Chicago Tribune’s own Notre Dame beat writer, Brian Hamilton, doesn’t know much about the Notre Dame Football Program.

In covering the news about Tenuta joining the Irish, he said (and I urge you not to click on that link)…

What, exactly, does “assistant head coach/defense” mean — especially for Irish defensive coordinator Corwin Brown, whom Weis lauded at every turn in 2007? We’ll see. At minimum, it means that the defense’s performance in ‘07 still wasn’t good enough in Weis’ eyes, however effusive his praise of Brown was. Given Tenuta’s credentials, consider the fire under Brown officially lit.

Moron.

Let’s see, “What, exactly, does ‘assistant head coach/defense’ mean?” Um, Brian, you’ve been the beat writer for Notre Dame for a full season. Did you not bother to notice that the guy Jon Tenuta is replacing, Bill Lewis, had the job title, “Assistant Head Coach/Defense?”

Here’s some visual proof in case they change his title by the time you check that link…

Dear Lord, if all of humanity knew as little about their jobs and researched as little as Brian apparently does, we’d all still be convinced that leeching is an excellent treatment for mental illness.

There is no fire lit under Corwin Brown. Charlie Weis saw a great opportunity and grabbed a great football coach while he was available. Why? Because Charlie Weis is good at his job. Brian Hamilton is not.

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Ok, now that it’s official…

January 31, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Notre Dame Hires Jon Tenuta as Assistant Head Coach/Defense; Bill Lewis to Join Athletics Community Relations Staff

NOTRE DAME, Ind. ­ University of Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis announced today that 44-year coaching veteran Bill Lewis, Irish assistant head coach/defense the last three seasons, will leave the Irish football coaching staff and join the University’s athletics community relations staff. Weis also announced that former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta has been offered and accepted the role of assistant head coach/defense.

Lewis will remain at the University and will begin his role as manager of athletics community relations on Feb. 18. Tenuta’s start date is set for Feb. 18.

Yay! The “offered and accepted” rather than “hired” probably means that they still have to do all that HR stuff, but whatever. Tenuta is, at the least 1-0-1 against Weis in the battle-of-football-minds. You could argue he’s 2-0. This is just an awesome hire. With Corwin Brown’s ability to get the players excited to play, plus his obvious skill for defensive game-planning, Tenuta will be a valuable resource for both Weis and Brown. Also, whether Tenuta coaches linebackers or cornerbacks, he’s got a history of molding, let’s say “underappreciated young men” into terrifying hit-machines that get big signing bonuses in the NFL.

A quick look at what he did while at Georgia Tech, after 1 year at UNC where he crafted the best defense in the ACC…

As you can see, after his first year, or, what I call the “adjustment phase,” his defenses were consistently terrorizing. The Jackets averaged a rank of 20th in total defense, allowing about 313 yards a game and giving up just 19 points per game. Heck, in his 1st year his defenses only allowed 20 points a game. And in the 3 years that the NCAA has records for sacks on their website, GT ranked 14th, 28th, and 1st nationally with a yearly average of about 3 sacks per game!

The one “weak” spot in Tenuta’s history seems to be in passing defense, but Corwin Brown has already shown that he’s been able to solve Notre Dame’s previous pass defense issues. Combined with Tenuta’s encyclopedic rush defense know-how and mad-scientist blitzing genius, the Notre Dame defense may soon be the terribly swift sword we’ve all been hoping for. And with the incredible recruiting classes that Corwin Brown and Charlie Weis have been bringing in, I find myself falling into DEFCON-1 levels of fan-boy glee. I may as well be writing a monster movie review for AintItCoolNews.com at this point. I’m going to wear an Irish shirt to work tomorrow! I may even have to re-watch a video of the 2007 GT/ND game. With this hire Weis has instantly turned that nightmare moment into a preview of dreams-come-true.

Welcome to the family, Jon!

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As you’ve no doubt heard, Irish Illustrated is reporting that Jon Tenuta is joining the ND Football coaching staff. I’m not going to link to them. They’ve really ticked me off. This is just another example of Irish Illustrated being unable to act with any sense of responsibility to the program that essentially makes it possible for them to exist as a business. There’s still not 100% confirmation from any ND officials that this is happening. If it is, in fact, happening, there area many reasons why Notre Dame and Charlie Weis haven’t announced it yet: perhaps they wanted to let the players know first, they probably wanted to make sure the recruits knew about it and were comfortable, they certainly wanted to do background checks and prepare for such a big announcement. Maybe they just didn’t want to give the Urban Meyers of the world a little more reason to be calling Irish commits. So why on earth Irish Illustrated couldn’t see fit to keep their big yaps shut is beyond me.

Here’s a little hint to Irish Illustrated: We knew, or at least heard about this, days ago. And we’re just a few guys with professions completely outside the sports journalism world. How pathetic is that, II? You’ve probably spent a full day hurriedly pursuing a “lead,” and developing your “sources” for this “story.” We sat around, watched a little American Gladiator, and someone e-mailed it to us. But we decided not to post anything about it because A) it’s still only rumor and B) the program that we care about wanted to wait on announcing it. But that’s cool. If you want to go stomping on the feet of those who make it possible to garner your wages, feel free. I’ve never subscribed to Irish Illustrated. I suggest all other Irish fans follow my lead. If you really want a service that can give you great information and does their business with some sense of honor, then there are far better choices out there for Notre Dame football fans.

To say I’m surprised that II did this would be wrong. I figured if we knew about it, others did too. I was mostly just waiting to see which site decided to break with it rather than just keeping quiet and letting ND announce things on their own schedule. II is the same site, of course, that managed to put a wrench in the recruiting works of 2007 with their little depth-chart-engineering stunt/article, scaring the bejesus out of certain recruits. To assume that those in charge of Irish Illustrated are fans of Notre Dame would be foolish.

No word yet on if Irish Illustrated’s loose lips have managed to put holes in the 2008 Irish Recruiting Barge, but what was looking like a final recruiting week with few downsides and lots of potential upside just got a lot shakier. Way to go Irish Illustrated. Nobody likes you.

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And his mom is pretty cool too.

Free story from Irish Eyes.

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Pete Carroll met with the Washington Redskins about a job on Monday, but he’d rather not talk about it.

USC Coach Pete Carroll on Monday declined to address reports that he met with Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder about becoming the NFL team’s coach.

The NFL Network and the Associated Press said that Carroll met with Snyder in St. Louis following Joe Gibbs’ resignation but that it had been mutually decided he would not be a candidate.

Carroll has been mentioned as a candidate for NFL openings after each of the last six seasons at USC. He said before the Trojans’ victory over Illinois in the Rose Bowl that he would not comment on reports or rumors about a possible return to the NFL.

Carroll reportedly spoke with Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank while Carroll was on vacation in Hawaii this month.

Last year, while vacationing in Costa Rica, Carroll interviewed with Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga.

So Pete may not be leaving Socal this year, but what about next year? He keeps meeting with NFL organizations, so he clearly wants to leave Socal. I wonder what the recruits who are about to sign on the dotted line next year think about that.

You’re a beaver.

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WVU sued Richie Rich Rod for $4M to settle the buyout clause of his contract.   You know, the contract he signed in August, where he agreed in writing to pay WVU $4M if he left before the contract term was completed?

Roddy Rod says I’ll give you $1.5M, we’re even, right?

Fuzzy math?  Nope, just Michigan math.

Rod fits right in up there.

“Wait, okay, think I got it.  So if $4M is this much…”

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Mr. Heathman, long-time caretaker of the Rockne Memorial at the site of the plane crash, passed away yesterday at the age of 90.

Easter Heathman, who at age 14 was one of the first people to arrive at the crash site near Bazaar, has given hundreds of people the opportunity to visit a stone memorial that marks the spot where Rockne and seven others died on March 31, 1931.

“More than any other single person, he preserved the memory of Knute Rockne, not just here in Kansas, but really all over the country,” said University of Kansas faculty member Bernie Kish, former executive director of the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend and a close friend of Heathman’s.

Mr. Heathman was the focus of a video piece you can see here at Classic Ground, and was recently honored with an honorary monogram at a ceremony at the pep rally for the ND-PSU game in 2006.

Easter provided tours to folks making their way out to the Rockne crash site in rural Kansas, and was concerned about a succession plan given his age and recent health challenges.  Here’s to hoping that someone as dedicated and noble cares to take up the cause.  And that the memory of Easter is as strong as that of Rockne.

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The Notre Dame Seniors in the Senior Bowl.

What did you think I was going to say?

The Irish had 4 senior representatives invited to this year’s NFL Senior Bowl, but only three were able to play:  Trevor Laws, Tommy Z and John Sullivan all had pretty solid performances.  Stud TE John Carlson unfortunately contracted some kind of whacked out flu that knocked 18 pounds off his body in a few short days, so he had to bail out from the week’s festivities.  Word is that he’s feeling better, but obviously he just couldn’t be ready to play.

From all reports, the ND seniors performed well.  Laws was double-teamed through much of the afternoon, but still made a big impact on the North squad’s defense, registering 5 tackles and 1 sack as well as a fumble recovery. (Good for 3rd on the North team in tackles) Despite the double teams, Laws regularly pushed his olinemen backwards, collapsing the pocket and creating pressure.  Laws also won a game award for Most Outstanding Lineman.  Given the competition and Laws pre-senior-bowl-week status, that’s a heck of an accomplishment.  Expect to see his stock rise come draft day.

Tommy Z also had a solid game, making good reads and reacting to the ball well.  Zibby racked up 5 tackles putting him just behind Laws for team tackles on the North at #4 on the squad.  Zibby also had a fumble recovery, and showed off his return skills with an explosive 38 yard punt return.  Zibby was awarded the Long Distance Play of the Game Award (Is that award sponsored by AT&T?  What is up with that name?), for the, um, long distance he ran with the ball…yeah.

Finally, Center John Sullivan looked fully healed from his late season injury.  Despite being part of a new line, John performed well, which likely helped assuage some of the concerns out there after John “led” the extremely bend-able ND O-line this past fall.  No shotgun for JS though, so one still has to wonder if he’s gotten past whatever mental block was giving him issues with shotgun snaps this past Fall.

All in all, it was a great turnout for a small but respected group.  I expect that all of their stocks went up this week with their hard work and significant results in the game.  Check out this link for highlights of the game - which actually was pretty exciting.Oth

Relevant notes on how to catch up on these fellas and their NFL journeys:

Trevor has a blog.

Zibby did an interview with the Chicago Trib on how things are going so far.

Yes, John Carlson was sick.

And, apparently, Sullivan is keeping things low key.  Cuz I don’t have a link for him.  But word to you Sully.  Word.

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