One Foot Down

Country Roads, Take Them Home: Fighting Irish Blow Out Mountaineers, 71-44

2012-02-23T02:17:19Z

One of the themes for the Irish this season is that it's a transition year, as Notre Dame starts to add a different caliber of athlete. That was on display tonight, as red shirt freshman* Jerian Grant was transcendent, knocking down four threes while getting repeatedly to the rim for dunks and lay-ups on his way to a game-high twenty points. His backcourt mate Eric Atkins was nearly as good, notching thirteen points, eight assists and three steals, combining to turn an early deficit into a slim halftime lead and then one more step into an absolute blowout.

* Or sophomore. Whatever. I know Notre Dame technically doesn't have red-shirts, blah blah blah.

The young backcourt was assisted by the old hands up front, as Jack Cooley and Scott Martin helped dominate down low. Cooley was a beast on defense, coming up short on his usual rebounding numbers (six) but rejecting three West Virginia shot attempts. Martin had one of his finest offensive games in an Irish uniform, hitting a pair of fadeaway jumpers and connecting from deep thrice. Villanova hero Pat Connaughton went scoreless, missing both of his shot attempts, but chipped in with five boards, four assists and two steals. Alex Dragicevich had 8 points off the bench, making a pair of threes.

This is not one of Bob Huggins' better defensive teams (it's around 80th in the KenPom defensive efficency rankings), but the way Notre Dame just skewered them in the second half made this a blast of a game to watch. Things started terribly, with West Virginia getting loads of second-chance points and overwhelming the Irish on the boards, but their early advantage was negated by a group effort on the glass, the Irish winning the final rebounding battle 28-24. The Irish perimeter defense continued to be strong, harassing the visitors into going 1-for-11 from behind the arc and accumulating six steals.

However, as great as the team was tonight, my MVP award of the night goes to the student section, who sang "Country Roads" as the clock wound down to zero. There is joy, then there is the Leprechaun Legion serenading West Virginia - playing their final Big East game in the Joyce Center - with Bob Denver's (and Finnies') finest track.

Notre Dame is now 12-3 and on a record nine-game win streak in Big East play. They finish up league play with a trip to terrible St. John's (although that's a place they generally struggle), at Georgetown and home against Providence. A double-bye is likely. A single bye is almost guaranteed. I know it's cliche to say this now, but this is a team we all would have been surprised to see win four games in conference, and that might be their loss total for the season. Amazing work by Brey and his team, and now it's just a matter of seeing how far this ride will take us.

The Unofficial Guide to Rebuilding Notre Dame: Part Three

2012-02-22T12:00:12Z

This is the third of a four-part series focusing on rebuilding and winning at Notre Dame today and for the future.

Part I

Part II

"Essentially what we're talking about with allowing Kelly to rebuild is the gray area involving 7 to 9 wins a season. Any seasons below or above that gray area and Kelly's future becomes much clearer."

Notre Dame as an Attractive Job Destination

It is vastly underrated how more attractive the position of head coach at Notre Dame would become if the poor seasons were wiped out for an extended period of time.

In their desperation, many fans wish to prematurely anoint Brian Kelly a savior or failure---it's part of the Irish DNA at this point. This black and white picture that is painted is the kind that keeps the country's best coaches away. For why would a coach put his reputation on the line without enough levelheadedness surrounding him?

In the past there has been a lot of remorse at the fact that Notre Dame couldn't or wouldn't hire the best and most experienced coach when the opportunity presented itself. Never mind the university's perceived lack of effort for a moment---tell me why a Bob Stoops or Urban Meyer would want to coach at Notre Dame?

In some ways Notre Dame still remains Notre Dame, but this is a What Have You Done For Me Lately business.

And what has Notre Dame done lately to deserve, nay, demand someone like Stoops or Meyer?

Further, Notre Dame has struggled nearly every other season before men like Stoops and Meyer were even head coaches. This rough stretch doesn't exactly stretch back to when they were forming impressions as young kids, but they've grown up as coaches, made a name for themselves, and won championships, all in a world where Notre Dame falls flat on its face on a consistent basis.

Until the Irish stop making a face plant such a common occurrence, you can bet the elite coaches will stay away.

The only way to attract the best of the best in the coaching world is to rebuild the program to the point where the losing seasons are a thing of the past; where the risks of regressing every other year are severely diminished. Do that, and the Notre Dame head coach position will become incredibly more attractive.

Changing Expectations to Aid Rebuilding

No matter how you try to explain it, changing expectations usually comes off as a quest to lower the standards at Notre Dame. But this line of thinking incorrectly assumes that changing expectations means the standards will be lowered forever.

It also fails to take into account that rebuilding a program is a process, that there are steps to be taken to sustained growth, and that screaming at the top of your lungs "give us excellence now" is utterly counterproductive to future goals.

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Keys to Rebuilding: Maintain Healthy Depth Across the Entire Roster

A major key to rebuilding the program is making sure you have the tools to do so---and that means recruiting evenly and filling in holes on your roster where depth is weak.

Right now Kelly has done a great job boosting the defense, but did come up a little short on pure corners in this cycle. Still, he's restocked the depth about as well as possible through two seasons.

What he can't afford to do is miss badly at positions (needing 3 DL, only getting 1; needing 2 QB's, getting none) like his two predecessors did. Sometimes that means making a couple reaches and having to develop them into quality players, but it has to be done for the health of the program.

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In fact, I've never really quite understood the fear and revulsion to rebuilding and changing expectations in the short-term.

You would think Notre Dame was 155-28 over the past 15 years and fans are irrationally supporting a coach because "they like him" and willingly allowing the program to suffer because of some personal attachment.

Certainly Irish fans are passionate and no doubt some become attached to a coach and wish him the best. At the same time, I don't think there are many who really want to keep a coach around precisely to lower expectations.

Is it just money and effort from the ND administration keeping a coach like Saban away?

That is to say, if we were able to look into the future and see the coach following Brian Kelly winning a national title, how many people would say, "But I really like the lowered expectations and less winning, so let's keep Brian Kelly around anyway."

No one would act like that.

The issue isn't the fans who irrationally support a head coach at Notre Dame, and if it is, they're being drowned in a giant sea of vocal anti-coach supporters anyway.

I'm talking about the fans who demand excellence within two years, demand Notre Dame win playing a certain style of play, and demand the Irish follow a predetermined path from history.

These are the type of fans that think because they discovered Charlie Weis wasn't the answer in October 2007 and you didn't give up on him until October 2009, that they're the one who wants to win and you're the one who wants to lower expectations and is satisfied with losing.

These are the type of fans who love calling the other fans naive and uncommitted to winning, but it's not quite that simple. There will come a time when a coach proves more or less that his time at Notre Dame has run its course---but as far as rebuilding efforts are concerned, any Irish coach deserves a prescribed amount of time.

Just because someone jumped ship late in the Weis era doesn't mean they didn't want to win---and you can put the university's actions right up there with that "late" jump too.

What matters most today for Notre Dame is being patient and letting a coach install his system and see what becomes of it. It's true that Notre Dame may have been better off in the long run letting go of Charlie Weis in 2008 or 2009, and it's also true that his program building efforts were poor at best, but the risks of firing him that early versus keeping must be weighed carefully.

Would an elite coach want to step into a situation where the last two Irish coaches got only three seasons each? Would a coach come to South Bend after witnessing that with those two previous leaders going a combined 29-9 over half of their tenures that they were still axed?

If you've fired two coaches after three years each, how does that affect the pool of available coaching candidates? Of course you want to move on from a coaching failure, but who's ready to walk through that door behind that failure?

In most situations (the Willingham era clearly wasn't one of them), preaching patience and re-setting expectations are the keys to rebuilding a struggling program, but getting Notre Dame back on track is never as easy as picking up the phone and bringing in an elite coach.

Like so many things in life, hiring and firing a head coach must be weighed against the risks and rewards. It's a lesson that brings harsh realities to economics, government, and even college football---and its one that people in their Give It To Me Now sensibilities often forget.

What Role is University Leadership Playing?

I realize that having this discussion about rebuilding within our OFD community and on the internet seems pointless at times.

We arguably have little to no influence with the administration and powerful alumni---they are the players holding all the cards, and they are the ones who ultimately oversee the rebuilding process.

For years there's been the belief that the Notre Dame administration simply doesn't care anymore about winning at football and is only concerned about the revenue the team can generate for the rest of the school.

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Keys to Rebuilding: Push the Envelope with New Technology

Notre Dame has a problem of making its margin for error so small due to a variety of factors (academics, no gray shirting, no over-signing, etc.) and has done itself no favors in the past by relying almost exclusively on tradition as the main selling point for the football team.

Notre Dame was behind the curve when it came to state of the art equipment, in the locker room, with a training table, and inside the stadium. This isn't about demanding a video board or FieldTurf right this moment, but instead cautioning the university from turning its back on technology and progress now and in the future.

The university has been turning the rusty gears more often in recent years with the new Gug athletic complex and welcoming different ideas into the gameday atmosphere as examples, but it must be on-going like much of the rebuilding process.

There's no room for complacency in the world of college football where big money and research is giving teams all over the country that new cutting edge. At Notre Dame---where let's be honest, every little edge can matter---it is best to keep an open mind about new advancements in all fields and support various ways to help the football team succeed.

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Your eyes are closed if you don't think there's some division between the football team and the school, that the relationship between the two sides has been contentious at times, or that the university has always done its best and put its full power of resources behind the Irish football program.

At the same time, the tin foil must be well positioned on your head to think that there's an institutionalized policy of apathy towards the football team from the entire university leadership, or even a majority of leadership.

No doubt we can look back at many decisions over the past 15 to 20 years and lament some very poor choices by the Notre Dame administration. Further, a solid case could be made that in the past certain high profile leaders (not the entire leadership) were indifferent (or at least not very rabid in their support) to the success of the football team.

President Jenkins has committed many resources to the football team.

However, I'd like to make three points:

1) Most people want to take something inherently complex (a large collection of leaders who are mixing social, educational, religious, athletic, monetary, and ethic responsibilities) and make it simple, when it is clearly not so.

This leads to a lot of generic blanket statements about a diverse group of people, as well as oversimplified statements such as, "The administration needed to hire Coach X, but they did not, therefore they do not care about winning."

While certainly deserving of plenty of criticism then and now, this oversimplification can be a gross distortion at times. Those in leadership positions at Notre Dame are easy and convenient targets, but most times it's simple to criticize their job while completely free from their responsibilities.

2) The jobs for the leaders at Notre Dame is incredibly difficult

As far as taking care of the football team and setting it up for success, Notre Dame isn't Alabama. Unless you want to change the core identity of the university, it will never be as simple as throwing a ton of money at a coach and all of the problems will be magically solved.

Further, it's not discussed enough that Notre Dame is filled with good people who are trying their best---but given the circumstances, pressure, and difficulty of their jobs---have made honest mistakes, hired the wrong people at times, and failed to understand the amount of effort and precision it takes to rebuild Irish football.

3) Their performance has improved in recent years

If the leaders of Notre Dame have to live with the the disappointments of the last two decades, then they also should be commended for their efforts in recent years.

President Jenkins and AD Jack Swarbrick are significant upgrades in their positions and have made positive moves for the football team since taking their posts, and this is a very good sign for the future.

Switching to the 6-5-1 scheduling model, navigating the conference realignment waters and staying independent, bringing back night home games, fixing the helmet color, adding traditional powers to the schedule, instituting the training table, airing the spring game on national television, bringing in high profile transfers, trying to get Amir Carlisle to play in 2012, and yes, hiring a coach with only 56 losses over 20 years, a 78% career winning percentage, and coming off an undefeated season---these are all decisions that put an emphasis on football and making a winning program a top priority.

Coming up in part four:

What if Kelly Fails?

A Plea for Patience

WR/ATH Davonte Neal is Irish!

2012-02-21T20:50:01Z

Photo courtesy of Bud Elliot-SBNation

Coach Brian Kelly received his 17^th(and final) commitment for the 2012 recruiting class today from WR/ATH Davonte Neal (Paradise Valley, AZ - Chaparral). Neal is the two-time reigning Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Arizona and has been the focus of Irish fan obsession since National Signing Day. He is listed at 5'9", 170 lbs and runs a 4.49 40 yard dash.

Davonte is-simply put-a playmaker on either side of the football. He played both WR and CB in high school and could play either at a very high level in college. He is electric with the ball in his hands and had over 1,000 yards rushing and receiving during his senior campaign.

Recruiting Service Rankings:

ESPN - 5 star (#1 AZ, #1 ATH), #8 Overall (85 Grade)

Rivals - 4 star (#3 AZ, #17 WR), #107 Overall (5.9 Grade)

Scout - 4 star (#5 CB), #74 Overall

247Sports- 4 star (#1 AZ, #6 ATH), #56 Overall (96 Grade)

MaxPreps - 4 star (#4 Wingback), #67 Overall

Highlights after the jump.

Highlights:

Davonte Neal Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)

Impact:

Immediate Future:

Davonte is just too talented to not see the field as a freshman. I think he starts the year as one of the kick returners and should compete as a punt returner as well. There have been reports that the staff wants to use as many as seven WRs in a regular rotation, so expect him to see some time as the slot receiver this season.

Long Term/Career:

With the electric play-making ability, I fully expect plenty of highlight reel material over the next few years from Mr. Neal. He is the kind of player that puts a lot of stress on opposing defenses just by being on the field. He reminds me a lot of Golden Tate, but more polished as a receiver coming out of high school. He will be very exciting to watch for the next few falls.

Welcome to Notre Dame Davonte!

The Unofficial Guide to Rebuilding Notre Dame: Part Two

2012-02-21T12:00:14Z

This is the second of a four-part series focusing on rebuilding and winning at Notre Dame today and for the future.

For part one, click here.

"This series of articles is not an excuse for failure, an apology for Brian Kelly's first two seasons, nor a prediction for major success in the coming years at Notre Dame, but rather testimony that honest and patient rebuilding can lead to a restoration of winning in South Bend."

Is Brian Kelly Rebuilding?

Looking back at the tenures of Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis it's easy to say that they failed, underperformed, and were not able to rebuild the dynasty that is Irish football. If you're willing to admit that much (and I'm pretty sure everyone is) then you should be able to admit that Notre Dame needs to be rebuilt.

So, is Brian Kelly actually rebuilding Notre Dame?

Kelly is rebuilding and doing pretty well so far, but has plenty of room for improvement. He's targeted the team's major weakness (defense) and improved that unit rather remarkably, he's preached mental toughness and made some inroads there, his message (along with the rest of the staff) has been consistent, and the fundamentals in most areas have been much-improved.

Kelly has also brought a new sense of personal responsibility upon the players, demanded more from them in terms of attention to details both on and off the field, while also reorganizing the players' routines and stressing how important the strength and conditioning program is.

Kelly's experience and closeness with strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo alone has been a major part to literally physically rebuilding the players and making sure they are full of energy and strength late in games and throughout a full season.

In short, the amount of improving fundamental issues so vital to rebuilding have been patently obvious for those who wish to see it. Winning more football games is the final and most important piece to the puzzle, but the rebuilding elsewhere has definitely started to take root.

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Keys to Rebuilding: Avoid Losing Seasons

It's emphasized in this Unofficial Guide to Rebuilding Notre Dame far enough. A Fighting Irish program that can go 5 years, 7 years, or even a decade without a losing season will be a much stronger program---even if there aren't any BCS bowl games in there.

Forget about the empty Return to Glory™ dreams and a fast-track to major bowl victories and championships within a three-year period---think about the wonders it could do for Notre Dame when her enemies can no longer point to the Golden Dome every other year and say, "Look how far away they are from playing top-level football."

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Thus, Kelly's rebuilding efforts should buy more patience from fans---not forever of course---but at this point in time there shouldn't be a coaching search underway because Notre Dame isn't lining up for a BCS bowl bid. Not when the line play has been drastically improved, the running game made big strides for the first time in a decade, the defense continued playing at a high level, and the Irish finished 2011 inside the top 15 in Football Outsider's FEI, S&P, and F/+ national rankings.

If you're not wrapped up in the belief that Brian Kelly needs to win 10 games in 2012 to save his job or that at the end of year three we'll know all we need to know about him, you will find that there have been a lot of positive trends happening in South Bend.

We'll have to see how the next couple seasons play out, but Kelly sits fairly comfortably with the way he's improved Notre Dame so far since 2010.

How Long Should Kelly Be Allowed to Rebuild?

Ah, the million-dollar question.

First, let me pose another question: What if Brian Kelly wins 8 or 9 games---no more, no less---for the next four seasons?

Is that unacceptable? Would six full seasons without double-digit victories mean Notre Dame is truly satisfied with mediocrity? Is that really mediocrity given Notre Dame's recent past in the internet age?

Will Paul Longo be a key component to rebuilding Notre Dame?

Kelly is going to get 5 years minimum and until there's a stinker of a season or obvious lack of development or crumbling of the rebuilding effort, the heat should be relatively low. We know that might not be the case, but that should be the reality for a program with so many .500 and below seasons since the end of the Holtz era.

Essentially what we're talking about with allowing Kelly to rebuild is the gray area involving 7 to 9 wins a season. Any seasons below or above that gray area and Kelly's future becomes much clearer.

But within that gray area, there should be much more patience and a willingness to forsake starting all over again with a new coach after 4 or 5 years versus allowing Notre Dame to build a foundation and identity through long-term stability.

If Brian Kelly does not end a season with 6 or fewer wins, the main goal should be to continue under his leadership to the point where Notre Dame is a stable program, free from disaster, and much more attractive to a new and more proven coach who may be able to get the Irish over the hump.

Everyone wants an elite coach in South Bend, but it's not as simple as calling up Bob Stoops and throwing the bank at him. We can go round and round with the circular argument that the administration doesn't care, and that's why an elite coach won't come to Notre Dame---or also that an elite coach won't come to Notre Dame because the administration has hired bad coaches in the past and simply can't or won't hire the best coaches today.

When you set the bar at "hire an elite coach or it's a failure" or "you have three years to prove you're an elite coach" you're fundamentally misunderstanding how to rebuild and only digging a deeper hole for Notre Dame.

With the historical arc the Irish program has been on since Holtz left, the answer is not likely (at least initially) going to come from an elite coach (Stoops, Meyer, Saban, etc.) because those leaders will not come to Notre Dame with its track record of instability and impediments to quick success.

More than likely, the path to success will come from hiring a coach with a very good track record who comes to Notre Dame and raises the winning percentage, stops the bleeding of losing seasons every other year, and stabilizes the program to where it is attractive to the nation's best leaders.

Brian Kelly may be that coach.

The Power of Not Sucking

Irish fans love talking about mediocrity. The three levels in football (according to some) are domination, mediocrity, and sucking. Hence, why you see back-to-back 8-5 seasons described as utterly mediocre.

However, one of the major steps that needs to take place in a real rebuilding effort is eliminating the .500 or below seasons---in other words, removing the country's ability to point to a season at Notre Dame and say, "The Irish are falling apart yet again!"

Not only is a bottoming out once or twice a sign of bad coaching, it also reverses any momentum and rebuilding efforts that might have been undertaken. Right now, avoiding this bottoming out is much more important than reaching the upper-echelon of college football.

Today, fans should be tentatively pleased that there hasn't been a bottoming out under Kelly, but still some can't accept this and continue to persist that year three will define his coaching career in South Bend.

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Keys to Rebuilding: Develop the Quarterback Position

This one is so obvious, especially in the immediate future of the program. Given Kelly's history, you have to like his odds at figuring out the quarterback battle over the next few seasons, but it's still a problem that needs to be addressed.

Kelly would also be wise to take the handcuffs off and run his offense the way in which he is comfortable---at full speed and without much hesitation.

He's deliberately turned away from a more explosive offense that takes it to the opponent in favor of a more ball-control oriented offense intent on slowing things down and focusing on the details in light of Notre Dame's strong line play and tough defense. However, Kelly might want to re-visit this decision and go all in with his "normal" offense.

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What's interesting is that there's this great fear of Notre Dame sinking into mediocrity, passing each year with 8-5 type seasons, with recruiting falling apart as the university gladly rakes in the millions in revenue.

In the 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009, Notre Dame had 6 campaigns end at or below .500, yet somehow we're supposed to think 8-5 is "sinking" into mediocrity? 8-5 is a statistical improvement---yet leave it to some fans to say that improvement isn't good enough at Notre Dame.

The thing is, the Irish have suffered 9 seasons (when you count the years in which the Irish were one game over .500) since the mid-90's that were sub-par for most programs' standards, yet here the Irish are still standing with great facilities and a talented roster. Oh, how things could be so much worse.

Willingham was the first college football coach to be Sporting News' Sportsman of the Year---he was fired less than two years later.

I fail to see how stringing together a bunch of 8-5 seasons, and boosting the programs winning percentage along the way, would be a disaster and ruin Notre Dame's recruiting---not when we've just witnessed 15+ years of worse football and still with the roster talent far outweighing the team's results during that period.

Of course, one could argue that multiple seasons without a Return to Glory™ campaign thrown in periodically would hurt the program, but at the same time, we've never seen the effect of a stable Notre Dame in modern times without losing seasons littered all over the place.

This point can't be hammered home enough: When Notre Dame stops having poor seasons nearly every other season, then the program will finally be on the road to recovery. This has to happen to make the Irish head coaching job one worth an putting an elite leaders reputation on the line---it's not going to happen simply because "Notre Dame is Notre Dame" and there's all this history and tradition to look back on.

Coming up in part three:

Notre Dame as an Attractive Job Destination

Changing Expectations to Aid Rebuilding

What Role is University Leadership Playing?

This Week in Notre Dame Athletics: Two Big East Titles Come to South Bend

2012-02-21T11:01:10Z

Welcome to another edition of This Week in Notre Dame Athletics.

It's a busy time of the season as some winter sports are winding down and the spring sports are starting their regular seasons. For today's post, men's golf, softball, baseball, and both lacrosse teams make their first appearance on TWINDA.

The Irish also brought home a couple championships over the week as well, so there's plenty to celebrate.

Women's Basketball: 26-2 overall, 13-1 Big East

When we last checked in with McGraw's troops, they had just lost their second game of the season at home to West Virginia. Since then they added a 19-point victory over Providence and yesterday afternoon's 68-52 road win over Louisville.

"I think we're finally getting back to playing with our swag, playing our style of basketball. And it feels good. We're having fun out there again," said Diggins, who added seven assists. "We're smiling, we're laughing, you know what I mean? With that tough schedule, we took it too serious, kind of lost the fun in it."

Diggins led the Irish with 21 points against the Cardinals.

The women hoops team finishes up the regular season with a tilt against USF on Saturday and on the road against UConn next Monday.

Men's Hockey: 16-15-3 overall, 11-12-3 CCHA

The hockey team if officially in the dumps.

After needing some points two weekends ago against CCHA-leading Ferris State, the Irish were swept in convincing fashion and followed that up this weekend with the same as Miami of Ohio swept Notre Dame 3-0 and 4-1.

The hockey team has now lost 5 in a row and 9 of their last 12 games. However, they still remain ranked at No. 18, falling 5 spots from last week.

They will host Michigan State---who just swept Alaska---to close out the 2011-12 regular season.

Swimming: 6-4 (Men's) & 6-6 (Women's)

The Notre Dame men's diving team gave the program the lead at the Big East championship, and on Friday the swimmers brought home the conference title.

This is the fifth Big East title for the men's swimming and diving team, as they defeated the two-time defending champion in Louisville by 27.5 points.

Junior Bill Bass was named Most Outstanding Swimmer, while head coach Tim Welsh won Coach of the Year. Nick Nemetz also won Diver of the Year from last week as well.

The women's side came out of the diving portion in second, but ultimately couldn't overcome Louisville's lead for the Big East title after the swimming portion.

The team did enjoy some success during the competition however with the Irish winning the 400 free relay and 400 medley relay. Emma Reaney won the 200 IM and 100 breast, and Kelly Ryan won the 100 free.

Both swimming and diving teams are preparing for the NCAA meets coming up in March.

Fencing: 29-6 (Men's) & 25-6 (Women's)

The fencing teams continue to rest and train for their conference championships coming up in two weekends.

Tennis: 9-4 (Men's) & 6-3 (Women's)

Men's tennis played just one match since last week, and it was a big 4-3 defeat of Michigan---which always feels good.

The Irish lost the doubles match, but took 4 of the 6 singles matches for the victory.

The women tennis stars hosted two teams this weekend and split their matches. Notre Dame lost to North Carolina 4-3, but rebounded for a 4-3 win over Illinois on Sunday.

The women also lost their doubles match in their win, but came back to take the singles portion. They will host Georgia Tech and Indiana this weekend while the men host Michigan State and Marquette on a Sunday double-header this weekend.

Track and Field

The women track and field stars placed 5th at the Big East championship---their highest finish in nearly half a decade.

The men's side had much more success bringing home its 5th Big East indoor title.

"We knew we were in pretty good shape after day one when we qualified a lot of guys," said head coach Joe Piane. "However, UConn is a very good team and they put a little bit of pressure on us when they had some good performances in the heptathlon and shot put. But the guys performed exceptionally well.

We had gone through a little bit of a dry spell, but this title shows we are doing the right things to get ready for the NCAA Indoor Championships and the outdoor season."

1st place finishers over the weekend included:

Patrick Feeney in the 400 meter dash.

Jeremy Rae in the mile.

Jordan Carlson in the 3,000 meter.

Football players Josh and George Atkinson had a strong showing as well. Josh finished 5th in the 60 meter dash and 6th in the 200 meter, while George finished 3rd in the 200 meter.

USF football player and sophomore Lindsey Lamar took the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.78 seconds.

Golf: Men's

The men's golf team was down in Orlando, Florida for the Match Play event and took home the championship in the process. Tom Usher, Chris Walker, and Niall Platt all went a perfect 4-0 over the 2-day event.

For his efforts, Platt was named the Big East Golfer of the Week.

The team will rest for 2 weeks before heading to Hilton Head for the Alumni Match Weekend on March 3rd and 4th.

Baseball: 2-1

The Irish baseball team was down in St. Petersburg, Florida for the Big East/Big Ten Challenge, ending the weekend with a 2-1 record to start the season.

Notre Dame defeated Illinois 13-12 and Iowa 5-2, but then got hammered by Purdue on Sunday 15-8.

Notre Dame led the Boilers 4-1 after 5 innings, but surrendered 9 runs in the top of the 6th inning as Purdue ultimately took advantage of NINE errors from the Irish.

The team will travel to the USA Baseball Complex in Carey, North Carolina for three games against Hofstra this weekend.

Softball: 1-4

The girls softball team got off to a rocky start this season, dropping games to San Diego State (8-3), San Diego (4-2), and Oregon State (3-2) in Campbell/Cartier Classic played in San Diego.

They rebounded with a 6-4 win over UC Santa Barbara, but lost the last game of the weekend to Boise State 3-1.

The Irish travel to Chapel Hill for the North Carolina Invite to face Penn State, UNC, and Minnesota this weekend.

Lacrosse: 1-0 (Men's) & 1-0 (Women's)

The No. 9 ranked men's lacrosse team opened their season with a resounding 7-3 win over No. 2 Duke.

Notre Dame fell behind 2-0, but went on to score 7 unanswered goals in the win.

"I thought we competed like crazy today," said Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan. "I don't know if it's as pretty of a win as we would have liked because I thought we had a chance to make a lot more plays. Defensively, we did a great job. One of the themes for us this year is to have good awareness of ourselves, our opponents and what's going on during the course of the game and I thought we did that really well today."

The men will host Penn State this Sunday at 1PM.

The women also won their home opener, defeating Stanford 17-14.

"It always feels good when your team takes what it worked on in practice and applies it to the game and you get a win," said first year head coach Christine Halfpenny. "It definitely feels good to be 1-0 at Notre Dame."

"Overall we are really excited in our performance in the first half," stated Halfpenny. "We came out strong and we accomplished our goal of winning the first 10 minutes of the game. The win definitely builds confidence. Stanford made adjustments in the second half and we stayed poised and composed."

The women will host Duquesne this Saturday at noon.

Student-Athlete of the Week: Maggie Tamasitis (women's lacrosse)

Senior attack from Boyertown, Pennsylvania coming off an All-Big East and 3rd Team All-American junior campaign. Maggie was also a two-time U.S. lacrosse high school All-American.
Led Notre Dame in scoring last year with 67 points on 21 goals. Opened the season this year with 1 goal and 6 assists against Stanford.
Tamasitis is majoring in Film, Television, and Theater in the College of Arts & Letters.

The Unofficial Guide to Rebuilding Notre Dame: Part One

2012-02-20T12:00:13Z

This is the first of a four-part series focusing on rebuilding and winning at Notre Dame today and for the future.

Rebuilding.

That word generates a lot of opinion, reaction, and argument from Notre Dame fans in 2012.

This is because it's hard to define and can mean a lot of different things to various people when broken down in the world of college football and the Notre Dame program.

For some, it means fixing what is broken.

For others it means restoring the past.

And for someone else, it means a remodeling effort.

The truth is that Notre Dame needs a little of all the detailed definitions above, but the problems and roadblocks inherent in such rebuilding are numerous---the greatest of which may be a popular culture based on tradition that has made it difficult to understand, recognize, or accept the need for rebuilding

This series of articles is not an excuse for failure, an apology for Brian Kelly's first two seasons, nor a prediction for major success in the coming years at Notre Dame, but rather testimony that honest and patient rebuilding can lead to a restoration of winning in South Bend.

Tradition is Dead

One of the biggest troubles surrounding Notre Dame is the belief held by some that the Irish program doesn't need rebuilding in the first place.

If you think the past success of Rockne, Leahy, and even Holtz means Notre Dame doesn't have to rebuild, you might want to stop reading now in order to continue living in your protected bubble. That is because Notre Dame is creeping up on 20 years without being a consistent national contender---and when you're trying to rebuild a program---a collection of dusty banners, trophies, and awards mean very little.

Don't get me wrong, tradition is important at Notre Dame and plays many roles for the University and most specifically as a tool to bring in talented recruits, but once those athletes step on campus their future success on the field has nothing to do with Gus Dorias or Chris Zorich.

Surely no coaching staff would begin a new career at Yale and believe the main ingredient to their future success is tradition just because the Bulldogs used to be great once upon a time.

Yet, the belief still exists that since Notre Dame was once great, it's road back to glory should be easy---or at least easier than the vast majority of other programs.

"What do you mean it's been almost 20 years?"

Unfortunately, it is not easy but more difficult than ever---especially when a rebuilding coach is trying to fix what's broken, yet is being assailed for not properly restoring the past and being undercut at every corner because his remodeling effort is deemed to go against tradition.

Again, this is not to say that tradition isn't important or plays a role in a successful program. What it means is that in the case of a nearly 20-year slumping Notre Dame, it does more harm than good. It can blind people from seeing real progress and sets the bar so high that potential rebuilding can be foresaken^ because it doesn't meet a certain level of excellence in a certain amount of years.

^This is something that could happen, and does not mean Davie, Willingham, or Weis were in fact rebuilding properly or deserved more time to do so.

For the best tradition is the tradition of winning in the here and now, and the worst tradition is the tradition of winning in the past and being unable to rebuild for tomorrow.

A New Notre Dame

There's not much need to go into all of the ways that Notre Dame has changed as a university since the internet age began, but suffice to say that it's been somewhat significant. In athletics, the changes in the college football world since the early 1990's have been enormously significant.

Together, both set of changes have decreased the margin of error at Notre Dame to an extremely low level.

Like the refusal to admit a rebuilding process needs to take place to begin with, some also refuse to accept the social, cultural, academic, and athletic changes that have impacted Notre Dame.

Some include:

The significance of the NBC contract has been diminished.
Scholarship reductions across the NCAA.
Recruiting (while still strong) doesn't approach the embarrassment of riches it once did.
Many of the nation's best players don't drool at the thought of playing at Notre Dame---in some cases, as with Louis Nix, they practically don't even know Notre Dame exists.
Classes and academic life are harder than ever.
The SEC and other programs seemingly playing by different rules.
The general campus culture has broadened to new and spectacular heights---removing Notre Dame from the football factory label as much as any time in history.

Additionally, while Notre Dame has had successful athletic teams in past decades, never before have all the teams been as collectively dominant as they are today---all while the former king in football still struggles to reach its once proud heights.

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Keys to Rebuilding: Keep the Coaching Staff as Solidified as Possible

It's inevitable that any successful coaching staff will be poached, and a program that isn't performing well may be better off bringing in new coaches anyway, so there's going to be a natural turnover.

Notre Dame experienced a shakeup this offseason, but was able to retain the three most important coaches in Diaco, Alford, and Martin. Moving forward it will be important for rebuilding to keep these teachers and recruiters around to be able to solidify that consistent message: This is the type of players we recruit at Notre Dame, this is the type of defense we play, these are the attributes we are looking for at the high school level, and this is how we do things at Notre Dame.

Don't underestimate the power and appeal of a steady and reliable message from Notre Dame for more than 3 to 5 years, and how a consistent approach to coaching and recruiting will make player development easier and allow high schools all over the country to be more comfortable with what Notre Dame has to offer.

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For example, what is the number one selling point for Notre Dame coaches to prospective recruits? What are they using as the primary tool to sway Davonte Neal right now?

The 40-year decision.

Was that the case in 1928? Or 1948? Or 1967?

Sure, academics have always been important at Notre Dame, but the 40-year decision has become the ultimate tool for recruiting whereas in the past it was undoubtedly winning and other assorted football related themes.

That is why rebuilding needs to be seen through this lens of a new Notre Dame.

It is highly unlikely that any future Notre Dame coach brings about a long run of national dominance, or given the state of affairs since 1994, come in and turn the clock back to 1965 after 30 months. If that's the only way you'll be satisfied with a coach in South Bend, prepare to take disappointment with you to your grave.

The issue of rebuilding isn't about lowering expectations, it's about setting the program up for a long-term future that will allow Notre Dame to achieve it's goal---winning a national title again.

Read that last sentence again for clear understanding of this Guide.

A new history needs to be written at Notre Dame; A new plan based on rebuilding and patience needs to be undertaken. The past means very little to this future endeavor, and strict sentiments of what past coaches did by year three should not automatically determine if a current coach has failed or not.

When Notre Dame is far different than every school in the country, it's unwise to point to what other programs have done and believe that is what has to be done in South Bend. When Notre Dame has changed and grown as a university it is rash to point at what the Irish program has done in the past and believe that is exactly how the script must be followed.

For if there is a college team that will do things a little differently, and win a title in an unconventional way, it is probably going to be Notre Dame.

Don't expect success to follow the same path as past Notre Dame teams, and get comfortable with the Irish taking an unfamiliar historical route to sustained success.

So What Needs to be Fixed? What is Rebuilding Anyway?

It's incredibly useful for Notre Dame fans to define what needs to be done and understand exactly what rebuilding means today.

Luckily the physical structures are in place for success---something that wasn't true 10 years ago--- but they also haven't had time to take root over many classes.

The Guglielmino athletic complex is state-of-the-art and provides players with everything they need in terms of preparation. The training table has arrived and gives players proper year-round nutrition. The locker room is spacious and updated. The stadium is large and full on each home Saturday.

For the most part these are the easy fixes---the ones that a wealthy university should take care of---but they are ones that are not the core problems. They are helpful for sure (much like a video board or consistent playing surface would be), and some are more important than others (proper nutrition far outweighs having music played through the PA system), but they are periphery concerns in comparison to the real issues surrounding the players and coaches themselves.

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Keys to Rebuilding: Beat More Ranked Teams

Over the five-year Weis era, Notre Dame beat just one football team that finished the season ranked---Penn State in 2006 sneaking in at No. 24 in the AP and No. 25 in the Coaches Poll.

In fact, in the 16 seasons from 1994 to 2009, the Fighting Irish beat just five ranked teams that went on to win at least 10 games that year, while Brian Kelly has achieved this in back-to-back seasons with victories over Utah in 2010 and Michigan State this past season.

It's a hopeful sign for sure, but Kelly still needs to improve as he is only 2-6 (2-7 if you count 2011 USC) versus teams who end the season ranked. Most coaches are going to have head scratching losses from time to time, but Notre Dame desperately needs that regain that upset gene, pull closer to .500 against ranked teams, and especially hold down the home field advantage and make opponents worry about competing inside the House that Rock Built.

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The much more difficult and important aspects to rebuilding revolve around coaching, consistency, mental toughness*, continuity, building sustainable depth, and fixing team weaknesses and lack of production.

*Mental toughness is a huge part of the rebuilding effort at Notre Dame---but at the same time it is so hard to measure or quantify. For those who have played sports at a reasonably high level, you know how important it is, and really you know it when you see it, or conversely, how obvious it is when a team doesn't have it. Mental toughness should definitely be a high priority for Kelly & Co. right now.

Putting the methods of the current Brian Kelly regime aside for the moment, we may agree the levels of the above program health indicators were at absolutely dreadful lows following the 2009 season.

In recent years Notre Dame has hired three coaches unprepared to take on the responsibilities of rebuilding in one form or another, and this affected the culture of the football team in an enormous way.

Weis crying: No, Notre Dame did not win this game.

The team was never able to win at a high level or sustain a consistent level of winning. It was always peaks and valleys---with far too many valleys and no breakthrough upsets to turn the tide.

The mental toughness was downright atrocious at times, with even the smallest of negative circumstances defeating the team long before the end of the game.

At many positions (defensive line especially) the depth was nowhere near where it should be for a strong D-1 team.

And also many positions were terribly unproductive and dependent upon 2 or 3 players carrying that side of the ball (especially on offense).

You can cite the recruiting rankings all you want, but when a coach comes into the above situation and is also forced to coach within the parameters of Notre Dame's rules (no JUCO's, no grayshirting, no oversigning, no player dorms, no easy classes, etc.) the ability to rebuild and reload becomes an epic challenge.

The easy solution is to simply hire a top-level coach, which makes sense since the head coach is mostly responsible for continuing an already built foundation or rebuilding a new one. But with every failed coaching regime, the chances to land the top-level coach dwindles, the margin for error decreases even more, and recruits stop believing in a bright future.

The problem for Notre Dame in the 21st Century is that rebuilding is needed more than ever, yet the patience for such rebuilding is still frighteningly lacking in part because of Irish tradition but also because of the past three failed coaches.

In fact, the Irish are stuck in this bizarre world where some fans can moan about the lack of success for nearly two decades, wail at how far the program has fallen, beat their chests with the lack of dominant play---and then turn right around and refuse to buy into any rebuilding effort.

As long as there remain several positive trends and there are no 3 or 5-win seasons, the Irish faithful should be very hesitant to move on to yet another new coach. Since Kelly hasn't dipped to that level yet, and has improved the program from its 2007-09 malaise, the patience levels should be reasonably high.

Coming up in part two:

Is Brian Kelly Rebuilding?

How Long Should Kelly be Allowed to Rebuild?

The Power of Not Sucking.

Notre Dame Football Recruiting 2012: Deciphering Defensive Backs, Part 2

2012-02-20T11:00:14Z

Welcome to the fifth of a ~~five~~ six* part, in-depth series on the 2012 Notre Dame football recruiting class. I unveiled the OFD average grades for the newest members of the Fighting Irish family on the day after NSD.

*with five DBs in the class, one post became a bit too large to completely digest

The grades for QB and RB can be found here.

The grades for OL and LS can be found here.

The grades for DL and LB can be found here.

The grades for DBs, Part 1 can be found here.

This installment focuses on the remaining defensive backs: S Elijah Shumate, S C.J. Prosise and S/ATH Nicky Baratti.

The transcript from Coach Brian Kelly's press conference on national signing day can be found here.

Official OFD Recruit Grading Scale:

95-100: Elite impact freshman with All-American potential

90-94: Multi-year starter with All-conference potential

85-89: Eventual starter with chance to play as underclassman

80-84: Raw prospect with decent potential but a couple years away from impact

75-79: Likely a backup

70-74: Reach by the coaching staff

Note: All Height/Weight/40 times as listed on 247Sports.com

S Elijah Shumate

Ramsey, NJ - Don Bosco -- 6'1"/185/4.50

OFD Average: 89

Elijah Shumate Don Bosco - NJ (via MrGordon550)

More after the jump.

Brian Kelly's thoughts from the signing day press conference:

Out of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, Elijah Shumate. Here is a young man who played on the best high school team, well coached, Coach Toal does an incredible job of teaching and demanding excellence from his kids on a day to day basis, and that's why this was an immediate thing for us, because he's been down that road, excellence in the classroom and on the football field he's already heard that story, so this isn't anything new to Elijah Shumate.

He's a young man that played running back, returned kicks, played safety position. He's got great versatility, can play off the hash, close to the ball, excited about having Elijah with us. He's a young man and his family understood and recognized what Notre Dame could do for him, and we're excited about Elijah Shumate being part of our program.

Whiskey: 90

Shumate is the best specimen of all the safety recruits. He could crack the two deep quickly and turn into a contributor as early as this fall.

Eric: 89

Brawny recruit with great strength and tackling ability. Perfect sized safety with the toughness to play the hybrid outside linebacker role. Good football speed with good instincts. Without elite speed and coverage skills he's just under the elite recruits in the class. Likely the long-term answer at safety.

Burger: 90

Very physical. He looks like a player who likes to play up near the line of scrimmage. With Motta and Slaughter both gone after this season, the Irish need Shumate and the other safety prospects to be ready to play in 2013. It wouldn't surprise me to see him to get more and more live reps as the season goes on to get him ready for the 2013 season, kind of like Bennett Jackson last year.

Jim: 88

Primarily played OLB his senior year of high school and brings a LB mentality to the S position. Probably will be utilized in a very similar fashion to the way Jamoris Slaughter was towards the end of 2011 and has a comparable style. I think he makes an immediate impact on special teams and won't be surprised if he breaks the two-deep at strong safety this fall.

S C.J. Prosise

Woodberry Forest, VA - Woodberry Forest -- 6'2"/190

OFD Average: 84

CJ Prosise (via TINZBERRYENT)

Brian Kelly's thoughts from the signing day press conference:

Out of Woodberry Forest, C.J. Prosise, First Team All State and, again, when you talk about and I'm being redundant with each of these young men, but when you talk about the defensive backfield, we wanted versatility back there, because he can return punts, kick offs, and when you're talking about our defense he is somebody that can play half the field. He has to be a great tackler at times, he will be asked to play close to the line of scrimmage, he has the size and the athletic ability and, again, coming from Woodberry Forest, an excellent academic institution, there was a great connection right out of the starting box for us with C.J.

Whiskey: 82

CJ is a great athlete but very raw. He will need some development time but could turn into a solid contributor a couple of years down the road.

Eric: 84

One of the better athletes in the class. Coverage ability and instincts are top-notch. A little bit stiff as a runner and more of a glider. Shows great ball skills and will be a good centerfield-type safety. Needs to get thicker and more physical. Starter potential but likely a couple years away.

Burger: 84

Good size, good speed, and good athleticism. He'll probably play early on special teams, as a gunner on kickoffs and punts and maybe as a returner. He's about the same size as Slaughter, so he should be physically ready to play, but of course will need to a season or two to learn the defense. Look for him to be in the hunt for one of the safety position in 2013.

Jim: 85

I think he will pay immediate dividends on special teams in both kick coverage and as a gunner on the punting unit. Flew a little under the radar because he didn't hit the combine circuit. He has phenomenal ball-skills and doesn't shy away from contact. I think BK and staff found a tremendous talent at free safety and I expect him to be a multi-year starter, beginning as soon as 2013.

S/ATH Nicky Baratti

Spring, TX - Klein Oak -- 6'2"/215/4.46

OFD Average: 83

Nick Baratti - 2012 Notre Dame Football Signee (via NotreDameAthletics)

Brian Kelly's thoughts from the signing day press conference:

We will start with Nick Baratti. He was named All State in Texas, which is certainly not a feat that is easy to accomplish. He's an extremely versatile athlete. This year he played tight end, he has played quarterback, we see him fitting well in at the safety position for us, an outstanding athlete, great young man and somebody we're excited about here at the University of Notre Dame. Nick Baratti.

Whiskey: 82

Baratti was a Texas HS QB and has great measurables. I still don't buy his 4.46 40 time, but if that's legit he will be a factor on the defense soon. In some ways he kind of reminds me of Hayseed. I just hope he has a similar motor. He has said that the staff wants him to fill that hybrid OLB/S role which could get him on the field quicker.

Eric: 83

If the speed numbers hold up, potentially a game changing athlete. Projected to be a hybrid safety/linebacker and could grow into a great drop ‘backer. The biggest enigma of the class. Scary combination of size and speed. Potential might not be as high as others in the class, but could play before most.

Burger: 83

Another player with a surprising amount of athleticism who might make a mark on special teams early on. He's projected as a safety, but I think there's a decent chance he'll fill out and could be pushed down to linebacker.

Jim: 83

I am beginning to think if you look up "football player" in the dictionary, it might include a picture of Baratti. He played everywhere in high school-QB, TE, RB, WR, S and even punter. And that was in a single game. I don't know where he ends up (hence the ATH tag), but I am sure that he will make an impact on one side of the ball or the other. Did I mention that he had better 10- and 20-yd splits that Ronald Darby in the 40 yd dash?

Furious Irish Comeback Leads to 8th Win in a Row

2012-02-19T05:14:03Z

Mike Brey wore his button down again, swag-alicious 3's went in late and at the end of the night, chants of "Let's Go Irish!" filled the emptying Wells Fargo Arena as the newly ranked #23 Notre Dame mounted a comeback victory of epic proportions to win their 8th game in a row.

It's late, so let's jump right to the recap of the 74-70 Irish overtime victory below.... after the... jump

A few minutes into the first half it was evident that Notre Dame was being outworked on both ends of the court, lacking crisp movement on offense and not rotating fast enough on defense. The Irish were particularly overwhelmed on the boards as the undermanned Villanova squad came out of the gates determined to put in the effort to upset their newly ranked opponent.

Villanova was without two of their starters, including their best player Maalik Wayns for the second straight game and while freshman forward JayVaughn Pinkston and guard Dominic Cheek paced Jay Wright's squad with 24 and 19 each, their late game execution clearly showed that they were shorthanded and inexperienced as in the end they were overwhelmed visiting's teams late, calculated and deliberate comeback effort.

Fearless freshman Pat Connaughton hit 7 three pointers throughout the night including 2 in overtime that sealed the win. Fellow freshman Jerian Grant struggled for the first 35 minutes of the game, until he realized the game was winnable. Then he decided to get his swag on and hit a three late to give the Irish their first lead of the second half and another in overtime to put the Irish up 68-65.

And of course, Jack Cooley continued on his monstrous ways with 18 points, 13 rebounds and countless changed shots at the rim. To put this in perspective (and for a more in-depth analysis - check out CW's eye-opening analytics post here), in his last four games Cooley is averaging 20.8 points and 14.3 rebounds on 71.7% shooting from the field. WOW.

Notre Dame was down by as much as 20 points in this game falling 39-19 with under 2 minutes left to play in the first half. I was ready to accept the loss putting into perspective how great this 7 game win streak was and how this could be a teaching point and a rest stop in the long run. Mike Brey would have none of that crap and Notre Dame now stands 11-3 in the Big East with 4 games (3 of them very winnable) remaining in the schedule. You may consider me amazed one more time. But really, I shouldn't be anymore right? right.

I'm not the only one enjoying this more than the football season am I?

The Irish play host to West Virginia on Wednesday night as Bob Huggins' squad will look to avenge their home loss from two weeks ago.