Moons

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SOURCES: And the Limits of Respectability

February 23, 2016 by Moons

In the bleakness that can be the time after National Signing Day and before spring practice gets going we find ourselves. There are plenty of debates, lists, and thoughts to have in the weeks and months to come, but at the moment I find myself returning over and over in my head to something in the recent past: Last week, Steve Elmer announced he was leaving the football program to take a job in Washington, D.C. after his graduation in May. Elmer's statement, as released through the University ...

Bobby D vs BVG: The Early Years

February 8, 2016 by Moons

With Signing Day in the rearview mirror, the offseason scab picking can accelerate to greater heights. Perhaps the area of greatest frustration for many looking back on the 2015 season was the continued struggles on the defensive side of the ball. Injuries certainly had a meaningful impact. From Jarron Jones, to KeiVarae Russell, to the way the season ended for Jaylon Smith, it seemed like just about every defensive player had to deal with a substantial health issue. Yet, when juxtaposed with ...

Photo courtesy of Scout.com

Signature Moves: Jamir Jones

February 3, 2016 by Moons

Keeping it in the family's been an increasing trend for Irish recruiting, and why not when things are going well? Joining the Martins and the Okwaras will be the Jones. Jamir Jones, a 3-star linebacker in 247 Sports' Composite Rankings will get a chance to join older brother Jarron for the 2016 season. The junior Jones committed to the Irish over the summer of 2015 and while not heavily recruited outside the northeast, he will help add depth to the linebacker position that loses Jaylon ...

Photo courtesy of Rivals.com

Signature Moves: Julian Okwara

February 3, 2016 by Moons

By now, virtually all Notre Dame fans have pieced together that Julian Okwara is the younger brother of soon to graduate and 2-time defending team sack leader Romeo Okwara. If you weren't aware of that, now you're in the know. Okwara verbally committed to the Irish on April 14 of 2015 and basically shut down the recruiting process thereafter. A weak-side defensive end, Okwara has a very lean build: 6'4" and 220 pounds. 247 Sports ranked him as the #24 Composite weak-side defensive end. ...

Early Enrollee: Khalid Kareem

February 1, 2016 by Moons

Part of a promising defensive line group for the 2016 class, January enrollee Khalid Kareem was 247 Sports' #9 Composite Rankings strong-side defensive end. At 6'3" but just 245 pounds, Kareem's first stop on campus this spring will be the weight room. The Michigan product was recruited heavily by virtually every school in the Midwest, including Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State, and was originally a University of Alabama commit before de-committing from the Crimson Tide less than two ...

Early Enrollee: Daelin Hayes

February 1, 2016 by Moons

Perhaps the biggest and most dramatic get for the Irish during in-season recruiting came when 247 Sports' Composite Rankings #10 outside linebacker, Daelin Hayes, made his announcement that he'd be joining the Irish. Hayes, an Army All-American, missed a good chunk of his senior season with a shoulder separation, but was still one of the most highly coveted players in the nation. At 6'4" and 249 pounds, he's already well built to play either outside linebacker or defensive end. And therein ...

Ranking the 2015 Season’s Games

January 19, 2016 by Moons

Late last week Sports Illustrated came out with its list of the just completed college football season's 25 best games. Notre dame was one of 5 teams that had 3 or more of their games selected for the "best of." In total the Irish had 3 games selected: the heart breaking loss to Clemson, the heart breaking loss to Stanford (that andrewwinn is not letting you live all over again), and the heart stopping victory over Virginia. Only Michigan State and Oregon had more games selected - each had four ...

HLS/ND Fan Radio Winners! and HLS Weekly Pick ‘Em

January 18, 2016 by Moons

Now a week removed from watching Nick Saban re-installed as the dark lord of the college football world, I'm ready to shed a small amount of light onto a few folks. The HLS/ND Fan Radio group ended up having over 100 people participate for the glory and prizes that came with it. In the end, it wasn't much of a battle. Entry Kizer4Heisman dominated the rest of the group, and quite frankly most of the rest of the Internet. His 734 points put him in the 99.8 percentile for all ESPN entries. For his ...

Notre Dame’s Max Redfield (10) intercepts a pass tipped by teammate KeiVarae Russell (6) and USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster (9) during the Notre Dame-Southern Cal football game on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015. SBT Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN

A Defense in Transition

January 13, 2016 by Moons

Jaylon Smith's announcement earlier this week that he would be entering the NFL Draft should not have been a surprise, but it certainly still hit many Irish fans right in the feels. First, there's that hollow feeling of knowing that we've all watched Jaylon play his final game, tragically cut short, in the Navy and Gold. This is not a mourning in any sense of the word. Irish fans should feel elated that a player and person of Smith's quality will get to follow his dreams of playing at the next ...

HLS 2016 Guarantees

January 7, 2016 by Moons

As the first week of 2016 comes to a close, I'm sure plenty of those lofty, ambitious New Year's resolutions we set for ourselves have already found their way to the dumpster. A new year frequently brings renewed new hope and unabashed enthusiasm for the possible...if not likely. It's still a great time for bold takes on what to look forward to when the fall rolls around and football returns. I was curious to hear from the HLS Staff what they were most confident in happening in the 2016 season. ...