJ Spiller, and Brandon Minor are part of a long recent list -- and Michigan State's commitment to the running game could provide a springboard for these two talented prospects.

For that to happen, MSU will need improved offensive line play. Last season, even with Ringer on board, Michigan State ran for only 130 yards per game. They must replace their starting right tackle and right guard. Left guard Joel Foreman returns after a Freshman All-American performance in 2008, as does Senior center Joel Nitchman the reliable Senior left tackle Rocco Cironi. The improvement of this group should dictate Michigan State's success or failure this season.

Dantonio, who coached under Nick Saban for five seasons and served as Ohio State's defensive coordinator for three years, should be expected to field an impressive defensive unit. The Spartans have yielded 21 points to Notre Dame in two seasons, and this year's maturing defense should temper some of last season's inconsistency (they surrendered 38 points to Cal, 45 to OSU, and 49 to Penn State).

Returning to the Michigan State defense this season are tackle Oren Wilson, defensive end Trevor Anderson, and linebackers Eric Gordon and Greg Jones. Highly recruited Freshman Chris Norman will battle Senior Brandon Denson for playing time at outside linebacker. Middle linebacker Jones is the star of this defense; with 78 tackles in 2008, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. Here's a shocker: he played one of his best games of 2008 (nine tackles, one for a loss) against Notre Dame.

MSU's secondary is deep and experienced. Nine players -- corners Ross Weaver, Jeremy Ware, Chris Rucker, and Johnny Adams; and safeties Kendell Davis-Clark, Marcus Hyde, Dan Fortener, Trenton Robinson, and Ashton Henderson -- have game experience for the Spartans. Weaver, Rucker, and Fortener are returning starters.

On special teams, Michigan State will again be solid. Brett Swenson returns at kicker, and Aaron Bates is back at punter.

Some experts predict a big season for Michigan State. Phil Steele calls this Dantonio's "best team yet." Athlon slots the Spartans at 20th in their preseason ranking, while Lindy's Magazine predicts another top-25 finish (24th). And Rivals.com includes Michigan State as one of its teams on the cusp of the top 25. State will need reliable quarterback play from the new starter and instant production from Ringer's Freshman replacement, but a solid defense could make their early games -- including against Notre Dame -- interesting. I am encouraged by the early season placement of this game, which should work in ND's favor.

Of course, the one factor that seems to play the biggest role in the Michigan State series cannot be properly analyzed in this space. Put simply, Michigan State has been the tougher, hungrier team, and that's why they've beaten Notre Dame. I like Michigan State. Michigan State is a good program, with a promising young coach, and they hate Michigan as much as we do. But it's time to stop losing to them. This should be a good opportunity to turn the tide.

Constructive Summer

2009-07-08T10:25:00.000-04:00

It was only two weeks ago that Notre Dame's recruiting class stood at five players. That number is now double with the latest surprise news that California defensive end Justin Utopo publicly committed on Monday and made the recruiting class of 2010 hit double digits.

"I wanted to get away from home and do something different, like try a whole (new) experience," said Utupo, who has not yet visited Notre Dame, but plans to make an unofficial visit next month.

The fact that Utupo hasn't visited campus is the main reason for the surprise. It happens a few times a year, but the norm is to land a public commit following an unofficial or official visit. Utopo admitted that the recent recruiting momentum played a part in his decision.

I knew they picked up a couple of other defensive ends as well so I didn't want to risk losing my spot there so I thought now was the best time to commit.

As with the rash of recent commits, Utupo isn't ranked all that high on the recruiting sites. Rivals has him as an 3-star strongside defensive end prospect and unranked (meaning not Top 35) at the SDE spot. Scout projects a slightly different college position, tabbing him as a 3-star defensive tackle and the #48 DT in the class. ESPN sticks to their 0-100 grading scale and gives Utupo a 78.

Despite the lukewarm at best rankings, most likely stemming from recruitnik uncertainty where he will play in college and how big he can get, Utupo did pick up a number of other college offers including UCLA, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Washington, Oregon State, Utah, BYU, and others.

ND visited his high school early in the spring evaluation period (his HS also is home to ND safety recruit Dion Bailey) and Coach Polian brought back news that Utupo was worth serious consideration. Corwin Brown went on a return trip to eyeball Utupo himself and speak with his coach. Evidently he saw what he needed to see as Utupo was offered shortly thereafter.

Utupo tips the scales at 6'2" 250 pounds currently, but played mainly defensive tackle for his high school last season in the competitive Moore League in California at 235 pounds. According to his high school coach, seven defensive linemen in the conference earned D1 (err...FBS) scholarships last season, including Utupo's teammate who went to Washington. Utupo still led the entire conference in tackles for loss (28 of his 78 tackles last year were TFL) and was named All-League first-team defense. You can see him in action in this youtube highlight roundup. He isn't identified on each play, so look for #53.

Utupo is the second straight Mormon to commit to Notre Dame and will give ND three Mormon players with Manti Te'o already running around campus with his new teammates. The reason I'm bringing up his religion is two-fold. First, ND has long had a hard time convincing the many excellent Mormon football recruits to make the trek to a northern Catholic college. Te'o has already helped ND land two in this class and it's possible ND might finally be gaining traction in a rich recruiting bed of talent that normally sticks to the West Coast. Second, ND fans are now going to have to get used to the idea of depth chart engineering with the added uncertainty of some players taking one or two year missions. No official mission plans have been made public by Te'o, Badger, or Utupo, but we'll all have to update our homemade recruiting charts accordingly when they do.

Taking a look at the 2010 depth chart, I'm keeping Utupo listed with defensive ends for now, even though very likely could play as a faster, undersized DT, ala Derek Landri or Ethan Johnson. That will depend on how much weight he can productively add over the next few years. In the meantime, let's keep him with the DEs.

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
Kallen Wade	Kerry Neal	Ethan Johnson		Chris Martin
	Emeka Nwankwo*	K. Lewis-Moore*		Blake Lueders
				Justin Utupo

Looks like defensive end recruiting is done for the year. There might be room for one more pure pass rushing DE to add to the class, but just like Lueders and Utupo are DEs with the potential to turn into speedy DTs, ND may go after linebackers with the potential to turn into speedy DEs.

Gunner

2009-07-05T14:37:00.003-04:00

Inspired during the cutting of the clips below, I went ahead and threw together a little Mike Anello highlight reel.

From the Observer last November:

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound former walk-on plays gunner on the Irish punt team and is also on the kickoff team. Anello made his debut on the field last year in Notre Dame's 38-0 loss to Michigan in the Big House.

"I remember I had a good week on the scout team the week before," he said. "During practice, Coach [Charlie] Weis started yelling 'Where's Anello?' I thought I had done something wrong."

Weis told him that he had cracked the depth chart and would be going to Ann Arbor that weekend. Anello waited all week for the coaches to pull him out of the spot, but it never happened. On his second trip down the field he got to the ball and recorded his first collegiate tackle.

"It was kind of a surreal experience, if you had told me a few years ago that I would even be on the Notre Dame team I would've probably laughed at you," Anello said.

Clip Show '08

2009-07-03T14:14:00.004-04:00

What better way to celebrate the holiday than some football fireworks? Herewith, the Top 10 plays for the 2008 Notre Dame football season, compiled and annotated, as always, by Paul of Classic Ground.

It should come as no surprise that most of the top plays from 2008 are of the "passing and catching" variety. Also of note: 8 of the 10 top plays featured a freshman or a sophomore. Here we go.

10. Christmas Present. In the play that put the final nail in the coffin of Notre Dame’s ugly bowl losing streak, Armando Allen returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown against Hawaii in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. If it seemed like a very long time since an Irish player had accomplished the feat, it was: Allen’s effort was the first kickoff return for touchdown by Notre Dame since Vontez Duff went 92 yards in the third quarter against Navy on November 9, 2002. The 96-yard return was also a new bowl record for the Irish, as Allen topped the legendary 93-yard return by Al Hunter in the 1973 Sugar Bowl against Alabama.

9. Golden Acrobat. Although the play occurred during the Irish loss to Pitt, Notre Dame would not have made it to overtime against the Panthers without big plays for its two wideouts, Michael Floyd and Golden Tate. This play is emblematic of the highlight reel plays both wide receivers made all season for the Irish. On a third and 12 with the score tied at 3-3 in the middle of the second quarter, Golden Tate made an acrobatic catch for 47 yards. Talking about the catch, Tate said, “I honestly just played it wrong. I should have caught it the first time. For some reason it bounced off the guy's head, and I saw another guy about it catch it, so I just went to make sure he couldn't catch it. I caught it and got a few yards. I was just trying to break it up so that he wouldn't get it.”

8. Fabulous Frosh. Arguably no player was more important to the Irish offense than first-year wide receiver Floyd. Without Floyd in the lineup, Notre Dame lost to lowly Syracuse and could muster no offense against Southern California. Versus Stanford, Jimmy Clausen threw for a then-career-high 347 yards and three touchdown passes as Notre Dame held on for a 28-21 victory. Floyd played a large role in the victory taking in five passes for 115 of Clausen’s 347 yards. Floyd’s 48-yard snag late in the second quarter against Stanford, as he beat Wopamo Osaisai (the PAC 10 champion in the 100 meters) on 3rd and 10, put Notre Dame up 21-7 going into halftime against the Cardinal.

7a and 7b. “He’s a Playmaker.” Notre Dame won a statistical national championship this year: the Irish led the nation in fewest average yards allowed per kickoff return. A very large reason for that fact was the special teams play of safeties David Bruton and Sergio Brown, and former walk-on Mike Anello. Two specific plays, among many, represent the major impact Anello had on the Irish season. Against Michigan, Anello had three tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. With the Irish already up 7-0 on the Wolverines, he pounced on a bumbled kickoff return by Michigan’s Michael Shaw, setting Clausen and the offense up at the Wolverine 14-yard line.

Against Navy, Anello blocked a punt that Toryan Smith caught on a bounce at the Navy 14 that put the Irish up 7-0 in the first quarter.

Coach Weis, on Anello: “Give me a bunch of Mike Anellos on special teams that run like that and show heart, and he doesn't just show heart, he's a playmaker. I'll take a bunch of guys like him.”

6. Impact. A trip to Seattle to face former Notre Dame head coach Ty Willingham and his 0-8 Washington Huskies offered very little advantage to the Fighting Irish. Michael Floyd, Jimmy Clausen, and the Irish defense overmatched the Huskies in a 33-7 win. After holding the Huskies to a 3-and-out on their opening series, Notre Dame took the ball at its own 37-yard line. Three plays later, including Floyd's 51-yard catch and run (sprung by good blocks from TE Kyle Rudolph and RT Sam Young), the Irish had opened the scoring against awful Washington (Willingham would be fired the following Monday).

5. Aztec Fumble. With Notre Dame trailing 13-7 in the fourth quarter, San Diego State had the ball 1st and Goal from the Irish 4-yard line and was threatening to widen its lead. Instead, Irish safeties David Bruton and Kyle McCarthy force a fumble near the goal line, Bruton recovers, and Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, and the Irish take the lead for good a few plays later. Bruton, on the play: "Nobody panicked. There was no wavering in anybody's attitude. Our defense was like, `We got you, offense,'..."

4. "In the Bucket." As time ticked away at the end of the first half on Christmas Eve, Clausen found Tate in the corner of the endzone with a perfect pass. The touchdown capped an 8-play, 67-yard drive that resembled many of Brady Quinn's end-of-half/end-of-game drives in 2005 and 2006. Notre Dame led Hawaii 28-7.

3. Solo. After the Irish got a 4th-down stop against Michigan at the ND 37-yard line, offensive coordinator Mike Haywood had Clausen "go long" on back-to-back plays. On the first one, Donovan Warren grabbed Michael Floyd's arm and got called for pass interference. On the next play, the Irish left 9 guys in to block, and only Tate went long, burned the Wolverine secondary, and opened a 21-0 first quarter Irish lead.

2. Blanton Bests Boilers. Freshmen (again) made a large impact for the (improving) Irish in 2008. Floyd's contribution, as mentioned in the above plays, was obvious and immediate; players like Ethan Johnson and Darius Fleming made some big plays on defense and special teams; and TE Kyle Rudolph held down the position after injuries and attrition forced him into action and earned some freshman All-America honors. Meanwhile, the defensive freshman play of the year was cornerback Robert Blanton's very important "Pick 6" for 47 yards to tie the game at 7-7 against Purdue. Coach Weis on the play: "Defensively, obviously one of the biggest, if not the biggest play in the game, is R.J.'s (Robert Blanton) interception for a touchdown, which is the only turnover in the game."

(Sorry about the audio in this one; it drops in and out.)

1. When it Rains, it Pours. And it rained, and rained, and rained on Michigan at Notre Dame in September. Trailing 28-17 at the start of the fourth quarter, Steven Threet fumbled the shotgun snap in the driving rainstorm, Irish linebacker Brian Smith picked up the loose ball, and returned it for the Notre Dame touchdown. The Irish avenged two years of futility against the hated Wolverines. Smith, on his play: “I was just thinking about jumping on it [the football] and recovering it. When I looked, there was no one near the ball. People said it was a good scoop since it was so wet outside, but we run that drill every week, so there was a lot of practice there.”

For previous clip shows, click here for 2005 and here and here for 2006.

Sudden Switch

2009-07-01T11:30:00.001-04:00

After a long dry spell, ND has nearly doubled the current recruiting class size in the past week. The latest newcomer is Utah safety Chris Badger. Visiting campus for an unofficial visit, Badger decided to switch his commitment from Stanford, where his father and brother went, to Notre Dame and become the 9th member of the recruiting class of 2010

"I've always had a thing for Notre Dame and heard so much about their tradition and history. When I got there, I just can't describe the feeling. You can just feel the prestige of the school and football is such a huge deal there. If you make it big at Notre Dame in football, you become a legend and everything just felt right so I decided to change my commitment.

If you're thinking it is rare for someone from Utah to come to ND to play football, you are right. According to the all-time roster, Badger will be only the fourth player from the State to suit up for ND, with the last one being Pete Rokich in the mid-80's.

The 6'0" 190 pound Badger is a 3-star recruit to both Rivals and Scout. Rivals has him as the #24 safety while Scout has him a spot lower at #25. ESPN is a bit more optimistic, putting Badger on their Top 150 Watch List. Like some of the other 3-star recruits in this class, Badger does have a very solid offer list. In addition to the Stanford offer, Florida State, LSU, Cal, Oregon, Missouri, and others all offered him. I think it's safe to say that it is rare for FSU and LSU to look to Utah for their safeties.

What has certainly helped Badger pick up offers is his willingness to attend camps and combines in order to perform for coaches and scouts. He was the WR MVP of BYU's football camp in '07, was the DB MVP of the Boise National Underclassmen Combine in '08, was named to the All-Camp team (along with Chris Martin) at the aptly named BadgerSport 7 on 7 tournament in Vegas earlier this spring, and had a very good showing at this spring's L.A. Under Armour combine.

Badger is a blue-collar type safety who excels more as a true hash, Cover 2 defender getting over the top of the football and breaking on the ball in front of him with excellent instincts and plant-and-drive burst. Matchup-wise, Badger could struggle playing down over quicker slots in space.

The well-built safety showed better range than testing speed (4.75 40) and impressed us with his 4.35 shuttle and solid footwork for a high-point safety during DB drills. The Stanford pledge benched 185 pounds 18 times and showed some of that upper-body strength getting physical with slots running up the seam and battling for position against outside receivers on deep routes. On film, you might not find a bigger hitter than Badger, which he couldn't show in this setting. Still, we did see some great intangibles and athleticism.

ESPN has started to add video from these combines, so if you're interested to see what goes on, here's Badger's work at that L.A. UA Combine. If the part about not finding a bigger hitter caught your eye, then enjoy these 5 minutes of football violence that make up Badger's highlight clips. Fun stuff.

At the very least Badger is going to be a force on special teams. Maybe he'll even grow into a linebacker, which would help negate the critiques of him being a step slow to keep up with premier wideouts. But for now he's a safety, so let's take a look at the current safety depth chart for 2010. I hope you're ready for this.

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
Leonard Gordon	Harrison Smith*	Dan McCarthy*		Chris Badger

Ouch. Any freshman who commits to ND will more or less automatically be in the two-deep as soon as he is assigned a number. It's possible and maybe even likely that someone like Jamoris Slaughter or E.J. Banks could shift to safety, but looking at the Lo Wood post right before this one, it's not like ND is overflowing with cornerbacks either. Freshman Zeke Motta practiced at linebacker this spring, but scuttlebutt has him starting fall camp at safety so he could add depth if he sticks in the defensive backfield.

Badger is the first of two or three likely safety recruits in the current recruiting cycle. It's always ideal to spread the numbers across the classes, but with only one real safety in the junior and sophomore classes currently, ND needs to load up this year. Badger is also Mormon, so there might be the possibility he will be taking a mission at some point in the future. That's another reason to take three safeties in this current class.

As for overall numbers, we'll take a closer look at the big picture numbers later on, but ND should wind up at or near 25 when all is said and done. That leaves about 14-16 more spots for recruits.

Recruiting Riding High (and Lo)

2009-06-30T10:50:00.007-04:00

Right on the heels of the Lueders announcement was another defensive commit in the form of Florida cornerback Lo Wood. The recruiting class of 2010 bumped up to eight when Wood flew into South Bend and announced his commitment at mini-press conference at the Varsity Club Hotel. Here is a clip of that presser where Wood did the hat and shirt announcement game as well as answered a few questions about his recruitment.

The 5'11" 167 pound Wood currently is pegged as a 3 star recruit on both Rivals and Scout. As a cornerback, Wood is Rival's 32nd ranked corner and the 42nd ranked corner on Scout. ESPN gave Wood a grade of 78. Those aren't the highest ranks for a corner, but he did have a pretty solid offer list. Runner-up Michigan joined offers from Virginia, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Stanford, NC State, and others. And while Wood's combine "measurables" didn't stand out from the pack, he performed well enough at the Jacksonsville National Underclassmen Combine a year ago to win the Defensive Back MVP award.

Winning the last positional award of the morning was DB MVP Lo Wood of Apopka High School. Wood (5 feet 10, 162 pounds) showed great explosion to the receiver, and fabulous ball skills and athleticism. During the combine events, he also had a 27-inch vertical, 9'1.5" broad, 4.30 shuttle, 4.58 40, and 10 reps on 155 pounds.

The descriptions are sort of reminiscent of Robert Blanton, who similarly didn't wow people with his 40 time or vertical leap, but kept impressing when actual football was being played. The Rivals Florida high school site just released their Top 100 Florida recruits list and put Wood at number 43 with the description "It's hard to argue that Wood isn't the most physical DB in the state". If you're looking to try to figure out just what kind of corner ND is getting, here are his highlight clips.

Another bit of good news is that Wood plans on graduating early and becoming an early enrollee at ND. It will be a tad bit of an adjustment to move from the middle of Florida to South Bend in January, but Wood says he's ready.

"A lot of schools tried to say it's going to get cold," Wood said. "But if you want to play in the NFL, you've got to go to Green Bay sometimes. And it's going to be cold there, so you better get used to it."

Getting back to his homestate, Wood's high school, Apopka High, is a strong team from Central Florida that plays in the state's largest classification. Last year the school produced incoming Michigan freshman Jeremy Gallon and is the alma mater of NFL star Warren Sapp. If Wood can be the start of a pipeline to the school, that would certainly be a good thing.

On to the cornerback depth chart.

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
Darrin Walls	Gary Gray*	Robert Blanton	E.J. Banks	Lo Wood
		J. Slaughter *

There is definite talent on this table, but not all that much depth. Consider that Darrin Walls could easily declare for the NFL draft after the 2009 season with the depth becoming much thinner. Wood is the much needed first CB recruit in a class expected to land two or three. ND seems to be in a good position with a number of talented prospects, so hopefully filling up this class with freshman ready to contribute right away won't be a problem.

Blake's Got a New Place

2009-06-29T08:40:00.006-04:00

The past few weeks haven't felt like the off-season with a steady stream of news, both good and bad. In addition to the Montana/Sharpley/Hendrix/Fauria news, ND picked up another two commits. First up we'll take a look at Thursday's newsmaker Blake Lueders.

The defensive lineman from Zionsville, Indiana committed to Charlie and ND two days after visiting campus and became ND's seventh member of the Class of 2010.

"I knew when I was there (Tuesday) Notre Dame was the place," Lueders said. "I just wanted to sleep on it and think about it for awhile and make sure I was right. I was. I'm happy with my choice.

At 6'5" 250 pounds, Lueders plays middle linebacker for his high school, but is looking like a solid strongside defensive end candidate and possibly even a defensive tackle if he keeps growing. The recruiting sites have him pegged for defensive end with Rivals labeling him a 4-star recruit, the #14 strongside defensive end, and #198 overall recruit. Scout also give Lueders 4-stars as the #18 overall defensive end. ESPN includes him in their currently number-free top 150 watch list. ESPN also has a copy of his highlight clips for those interested.

Lueders picked ND over offers from North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Wake Forest and finalists Stanford, Northwestern, and Boston College. Looking at the finalists, it shouldn't be a surprise that Lueders carries a 4.0 GPA.

Blake, a Class 4a All-State honorable mention player last season, first gained recruiting notice after his sophomore year of high school when he won the MVP at the Indianapolis segment of National Underclassmen Combine.

Lueders was the leader of the pack as he was the winner of the MVP award. The 6’5 232 lb Lueders ran an unbelievable 4.3 shuttle, had a 9’10 broad jump, and bench pressed 155 lbs 29 times. Lueders was very impressive.

Not to extrapolate too much from an underclassmen combine, but if could put up numbers like that as a high school sophomore, it sounds like Lueders will show up on campus physically ready to go from day one. And that is a good thing, because there will be possibilities for early playing time. Here's the scholarship breakdown for defensive end.

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
Kallen Wade	Kerry Neal	Ethan Johnson		Chris Martin
	Emeka Nwankwo*	K. Lewis-Moore*		Blake Lueders

There is no guarantee that Kallen Wade will be back for his 5th year in 2010. Ethan Johnson could be a fixture at the tackle spot by then and Nwankwo at 295 pounds is another tackle sized end. That leaves Kerry Neal, KLM, and the freshmen as prototypical defensive ends. Granted, Darius Fleming will still likely be a pseudo-defensive end despite now being listed as a strongside linebacker. Steve Filer might be tasked with rushing the passer from the outside too. But after coming up empty at end in the incoming freshmen class, there will be opportunity for Lueders and Martin to make an early impact in 2010.

Fauria Flies the Coop

2009-06-27T10:10:00.010-04:00

Hansen's article in the SBT this morning has some bitter quotes from tight end Joseph Fauria, who is transferring to another school in lieu of serving a one-semester suspension for an undisclosed disciplinary violation.

ND head coach Charlie Weis, hamstrung from expounding on the subject by a quagmire of privacy laws and strict university policy, signed off on the transfer Friday afternoon and wished Fauria well.

"(Weis) didn't want me to leave, and I didn't want to leave, but I felt I had to," said Fauria via cell phone from California as he was driving to the beach to ponder his future.

"I didn't want to go back there (to ND) and have to be under the microscope and not be myself. I wanted to have a fresh start.

"I can't say enough about coach Weis, tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee, the guy who recruited me — coach Brian Polian — and the players, too.

"I know coach Weis can't come out and support me publicly because of protocol, but I know how he feels, and that's all that is important. It was an honor to be coached by him. I love him. I'll miss him. I still consider him a part of my family. It's sad to leave everyone, but I feel I was mistreated by the school and that the punishment didn't fit the crime."

Fauria declined to delineate publicly just what he was punished for.

Fauria said he'll likely explore a Pac-10 option in order to stay close to home (Encino, CA).

In a (premium) interview with Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated, Fauria had even harsher words for how he was treated, saying it was blatantly "unfair."

"They don't take character into account. It's the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law. It's a Catholic environment, but there's no Catholic spirit in the process, no spirit of Notre Dame. It's all just trying to knock somebody down. It's terrible..."

"If anyone knows me, they know I'm not some malicious person, not some predator. I'm a fun-loving guy. (Residence Life) didn't see that."

Fauria also claims he was forbidden to appeal the decision. Unlike the rest of you diligent and pious alums, I cannot quote chapter and verse from DuLac, so I paged through it this morning looking for the "appeals" guidelines. I was surprised to find that ND's disciplinary process only allows for "case reviews", not appeals, and even then only in situations where procedural defect is alleged or new information has come to light. Appealing simply on the grounds of "severity of punishment" is never considered. While this may be a crummy policy, what this tells us is that Fauria's lack of access to appeal probably wasn't out of the ordinary in the draconian world of ResLife.

I have no idea what Fauria did, and you probably don't, either. Fauria claims it was something minor (you'd laugh if you knew, he said in another interview). I will say that there seems to be a lot of rumors flying around, ranging from the merely prankish to more serious allegations. Unless Fauria himself divulges the details -- the school certainly won't -- we'll likely never know the facts in the case. Given that we don't know the details, and given the fact that ResLife has no reservoir of credibility to draw from, it's hard to know if justice was served in Fauria's suspension. (The decision to permanently transfer, of course, remains his.)

Football-wise, where does that leave us with tight ends? Pat explored this below in greater detail, when the suspension of Fauria was announced. Rudolph is still the clear #1, but now even more responsibility falls on Mike Ragone and his rickety legs to hold down #2. Walk-on Bobby Burger now moves up a notch to #3, and incoming frosh Tyle Eifert and Jake Golic just went on redshirt alert. There is some depth. As my friend Brian said, the loss of Fauria is a setback, but if everyone else stays healthy (and enrolled) it doesn't have to be a crippling one.

An Idiot's Guide to Interacting With Recruits

2009-06-26T13:09:00.011-04:00

This should be a tome shorter than the "Famous Jewish Sports Legends" leaflet. In a word: don't. Don't email recruits. Don't call recruits. Don't visit recruits at their homes.

All pretty obvious, right? Allow me to add a fourth: do not become Facebook "friends" with or otherwise communicate on Facebook or Myspace with recruits. In a recent interview with Irish Illustrated's Pete Sampson (exempted from this rule: it's his job to serve as a conduit between recruits, the ND staff, and fans), consensus #1 defensive end prospect and current Irish oral commit Chris Martin mentioned he received 243 messages yesterday from purported ND fans, reacting to reports Martin was considering visits to other schools. Apparently, the messages were a mix of the supportive and the angry.

Allowing that some, or even many, of these messages could have been written by fans of other programs, with the goal of undermining Martin's relationship with Notre Dame (and there is Facebook precedent for such conduct), none of this is appropriate.

First, NCAA regulations forbid written communications between alumni/financial supporters of a school and recruits. Notre Dame's Compliance Office provides simple guidelines, among them an instruction that one "MAY NOT" (in all-caps), "make any recruiting contacts with prospects or their relatives. This includes telephone calls, letters, emails, and facsimiles, along with any face-to-face contact either on or off-campus." Though "Internet social networking sites" are not among the non-exhaustive list, it's a safe bet such communications are within the intended spirit of the rule. I'd rather not find out the hard way.

Second, college recruits are, by definition, high school students. Adults should not initiate contact with high school students they do not already know. You should no sooner seek the friendship of Chris Martin or Anthony Barr than you should start emailing out of the blue a random junior at some high school in Dubuque. It's weird, to put it lightly.

Third, this brings up a broader point about recruiting. We as fans can do precious little to positively influence the recruiting process. Leaving to the side the issue of whether negative message board discussions of coaches and seasons are appropriate or detrimental, attempts to directly influence recruits will probably not achieve their desired effect. Like trying to mend fences with an ex who has obtained a restraining order, chances are the harder we try, the more likely we are to fail. And when bad news emerges -- and it will, every year for every team -- emoting, like urinating, is an act best done in private. Notre Dame is the subject of several popular message boards, but the ownership of an NDNation or Irish Illustrated "handle" does not mean one cannot instead use tried-and-true methods such as private emails, screaming in a car with the windows rolled up, or throwing a lamp into the wall when bad news hits.

Finally, for those of you worried about the future of the Chris Martin-Notre Dame relationship, relax. I think all will turn out fine in the end.

Lo Wood just wrote on my Wall and told me so.