By now, most of you have probably heard the news regarding Notre Dame’s reserve wide receiver Will Mahone. If you haven’t, on Sunday night Mahone was arrested by Mohoning County (Ohio) police on three felony charges (assault of a police officer, intimidation of a public servant, and vandalism of a government entity) and two misdemeanors (resisting arrest and disorderly conduct). The incident occurred when officers responded to a domestic disturbance call relating to a fight. When officers ...
Carlo Calabrese
Defending the Option: Who Takes Over for Te’o?
Before the Irish started their 2012 season against Navy, I had a detailed post describing how Bob Diaco runs Notre Dame's defense against an option attack. In short, Diaco throws the 3-4 away for such games and switches to a more traditional 4-3 look. The catch though, was that Diaco had another wrinkle in the assignment football that you usually see in the option: Manti Te'o. To refresh, here's how ND started to assign players to defend the option after the 2010 disaster in the ...
Packaging Rhythm Throws with Base Run Plays
After rushing for nearly 190 yards per game in 2012, Notre Dame is averaging a meager 137 yards per game this season. While there are a number of reasons why the run game has struggled (graduation of key personnel, playing from behind, etc.), it is clear that the Irish miss Everett Golson's mobility. Defenses are attacking the line of scrimmage with little fear that Tommy Rees will make them pay for over-pursuing the Irish running backs. Although Rees will never be a running threat, Brian Kelly ...
Ranking the Irish Roster: Tex’s Top 25
Every year, Keith Arnold over at Inside the Irish does an annual ranking of the top 25 players on the Notre Dame roster. This year marks the second year that I have been able to contribute and, this time around, I wanted to give a break down of my rankings. Thankfully, I don't have to justify ranking a kicker #1 (NEVER FORGET) or leaving our starting QB off the top 25 list (NEVER FORGET THIS AS WELL). So without further ado, let's get to the rankings. ...
Notre Dame 3-4 Defense Primer
Here at HLS, I have broken down game film and done in-depth analysis of the Notre Dame offense under Brian Kelly; however, I have yet to show similar love to the defense. Bob Diaco (and his flowing locks), has taken the schizophrenic Irish defense from the Weis era (seriously, three defensive coordinators in five years) and molded it into a true 3-4 anchored by a front seven that is a wrecking machine. While it would be impossible to describe Diaco's entire scheme or the intricacies of the ...