The life-blood of college football is pettiness and schadenfreude. There is no other sport in the world that derives more joy from the pain of others than this silly, stupid, and wonderful sport. Further, the main character doesn’t need to be a hated rival for said joy. Sure, it helps, but when something truly gut-wrenching happens in college football (e.g. Nebraska becoming the first team in history to lose nine games by a single possession), you not only stop and laugh, but take the effort to tune in to the train wreck.

Notre Dame consistently finds themselves cast in a recurring role. Since their breakthrough 4-8 performance in 2016, they’ve been nothing but boring and consistently good for the nationwide audience. They only tuned in to the big games in hopes of an Irish collapse and too often, we obliged, returning to the periphery until the next big national moment.

Then, with Notre Dame prepping for their next cameo, on the verge of potentially snagging another playoff appearance, Brian Kelly shoved the Irish into center stage for all the wrong reasons. There was much laughter–save for LSU fans furiously deleting every BK joke and “he killed a kid” tweet from their feeds. The Irish were pantsed in the same fashion as Oklahoma. Blue-bloods don’t have their full ass exposed in this manner, much less two in the same coaching cycle (or seven day stretch for that matter).

My response was pure shock. I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t sad. In fact, I was more at least convincing myself that I was at peace in our instant reaction emergency pod. Not more than 24 hours later, the college football playoff committee mentioned that not having a head coach could be used against any team.

Switch immediately flipped.

In blogging college football, you often find yourself defending assholes. College football head coaches are, by in large, overpaid sociopathic assholes with gigantic egos. The thing is, they are your asshole. As long as they trip over the low bar the rest of college football has placed in front of them, and so long as they bring the wins, you will defend your asshole. Fail to win and you make sure the natives are restless by reminding them how much an asshole he is.

I no longer have to defend the asshole that is Brian Kelly.

I could forgive the attempted Irish goodbye to his team. I could forgive him deciding to immediately walking that decision back and saying goodbye for under four minutes. I could understand leaving a job suddenly for a big ‘ol bag of cash and refusing to give your current employer a chance to match. I could even form the logic that, while Kelly certainly didn’t do anything to help or prevent some truly awful situations that happened under his watch, they were bigger signs of complete failure across the entire university and not just the guy hired to win football games.

The evidence of BK as a supreme asshole was, is, and forever will be massive. After 2016, BK 2.0 made it easier to forget because the wins happened. The players were bought in to what Notre Dame stood for more than ever. While they were great on the field, they’ve been great humans off of it as well. Scandals ceased. Things were fine.

Then Brian Kelly reminded us that you can polish a human turd, but they will still remain a human turd.

I don’t care about what the “real reason” was for BK leaving. Hated ND’s restrictions and had enough? Fine. Hated the Gug? Whatever. Wanted the big ‘ol bag of money? Sure. Got tired of working for Jack Swarbrick? I’ve hated bosses too.

However, BK couldn’t turn off the ego. He was still the hero of this story, proclaiming his “limitless love” to his players:

I’m not sure what reaction he thought he’d receive. He was greeted and bid farewell with nothing but silence. His players immediately went to Twitter focusing on Marcus Freeman as his replacement and getting Tommy Rees a raise. Once the news broke, it was greeted with jubilation and notes that the family was intact as assistant after assistant confirmed they weren’t going anywhere.

He left on the verge of another playoff berth. The players weren’t done. His staff wasn’t done. He was. A son of a politician should manage to read the room better than this.

We couldn’t have picked a better season to call it quits at HLS. I certainly didn’t expect it to come at the same time the BK-era ended, but I’ll take it, especially since I’m convinced this team will come out with more fire and passion no matter what postseason game they find themselves selected to play on Sunday. It’s a hell of a way to go out and pass the baton on to everyone else.

After all, Marcus Freeman is younger than I am. I feel like the blogger shouldn’t be younger than the head coach unless I’m making my living doing this. Plus, at this very moment, we have no asshole evidence against him.

If we leave this space, and Notre Dame, without having to defend an asshole, I couldn’t ask for a better ending.

The post We’re Free, Man appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Enjoy the picks, as well as me breaking in continuously to list of yet another assistant staying on board and not fleeing to Baton Rouge. I’m still three games behind Eddie in our annual Extra Life bet and I need to make up at least two here to make the Army/Navy game worth something.

It all comes down to this. I’m not sure if I made the right picks, but I know I’ll be able to sleep at night.

#HAILGAMBLOR

Podcast

The post The Freeman Era Begins! Oh…and Championship Week Picks appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I’m not worried about SEO. This is all the description you are getting.

Podcast

The post EMERGENCY POD: The Fairy Godmother Is Real and BK’s Gone appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Surely Notre Dame is worthy of entry into the College Football Playoffs.

Yet, facing the results of last night’s games, what more can the Irish do to prove their worthiness?

Trial by Fire

A 50-gallon drum of burning refuse and offal is placed before Brian Kelly. He reaches in and pulls out the remnants of Michigan’s Revenge Tour. If Kelly is uninjured, then he is worthy to lead his team into the playoffs. If he also pulls any remnant of Michigan’s pride, he’s a miracle-worker.

Trial by Combat

One player from Notre Dame and one player from another team, selected at random, are closed in a 9’ by 12’ room and given two beds, two chairs, two desks, and two wardrobes. They may attack each other with any of these implements. If the Irish player walks out of the room under his own power, carrying either the sink or the radiator he has wrenched out of the wall, both he and Notre Dame are deemed worthy to enter the playoffs. Notre Dame players will have an advantage in this contest, because it’s also called “Freshman year in Dillon, Alumni, and Zahm.”

Witch Dunking

The Leprechaun is hurled into St. Mary’s Lake. If he sinks, he was good and the Irish are worthy of a playoff spot. If he floats, he is evil and Notre Dame’s season is over. Sorry to cheer against you little fella, but here’s hoping your green tuxedo and genie shoes are lined with lead. And don’t worry – we’ve got plenty more short, feisty, hirsute men on campus.

Duel

Clark Lea and Dave Clawson (Wake Forest’s head coach who scored the most points on the Irish this season with 27) are each given a rapier, and then clash until one is touched…or stabbed a little bit…three times. However, while the blade of Clawson’s sword is 26.01 inches long, Lea’s blade is 33.59 inches long, reflecting the difference in time of possession. In the alternative, each man is given a blowgun and, standing 10 yards apart, they use the strength of their lungs to shoot darts at each other. Clawson has only 398 darts, but Lea gets 566 darts, commensurate with total yards in the game. Either way, when Clark Lea wins, Notre Dame is acknowledged as being a worthy playoff team, and Dave Clawson has the distinction of being the only man left bleeding in the wake of the Irish twice in one season.

Tial by Poison

Brian Kelly has to watch the entire compilation of ESPN’s coverage of Notre Dame from the entire season, without a single break. If he doesn’t soil himself or go insane with rage, the Irish go to the playoffs.

The Bridge Troll

In order to prove that Notre Dame is worthy of competing in the playoffs, two Irish captains must answer three complex and tricky questions. Drue Tranquill (majored in mechanical engineering) and Sam Mustipher (majored in computer science) are presented with the three queries. Since actual hunched green dwarves who live under bridges are in short supply, the questions will be written by a substitute troll – Desmond Howard (majored in…communications).

EFS CSC

The post Good Fridays w/Padre: WORTHY! appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Interestingly enough, “Rudy” had its world premier in South Bend exactly 25 years ago this month. That season, the Fighting Irish went into the last game of the year, at home, undefeated and #1, only to be beaten by a substantially lower-ranked opponent. Let this be a dire and horrifying warning!

For October is the month of horror, ending as it does with Halloween, the night when ghosts and demons cavort openly among the living. American film-goers love to be horrified, because they know that what they are watching is not real. Irish football fans hate to be horrified, because what they see before them is oh-so very real.

Thus, let us bring together movies, the Fighting Irish, and the Naval Academy Midshipmen (who can be all too horrifying) and re-imagine some horror films with better endings:

“The Poseidon Adventure”

In theaters: A rogue wave capsizes a cruise ship, killing all but our heroes, led by a Minister.

In San Diego: A wave of Irish offense swamps the Middies, led by our hero, a Book.

“The Last Voyage”

In theaters: A heroic father leads his wife and daughter to safety after a boiler explosion sends a cruise ship to the bottom.

In San Diego: A heroic Kelly leads his Irish and their fans to victory after an explosive Notre Dame sends Navy to defeat.

“The Perfect Storm”

In theaters: Three deadly weather systems converge on a fishing boat which is engulfed by the sea.

In San Diego: Eleven deadly defensemen converge on the hapless Middies who are engulfed in loss – unfortunately for Navy, it will be Tranquill weather.

“Below”

In theaters: Terrible things happen on a Navy submarine.

In San Diego: Terrible things happen to Navy next to their submarines.

“Jaws”

In theaters: A great white shark eats people.

In San Diego: A great Irish defense eats Middies.

“The Abyss”

In theaters: Divers encounter underwater aliens.

In San Diego: What the Middies will be staring into.

“Dead Calm”

In theaters: A murderer pirates a sailboat.

In San Diego: The Navy cheering section.

“Deep Rising”

In San Diego: Irish Rising

“Moby Dick”

In San Diego: A cut-blocker

“All Is Lost”

In San Diego: The Story of the Navy Midshipmen

“A Night to Remember”

In San Diego: The Story of the Fighting Irish

EFS CSC

The post Good Fridays w/Padre: The Horror appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Jeff Quinn has been promoted to Offensive Line coach for the Irish.

More: https://t.co/nwUe4YVjif#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/atTQsxLluj

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 23, 2018

Well…except for the whole “suddenly silenced” part.

Look, I get it. Just as we thought Notre Dame completed the fumigation of the BVG stank, Brian Kelly went and did the one thing that Irish fans will forever associate with BVG and never forgive him for: hiring (or in this case, promoting) within his comfort zone. Not only that, he basically hired his best friend, Jeff Quinn, whom many will remember as BK’s right-hand man and offensive coordinator during Kelly’s rise through the coaching ranks.

On paper, it’s absolutely an underwhelming hire, especially considering that any rumors or smoke swirling around the offensive line vacancy stayed far away from Quinn. I’m not here to sell you on it. In fact, I’m not even here to calm you down.

What I will say is that assistant coaching hires seem, from my perspective, to be a total crap-shoot. I was a little nervous last offseason that BK took Wake Forest’s defensive coordinator and then hired a guy from Memphis that had only a single season as offensive coordinator under his belt. Where there encouraging metrics to lessen the blow? Sure! Was there worry that this was 100% going to blow up in BK’s face? You bet!

In all honesty, Kelly’s hires and promotions this offseason have been largely outside his comfort zone. While Clark Lea’s promotion was certainly a move to maintain continuity from Mike Elko, he’s far from a “BK guy” and 2018 will be his first season as a defensive coordinator. Terry Joseph’s hire as the new safeties coach is also a bit out of left field (baseball pun absolutely intended) for BK as well:

It was Tierney’s understanding there was no past coaching connection between Joseph and ND head coach Brian Kelly or any of the current members of the Irish coaching staff.

“He said it came out of the clear blue,” Tierney said. “He had gotten a phone call, asked if he had any interest. Once he got clearance from North Carolina to talk to Notre Dame, it kind of just took off from there.”

Perhaps it shouldn’t be overly surprising that BK decided to make one pick of comfort with that in mind. Plus, let’s not forget that very few (if any) Irish fans were singing Harry Hiestand’s praises when he was announced as well.

No matter what side of the BK fence you find yourself on, let me give you some “BK Practices Networking 101 Hiring Comfort” around a handful of talking points:

What in the World Does Chip Long Think?

Keep BK: This move likely wasn’t made without Long’s input. Perhaps Quinn has been a bit of a mentor for the young coordinator as well. Maybe it wasn’t “option A” as far as Long was concerned, but certainly not an option that he feels threatens him or what he wants to do on offense.

Fire BK: Hiring a former offensive coordinator best buddy is a sure-fire way to cause internal strife within the staff and locker room. That BVG nail almost has BK’s coffin closed as-is and, if this blows up in his face too, it’s going to be near impossible to justify keeping BK around.

The Recruiting Trail

Keep BK: Yes, Quinn isn’t known as an all-star recruiter, but neither was Hiestand. In fact, that was one of the biggest criticisms running around after his hire and everything worked out just fine. The cupboard is well-stocked and as long as Quinn keeps things humming, the position under BK should basically recruit itself.

Fire BK: Remember how the BVG defense was such ass and we all thought “damn, just how good was Jaylon Smith?!” Or when Kizer struggled mightily in 2016 and his first year in the NFL and we thought “damn, just how good was Will Fuller?!” Won’t that be a not fun exercise to do for good ‘ol Harry if the bottom falls out of just one class? The guy hasn’t had to hit the recruiting trail since 2014 and, spoiler alert, he wasn’t exactly making any kind of meaningful waves at Buffalo.

Can Quinn Produce NFL Talent?

Keep BK: When you tune in to the Super Bowl next Sunday, you’ll see Jason Kleece lining up for the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s been to two Pro Bowls. Seems good, no? He’s not the only NFL draftee that’s served under Quinn on the line either and Quinn hasn’t had the benefit of the talent pool that Notre Dame has.

Fire BK: Can we not judge success here and there at Central Michigan and Cincinnati as sure-fire guarantees? Because, ya know, there’s a guy in charge that hasn’t fully translated that same success and it’s year number nine at ND for him. Quinn’s walking into a situation in which two departing first round picks are leaving the line and the occasional late-round draft pick isn’t exactly the replacement production needed to fill those shoes.

The BK Buddy System

Keep BK: Look, BVG was bad, but beyond that BK’s network hasn’t been that bad. Charlie Molnar would be the only other example and, hilariously, people would’ve preferred Quinn as offensive coordinator at the time–but, don’t forget Molnar had an offense that beat Southern Cal, in their house, with one Thomas Rees leading the charge. Paul Longo could be another one, but are you really going to lay loads of blame at a strength and conditioning coach? It’s just a position coach. It’s fine.

Fire BK: This BK comfort zone is a systemic issue. If the narrative of 2017 was that BK had to change everything down to doing yoga and avoiding fundraisers, why in the blue hell would he revert to old habits after a single ten-win season? Can someone remind me of the definition of insanity?! Let’s go ahead and throw Lea onto this pile as well because arguably the two biggest coaching vacancies have been promotions within. And let’s not even start with Mr. Tom Rees because BRANDON, NO was not fun this season.

How Are You Feeling About Next Season?

Keep BK: Not great. ND has loads of questions beyond the new coaching hires. It’ll likely be rough. Send booze.

Fire BK: Not great. ND will somehow win just enough for BK to keep his job. It’ll likely be rough. Send booze.

The post Jeff Quinn Promoted; Offseason Angst Begins appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Still, a game with rainy conditions, in Florida, on New Year’s Day, facing an opponent with a solid defense, especially in the secondary against a shaky passer, with multiple key ND players suspended, and seeing a last minute stripping of a captaincy from a defensive star didn’t inspire much pre-game confidence. An opening 35 yard strike from Brandon Wimbush to Equaniemous St. Brown restored it. Watching Josh Adams rush for a loss of three on a 4th and 1 behind the Joe Moore Award winning offensive line snatched it back away.

And so started another ride on roller coaster that is Irish fandom. The defense, as they have so often this season, upheld their part of the bargain. While they failed to register a single takeaway all game from an LSU team that does a fantastic job protecting the ball, although in this game, it appeared they really wanted the Irish to recover one of their many fumbles, they forced the LSU offense to enter in to a first quarter punt fest.

The problem: Notre Dame decided LSU needed another team to tango and joined the dance.

But with the maddening frustrations the first half, Wimbush failing to complete the easiest of passes, the Irish running questionable trick plays, and #33Trucking trying to figure out how to start its collective engine came glimmers of hope. The Irish defense stood tall on the goal line to force an LSU field goal which they promptly missed. After the Irish forced another LSU field goal attempt, this time with a different LSU kicker missing the try, Ian Book took the helm in the two minute drill and, showing shades of Thomas Rees (I cannot believe I just typed those words), led the Irish down the field for successful Justin Yoon field goal.

The 3-0 Irish lead at the half still wasn’t much to inspire confidence. Whether Wimbush was still suffering from migraines or just flat-out failing to execute, it was hard for us to all believe that Notre Dame once again was staring a QB controversy in the face. Not only that, it was abundantly clear that Book had to take over.

And, in seemingly true Irish fashion, the QB issue that we all thought would dominate the second half ended up being the last thing on anyone’s mind. An almost inexplicable error on a rolling punt saw a ball careen off an Irish player’s leg and into the waiting arms of the LSU punt team. The Tigers made the Irish pay for the mistake, scoring the first touchdown of the game via a pass completion to stud LSU RB, Derrius Guice.

If 7-3 didn’t seem an already insurmountable task to come back from in this sloppy game, Ian Book threw an interception after leading the Irish into LSU territory. Not only that, the play preceding the interception was a fantastic nine yard run from Tony Jones Jr. that put the Irish into the red zone that was promptly wiped out by a terrible illegal shift penalty that made the already nearing purple-faced Brian Kelly want to explode on the sidelines.

All the nightmares for Irish fans came rushing to the surface. Notre Dame found themselves trailing. They made far more mistakes than their opponent. LSU looked content to bleed the clock, showing the Irish they could dominate on a 75 yard TD drive that lasted 6:34 to bring the lead to 14-6 in the fourth quarter. Hope was all but lost. Painful reminders of past failures from this team and this coaching staff swelled to the surface. Same song, second verse. We’ve all seen this story before and we know how it ends.

Little did we know Book would rewrite the ending to this story.

An impressive 75 yard TD drive, highlighted by a 31 yard Dexter Williams run (who, sadly was promptly yanked after having far too big a role in a sack the next play), a 29 yard completion to Miles Boykin and a career-first TD reception from Louisiana native, Michael Young, brought the game to 14-12. We all knew what was coming next: a two-point try in the rain. If thoughts of the failures in a rain-soaked game at Clemson weren’t already in the front of my mind, my wife made sure that I would by asking me why ND would do this with about half the fourth quarter to go.

This time around, the Irish executed on a beautiful play call. It was a pass, but a high percentage shovel. It put the ball into Josh Adam’s hands. It called upon the strength of the Irish team, the offensive line, to blow LSU off the ball and Quentin Nelson gets all the bonus points in the world for his effort.

pic.twitter.com/xGQVI3kbeX

— OL Watchdog (@OLineScout) January 1, 2018

With the game tied up 14-14, LSU did their best to rip out hopeful Irish hearts. Then the unthinkable happened. We saw an opposing coach play not to lose, kicking a field goal just inches away from the goal line. Coach O’s inexplicable desire to not go for the throat after a review confirmed Guice fell just short of the goal line, on a similar shovel pass that the Irish just converted their two-point conversation, gave a Book-led Irish team one more chance.

After complaining all season that Irish receivers failed to make big plays, we got an all-timer:

ABSOLUTELY JUKED 2 DEFENDERS FOR THE NOTRE DAME WIN. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/AQ0wY0ZLbw

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 1, 2018

One of the best secondary’s in the nation flat out got dunked on. An offense led by a Purdue QB transfer, despite how good a game he played, wasn’t enough regardless of how much time the Irish left LSU. Book ended the game with a single kneel down and that was that. The Irish had their first fourth quarter comeback of the season to claim their first January bowl victory since the 1994 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M.

I will absolutely revel in this fantastic start to 2018 (especially considering Michigan and Stanford both blew leads in their bowl games, Southern Cal got embarrassed in theirs and, if your pettiness extends to Miami and Boston College, you can laugh at them as well); however, you won’t see me walking around in a Citrus Bowl Champion gear. There is still much work to be done and this game alone had examples of every issue that plagued the Irish all season. Plus, ND now stares yet another QB competition this season that will see four horses in the race, a trend that is getting highly concerning in the Brian Kelly era.

Still, this win is quite sweet. Notre Dame beat another quality opponent on a rather decent stage at a neutral site. LSU came to play and threw one hell of an effort at the Irish. Personally, I’m excited to see whether or not the Irish will be able to build off of this victory into the 2018 campaign.

The post There and Back Again: A Citrus Bowl Tale appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Certainly Brian Kelly doesn’t necessarily think so. He’s the first to note that every game for the rest of the regular season is the equivalent of a playoff. The Irish have no cushion, no safety net. Not only does Notre Dame have no choice but to win, the team must win decisively if it is to be invited to that bowl-game-cum-tournament hybrid presided over by secretive arbiters who seem ever to need more persuasion of a team’s worthiness.

Certainly Josh Adams is the first to assert that any achievement on the part of any individual player is actually the product of the whole team striving together. And that is not limited to the players. The team of coaches assembled in preparation for this season has brought out some extraordinary performances not just by many Irish athletes, but by all the Irish athletes together. Once again Notre Dame is physically strong and playing truly smart football.

Certainly Drue Tranquill was the first to state that the Irish are not a collection of standouts, but a group. And it was a group that wanted the victory over Georgia very much, but were denied. With great foresight, Tranquill expressed sincere sympathy for the remaining opponents the Irish would face, because in the wake of the defeat, every one of them would be punished – in the regular season, and now it seems increasingly likely, in the playoffs.

There can be no flagging, no relaxation, no lack of every effort. That one loss ensured this. “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, under prosperous conditions, might have remained dormant.” So said Ara Parseghian, the champion.

EFS CSC

The post Sunday School w/Padre: Victory & Defeat appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly looks back at an official during the Notre Dame-Texas NCAA college football game on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, at Darrell K. RoyalÐTexas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. South Bend Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN

Tuesday March 7th marked the annual Notre Dame football spring press conference.  The flood gates opened and the tweets of beat writers flowed into our twitter feeds. For many of us, this press conference is an overdue needle feeding a Domer junkie’s vein. Many beat writers commented about Brian Kelly’s perceived change in demeanor – keyword “perceived.” Kelly spoke at length about the institutional changes and changes within his own personal responsibilities that have taken place since last year’s deflating debacle of a season.

These changes, taken at face value, all appear to be positive steps in the right direction. However, this is said tongue in cheek with cautious speculation, because what national college football program doesn’t make considerable changes after an underachieving 4-8 season? More importantly, what are some of the changes taking place?

Relinquishing the Entire Offense to Chip Long

The infamous “play calling committee” or the “three headed monster” that was allegedly running the offense last year is no more. The three people being Brian Kelly, Mike Denbrock, and Mike Sanford. Kelly is the only remaining coach from last year’s failed committee and Tuesday he made a concerted effort to explain that the offense will no longer be managed on a committee basis.

Chip Long will be in charge of the offense – not just in title but also in day to day operations including game day play calling. Many among Irish nation have long called for Kelly to hand over the keys to the car and it appears that Long is positioned comfortably in the driver’s seat. To the skeptics, these comments will fall on deaf ears and any stagnation within the offense will be due to Kelly’s inability to stick to this plan. To the optimists, this change provides an air of much needed humility, and frees Kelly to become more of a CEO-type head coach where he can focus his individual efforts on all three phases of the game – rather than stubbornly micromanage the offense.

Brian Kelly says the offense is Chip Long’s to run. Long will be the offensive coordinator in name and practice. Tempo a priority.

— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) March 7, 2017

VIDEO: Brian Kelly, on why he's handing the keys to Notre Dame's offense to Chip Long. https://t.co/OxDke09ADv pic.twitter.com/MIvYTsY0Gm

— Mike Vorel (@mikevorel) March 7, 2017

Spending More Time With Players During Offseason Workouts

Kelly normally did not attend offseason workouts prior to this past offseason. However, he found a common theme within his player exit interviews last year – a need for him to be more involved in all aspects of the program. To paraphrase, he cited his increased role in morning workouts and credited new strength and conditioning coach, Matt Balis, for “creating an environment where we could create the traits necessary for excellence.”

Kelly had not previously been at 5:45 a.m. workouts. Made decision to do that this year based on 93 exit interviews with players.

— BlueandGold.com (@BGInews) March 7, 2017

Implementation of a Personal Daily Yoga Regimen

This is no joke. Old Purple Face has taken up a daily yoga routine, and has dropped 15 pounds and one pant size since last December, according to an interesting Sports Illustrated piece by Pete Thamel. Admittedly, I have never personally partaken in yoga exercises, but those who do explain that its benefits are both physical and mental. The SI piece also touches on Kelly’s added efforts to connect with his players on a more intimate level. Thamel elaborates with an anecdote, “He (Kelly) sat down at the daily team breakfast table with Hammann, the senior walk-on who happened to order the same thing. That sparked a conversation, something that Hammann says he’s had a lot more of with Kelly since last season ended. Sheepishly, Kelly admits that last year he may not have been able to recognize Hammann if he walked by him in the hall.”

The staff, institutional, and personal changes that have taken place over the last 6 months are encouraging for Irish fans. However, the harsh reality is that – from an outsider’s perspective – all will have been for nothing unless these changes transmogrifies last year’s team into a championship caliber machine.

Cheers and Go Irish!

The post The New And Improved Brian Kelly – Has He Learned From Past Mistakes? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Plus, we take a look at some interviews given by Jack Swarbrick and Brian Kelly in recent weeks. A lot of time is spent on BK’s rather um…sudden change of heart and philosophy in this episode. In fact, this episode completely focuses on Notre Dame football this week. There’s a lot to talk about and unpack in this episode and we waste no time in getting to it.

Until we talked about tacos which was serious f’n business.

In this episode:

• BK’s opening presser
• ND’s official video of the first practice
• BGI’s practice video:

• BK’s post-practice presser
• Jack Swarbrick’s two part exclusive with the Indy Star
• BK’s exclusive with Sports Illustrated
• The best damn tacos I’ve had in ages:

Go to Chico’s Tacos in El Paso, seriosuly

The post Friday Roundup: The “Spring Tacos” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.