But HERE we are.

Spending any time around social media this week has revealed some rather disturbing stories as to just how not-great the COVID response is on campus, especially when it comes to testing. I always want to think the best of my alma mater, but with anecdotes like those, I wanted to try to figure out just what in the hell was going on.

It took less than 24 hours to reveal what I can only describe as a sub-optimal situation in Notre Dame’s attempt to create a safe, in-person learning bubble.

To Notre Dame’s credit, there is far more public communication than I’d expect. There is a public dashboard showing the results all tests performed on-campus and the amount of confirmed COVID cases. Not only that, today they published an open letter which was emailed to the student body, directly addressing the concerns and stories shared on social media.

Yet, these public-facing actions a lackluster response that I feared after Fr. Jenkins’ ill-fated op-ed. Thursday’s latest update showed only 40 tests were performed on August 12, yet two days prior, 202 tests were performed on campus.

The cause of that massive spike:

Including athletics in reporting is great for transparency; however, the dramatic difference in testing numbers sends everyone scrambling to look for the fire amidst the social media smoke.

To Test or Not to Test?

In that quest, I was able to talk to an off-campus student who had direct experience with University Health Services denying a test. This student had direct contact with their significant other and another friend who tested positive for COVID, with the last contact coming this Tuesday morning, August 11.

Knowing they had direct contact, the student called UHS. They were then re-directed to a hotline which was nothing more than a voicemail box when they called in. Nearly forty hours later, they received a call back. Despite stating that they had direct contact with multiple positive cases, UHS told them Notre Dame would not test asymptomatic cases.

This largely fits the statement made in today’s public letter:

A University Health Services (UHS) medical provider will determine whether you need a diagnostic test and what type. Please follow the advice on your daily health check pass about when you should consult with UHS. Our providers order tests based on either primary symptoms or 2 or more days of secondary symptoms of COVID-19. When the clinical circumstances warrant it, UHS providers err on the side of ordering a test.

While this stance should be debated (spoiler alert: not doing asymptomatic testing isn’t wise), the confusion didn’t stop there. When the student asked about next steps, they were informed, but not mandated, that it would be wise to quarantine, calling back if symptoms occurred.

Now, the student is remaining in their off-campus home in the name of caution and remotely Zooming into their classes.

If you are wondering what the “primary” symptoms that ND would test for, the off campus student would like to know as well. They witnessed a phone call between their roommate and UHS in which the roommate reported a cough and sore throat and their test approved. Yet the day prior another friend called in with the exact same symptoms and didn’t receive their test.

When I asked about the presence of “walk up” testing sites, I received a laugh at the other end of the line: “Yeah, walk up if you have an appointment.”

Numbers Game

Further frustrating this student was that they were never contacted by any university employed contact tracer. In talking with their significant other, they were told that the tracers were only interested in previous contact to find the potential origin of exposure. Contact after that point didn’t appear to be a concern.

This is in direct conflict to the following contact tracing policy communicated publicly today:

The University’s trained contact tracers will identify and notify close contacts who need to quarantine. Students must respond promptly to contact tracers and share complete information with them. Details provided by students to contact tracers will not be shared for disciplinary reasons. The amount of time you spent with someone, when, and under what conditions determines whether you will be considered a close contact and need to be tested. Casual exposure, especially if you are wearing a mask and practicing physical distancing, means you probably do not need a test and will not need to quarantine. If you know a friend who has tested positive for COVID-19 and believe you had sustained, direct contact with that person, please call UHS at 574-631-0603.

With this frustration, the student and friends performed pseudo contact-tracing of their own. They knew of multiple parties and other larger (about 20 or so people) gatherings off campus. They were shocked to see ND claim the source of all reported cases were a single off-campus party based on their knowledge.

Even more confusing was seeing the numbers published on the ND dashboard on Thursday, as they estimate they know of more cases than what Notre Dame is reporting. While it’s not a significant amount, it is adding to the confusion of figuring out just how bad this initial wave of exposure is.

The frustration that this student felt and led him to talk to me was similar to what I’ve gone through in Texas and go on many a Twitter rant. The purpose is to try and let as many people possible know what is going and, hopefully, drive additional action by Notre Dame.

That additional action is certainly needed, as the numbers on dashboard not only poorly separate the athletic tests from the student body, but that, as of now, the reporting skews the overall testing percentage numbers this early in the game.

Overall, Notre Dame can boast a 6.2% positive percentage rate; however, once athletic surveillance testing is taking out, the past two days turn in terrifying 19% and 17.5% rates the past two days. Removing August 10 completely (as it’s impossible to tell what is athletics and what isn’t) Notre Dame is left with 106 tests and 15 positive cases–a 14.1% rate.

Those are the kinds of numbers that force cities to start shutting things down and opening more testing sites. It also causes questions like “why isn’t Notre Dame doing some sort of surveillance testing for the student body?” It’s not like other campuses aren’t doing it. The University of Illinois will test all students and staff twice a week and their enrollment of 30,000+ is just slightly larger than Notre Dame.

HLS obtained an email to a faculty group at Notre Dame, stating that such surveillance testing would be coming–in a month.

But why wait until August to come up with this idea? The truth is, such testing was discussed and promised back in June 26, roughly one month after Fr. Jenkins published his op-ed. This promise occured in another email obtained by HLS sent to all Notre Dame employees.

From: Office of the Provost <provost@nd.edu>
Date: June 26, 2020 at 12:07:51 PM EDT
To:nd-employees-group@nd.edu
Subject:Reopening the University — Message 5 (From Provost Burish, Provost-Elect Miranda, EVP Cullinan, and VP Hoffmann Harding)
Reply-To:provost@nd.edu

Dear Notre Dame Community Members:

We write to provide an update on several key health protocols at the University. The plan outlined below will supplement the extensive health and safety modifications (required face coverings, physical distancing, etc.) described in previous communications and on the Notre Dame coronavirus website. In developing these plans, we are focused on making the best possible decisions to enhance the health and safety of Notre Dame and South Bend community members.

…

Surveillance Testing
Surveillance testing refers to the notion of randomly screening community members to assess baseline rates of infection or prior exposure to the infection, including determining rates of asymptomatic infection. We are working with relevant medical experts and our own faculty (Alex Perkins, Jenna Coalson, and Bernard Nahlen) to identify an approach to surveillance testing that would make sense for the campus. Many different approaches exist, and testing technology continues to evolve. Determining the approach Notre Dame will take for surveillance will require some further exploration, investigation, and modeling. We are grateful for the outstanding work being done by our colleagues and for the generous contribution of expert advice by so many local and national medical specialists.

Based on these two emails, very little has changed in regards to any details or anything resembling a concrete plan for surveillance testing for over a month. Notre Dame kicked the can down the road for another month.

By then, it may be too late.

Failure to Launch the Bubble

The other piece of Notre Dame’s plan to return safely to campus was pre-matriculation testing. This too was detailed in the June 26 email:

Pre-matriculation Testing
Before returning for the fall semester (pre-matriculation), students who reside outside of St. Joseph County, as well as St. Joseph County residents who will live in Notre Dame residence halls, will undergo testing. We are working with LabCorp, a leading national provider of tests and lab services, to develop a program to distribute tests to students in late July and for University Health Services to receive the results from LabCorp before students return to campus. Any student who tests positive will be asked to refrain from returning to campus until they are medically cleared to do so.

However, even this testing had some short-comings, which honestly should be expected when scaling up to 11,836 total tests.

One student reported concern with the timeline of the tests. They reported that tests tests were received a week in advance of moving in. For their personal test, they took it on Wednesday, July 29 and moved in to campus on Thursday, August 6. At that point the test they took, and anyone else following a similar timeline, is rather worthless to truly track potential exposure.

Another student reported flat out not receiving their pre-matriculation test, causing confusion of a different kind. As Notre Dame required a verified negative test to attend classes in-person, they had to wait for University Health Services to verify the results as it came outside the usual process. This process wasn’t complete by the time classes started, forcing them to remote in to their classes.

As people see Zooming into classes as a sign of potential contact or being COVID-positive, this had led to additional confusion about the potential spread among the student body. When you take into account people like the off-campus student I talked to, who are quarantining out of caution and haven’t been tested, it’s impossible to use remote attendance as any kind of a metric.

When you compare this to pro sports bubbles like the NBA, it’s not even close. Everyone had to do an initial quarantine and then received a test. Once negative, they could roam the bubble/resort within certain guidelines.

Many of us have called Notre Dame it’s own bubble, but this situation is anything but.

Where to go from HERE

Based on these stories, two things are rather clear. First, Notre Dame has faculty fighting like hell to try and improve ND’s current approach to this situation. Second, while ND has an unenviable task of trying to figure this out, when Fr. Jenkins made his “morality” claim, they needed to knock this out of the park and have fallen well short.

It’s not impossible to recover, but the University needs to seriously reconsider their stance on asymptomatic testing at minimum. While surveillance testing should be the ultimate goal, allowing asymptomatic testing will help cover that gap for those that had direct contact like the off-campus student I interviewed.

As the light shines brighter, I’d like to believe Notre Dame will rise to the challenge for the sake of their students. Otherwise, stories like these will continue.

And I’m tired of writing these kinds of stories.

The post What Is Going on HERE?! appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The article houses not just Notre Dame’s plan for trying to safely reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the logic, or more specifically, the cited philosophical musings around the morality of education during said pandemic.

I’ve typed a lot of strange things on this site, but that last sentence takes the cake.

Anyways, here’s the short version of my thoughts about what Fr. Jenkins wrote: I think Notre Dame came up with as good of a plan as they possibly could to try to have an on campus fall semester. I could not disagree more with the philosophical/moral reasons Fr. Jenkins tossed out in the second half of his article, especially in choosing to ignore all of the ridiculously super-obvious financial reasons that are absolutely in play as well.

Want the (much) longer version? Well go on, loyal reader.

The Plan

Before I get in the weeds of the stuff that drove me insane, let’s focus on the plan Fr. Jenkins rolled out. The plan is a rather obvious list of how to pull anything off that will resemble “normal” life until a vaccine is in place. It includes:

• “Extensive” protocols for testing
• Contact tracing and quarantining
• Social distancing
• Wearing of masks
• Early arrival, no fall break, leave before Thanksgiving to reduce the amount of back-and-forth travel.

The devil, however, is in those lacking details. I don’t fault Fr. Jenkins for not having them as August is still a couple of months away–any attempt to do so is just guessing which does no one any good.

That being said, with on-campus life being the draw at Notre Dame and a forced experience for at least one year (three for athletes), there’s no information on how dorms will execute the punch list. Social distancing is absolutely out the window in dorm life, but I can definitely foresee a nightmarish new version of parietals and additional provisions on either limiting or banning social gatherings.

The key here is the “extensive” testing, which is the great unknown for any plan like this that I’ve seen. While testing has thankfully risen in recent weeks, it’s still hard to imagine Notre Dame having access to an in-depth testing program considering that pro sports leagues, businesses, and other universities will also desire.

It’s not impossible. Other countries have absolutely figured this out. I certainly hope we do as well or this plan could be doomed to failure.

Football

I mean, we are a football site right? So here’s my “stick to sports” section.

Fr. Jenkins said he couldn’t envision filling the stadium, saying he “see[s] no way currently to allow spectators unless we restrict admissions so that physical distancing is possible.” I certainly hope you weren’t expecting anything else; in fact, I would be shocked if the crowd isn’t only students in the stands. It would seem foolish to invite travel from all over the country, even in reduced capacity.

That being said, nothing is set in stone because the focus of Jenkins’ article was on education. Football and Notre Dame may be synonymous, but there’s no doubt the message from ND will continue to focus on education first and athletics later.

This Whole Morality…Thing

Now it’s time to tear into this in earnest because what in the hell is this?!

If we gave the first principle [of protecting the health of students] absolute priority, our decision about reopening would be easy. We would keep everyone away until an effective vaccine was universally available.

However, were we to take that course, we would risk failing to provide the next generation of leaders the education they need and to do the research and scholarship so valuable to our society. How ought these competing risks be weighed? No science, simply as science, can answer that question. It is a moral question in which principles to which we are committed are in tension.

Higher education is a moral issue on some kind of timer and can’t be put on hold? I can’t understand this logic for the life of me.

I understand morality plays a role in deciding what risks to place upon the students you are in charge of. In my professional life, I manage a small team and have struggled with similar decisions. I can’t possibly imagine making the decision for thousands. That being said, what’s the rush? Will we have a shortage of leaders if Notre Dame takes a knee for a semester?

A full pivot, even for just a semester, to online-only education is a non-starter. The on-campus experience is vital to what makes Notre Dame what it is and, more practically, the thing that justifies the price. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to pay that bill or have my kid take out a student loan for that. So I don’t understand why this major piece wasn’t even mentioned.

I get it’s a Catholic institution and mentioning money probably isn’t the look you want, but it’s at least a practical conversation that avoids this:

We are in our society regularly willing to take on ourselves or impose on others risks — even lethal risks — for the good of society. We send off young men and women to war to defend the security of our nation knowing that many will not return. We applaud medical professionals who risk their health to provide care to the sick and suffering. We each accept the risk of a fatal traffic accident when we get in our car.

I absolutely took the Lord’s name in vain after reading that.

I may have majored in engineering at ND, but I took enough humanities courses (the ND way!) to know I shouldn’t make such easily dismantled and lazy arguments.

Going to war is and should be seen as an absolute last resort. Students are not soldiers. Why in the world is everyone resorting to this warrior/war rhetoric for going to school, getting a haircut, or making sure my Chili’s queso is served in front of my face in a mass-produced iron skillet?

This is comparing apples and oranges. I’m sure Fr. Jenkins would agree that we should attempt all sorts of alternative solutions before shots are fired. War isn’t inevitable, yet the implication is that it is and it’s also somehow on the same level as a hungover student dragging their ass to an 8 AM class? Just…no.

The healthcare professional angle is confusing for similar reasons. They are absolutely needed or no one has hope of recovery. I definitely think my degree and my job is important, but I’m not making life and death decisions consistently during my shift. Doctors and nurses can’t take a break, but college students absolutely can.

Unless there’s a research group at Notre Dame close to curing COVID-19, I think everything else can wait a few months, but hey, if there’s something incredibly pressing, maybe just let those research groups come back instead of the whole student body? Just a thought.

And that brings us to the laziest argument of them all: the car. There has been no dumber argument during this pandemic and I can’t believe the president of my alma mater made it.

Look, driving a car is dangerous. It’s almost like there should be a set of laws to govern how we drive–like unified directions of traffic and set speed limits. I would go as far as to say there should probably also be safety measures within the car itself and to make sure people actually use them and manufactures don’t take shortcuts on their implementation of them. We should probably also make sure people don’t drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs because that seems really dangerous.

…have I *clears throat* driven this point home?

If we really want to use a car, here’s a better hypothetical to use that’s just as stupid:

Let’s say that every time you turn on your car, there is a chance of an explosion. Now, the chance is small. Should the explosion happen the chance of death is also fairly small, especially if you are young; however, you should know that the explosion could potentially harm or kill someone else in your vicinity. Again, small chance it could happen. You and 8,000 other people will hit the ignition every day, multiple times a day.

May the odds be ever in your favor. You also have a test on Thursday.

As any patron of the ‘Backer knows, life and risk go hand-in-hand. It’s a fool’s errand to pretend otherwise. I don’t expect Fr. Jenkins or Notre Dame to have a foolproof plan for August by May, but I certainly hoped for initial public statements to be a little more powerful than arguments any common social media troll would use followed with a shrug emoji.

If that’s the kind of thought that went into a planned PR statement, what should I realistically expect if the worst case scenario does happen and a positive test hits campus? Statistically the student will likely be okay, but I’m sure there are other students like myself that have asthma walking around, and that there will be constant interaction with senior citizens working on campus. While I hope this doesn’t happen, I certainly hope the reaction and the public response is handled better than this.

Perhaps even more concerning is that Fr. Jenkins didn’t even bother touching on the potential impact to the greater South Bend/Mishawaka community. I’m a bit shocked that talk of the morality in gauging risks in society didn’t even bother to mention the potential impact outside the ND bubble.

I seem to remember being taught and encouraged to have a positive impact on my community while on campus. Maybe devote as many paragraphs showing consideration for them as you did for your football fans? After all, college students aren’t wired to stay within the bubble and quite a few of them very happily live outside of it while attending school.

Finally, perhaps we should discuss the morality of sitting on a $13.8 billion endowment that could absolutely float ND and pay all its employees if tuition just completely disappeared. Nah, that’s crazy talk.

Off to war, classes of 2021-2024. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The post Questionable Morality appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

HLS Peeps, its Throwback Week. Wherein Domer.MQ (AKA IDTHEMIKE) and I, The (one and only) Biscuit get back into things. For 1 week. Seriously. For 1 week. No longer. Sad? Sorry. All we can do. DEAL WITH IT DEAR READERS. DEEEEEEAL.

So, what’s going on here? Well, MQ and I one night, drunkenly, thought this would be good to do during the season. Then the season passed. And we kept winning. And winning. And winning. And we kept not writing, not writing, and not writing. And here we are. And the guilt, the guilt has been destroying me. So – we write! For 1 week. Despite all the pleas and bribes offered, we are here for up to 10 posts, and that’s that.

What shall we write about? The things that are possible include:

*Rants
*Rants about Urban Meyer Being Shady (SHOCKER)
*Rants about NDFB and things like respect
*Rants
*Rants
*More Rants

Tex and Bayou will of course continue to run the show, and we’ll slot in when we can, and we’ll see if it is good, awesome or amazing. I’m betting on a descriptor that starts with an A.

So, excited to be back folks. Even if for only a short while.

Word to Your Mother, in a good way.

Love,
Biscuit

The post We’re Baaaaaaaaaaack! appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I would posit that one way to make something out of the game is to compare what we last saw on the field with what the Blue-Gold offered. The last “real” game of Fighting Irish football was New Year’s Day, when The Irish served up a bowl of “Rotten Citrus” to the LSU Tigers. It was a game as exciting as a hangover, except for the very end, when Ian Book came off the shelf to replace a frazzled Brandon Wimbush and win the game on a ridiculous 58-yard hookup with Miles Boykin.

Wimbush looked a lot better yesterday than he did before Book sank LSU. Still the “1A” QB per head coach Brian Kelly, Brandon finished the Blue-Gold Game with 19 completions on 33 attempts and one interception for a total of 341 passing yards. He threw two touchdowns and showed off improved mechanics, although his interception was a bad throw that never should have left his hand. He was sacked once, but defining a sack in the context of Blue-Gold rules is about as easier as wrestling a spider monkey.

Ian Book, still the “1B” QB, continued his solid reliability. He went 17 for 30 with zero interceptions and one touchdown. Avery Davis, who under normal circumstances would be QB3, demonstrated that he is the Swiss Army knife of The Irish offense. He can run (30 yards on 11 carries), catch (24 yards on two receptions), and throw (2-2-26). If there’s a better rotation of QBs in college football, you can let me know in the comments.

I cannot say whether the following point speaks to this year’s game plan, to injuries, or what, but in 2017, Notre Dame’s QBs threw the ball to 9 different receivers. Yesterday, they reached 13. Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool turned in solid performances and a circus-catch each, but the number of involved players this year is a positive going into the summer. If there’s going to be a problem with The Irish in 2018 (stop it), it’s not going to be with the offense.

Unless you talk about the O-line. The O-line is going to be new(-ish) and we’ll be missing Big Q’s pancakes like a fat kid outside a locked IHOP. The line isn’t set and there were a number of false starts yesterday, but hey, those could just have been individual homages to Mike McFlinchy. Regardless, the backs didn’t seem to mind, with Dexter Williams ripping off a 72 yard almost touchdown. The defense “sacked” the QB eight times. In his post-game remarks, Coach Kelly noted that the defense was gassed by the number of plays run — by my count, 126.

The 2018 Blue-Gold Game ends the business of preseason football and lets us think about playoff basketball or baseball or perhaps football recruiting — Notre Dame picked up the commitments of Howard Cross, Ajavon Litchfield and John Olmstead this weekend. Whatever you make of the Blue-Gold Game itself, we have lots of tea leaves to read as we head into the summer. Beat Michigan.

The post What Can You Make Out of This? Blue-Gold Game 2018 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

18 Stripes

• Let’s Not Re-Write History

Associated Press

• Notre Dame’s Devin Butler pleads guilty to resisting law enforcement

Bleacher Report

• Notre Dame Football: What Irish Must Fix During Bye Week

• Devin Butler Pleads Guilty to Resisting Arrest: Latest Comments and Reaction

Blue & Gold Illustrated

• Photo Gallery: Notre Dame vs. Stanford Visitors

• Notre Dame’s Bye Week A Time To Heal … And A Potential Sequel
• Irish Huddle podcast: Notre Dame vs. Stanford review
• Three-star 2018 DL Alex Regielsperger recaps first Irish visit
• Four-star safety Grant Delprit says Notre Dame ‘in the running until I sign’
• Devin Butler pleads guilty to misdemeanor; felonies dropped
• Snap counts: Stanford ($)
• Rivals100 2018 OL Tommy Brown experiences unique atmosphere at Notre Dame ($)

CBS Sports

• Most surprising, disappointing things in college football at 2016’s midway point

ESPN

• Devin Butler pleads guilty to lesser misdemeanor charge

• How did things get so bad so fast for Notre Dame?

Indianapolis Star

• Notre Dame football player pleads guilty to misdemeanor

• Has Brian Kelly lost his team? Notre Dame coach says no

Irish Illustrated

• O’Malley’s Monday Musings ($)

• Tim Prister’s Tale of the Tape ($)

• Podcast: Irish not giving up the fight

Irish Sports Daily

• Recruit Roundup

• From The Cheap Seats

• Less than Ordinary

• Power Hour Loaded

• McGrone Takes In ND Atmosphere

Irish Sports Talk

• Notre Dame vs Stanford Recap (What’s going well & what’s not) – IST347

Irish247

• Carter has ‘great’ second trip to Notre Dame ($)

• Irish Offense Report Card: Stanford ($)

• Irish Defense Report Card: Stanford ($)

• Nation’s No. 3 safety comments on ND official visit

• Luke: ‘We have a team full of strong, hard-workers’

• Jones: ‘I’m going to continue to fight for Notre Dame’

• Onwualu: ‘Guys are trying to hold each other up’

• Young leaves Notre Dame more solid than ever

• Tranquill: ‘We’re not going to quit on each other’

• Notre Dame’s Torii Hunter Jr.: ‘We’ve got to win out’

• McGlinchey: ‘We are very capable of getting out of the hole’

• Griffith calls Notre Dame atmosphere ‘incredible’

• Top247 2018s enjoy Notre Dame over the weekend

• Brian Kelly on Irish players: ‘Their attitude is incredible’

• Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly: ‘I love those kids in there’

• Notre Dame commit Lugg receives Army Bowl jersey

• Kelly says Notre Dame is in a ‘no-apology zone’

• Kelly credits defense for keeping the points down

• Irish247 Chat (Oct. 17)

Journal Gazette

• Irish say bye week will do them good

Mercury News

• College Hotline: Stanford football report card (grading the win over Notre Dame)

ND Insider

• Podcast: Notre Dame’s Mike Denbrock stresses need for offensive consistency

• Notre Dame’s Devin Butler pleads guilty to misdemeanor, both felony charges dropped

Newsweek

• How “Hail Mary” Became Inextricably Linked to American Football

The Observer (student newspaper)

• Devin Butler pleads guilty to misdemeanor, felony charges dropped

One Foot Down

• Notre Dame Football: Slowly, but Surely the Defense is Improving

• Notre Dame Football News and Notes: DeShone Kizer is Unequivocally the Starting Quarterback

• One Foot Down Podcast: The Facts on Brian Kelly

Scout NFL Network

• Essentials from Sunday: QBs hit milestones

Scout Recruiting

• Four-Star DB Recaps Pac-12 Visit

• No. 1 2018 RB knows five that will make cut

• Scout’s Top 25 Recruiting Classes

• Talented 2018 CB D.J. Johnson at one offer

• Keldrick Carper Officially Ends Recruitment

Slap the Sign

• What should we make of another Notre Dame football social media gaffe?

Sporting News

• Notre Dame’s Devin Butler makes plea deal in altercation with police officer

Stanford Daily

• Stanford football rallies to edge Notre Dame on road

Today’s U

• Irish sighs: Notre Dame can’t stop downward spiral

UHND

• Notre Dame Football: What We’ve Learned at the Midpoint

The post Morning Roundup: Oct. 18, 2016 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

18 Stripes

• Instant Reaction: Offensive Result

• Stanford Review: No Envy for Swarbrick

ASAP Sports

• Brian Kelly news conference 10/15
• Brian Kelly phone conference 10/16

Associated Press

• Notre Dame’s start is among worst ever with tough games left

Bleacher Report

• Stanford vs. Notre Dame: Game Grades, Analysis for Irish

Blue & Gold Illustrated

• Bitter Pill: Irish Falter In Second Half Against Stanford

• Irish Offensive Line Working Through Struggles

• Notre Dame-Stanford: Numbers, Turning Point & More
• Irish visit meets high expectations for 2018 four-star RB Jaelen Gill ($)
• 2019 QB Hank Bachmeier has ‘perfect’ first visit to Notre Dame
• First game a great experience for four-star 2018 ATH Houston Griffith ($)
• Top players – a closer look: Notre Dame vs. Stanford ($)
• 2018 WR Micah Jones gives Notre Dame visit perfect ’10’ ($)
• On the Irish beat: Quarterbacks struggle in loss to Stanford ($)
• Notre Dame quarterbacks continue disturbing regression pattern ($)
• Game notes: Notre Dame vs. Stanford ($)

Chicago Sun-Times

• Yo, Notre Dame: Just how bad is this thing going to get?

College Football Talk

• Notre Dame DL Jerry Tillery caught liking tweets about Les Miles as head coach

CSN Chicago

• Brian Kelly benches DeShone Kizer for Malik Zaire seeking energy that Notre Dame didn’t get

• Brian Kelly: Notre Dame’s offensive struggles not ‘just about DeShone Kizer’

• Former Irish safety Max Redfield no longer enrolled at Notre Dame

• Notre Dame clinging to positivity as season-long implosion continues with loss to Stanford

• Schedule watch: Notre Dame’s path to four wins, let alone a bowl, looking difficult

ESPN

• Irish’s Brian Kelly: QB change about trying to ‘get some energy back’

• Stanford defense takes control as Notre Dame deals with more QB drama

Forbes

• With Brian Kelly’s Job In Jeopardy; Here Are Five Candidates That Could Land At Notre Dame In …

Fox Sports

• Is Brian Kelly on the hot seat at Notre Dame?

Goshen News

• NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: 5 takeaways from the Stanford loss

Indianapolis Star

• Notre Dame player ‘likes’ tweets suggesting Les Miles should replace Brian Kelly

Inside the Irish

• Five things we learned: Stanford 17, Notre Dame 10

• The good, the bad, the ugly: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

Irish Illustrated

• Crossing The Lines

• Gallery: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

• Instant Analysis: Irish out of answers?

• Irish Notes: Familiar Refrain

• Irish split at No. 4 Duluth

• Kelly and Close Games

• Out Of Answers

• Report Card: Stanford @ Notre Dame

• Snap Judgments: Stanford @ Notre Dame

• Notre Dame’s downward spiral continues

• Tim Prister’s Point After

• Video: Players process loss

Irish Sports Daily

• “They’re Notre Dame, so I know they will be alright.” – Dallas Gant

• BK Notebook: Stanford

• BK Notebook: Sunday Teleconference 10/16

• Brown Enjoys Return to South Bend

• Fast Start Leads to Slow Finish

• Frank Commentary

• Gill Calls First Notre Dame Visit “Amazing”

• Griffith Gets Good Look At ND

• Instant Reaction: Stanford 17 Notre Dame 10

• Irish Go Down Again

• Irish Impress Elite LSU Commit

• Irish Make Most Of Final Pitch To Carter

• ISD Video: Post Stanford

• McCaffrey Very Impressed with Notre Dame Visit

• ND Still High On Jones’ List

• Parker Wants to Return to Notre Dame

• Pouncey Receives Reassurance From Parents

• Reigelsperger Impressed With ND Atmosphere

• Sarell Enjoys Another Special ND Trip

Irish247

• Irish hurt again by Kelly’s poor decision-making

• Irish247 Impressions — Notre Dame Recruiting

• Irish247 Impressions — Stanford 17 Notre Dame 10

• Kelly not pleased when asked about change in momentum

• Kelly, McGlinchey supportive of Notre Dame center

• No. 1 recruit wraps up official visit at Notre Dame

• Sharpley’s Halftime Adjustments

• WATCH: Luke snags an interception for Notre Dame

• Wiltfong: Nobody saw 2-5 coming

ND Insider

• Analysis: Selling the future and the challenges for ND’s Brian Kelly in making it work

• Jerry Tillery’s Twitter account ‘likes’ tweets suggesting Les Miles to Notre Dame

• Lesar: It’s time for everyone at Notre Dame to look in the mirror

• NBCSN scratches Jimmy Clausen’s guest analyst appearance for ND-Stanford

• Notebook: In past, Notre Dame’s Jack Swarbrick kept coach’s status close to vest

• Notre Dame NT Jarron Jones makes waves against Stanford

• Notre Dame offense goes stone cold in loss to Stanford

• Photos: Notre Dame vs. Stanford (first half)

• Video: Don’t blame Notre Dame’s defense for loss to Stanford

News-Sentinel

• Donald Trump, meet your football equivalent in Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly

One Foot Down

• 3 Things We Can Take Away From Notre Dame’s Loss To Stanford (Jeopardy Edition)

• AP Poll Watch: Goodbye VA Tech and Miami, Hello Navy

• Notre Dame Finds A Way To Lose Another Game To Stanford, 17-10

• Notre Dame VS Stanford: First Half Thoughts

Scout Recruiting

• South’s No. 25 S Relishes Time in South Bend

The Spun

• Notre Dame DL Liking Tweets Calling For Brian Kelly To Be Fired

UHND

• Beyond the Boxscore: Notre Dame Offense Stalls vs. Stanford

UND

• Box Score

• Notre Dame-Stanford 2016: What the Irish Learned

• Stanford Rallies To Down Irish

• Sunday Brunch: ‘Closing Time’ Missing from Irish Hit List

The post Morning Roundup: Oct. 17, 2016 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

From our site

• Predictions: We Got Trees, Trees Fallin’

• Friday Roundup: The “Come for the Roundup, Stay for the Drunk Picks” Episode
• Stanford Game Provides Fork In the Road For Irish

ACC Sports

• ACC teams getting the better of Notre Dame

Associated Press

• Stanford-Notre Dame not the big game expected in preseason

Blue & Gold Illustrated

• Talented 2019 QB honored to be visiting Notre Dame
• 2018 OL with Notre Dame ties heading to South Bend this weekend ($)
• Podcast: Recruiting Corner, Oct. 14
• BGI staff predictions: Notre Dame vs. Stanford
• Notre Dame, Brian Kelly and going beyond youth angle
• Game preview: Stanford
• Weekend visitors preview: Stanford ($)

CBS Local

• College Football Picks Week 7: Stanford Looks to Salvage Season

CSN Chicago

• Three keys and prediction: Notre Dame – Stanford

• Notre Dame-Stanford loses its luster, but not immediate importance for Irish

• Podcast: What could a win over Stanford mean for Notre Dame?

18 Stripes

• Advanced Stats Preview: Stanford

• Recruiting Visitors for Stanford Weekend

• Stanford Game Depth Chart

Fox Sports

• South Bend police cleared in arrest of Notre Dame’s Butler (Oct 14, 2016)

Inside the Irish

• Pregame Six Pack: Looking for a win

• Behind the Irish: Another chance vs. Stanford

Irish Illustrated

• Staff Picks: Stanford @ Notre Dame

• Prister’s Preview: Stanford @ Notre Dame

• Video: Players look for rivalry redemption

• Irish Notes: Kelly Sees Bright Future

• Short on options, Irish hope change pays

• Audio: Fighting Irish Preview

Irish Sports Daily

• Bilal enjoy growing at Notre Dame
• St. Brown ready for rivalry
• ISD Intel (part free, part $)
• ISD game predictions: Stanford ($)
• Not the same Stanford ($)
• Notre Dame set to host elite 2017 prospect

Irish247

• Notre Dame commit updates (Oct. 14)

• Gut check time for Shaw, Kelly

• Irish247 Notre Dame-Stanford visitor preview

• Effort of staff has Elijah Hicks excited about Notre Dame visit

• ESB: Limit mistakes, execute offensively, ‘we’re unstoppable’

• Luke embracing changes to defensive philosophy, mentality

• Notre Dame’s Josh Adams: ‘We’re motivated to win’

• Bilal sees benefits of redshirting in year one

• Rochell ‘excited’ for rivalry game with Stanford

• Big recruiting weekends set for Notre Dame, Tennessee, Colorado

• Irish247 Podcast: Notre Dame-Stanford, wrapping N.C. State

• Irish247 Staff Predictions: Notre Dame-Stanford

Los Angeles Times

• Pick with (or against) our college football experts

Most Valuable Podcasts

• Stanford Cardinal/Notre Dame Fighting Irish

ND Insider

• Another test for Notre Dame linebacker Asmar Bilal

• No wrongdoing by police in arrest of Notre Dame CB Devin Butler, chief says

One Foot Down

• Game Preview: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

• The Anti-Preview: Notre Dame VS Stanford

SB Nation

• A brief history of Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly blaming other people for losses

Scout Recruiting

• Scout 100 Junior has four on him hardest

• Live Evaluation: 2019 4-Star WR Devonta Lee

• Weekend Official Visit Primer

• Scout 100 WR Tarik Black Senior Highlights

UND

• Aaron Taylor: ‘My Spiritual Fruitcake’

• Rio Olympians: Irish Make Their Marks

• Notre Dame-Stanford 2016: Five Things to Watch

WSBT

• Chief says officer did nothing wrong in arrest of Notre Dame’s Devin Butler

The post Morning Roundup: Oct. 15, 2016 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

From our site

• Opponent Watch: Look What the Hurricanes Blue In

• Debating a Bowl Game for Staggering Irish

Blue & Gold Illustrated

• Notre Dame’s Running Game Becomes Grounded Again
• Irish Huddle podcast: Stanford preview
• BGI video: Brian Kelly, post-practice, Oct. 13
• Brian Kelly: ‘This group is gonna win for a long time.’
• Impact matchups: Notre Dame vs. Stanford ($)
• Stanford the next test for Notre Dame’s defense
• Improvement on first and third down key for Notre Dame’s offense ($)
• Asmar Bilal seeing a larger role in Notre Dame’s defense
• Notre Dame 2017 WR commit Michael Young previews official visit
• Irish set to host 5-star offensive tackle Foster Sarrell ($)

CSN Chicago

• Figuring out how to win close games no easy solution for fading Notre Dame

• Jimmy Clausen will be part of NBC’s Notre Dame coverage Saturday

• On paper, Stanford looks like favorable matchup for Notre Dame

Fox Sports

• Notre Dame needs offense to be dependable, clutch (Oct 13, 2016)

• Bruce Feldman’s Week 7 college football picks against the spread

Goshen News

• NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: Irish mid-season report card 2016

Grand Haven Tribune

• GVSU football program reaches historic milestone

Inquisitr

• Could Jim Tressel Take Over The Notre Dame Coaching Job?

I share these Inquisitr articles solely for the humor value, since the same article has been written about Les Miles, Tony Dungy and now Jim Tressel. Is Jon Gruden next?

Irish Illustrated

• Captain’s Corner with Courtney Watson ($)

• Video: Kelly optimistic on Irish youth

• Tough test awaits Irish hockey

• Prister’s Thursday Thoughts ($)

• Nothing Secondary About Third
• Master list: Defense ($)

Irish Sports Daily

• Power Hour Loaded

• Hainsey Hyped For Official

• Adams All About Getting Back to Notre Dame Football

• Rochell: Stanford A Momentum Changer For the Irish

• Asamoah Eager to Visit ND for Miami Game

• Moving Forward with Recruiting

• ’18 Four-Star OL Set to Visit Notre Dame ($)

• 6 Thoughts on a Thursday ($)

• Cole Luke On Taking Down Stanford
• BK Transcript: 10/3
• BK notebook: 10/3 ($)
• ISD video: Kelly and Stanford

Irish247

• Top100 LB to visit Notre Dame this weekend

• Kelly preaching preparation, focus leading up to Stanford

• Tale of the Tape: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

• Young Irish DBs impressing Torii Hunter Jr.

• Nation’s No. 2 WR adds offer from Notre Dame

• Tunnel Vision — Notre Dame Recruiting Insider

• Top100 OL set for Saturday’s trip to Notre Dame
• Irish draw on past plan to limit McCaffrey
• Updates: Brian Kelly press conference
• Kelly impress with defensive backs coach Lyght
• Major scratch from Notre Dame’s visitor list ($) (Greg Johnson)
• Big-time safety, LSU commit visiting Notre Dame Saturday
• Kelly optimistic about direction of Irish program

NBC Sports

• Notre Dame Fighting Irish Host Stanford Cardinal in Primetime This Saturday Night

ND Insider

• Cancer survivor spends memorable weekend with Notre Dame football team

One Foot Down

• Notre Dame Football Weather Report: Stanford

Rule of Tree

• Stanford vs Notre Dame: Reliving the Rivalry

Scout Recruiting

• 2018 4-Star Jaelen Gill On The Mend

• Video: Top 5 CB Shaun Wade in Action

South Bend Tribune

• Why Notre Dame Won’t Fire Brian Kelly

• Notre Dame’s losing record could be letdown for local economy

Stanford Daily

• Behind enemy lines: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

UHND

• Brian Kelly Fails to Make Necessary Adjustments

The post Morning Roundup: Oct. 14, 2016 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer (14) carries the ball as Stanford Cardinal linebacker Kevin Anderson (48) defends in the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Stanford won 38-36. Matt Cashore/USA TODAY Sports

Fans and media have spent a lot of time debating whether Coach Kelly throws his players under the bus. Today, the team captains said they absolutely don’t feel Kelly is solely blaming them or their teammates for the four losses. But as a friend and fellow ND grad said to me today, “Players approved by Notre Dame to speak to the media had nothing bad to say about the man who controls their playing time and potential NFL draft position? I am shocked.” I’m not that cynical, but I get his point.  The blame game and other headlines below.

From our site

• Irish in the NFL: Week 05

18 Stripes

• Week 7 Preview

• Film Room: The Jet Sweep

ASAP Sports

• UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

Blue & Gold Illustrated

• Irish debate: Stanford Prediction
• BGI video: Player interviews, Oct. 12 (St. Brown, Bilal, Luke, Morgan)
• 2017 commit Isaiah Robertson ‘glad to be coming home’ ($)
• A look at Stanford: Q&A with Jacob Rayburn
• Notre Dame players don’t feel blamed for losses
• BGI video: Player interviews, Oct. 12 (captains)
• On paper: Notre Dame vs. Stanford ($)
• Brian Kelly/Notre Dame: Close encounters, part II
• Three-star safety Amari Carter excited for return to Notre Dame ($)
• 2018 DE Alex Reigelsperger ready to experience Notre Dame game atmosphere ($)

Chicago Tribune

• It’s time for Brian Kelly and Notre Dame to go their separate ways

College Football News

• Notre Dame vs. Stanford Game Preview & Fearless Prediction

ESPN

• Notre Dame players defend Brian Kelly’s approach

• The struggle is real for Stanford and Notre Dame

• Which big-name team rallies to reach a bowl game?

Fox Sports

• Mailbag: How Notre Dame fell apart this season under Brian Kelly

• Podcast: The trainwreck at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly’s job & the upcoming Stanford game

Inside the Irish

• McCaffrey questionable for Saturday

• And in that corner… The Stanford Cardinal

Irish Illustrated

• Inside the Matchup: Stanford vs Notre Dame

• I Have 61 Things to Say ($)
• ‘There is a lot to like. Where do I start?’
• Video: McGlinchey: ‘We know it is on us’
• Video: James Onwualu sees gains on defense

• Beyond the Numbers: Stanford vs. Notre Dame ($)

Irish Sports Daily

• Big-Time 2019 IN WR Ready to Visit ND

• 2018 Ohio DE “Super Excited” For ND Visit

• Torii Hunter Jr. Stays Positive

• Real Talk with Mike McGlinchey: Part II

• “We accept everything as a team” – DeShone Kizer

• ISD Video: Players and Stanford

Irish247

• Superlatives for Notre Dame’s first half of 2016

• Very difficult’ for Irish to play both QB’s, Kelly says

• Cover 3: Brian Kelly continues to confound

• Kelly discusses self-scout, need for improvement on first down

• Total package made Notre Dame the choice for Jeter

• Reigelsperger to visit Notre Dame Saturday

• 247Sports Expert’s Take: Brian Kelly needs to play Malik Zaire

• Notre Dame commits in the updated 2018 Top247

• Top150 CB visiting Notre Dame this weekend

• Does Brian Kelly blame his players? No, says McGlinchey

• Control the line of scrimmage, limit McCaffrey

• By the numbers: Notre Dame team leaders

• Make-A-Wish experience humbling for Kizer, teammates

• Onwualu influential in changing practice routine

Mercury News

• Fighting Irish try to stop fighting each other before Stanford visit

ND dot EDU

• Football weekend events: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

ND Insider

• Chat Transcript: Talk Notre Dame football with Eric Hansen

• Video: Still reasons for Notre Dame football to play

One Foot Down

• Who replaces Brian Kelly? That is the wrong question to ask.
• Stanford Q&A: What you need to know about the Cardinal

The post Morning Roundup: Oct. 13, 2016 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

From our site

• TCB Poll 2016: Week 6

ASAP Sports

• UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

Associated Press

• Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw to receive Wooden coaching honor

Blue & Gold Illustrated

• Brian Kelly: ‘We’re focused on just winning’
• N0tre Dame commit Paulson Adebo makes ‘any team better immediately’ ($)
• In-state 2018 DB D.J. Johnson making second trip to South Bend
• Notre Dame-Stanford: Close encounters the norm
• Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey a game-time decision for Saturday
• BGI video: Stanford game preview with Matt and Lou
• BGI video: Brian Kelly, Oct. 11
• Grades: Notre Dame defense vs. NC State ($)
• Irish in the NFL: Week 5
• Three-star 2018 linebacker Cameron McGrone to visit Irish for first time ($)
• Commit tracker: Week seven ($)

Cardinals Source

• The Cardinals’ Michael Floyd dilemma ($)

CSN Chicago

• Notre Dame will plan on facing ‘banged-up’ Christian McCaffrey on Saturday

ESPN

• Cardinal star Christian McCaffrey questionable for Irish tilt

• Free to tweet: Northwestern’s restrictions on football players ruled unlawful

Goshen News

• NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: Kelly, Irish remain focused on winning now

Inquistir

• Notre Dame Fighting Irish Among Most Disappointing FBS Teams, In Danger Of Missing Out On …

Inside the Irish

• Kelly playing for both present and future

Irish Illustrated

• Notre Dame in the NFL: Week 5

• Basketball: Morsell talks top three

• Video: Kelly searches for right buttons

• Irish Notes: An Eye Toward the Future?

• It’s Always Something

• Insider’s Preview: Stanford ($)

Irish Sports Daily

• Notre Dame Depth Chart: Stanford Week

• 2018 IL WR Planning ND Return This Weekend

• Stanford by the Numbers

• BK Notebook: 10/11

• Stanford Game Very Important for Notre Dame and Brian Kelly

• 1st Down Way Down

Irish247

• Army All-American having dominant senior season

• Irish247 Impressions: Brian Kelly’s presser at Notre Dame

• Top100 CB adds ‘major’ offer from Oklahoma

• Where will top-ranked recruit Sarell play after Army Bowl?

• Would Notre Dame commits sign early if they could?

• Kirtz visiting Notre Dame this weekend

Journal Gazette

• Kelly keeping an eye toward building for future seasons

MLive

• Paul Finebaum on Brian Kelly blame game: ‘Who’s next? … Donald Trump?’

NCAA

• Former Notre Dame stars Jaylon Smith, KeiVarae Russell Russell exchange jerseys after NFL game

ND Insider

• Quick Hits: Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly’s Stanford Week press conference

• Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly says he’ll remain true to himself on sideline

NWI Times

• Irish focus on finishing stronger after another tough loss

One Foot Down

• Brian Kelly Talks Need for Better Coaching at Tuesday Presser

Saturday Blitz

• Notre Dame Football: 5 potential replacements for Brian Kelly

SB Nation

• Here are the elite teams who can teach Notre Dame how to win at football

Scout

• Video Review of Notre Dame Stadium

Scout Recruiting

• What players have the scout staff puzzled?

UND

• Brian Kelly Previews Stanford Week

• Irish Look To Reclaim Legends Trophy

The post Morning Roundup: Oct. 12, 2016 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.