We certainly do NOT know this from our own experience (HLS is the greatest blog of all TIME!!!!  All the rest of you suckahs can just quit now, we are the ALL TIME GREATEEEEEEST!!!!!), but man, Bryant Young exhibits all the things you want in an alum/new coach/person as he takes on his new role as a Grad Assistant.  And one of the big things is a sense of humility, and a willingness to put in the work.   This is especially true when you compare him to many of his peers in the NFL.

Bryant recently talked about how things are going, and you just get a feeling about the guy from the interview.   Here’s a guy that was big time in the NFL.  Rich.  Respected.  Pretty much could’ve just rode off into the sunset, investing in restaurants that fail, or buying bigger and phatter cars and MTV-cribs-worthy homes.  And he may still do that stuff.  But he’s also buckling down, being humble, and doing the duties that any Graduate Assitant (aka ‘the team’s biyotch’) has to do.

“I had an idea, but I didn’t realize how much work went into it,” Young said after Monday’s practice. “You do have to put in the time and do the behind-the-scenes work.”

Young, 37, is out on the field for every practice, helping Randy Hart coach the Irish defensive line, but he also breaks down film, types up those schedules and prepares notes for team meetings — all for a lot less money than he was making while playing for the San Francisco 49ers.

That’s right.  Bryant Young, ND legend, NFL All-Star and Pimp de la Pimp, is doing the grunt work. 

And happily. 

That may not seem all that amazing at first glance.  But really, think about that mental shift.  From the NFL where everyone kisses your @$$, to an ND GA, where the only people NOT above you are the players.  To take that on is the sign of a pretty cool guy.  To take it on and enjoy it?  That’s the sign of a pretty good future coach.

“This is an opportunity to get a real feel for and an understanding of my future and how far I want to take it. I like it, and we’ll see how far it goes,” Young said, adding, “This is a fresh start, and you have to earn your keep around here.”

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WalmartWolverines.com

A Walmart Wolverine is a self-proclaimed “huge” University of Michigan fan that never attended the University.

Excellent. (And yes. This is mean. I’m mean. I deal with it. So should you.)

Note that the site specifies those who “never attended” UM(s!). Because 80% of the state of Michigan “attended” UM(s!) at one point or another.

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I don’t know if we’ll be better in our running game, and I don’t know if he’s right on things, but I like him based on the stuff he says.

“It’s just a group of special people coming together,” is how Verducci explained the recipe for success. “It’s unselfishness. It’s a willingness not to let the other guy down. It’s an unselfish attitude where you’re going to do your part and you don’t care who gets the glory for it.

“It’s the satisfaction of leaving something behind that you can look back on and call your own.

“It’s people. You learn very early on, you can be the smartest guy in the world, but if you can’t bring a group together, get them to focus as one and get them to care about each other, you don’t stand much of a chance.”

And the strategy side doesn’t get ignored…

“There’s a schematic aspect,” Verducci said. “You go against a particular opponent and they play a particular scheme you can exploit.

“The other is a personnel matchup. You exploit a certain weakness. The schematic aspect may not be there, but your guy is just better than theirs. You wear them out that way.

“It’s somewhat of a melding of the two to get a perfect run game.”

And then, Tony Alford comes out of nowhere to gain on The Duche for some of the best quotes of the Spring so far.

“The biggest thing, in all reality, (is that) you’re more physical than the guy across from you.  When he lines up, he knows he just got punched in the mouth (on the last play). The scary part of it is, he knows it’s going to happen again and there’s not much he can do about it.

“You know they’re going to do it. I’ll tell you we’re going to do it. And, you still can’t stop it. Then you know you’ve got ‘em over.”

Well done Tony.   I like the new hires.  Boy, I like ‘em.  Now, let’s go maul somebody.

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As news leaks from the Coaching Clinic and the practice open to the media from this weekend, remember one thing: You aren’t going to glean anything about the results of the 2009 season from these stories.

The “Irish Eyes” drill – which, from now on, this blog will call the “Oklahoma drill” because that’s what it is and it doesn’t remind us of a particularly poor implementation of a night club – wont tell you anything. If 100 of you watch it, 100 of you will disagree about who got the better of whom. I don’t think either side “dominated.” I think a lot of guys did a nice job of being physical, but a lot of guys broke the rules of the drill as well. I don’t think the coaches did much to enforce the rules because there were scenarios, for example, where the RB made a 5 yard gain, but because of a “nice hit,” the defensive side would celebrate. Hey, nice hit guy! Way to give up a touchdown! PS, OL, that thar was enough holding to make a B11 official weep tears of joy.

Anyway, back to the original point: Spring will teach us nothing. In the B&G game last year, Irish hearts were set aflame when Mike Haywood ran an entire offensive series with nothing but running plays and the offense scored a TD. “Great, good, gregarious Gumby,” we all thought, “Weis is finally committed to having a real running game.”

Just remember that.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the material. Hell, we’re hoping to get fed some ourselves, but remember it’s about as rich with real information as an episode of CSI.

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In his latest PC, Charlie talked about the development of Hafis Williams, and how he’s going to be pushing for more time on the DL.  With Ian Williams already a projected starter at 310 pounds, and Hafis at just over 3 bills, we’re talking about 600 pounds of William Boys in the interior when these 2 guys get on the field.

If these guys keep developing, the days of ND’s DL being pushed around could be over soon.

I know this group has some room to grow, but with Hafis and Ian inside, I get pretty excited about a front four of those 2 plus future AA Ethan Johnson and rapidly-improving Kapron Lewis-Moore.  Those 2 at the DE position can wreak havoc, while the big boys hold down the fort inside. 

Combine that line with the most athletic LB corps ND has seen in…heck, I don’t know since when, forever?…and this has the potential to be a disruptive, aggressive D.   Now, this is clearly me getting fired up by hope springs eternal and all that.  But, it’s also fact that this team is getting more and more talented (finally) and there’s real potential there.

DE-FENSE.   DE-FENSE.

+

=  600 POUNDS OF IRISH PAIN COMING ATCHA!

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Well, okay, not really.  It’s not really Vegas anymore, it’s more “Internet Gamblers”, but whatever.

I’m sure this will change as the Spring sessions end and summer/pre-season roll around, injuries occur, etc.  But right now at least, the big board gives ND a 40-1 shot at the MNC.  Seems like a long shot, but when you consider the rest of the field, it’s an implied rank of 11th.  Not too shabby.

Course, this could be a bit misleading, as ND fans of late have headed to Vegas in droves to drink/party off the effects of:  

1) Losing last minute recruits     

2)  Men’s Hoops Implosion               

3)  Obama at Commencement   

4)  A play about vaginas talking  

5)  The cancellation of the Dillon Pep Rally

Not much surprising in the upper echelon, except maybe Ohio State over some of the SEC powers (again).  Oregon is getting some love.  And I have no idea how Pitt could be 60-1.  Without all-everything HB LeSean McCoy, they are going to suck.  But again, it’s way early.

Obviously Vegas odds to win it all will also take into account how likely a team is to be put into the BCS championship game.  Utah is a perfect example of how this is slightly messed up. Even if they end up pretty highly ranked, their odds of making it to the BCS title game are slim, so their odds here are slim.  I’m not saying they’ll repeat last year or be in the Top 20, but you’d think they’d be better than 200-1.  But, they’re not a BCS team, so their road is tough/impossible.   Like it or not, that’s the BcS world we live in.

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I know I’m old because recently it dawned on me that I’ll freely walk around Target whistling songs that would have embarrassed me just a few years ago. Come to think of it, walking around Target probably indicates age as well, considering I think of that as, “my usual Saturday morning.” And come to think of it further, the fact that I now have a “usual Saturday morning” that involves a me who has already showered and dressed for the day probably indicates aging as well.

Anyway, fun fact: Lionel Richie had already left the Commodores when the Commodores released “Night Shift.” What a damn fine song.

The Roundup:

• Miami coaches are apparently really testing the players’ dedication this spring.
• I Went To Texas’ Spring Jamboree, and all I got was this stupid grass.
• How do I know Twitter is big? The old-foagiest of old-foagy college coaches Twitters.
• UM(s!) “qb” Sheridan only has a “small” fracture in his leg. UM(s!) only has a “small” chance of not sucking in 2009.
• Are you faster than a college head coach?
• Overthrow a government, and often expats will return. Same goes for Tennessee.
• “Allen has a tendency to go down whenever the wind whips up in Notre Dame Stadium.” Snap.

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Unfortunately, none of our paid staff will be able to make the ND Coaches Clinic this weekend, but we bet that a few of the 8 or 9 of you out there who read our little site probably will attend since you’re [ahem]coaches[cough] and have perfectly reasonable [cough], professional [hack!] reasons to attend a coaching clinic aside from taking pictures and committing what you witness there to the database back-end of a fan blog.

HOWEVER, should you decide to augment those perfectly reasonable reasons with really absurd reasons like taking pictures and then reporting back to HLS all that you see, hear, and smell (yay?), please feel free to contact us via the address over to the right —> and we’ll be forever grateful.

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Okay, so it’s actually probably in the Top 3, but I was using the big number to show how attractive ND should be to future CFB stars, get it?  Yep? Yep.

Edumacation!

And actually, and maybe more importantly to many players, Edumacation = CASH MONEY.

See, most NFL players end up broke.  Broke as a joke.  Financially ruined, and wondering what to do next.   No cash.  No money. No records.  Broke.

How does this happen? I mean, they make a ton of money right?  Yep, they do, and they save absolutely none of it.   Because the vast majority coast through college without learning a thing, without actually having to learn, they don’t know anything about investing, money management, responsibility.  That’s a recipe for disaster, and that’s what most players get.

Seventy-eight percent of former NFL players are bankrupt or under financial stress within two years of retirement…

78%!  That means you have over a 3 in 4 chance of going broke within 2 years of retiring if you go into the NFL. 

Now, I have no stats to back this up, but my bet would be that players that come from schools where they actually learn, or the few players that go to schools where you dont HAVE to learn, but choose to do so anyway, are disproportionately represented in the 22% that are NOT broke within 2 years.  And they’re probably not broke ever.   Why?  Because they study, they learn something, they learn to be responsible through studying, and they run their lives and their finances in a somewhat responsible way, so they can retire nice and happy.

Things the broke ones do, and the ND courses that would’ve saved them:

• Spend insanely on themselves every week and on their friends/family and their friends’ friends and family – the story notes one NBA player spending $10K/month in hanging out money.  HANGING OUT IS FREE BROTHER.   Money and Banking.
• Don’t save anything for retirement in a 401K, IRA or anywhere else.  It’s tax free cash money records, c’mon now.   Common Sense 101.
• Invest in foolish businesses that ’sound great’ but have no biz model, no financial statements, and nobody that actually knows business involved (hey all NFL players, give me your money, i will make you seriously rich!)  Entrepreneurial Studies.
• Invest way too much in real estate – it doesn’t ALWAYS go up.  Economics.
• End up with 3-20 children and the child support payments that go with them.  Being a Catholic 101.
• End up giving HALF in the divorce.  Or 3/4 after a second divorce.  Being a Catholic 101.  Intro to Law.

So it’s not only about education.  It’s about MO-NEY.  You want the riches and glory of the NFL?  Great, you can go to any football factory and if you’re good enough, you’ll get that. For a few years.  You want the riches and glory of the NFL and a sweet retirement ON A MOFO-ING BOAT?  Well, then, pick ND (or another school where you’ll actually learn something, but we greatly prefer ND).   Yes, I know that Rocket is one of the examples in the SI article – I am not claiming that getting educated will make pro players 100% immune to bankruptcy, I’m just saying it makes it less likely.

The fact that ND is ranked as one of the top places to go to school to get rich (#8 to be exact) independent of football, doesnt really hurt either.

I’m an ND Grad NFL player so I’m on a BOAT!

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Ugh.

Now we know, with 100% certainty, that the BCS will remain in place for a long, long time.

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*Note:  Posting this IMMEDIATELY so the ‘recent police’ don’t call me out for having a life.  Ready, set, GO…

That quote is Frank, “The Duche”, Verducci on our offensive line.  I’ll just give you the whole quote to be clear:

“On one hand, it’s scary that they haven’t heard it before,” Verducci said. “On the other hand, it makes me realize if they can acclimate to it, that the chance for them to make a big leap as far as production is there.”

So there’s good and bad to this, as The Duche explains above.

The bad:   WHAT THE F LATINA WHY IN THE WORLD DONT OUR PLAYERS KNOW THE BASIC STUFF?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!??!?!!?

The good:  Now The Duche can teach them this stuff, and as he mentions, that gives us a chance to be better on the o-line.

Eric Olsen’s quote, below, also makes me feel like Latina would poorly explain something, and then yell yell yell until a player got it, or didn’t.  Ugh. 

“A lot of times, I feel he has more of an NFL kind of approach, where you don’t have to be, as coach (Charlie) Weis would say ‘(Swearing at) players,’ ” senior guard Eric Olsen said. “And you can coach them, you know what I mean. You’re paying guys all this money, you don’t have to be sitting there baby-sitting them and disciplining them.

 

“I feel he brings that kind of approach to it and it that helps the psyche, especially of young players, a lot. Instead of getting on them and riding them, riding them, riding them, he asks them what do they think they messed up so they can answer and coach themselves.”

I am sure there’s more to it than these few select quotes give us, but either way I am glad The Duche is on board, and that our issues are somewhat easily fixed by someone on top of this stuff.

Time!

Did I make it?

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Man, lots of new stuff out there with the start of Spring Practice.  Good, behind the scenes video, Chuck interviewing, etc etc.

Here’s a quick run-down of the ones I’ve seen around, so you can catch up during lunch too:

• Practice Day 1 from Irish Illustrated
• Day 2 from BnG
• Chuck on ESPN (full 16 minute interview)

A few other things…

Irish Eyes on the Receiving Corps…and another Practice Report.

Also, ND Hockey WINS the CCHA Championship over the Skunkbears (that suck!).  Congrats guys and best of luck in the NCAA Tourney.

And finally President Obama is speaking at the ND Commencement.  The conservative Catholics are all up in arms, and the progressive ones are leaping for joy, making for great internet conversations/arguments/things to read and waste time.

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Nah nah na.  Nah nah na.

That’s JD trying to sing the SportsCenter theme song in last night’s Scrubs.  Yes, the show is dying a slow, horrible death, but that bit was fun-ny.

Anyway, in our own play-by-play, we’ll bring you the highlights from Charlie’s Press Conference today.  Click on over to UND to watch it in its entirety, or just get the big nuggest here, from your friendly HLS!

 (no this is not from today, but do you really think it matters?)

Chuck kicked it off today with a nice summary of the objectives of the Spring and then took some questions.  From the important (”How many votes does Maura get?”) to the moronic (”When do you and Bill go on tour Charlie?”).  Notice that both of those are moronic.  Who ARE these press guys?  (I don’t care if the guy that asked one of those is a ‘good’ reporter.  If this is the type of thing they like to ask, I shame them publicly.)  I digress…

Charlie’s Big Four Objectives for the Spring

Chaz walked us through his Spring plan, and while the overarching theme has to be ‘do whatever it takes to win and save my not-so-tiny @$$, the details are laid out in the PC as well.

1. Get the new coaches meshing together and with the team.  With The Duche, Alford and Hart on board, they need to build some chemistry, and that has to happen sooner rather than later for this team to be successful.
2. Fix The Running Game (and other areas of identified focus).  Charlie really mentioned ‘fixing problems’ here, but used the Running Game as the example.  But really, fixing the running game is the single biggest issue this team has (followed closely by stopping opponents’ Running Games).  I also put more emphasis on this one example because that’s what Chuck needs to do.   Bear with me here while I rant on Charlie a bit, and what I think might be one of his biggest problems as a coach:  Charlie is super-analytic.  After a season, they break down what went right and what went wrong.  They know the numbers and the players and blah blah blah. And that’s great, I think it’s great to know those things and be informed.  But sometimes, I think Charlie just gets BURIED in the details.  In the numbers, in the specific plays.  Sometimes the answer isn’t in plugging all the holes in the damn.  At some point, there’s too many holes and you need to either 1) get the F out of there or 2) build a new damn.  I don’t know if Charlie gets the big picture through all the micro-focused analyses he does.  I sure hope he gets it, and I believe he can.  Since 2007, it feels like he’s just been plugging holes to keep the water back.  I’m hoping that this Spring he can get that new damn up. 
3. Outright Competition – I like this one.  In the recent past there hasn’t been a lot of this in Spring.  Players either fell into starting roles because there wasn’t much competition, or we were just trying to get healthy, somewhat-athletic bodies on the field.  This year, there are players pushing for time.  And finally, not all of them are frosh.  We have battles across both sides of the ball, from skill to line to special teams positions.  This is good.
4. Maturing/Finishing.  Needless to say, this team wasn’t mature last year (see my million posts on youth) and this team didn’t know how to finish (see:  most of our losses last Fall).  Getting this team to mature mentally, and as a team, is big.  Finding the ‘leaders of the leaders’ as Charlie said is important.  Frosh can’t act or play like Frosh anymore – that year hiatus is over.  No more vacation and no more excuses.  It’s time to play and act like an upperclassman, even if you’re not.  I’m looking at you Trevor Robinson, Hafis Williams, KLM, Brandon Newman, etc etc etc.

Charlie is Freaking Ready to Go

You could sense his anxiousness to get started.  He’s hating the wait. He’s hating having to do his first two days sans pads due to NCAA restrictions, and he hates that he only has 11 full pads practices outside the B-G game.  Charlie wants to get this ship righted, and he wants to get out there on the field NOW.

I’m Coming Out of the BOOOOOOOTH-A!

Despite my advice (I see how it is Chuck), Charlie is staying on the sidelines this year.  At least to start.  Charlie has a strong penchant for going to ‘guys he trusts’ for advice on lots of things.  And I think that’s a good thing in general.   But, for something like this, it just doesn’t make sense to do so.  He went around to a bunch of guys that coach from the sideline and essentially asked “Hey Trusted Friend and Advisor that Coaches from the Sideline But Doesn’t Call the Offensive Plays, where should I coach from?  The sideline, like you?  Or up in the booth?”  What do you THINK they’re going to say Chuck?  “Yeah, I’ve never done it, but you should go in the booth!”  Never. 

Duh.

Chuck, I get the advice thing and I like that you reach out to experts and trusted friends and stuff.  But your situation is unique.  Now, if those guys had 2 bum knees, were calling the offensive plays, and had their jobs on the line, I’d say great, good job asking them.  But you’re dealing with a whole different set of circumstances here man, you should’ve come to HLS for the call.

So I don’t like Charlie’s reasoning that the ‘vast majority’ said to be on the sideline, but I don’t mind the decision all that much.  Like I said in my post recommending the Booth, it was never clear cut in my mind, and I can see arguments from both sides.   So, that’s that.

Good news is that Charlie will have Coach Ianello up there in the booth relaying coverages on a play to play basis, and Coach Parmalee, another veteran, will help relay down stunts/blitz packages/etc from series to series to help plan the next wave of attack.  So at the least Chuck has some experienced go-to guys up there in the booth.

Blue Gold Coaches Announced

Berton Barry and Justin Tuck will be honorary coaches for the Defense, and Jeff Faine and Reggie Brooks will guest coach the O.   Not quite as much flash in the names themselves outside of Tuck, but it’s cool to have 2 guys that recently played in the Super Bowl (suck it Barry, Steelers rule), and it’s great to have Faine back.  Reggie works at ND so it’s not as much of a ‘wow’ factor, but still a great ND player/ambassador to have in the fold for the game.

Not a Split Back Set, But…

James Aldridge could end up playing a legit Fullback this Fall.  Charlie’s going to give him a shot to beat out Armando and Robert and Jonas and Cierre, but if James isn’t #1 or #2 at HB, he’s going to get a shot to fight Paskorz for the FB position.  Charlie knows James is getting relatively long in the tooth and he wants to use him if he can.  I don’t know how I feel about James as a traditional blocking FB, but it would be great to have a legit running/receiving threat from 2 backs when we go to that set.  It’ll keep the defense a little more honest and will allow for some flexibility in the play calling that wasn’t there with Schwapp back in the house.   That said, Paskorz was a high caliber HB in high school, so the Irish could have that kind of flexibility with him back there as well.   We shall see how it unfolds this Spring/Summer.

The Defense Switch That Wasn’t

Lots of hullabaloo about 3-4 vs 4-3 over the past few years, and it’s official that ND is moving back to the 4-3.  That said, it’s not really much of a change.  Some position names change, some guys bounce a foot or two around here or there, but really it’s the same thing.  How?

Well, as CW explains, in a 4-3 your 4th down lineman is just replacing the Will LB on the weak side.  So that Will is just putting his hand down and getting up there in the line.  It’ll be a more athletic DE that might resemble a Will LB, so even the personnel decisions aren’t all that different.

So it’s different and the same all at the same time.  Excellent.

Let Me Sidestep That Question There Okay?

The final highlight was the lack of one.  Charlie was asked about his offseason analysis of the running game, and in particular the Zone Blocking Scheme.  Essentially, he was asked “What the F went wrong?”.  Charlie demurred on this one, saying it would take “20 minutes” to work through it.  He offered to take the reporter through it all off-line (and I’m guessing at least partially off the record) to really address it in detail, but essentially Chuck was saying it was too complex to answer in a soundbite.   And while that’s probably true, I’m guessing a lot of the answers wouldn’t be very kosher, so Chuck wants to keep them behind closed doors.   Old coaches, Ol and RB players, scheme, etc all fit into it, and so he’s being careful here.  That’s fine and we’ll all probably never get the 100% clear answer on the problems last year.  But I honestly don’t care all that much – so long as they fix it this Fall.

Anything surprising?  New? Weird? Holla back.

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We were about to write a roundup, but then we remembered that Subway managed to survive the winter off-season and the birth of a child to re-boot the Irish Blogger Gathering, so we’re gonna do that instead. Maybe we’ll even include a roundup within this post under clever disguise. Maybe not.

1. Take your temperature. A) What sort of things are you looking for the team to work upon to help the 2009 season? Group improvements, players improvements, new fertilizer… whatever. As general a question as you will find. B) Same question, but instead of just the 2009 season- the future of the program as a whole.
   A) Sigh. I’m done looking for anything from the spring aside from the spring practices coming to an end and key players remaining un-injured. Trying to read the tea-leaves has been massively unproductive and excruciatingly inaccurate the past few years, so we’re just looking to get out of spring and summer camps with key players healthy enough to apply their talents on the football field. B) Recruiting has been strong, despite the last 2 years. We’re looking for something in recruiting the 2010 class that will indicate that the 2009 season went “well,” and that everyone, including the 2010 recruits and maybe even some 2011 recruits, expect the next few years to fall under the “magical” header. We’d get more specific on our expectations, but we’ve learned in our many years that expectations often lead to disappointment. Such is life, such is retainment-bonuses, such is football.
2. It remains to be seen if I will be traveling to the spring game. My wife may have objections to yet another birthday of hers being used for a game that essentially doesn’t count. (I know, I know- she just doesn’t get it.) Don’t you think it’s about time that the spring game was televised? You know ESPN is dying to get inside that stadium for a live broadcast. I don’t think it would interfere with the NBC contract, and if it does- why aren’t they televising this?
   First of all, your wife and I apparently share a birthday, so no doubt she’s beautiful, talented, and funny, just as all of us who are born on that day tend to be. Fun fact: Melissa Joan Hart shares our birthday. Wait. Is Melissa Joan Hart your wife? For my money, nothing was funnier than Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Anyway, what? Oh. Television. It’s an excellent question, and I’m sure the ND Committee on Making Sure Alums Think We Want To Be Hospitable To Them have looked into it and decided there’s far too much likelihood that television attention would cause the students to poke an eye out or something. At any rate, NBC should be begging to televise the game because they’d go up against CBS’s televising of the Verizon Heritage PGA Tournament – the least interesting PGA event of the year. It’s the tournament that follows the Masters, and last year’s champion was Boo Weekely. And you’re damned right I had to look that up despite growing up in South Carolina, the state hoping desperately that once, just once, Tiger Woods might show up that weekend. Sports fans will be desperate for a) anything they can get their eyes on and B) respite from the dulcet tones of Jim Nantz. What could get the sounds of Jim Nantz out of your head faster than the visage of Tom Hammond?
3. What position battle will be decided this spring? Which one will have to wait for summer/fall?
   My God. What is wrong with me? I can’t even remember what positions are up for grabs right now. I do think it’s safe to say, if a position is up for grabs this spring, then it’ll be, officially speaking, up for grabs this summer too. So probably the only safe position is Clausen at QB1, though I’m pretty sure Golden Tate’s not sweating his missed time while he plays baseball either.
4. If you could change anything about the way spring practice/ Blue-Gold Game is done- what would it be?
   The violence of it. It really speaks volumes about the state of the program (speaking in a rolling, ten-year average sort of context here), that we all got so excited that a few players shoved each other around a bit during the B&G Game last year. It also speaks volumes that we all got excited when news sprung that ND had adopted the Oklahoma Drill and re-named it “Irish Eyes” and none of us wondered if maybe the captain of our violence ship tended to stare off into the clouds looking for ponies. 2008 left me convinced that the ND program as a whole, regardless of who has been at the helm, hasn’t been properly forged in the fire-pits of true, lasting, ringing-in-your-ears pain during spring and summer camps since at least the mid ’90s. And while the team this year may manage to win more games than they have in the previous two seasons combined, the man-eating LSU or SoCal defenses that await the Irish in a BCS bowl will reign fire down upon us and devour us like Rush Limbaugh on a amuse bouche after a three-day fast.
5. Name your 5 favorite players and change their jersey number. Tell us why…
   Here are my five favorite Irish players on the current roster, and I’ve re-numbered them all in order so that they may be aware of the fact that their play on the football field pleases me, but if they don’t keep it up, there’s always someone else looking to be #1.
   1. Golden Tate: #1 because I like his play the best.
   2. Ethan Johnsons: #2 because I nearly like his play the best, but not quite yet. Still, Golden, watch your ass.
   3. Gary Gray: #3 because he’s a guy with high expectations for himself, so I place him here, on the precipice of my expectations.
   4. Kyle McCarthy: #4 because f-you all if you can’t see that the dude is a good football player.
   5. Mike Anello: #5 because duh.
6. Last year two sophomore’s won the MVP awards for the Blue-Gold Game (Harrison Smith and Robert Hughes). Predict who this years MVP’s will be using the same criteria. (Same class- 1 OFF. & 1 DEF.).
   Crist on offense, because God has a sense of humor, particularly when it comes to messing with Irish football fans. Sergio Brown on defense because the kid’s high-energy and that’ll just sort of stick out during a feel-good Saturday afternoon where a lot of guys are just sort of taking it easy.

The Roundup:

• People are stupid.
• Lambert is fast, looks slightly better than I do in spandex.
• Do you think Miami players even know what a metaphor is?
• Um. (possibly NSFW if you W somewhere puritanical)
• I’ll take “Lists Where Purdue Appears Unexpectedly” for $1000, Alex.

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DomerMQ had a little post on this the other day, and that got me thinking:  man, how things change quickly.   Just two years ago, we were all in it.  In the heated discussion around Spring Ball:  Who’s going to QB the Irish?  There were many popular opinions.

“It’s gotta be Sharpley, he has the experience of learning behind Quinn.”

“No way, Jones has the feet to get him out of some trouble if it happens.  He’ll get the nod.”

“But Frazer is a pro style guy, and more talented than Sharpley.  He should get it.”

“Screw that, Jimmy is all-everything-recruit-#-1.  I don’t care if he just came into the program, he’s the man.”

Well, we were all sort of wrong no matter what.  First, down goes Frazer, off to UCONN where he is fighting for the starting job, and the chance to face ND this Fall.  Next, Jones sucks it up and gets yanked, then misses a bus and bails.  Sharpley then Jimmy then Sharpley then Jimmy and finally Jimmy.

And now, we’re down to Jimmy, Dayne and some walk-ons (no matter that one is the sone of a legend, things are certainly different, and we have 2 QBs on this team). 

It’s crazy to think that we had all that drama that Spring, all that uncertainty, and now we’re going into a Spring just 2 years later with a clear leader in Jimmy, a clear #2 in Dayne, and nothing behind that.  And it’s even crazier to see where the other ‘blue chips’ went.

As Domer posted, Jones is no longer one of 6 QB’s fighting for scraps at Cincy (worst transfer strategy ever for a guy that said he only wanted to play QB?  Probably).  Instead, he’s a LB. 

Frazier, as mentioned, is off on his own battle at UCONN.  If he’s battling for the job at UCONN, he shouldn’t have been battling for it at ND.  Just saying.

Sharpley, a solid backup and a great guy that helped his team immensely over the past 2 seasons despite his secondary role, is moving on and squarely focused on baseball.  Given his chances there at the MLB and the minors relative to football, this is 100% the right move.  Good luck to you kid.

What’s the point?  Eh, not much, other than it’s fun to look back on the madness once in a while and re-live how we got where we are.

For what it’s worth, much like Quinn, I think this is the year that Jimmy turns the corner.  He improved leaps and bounds last year, matching/beating Quinn’s sophomore year numbers.  He’ll never be the athlete that Quinn was.  He’ll never work as hard in the gym or be as determined/single-minded in his pursuit.  But the kid is a pure passer with more latent talent than Quinn, and he’s been groomed since forever.  And once his decision-making catches up to his arm, watch out.

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