We recently caught up with the Legion on Twitter, and quickly jumped at the chance to interview the Lead Lep Legionnaire, Tyler. It's a great student organization with a great mission, so check them out! And thanks Tyler for taking the time! GO IRISH!

1. How many leprechauns make up the Leprechaun Legion?

While it would appear the legion is made up of only a single Leprechaun, there are in fact 9,992 of us this year (the total enrollment of both undergraduate and graduate students). Technically, every single student is a member of the Legion, there is no formal sign-up or enrollment. And actually, if you include the St. Mary's and Holy Cross College students that come out and support too, we have even more Leprechauns.

2. When was the group founded and what was the impetus/catalyst?

Actually, this year is the 10 year anniversary of the Legion. It was Basketball Coach Mike Brey's original idea to name the student section for the basketball games -- to give the 6th man an official name and encourage everyone to get a bit rowdier. When it was first started, we had fantastic basketball turnouts, which we are trying to get back to. The students really embraced the name though.

3. What is the goal of the organization?

There are two main goals of the Leprechaun Legion. The first is to optimize the fan experience for all sports to make them more enjoyable, and more intimidating for opposing teams and their fans. The most notable example we have of this is the music that was added to the football stadium this season. We also are now creating more giveaways than ever at the games

The second goal that we have is getting as many students at sporting events as possible. The only real "gimme" we have is football -- of course all of the students go to those games, but outside of that, attendance is a huge wildcard. Notre Dame has fantastic teams in almost every sport, so we really need to get student support up. (Homework is not an excuse!)

4. How can fans support the mission?

In short, attend as many sporting events as possible, support your fellow students! Talk about the teams, write about them to the Observer, discuss sports on the Leprechaun Legion Facebook page, basically do as much as you can to make the sports a social necessity, or can't-miss events. Occasionally the Legion will also send out e-mails looking for volunteers to help with events such as helping with giveaways, scorekeeping at golf tournaments, things of that nature. We also send out a campus-wide e-mail in the spring looking for people to be on the Leprechaun Legion Advisory Board for the following school year. If you want a less hands-on way to contribute though, just write to The Observer about the Legion, write on our Facebook fan page, or Tweet to us @LepLegion with any suggestions you may have on how to get the students out or how to improve the game atmosphere.

5. What sports/groups does the Legion support?

The Leprechaun Legion supports ALL University of Notre Dame sports and athletic teams. We began 10 years ago just focusing on basketball, but that is no longer the case. However, we often battle against the perception that we still only deal with just basketball, mainly because the shirt that season basketball ticket holders get says Leprechaun Legion on the front. However, we have non-basketball Legion shirts that will be coming out very soon. Hopefully everyone will associate us with every sport in the near future.

6. What are the key fighting tactics of a legion of leprechauns?

You know, we aren't very big, so we tend to have a much bigger bark than bite. However, when we get those fists up, combined with our sweet beards, we are pretty intimidating, particularly with the whole Legion out there. So we tend to scare people off -- they don't really want a piece of us.

7. Where can fans learn more about/contact all of you feisty miniature green people?

Social Media is going to be a huge tool for the Legion moving forward, so the easiest way to get in touch with us would be to become a fan of the Leprechaun Legion page on Facebook, or follow us @LepLegion on Twitter. We are constantly updating both with Notre Dame news, sports scores, articles from around the Web, promotional information, and some good humor as well. But we are also very receptive to any suggestions, questions, or comments sent in to both of those pages. However, if there are any real lengthy suggestions, questions, or concerns, you can also contact Tyler Moorehead at legion@nd.edu and he will be glad to discuss anything.

8. Is there really a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

I think this picture says it all.

9. Anything else we should know?

One last thing I would like to highlight is while the Leprechaun Legion does work with the Athletic Department for funding, we are not beholden to athletic department influence or approval on most issues. We are the voice of the students, and we approach the athletic department with suggestions that we get from the student body, as opposed to feeding the student body changes that they may or may not want.

Thanks Tyler!

It's coming up on a year since I was at Fantasy Camp back at ND and I thought I'd give a few additional highlights in the coming weeks. It was a truly unbelievable experience, and one I will remember forever. I have the helmet sitting on the wall to prove it.

To get you in the mood, here's a little primer from UND, and also check out The Testimonials, which gives a great guide to all of my posts about the experience.

Prior to bringing you even more, feel free to read the recaps that I shared when I was there:

Heading Home

It. Is. On.

Day 1: Unbelievable Access

Day 2: Diaco is THE MAN, Yanked it, Nailed it.

Day 3: The Bullet Point Day

Day 4: The Tragic Brevity of Time

It was quite the journey, and I'd like to thank, once again, the readers that helped send me there. I will be adding a few details over the coming weeks leading up to this year's camp (which sadly, I won't be able to attend). I'll have some more pictures, stories, and even a video highlight reel. Should be pretty fun.

And if any of this gets you fired up to maybe check out the camp, you can learn more at the official site: FANTASY CAMP

GO IRISH!

So much for thinking that all the recruiting craziness was behind us.

As I said before in my Gunner Kiel post, my golden rule of following recruiting is that until a recruit actually enrolls early or faxes in his signed letter of intent, anything can and will happen. Today, the anything was a surprise defection from Deontay Greenberry to Houston of all places. Greenberry, a five star WR (or four star depending on which recruiting rankings you follow), made his eleventh hour decision despite telling the Irish staff that he was still in the fold on Tuesday night.

It wasn't just the Irish staff that was in for a shock either. His own cousin, Tee Shepard was informed of the change of plans this morning after Greenberry called his father, Ray Shepard:

Greenberry called Ray Shepard, father of early enrollee Tee Shepard, on Wednesday morning to break the news of the flip. Greenberry and Shepard are cousins and it was assumed the pair would play together in college throughout the process. Greenberry called Notre Dame earlier this week to assure the staff he’d sign with the Irish.

“He sent his paperwork in to Houston,” Ray Shepard said. “I don’t get that one at all. I don't know what happened on that one.”

Ray Shepard said Greenberry and Tee Shepard spoke before the Houston flip, with the cornerback telling his cousin to follow his heart in his decision, even if that didn’t mean Notre Dame.

Even stranger in this story was that it appears that Greenberry nor his family had any direct contact with head Coach Brian Kelly. At his press conference this afternoon, Kelly said that he found out the news from Greenberry's high school coach and that was it.

Greenberry's last-minute decision is yet another disappointing decommit from the Irish. Cornerback Ronald Darby (Rivals 4 star/Scout 5 star) remained out of the Irish fold and signed with Florida State today. For a recruiting class whose primary focus was to stock up on skill players, losing two elite players with said skill-set, one of which was meant to retool a weak defensive backfield, is highly disappointing. Further frustrating for many is that only 16 scholarships will be used in this class as well.

However, those looking for some kind of silver lining can still find some in this class. Despite the losses mentioned above and small scholarship number, the surprise addition of Gunner Kiel, helped propel this class to remain on of the top-25 in the nation (Rivals 21/Scout 18). The average star rating for our 16 recruits is rather stout as well (Rivals 3.5 [ranked 11]/Scout 3.69 [ranked 7]). Plenty of skill players will be making their new home under the Dome as well with 9 of the 16 players falling under that description.

Although not included in any class ranking, the addition of RB Amir Carlisle should be mentioned as well. The Southern Cal transfer was an Irish target last season and adds additional depth to the two RBs coming in with the 2012 class.

So just how successful was this class? It depends on how you wish to look at it.

On one hand, this class could have been an absolutely stellar top-5 class had our targets stayed in the fold. Not to mention said players would have filled voids at positions that required immediate impacts.

On the other, the Irish did accomplish their goal of adding in the needed bodies in skill positions. For a team returning 8 starters on offense and 7 on defense, that doesn't exactly leave for much immediate playing time on the field. With that in mind, a quick glace at the depth start can easily create several theories of players moving between RB and WR or even CB.

And perhaps that is the biggest failing and disappointment of this class. This could easily go either way.

Kelly could very well shuffle his roster around, fifth-years can make a breakthrough impact and a high percentage of these recruits hit to form a solid roster. On the flipside, said moves could disappoint and not make the impact Kelly hoped for, much like Theo Riddick to WR. If that were to happen, and recruits from this class do not make their projected impacts, we could see the reality of a shaky foundation in the future.

In comparison, Kelly's 2010 class, one with a focus on the trenches and power positions, made an immediate impact and left very little doubt as to its success even before the first snap of the season. The play by freshmen like Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt removed any doubt as to its success as well.

2012 will already be a pivotal season for Kelly and his future plans for the Notre Dame program, but now I feel the pressure has turned up a notch or two. Kelly has already stated that his goal for the class of 2013 is to land those big-time impact players that ("Big Skill" players as he called them) that can make an impact at multiple positions in his spread offense. In order to get those players, he will need to deliver on the field as he transitions from building his program to running it. These are his guys now, and it is time to see what he will do with them.

With all that being said, congrats to the 17 new members of the Notre Dame football team and the Notre Dame family. Enjoy your new home under the Dome.

EDIT (6:14pm EST): Of course, after I publish this, more "anything" is happening: Davonte Neal is back in play.

Poot will no longer be contributing to Her Loyal Sons.

As a reaction to my post the other day, and a few LTE's in the Observer supporting my stance....And after the project's leadership dismissed the idea because (i am paraphrasing here) 'sales went down from '02 to '04 when we stuck with shades of green' (and nevermind that the team went from 10 to 5 to 6 wins and Ty got canned during that same time period - let's blame it all on the color) in THEIR letter to the editor, I have decided that it's time to take a stand here. So, we're launching an all-out, grassroots campaign to UNITE ND STADIUM under a single, consistent color, year in and year out.

This is about doing what's best for ND Football, and recognizing that all the great benefits of The Shirt 1) Will not go away with a single color and 2) Are owed to the success of the Football Team in the first place

So, I've created a petition HERE.

Step 1: GO SIGN IT! That's done by CLICKING HERE.

Step 2: Forward the link to EVERY ND FAN YOU KNOW. Facebook it, Tweet it (#FixTheShirt is the hashtag), Email it, whatever. Just get the word out.

Step 3: EMAIL theshirt@nd.edu and let them know you've signed and that you want a single color for The Shirt. Forever.

Step 4: Spread the word some more. C'mon, it's quick - just shoot off that email, tweet, whatever. Please?

It's time to fix this thing folks. It's time to welcome opposing teams with unity and fire when they walk into ND Stadium. Help us out!

In commemoration of Syracuse basketball's monumental achievement of reaching a record of 20-1 this evening, the Her Loyal Sons Monumental Mint has crafted these fine t-shirts.

Don't miss your opportunity to remember this day forever. Purchase your shirt, cherish it forever, and be sure to make your children wear it 20 years from now!

Great article today on how "The Shirt" will now be produced by a socially conscious (as opposed to unconscious?) vendor that pays living wages to employees, and how this is a great message and all of that. And it is. And congrats to the students and admins that made such a move. I love it.

But it's about time that The Shirt also serve a purpose for the football team: uniting the fans in a single color to show opposing teams that they are, indeed, playing an away game. AT NOTRE DAME STADIUM.

I rant on this once a year, and I guess it's that time again. The Shirt changes colors every year for some god-forsaken reason. To sell more. To be 'creative'. Whatever, none of them are good reasons. Because, in addition to being socially conscious and raising money for some important student funds, The Shirt should, ultimately, UNITE THE FAN BASE. It should be a way to get all fans on the same page in terms of home garb colors. Too often ND Stadium looks like a bunch of people wandered in off the street and decided to sit down.

Blue (X 30 Hues)
Gold (X 30 Hues)
Green(X 30 Hues)
Away Team Colors
Random Colors of Peoples' Jackets

Notre Dame's crowd is the Skittles of CFB.

TASTE THE FREAKING RAINBOW PEOPLE!

All of these are mixed and matched and there is absolutely no coherence to the stadium, outside of the student section. Why? Well, because not everybody will buy this year's The Shirt. And the crowd has been trained that there is no particular color that is preferred. So we end up with this mess.

Remember Nebraska? Aside from all the ND fans selling out and selling their tix to Nebraska fans, this game taught us one thing: a unified color in the stands can make a difference. That game FELT like an away game for Notre Dame, in our own beloved stadium. So do you think that having a random mish-mash of colors in the stadium doesn't have an impact? Oh it does. And it's time to fix it.

It's time to declare a home game color of choice. One color, for the entire season, for every season, forever. Fans can, of course, choose to wear something different. But maybe this will get a majority on board, and it will start a trend of displaying unity in the stadium.

This can and should start with The Shirt. First, pick a color. One color. Kelly Green. Navy Blue. Whatever, just pick one and stick with it. Permanently. This will, over time, become the 'game day color' for Notre Dame. And yeah, some folks will wear something else, and some will wear one shade of green instead of another, but the unity will be apparent. And it will be clear to visiting teams that they are at Notre - Freaking - Dame.

Yes, I understand that The Shirt has many missions. But without success on the field, it will in the long run mean very little. And while the impact may be small, every little bit helps. It's time to do that little bit and get everyone on the same page.

It's time for The Shirt to do Job #1: Support the Team.

Let's get to it, folks.

I have a golden rule when it comes to recruiting: Until a recruit actually enrolls early or faxes in his signed letter of intent, anything can and will happen. Recruits will be poached, they will change their minds, and Bob Diaco will show up at your house before you even wake up.

Last year, the Irish faithful that dared to strap into this rollercoaster were taken for a ride by Aaron Lynch. For those that do not remember, before finally committing to Notre Dame, he committed to Notre Dame (and, no, that isn't a typo). In between those two commitments, he decommitted from the Irish and then committed to Florida State, only flop right back into the Irish fold just days before enrolling early at Notre Dame.

It seems that yet again, the Irish will be coming out on top of some blue chip drama right before early enrollment.

Today, LSU had a meeting for all early enrollees, but there was a major problem: the top quarterback recruit in the nation, Gunner Kiel, was reportedly nowhere to be found. Reports then started to surface that Kiel had indeed decided, quite literally at the last minute, that he would instead be heading to South Bend to join the 2012 recruiting class of Notre Dame. With no comments from the family, day turned to night and just hours ago, it has been confirmed that Kiel will be the newest member of the Fighting Irish. The entire one-day saga makes you completely forget that this summer Kiel initially committed to Indiana only to open his recruitment back up again during the season.

Like I said, anything can and will happen.

So why did Kiel change his mind at the eleventh hour? Who knows? Having Russell Shepard publicly voice his displeasure with LSU via Twitter probably didn't help. The circulation of now debunked rumors of a "heated argument" before the BCS title game may have been a factor, even if it never happened. Perhaps he had second thoughts about putting his quarterbacking future in Les Miles' hands after seeing Jordan Jefferson in action. Apparently, his mom may have been a huge factor as well. Or maybe Brian Kelly did some kind of crazy last minute pitch that just wowed him.

Overall though, as usual, this is a teenager making the biggest decision of his young life and clearly this kid was conflicted throughout the entire process. I'm sure he has a myriad of reasons as to why, some of which will never become public.

The bottom line is that Notre Dame's recruiting class just got a huge boost (and it could potentially get another one). When the top quarterback in the nation decides to call your team home, you don't say no, especially when you had what can only politely be called "issues" this past season at said position.

Even if you believe Notre Dame will have either Golson, Hendrix, or even Rees rise into greatness, you still want someone like Kiel in your recruiting class. Injuries happen (see: Dayne Crist), one of your expected 5-star studs turns out to be not as great as you thought they would be (see: Dayne Crist...again...) or your starting QB decides to leave early (see: Jimmy Clausen). Much like recruiting, anything can and will happen.

To see what I mean, just take a look at the years of eligibility left for each QB entering 2012:

• Rees - 2
• Hendrix - 3 (redshirt used)
• Golson -4 (redshirt used)
• Kiel - 4 (with potential to redshirt)

You may notice that ND entered the 2011 with nearly the exact same situation. Put Crist at the top of that list, bump everyone else down a spot and the years are the same (save for the fact that Rees didn't redshirt). This flexibility allowed Brian Kelly to redshirt Everett Golson without hesitation. Of course, nothing went exactly to plan. Crist faltered, Rees had a sophomore slump and Hendrix didn't exactly light the world on fire despite being redshirted for a year.

Despite the QB failures of 2011, Kelly is again in a situation in which he has the luxury of being able to redshirt a stud QB in Kiel, making him the third straight QB to get the benefit of a redshirt. Compare that to Quinn, Clausen, and Rees who were thrust into the starting QB role as true freshmen, a situation best avoided; however, the Irish haven't exactly had the luxury of being able to do otherwise.

In the past decade, the only signal callers that were not thrown to the wolves as true freshmen were Dayne Crist, Demetrius Jones, and Carlyle Holiday--not exactly a top tier list of QBs. Throwing in such young QBs doesn't help for any sort of offensive continuity either. Your starting QB is seemingly always playing catchup and adjusting to the speed of the college game, forcing the playbook to become much smaller. As examples, look no further than Quinn and Clausen as it took them both two years of frustration before things "clicked" during their junior years.

So, yes, the Kiel commitment is very huge for Brian Kelly and the Irish for both next year and years down the road, regardless of where your opinion on the current stable of QBs happens to be.

UPDATE: Notre Dame has made it official, Gunner Kiel is Irish. Check out the full press release and breathe easy.

While everyone's workday was wrapping up on the East Coast, Notre Dame announced that Brian Kelly had received a two-year extension to remain as Notre Dame's head coach through 2016. In the press release, athletic director Jack Swarbrick had this to say about Kelly and his new contract:

"While Coach Kelly and I are focused on the additional work that must be done to reach our goals, I am very pleased with the progress we have made during the past two years." University of Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said. "Our football team's performance on the field, in the classroom, and in the community reflect Coach Kelly's commitment to building a program that will be able to sustain success in the long run, and to doing so in a manner consistent with Notre Dame's values and tradition."

Has Kelly earned it? That is certainly more than debatable, especially after a season that fell well below expectations. While we can definitely point to some upsides like our defensive front seven and our recruiting, watching the Notre Dame offense struggle and cough up the ball all season long doesn't exactly inspire such contract extension confidence.

Does it help recruiting? Again, this is rather debatable. It definitely helps that Kelly can walk into a recruit's house and say that he is in for their entire career. Then again, recruits these days are likely more than wise to the fact that the coaching carousel spins at an insane pace every season, especially considering that EA's popular NCAA series now mimics it.

Does it really give Kelly more job security? Not at all, just ask Charlie Weis how much his 10 year extension guaranteed his position. While there is no doubt that this extension will increase any potential buyout, if ND wants to fire Kelly, he will be fired and they will have no problem doing so.

With all that in mind, I give this news an overwhelming "meh" as far as how I personally feel.  While I personally still support Kelly, I'm not exactly jumping for joy over this extension nor do I think it means that Swarbrick thinks that Kelly is on the verge of being the next Lou Holtz.

If anything, this is just an attempt to show a unified front that Notre Dame is on the same page for the next four years. Whether or not that unified front will remain 100% genuine for the next four years though remains to be seen.