Even if they did, I wouldn’t have bothered making a post about it to be honest. Harbaugh, however, couldn’t leave well enough alone and this happened:

Congrats, everyone. As Michigan’s sworn enemies, we have apparently run/participated in a disinformation campaign that’s so good, no one is even aware of it other than a steak-eating-milk-drinking-kahki-wearing coach up north (worst Ric Flair promo ever).

That part is just funny, but what’s stoking my Michigan rancor are a couple of whoppers that Harbaugh threw out in his effort to “fake news” the rumors and keep making Michigan great again, or something.

“I don’t even have an ‘agent or represtative.'”

Really? Who the hell is this then?!

Not only is that link from a Michigan blog, but there are literal photos from an EPSN reporter detailing a day in the life of this guy.

Perhaps the “trusted agent” is not fully an agent in a traditional, 10% off the top sense, but you’re telling me a guy that opens Harbaugh’s mail wouldn’t try to represent his interests and communicate on his behalf?

Sure. Makes sense. Couldn’t possibly see Harbaugh asking someone like that to go kick some tires to give him a degree of separation. Nope. Not at all.

“I am committed to your sons.”

Let’s turn the clock back to a recent edition of the Friday Roundup (RIP):

Oh hey, here’s a shocker, Jim Harbaugh might be a dick. Remember when Harubaugh went on the radio and said, because of current transfer rules, kids might make up a mental health disorder? Well, it turns out he may have just had a specific athlete in mind ($) when he said that and the picture isn’t a pretty one. None too pleased with his portrayal in this tale, Harbaugh decided to fire back at Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, who then fired back at Harbaugh once again.

Harbaugh is so concerned about your son, he’ll proactively make up some bullshit under the guise of actually giving a damn about mental health because he knows your son walked out the door and he’s going to make sure he makes that, ahem, exit strategy as painful as possible for him. Bonus caring: he’ll then attack the new coach trying to stick up for your kid.

Please excuse the informality of this rant, Jim

But you’re full of shit.

The only “annual strategy” that’s causing disruption to Michigan is whatever the hell it is you do on the sideline every year. You’ve done a great job at sowing discord and disappointment all by yourself. You don’t need our help.

To wit, Michigan is once again on track to finish third or worse in your own division. Consistency, after all, is key!

The better argument here would’ve been that you’ve sucked so bad at your alma mater that no NFL GM in their right mind would consider you for a job. After all, no coach has had more success in wearing out their welcome than you have in practically every single stop you’ve made.

Look, just call the rumors something you don’t think deserve the time of day and move on. Stop trying to blow Michigan Man Sunshine up everyone’s ass and then have John U. Bacon write a book about how you’re the good guy in the cesspool of college football, actually.

You suck. Michigan sucks. Michigan will always suck. Enjoy receiving another righteous ass-whipping at the hands of Notre Dame Saturday night.

The post Jim Harbaugh Convinced Michigan’s Enemies Spreading Total Crap Exit Strategy Rumors appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

It turns out the fake band has a name, 300 Likes, which I discovered because their fake song, “Summertime Lover” released as a full-blown song last Friday.

I’ve been wanting to write about the most hated/loved commercial of this football season for some time now. However, I don’t want to talk about the band, the song, or the fact that the dude squatting in the lower-right corner doesn’t even bother moving his mouth. No, this Roundup is dedicated to my hero, my spirit animal, the clueless dad:

Clueless dad makes this commercial for me. Every. Damn. Time.

My kids are still incredibly young, but my oldest has already put me in some clueless dad situations. For instance, he will excitedly detail some random show I’ve never heard of, and I will desperately stumble around the conversation trying to remain interested, but more importantly, not called out on my bullshit that I don’t have a damn clue what he’s talking about.

Every parent ends up running into this at some level, which makes clueless dad the damn best. He’s put down his hard-earned American currency so his daughter be front-row for one of her favorite bands. He’s even wearing a freaking button featuring one of the guys to support his kid’s interests. In short, he’s ready to do everything he can to make sure this night ends up a favorite memory for his daughter.

But as soon as the show starts, disaster strikes. The band isn’t dancing, the screams turned into shocked silence, and clueless dad sees his poor daughter’s face flash a look of pure horror. So clueless dad does what any dad tries to do when shit 100% out of our control goes awry: attempts to fix it.

The success rate for all dads attempting to pull of this maneuver is 0.00%, rounded up. Clueless dad is no different. If the guys aren’t dancing, clearly it’s the job of the audience to get down, and by God, he’s going to make sure this party gets going and save the day.

Of course, he’s the only poor sap trying to salvage the disaster he’s walked into. Mere seconds after trying to get the dance party started, he’s greeted with the new horror that he’s made a fool of himself. The only saving grace is that his own kid is still too dumbstruck with disappointment to notice because, honestly, that’s the only opinion he cares about–to hell with everyone else.

The hard-earned American currency might as well have been lit on fire. The concert is an epic disaster. Regardless of what happens from here on out, the night is likely ruined for his kid, which is worse than the hit to the bank account.

But dammit, like fans of a certain football team that keeps breaking our hearts, we can’t help but to keep trying to salvage joy of a terrible situation. In a way, we’re all clueless dad.

You’re my hero, clueless dad. Never give up. Keep dancing.

The Roundup

Note: Some links require a subscription to the Athletic and are marked with ($). For 40% off your first year, please use our referral link.

Here’s an unexpected use of the new four-game redshirt rule. Houston’s star QB, D’Erik King, will sit out the rest of the season, along with senior WR, Keith Corbin. King’s father says it’s the first step of a transfer, but Houston’s official announcement has both King and Corbin stating they will remain in Houston.

NCAA says something dumb: part one million. Mark Emmert has called potential new image & likeness laws, aka allowing the Olympic model into college sports, an “existential threat”–which is a hell of a thing to say considering North Carolina literally tried to undermine the entire academic side of student-athlete and sexual abuse ran rampant at Penn State and Michigan State. But no, this is the bad thing. Got it.

Maybe don’t ask about internet rumors during a conference call. I mean sure, Gundy blew his stack a bit, but this was just a terrible idea.

Kinght’s Watch + Murder Smurfs. Coming in 2021 and 2023. Let’s. Get. Weird.

I think The Athletic owes us some #snacktalk royalties. This week, the CFB section of The Athletic was full of articles about the intersection of college football and food. My two favorites, a top 25 food ranking by Andy Staples ($) as well as a look on how the NCAA deregulation on food budget (hey they do so some good things on occasion!) has had a positive impact on programs and athletes ($).

Time for a daily dose of #sportsmath. The stop rate rankings ($) are back, which can be a fun read if you feel like you are feeling too confident about Notre Dame’s defense.

Look, Skycam wasn’t a failure. NBC wants to make sure you know that it’s sticking around and they will do better. Promise!

With Virginia coming into town, it’s a good time to remember Malik Zaire. After an injury that derailed his CFB career, Zaire is finding his stride over at CBS ($).

Opponent Watch

Remember the sad Virginia fan? Of course you do. Go catch up on what he’s up to.

How do you build a school like Virginia into a competitor? Well, hiring the right athletic director is a good start, especially one that knows her way around schools that know how to compete in football ($).

So Virginia has a bit of a streak going. Four weeks, four players named as ACC Players of the Week.

If you want a good primer on Virginia’s season so far, I would suggest this read. My two cents: sounds like a lot of ND teams that created constant heart attacks in every game, yet somehow put winning records together.

A Special Look at Michigan

It’s not just Notre Dame fans trying to dance on Skunkbear graves. The natives are starting to willingly dig them.

Any Michigan loss, brings out a good ‘ol Mike Valenti rant. His opening segment on Monday was art, calling them a regional program. He drove the dagger in even further on Wednesday wondering why in the world Michigan bothers to expect titles when they’ve never won them to begin with.

So who had “Urban Meyer has to address Michigan coaching rumors” on their bingo card? Yes, he actually had to say there is no way he’d come out of retirement to coach Michigan. How did this happen, oh just some beautiful degeneracy:

The post Friday Roundup: The Fake Boy Band Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

For those unfamiliar with this little feature, it’s a time in which we move our focus from Notre Dame and look outward to the rest of college football. While Shane and I do this in the HLS Podcast, we can only cover so many stories before we lose everyone with a two-plus hour episode. The Roundup will house those stories, plus those that really don’t need more than a quick link and mention.

As is tradition, the Roundup will also have a cold open of sorts. It may or may not have anything to do with college football (teaser for next week: it’s a recent drink trend). Bucking tradition, I am going to retire The Beer/The Booze section.

Let’s face it, maybe about 80% of my suggests were half-assed, nor overly interesting. That got worse when I had kids.

Added in its place will be an opponent watch of sorts. While Irish Elvis will hold down the fort on the strength of schedule side, I’ll drop in some relevant news about our future opponent for your perusal.

Oh, and because so many awesome stories are in The Athletic these days, those links will be denoted with ($). If you don’t have a sub, and would like support HLS, we can get your 40% off your first year.

So that’s the 411 on this little feature. Let’s get to the news so I can close some tabs on my browser…

The Roundup

Oh hey, here’s a shocker, Jim Harbaugh might be a dick. Remember when Harubaugh went on the radio and said, because of current transfer rules, kids might make up a mental health disorder? Well, it turns out he may have just had a specific athlete in mind ($) when he said that and the picture isn’t a pretty one. None too pleased with his portrayal in this tale, Harbaugh decided to fire back at Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, who then fired back at Harbaugh once again.

Secretly in the bad guy category: Dabo Swinney. It seems that Kelly Bryant not getting a ring triggered this post, but there is no better collection and details of Dabo’s troublesome takes an actions. Dabo “aw shucks” it and isn’t robotic like Saban so too often he gets a free pass. So if you ever wonder why folks like me are sour on him, here ya go.

THE dumbest trademark application ever. If this goes through, I’m going to put up merch with “THE” on it in our store, just to see what Ohio State’s cease and desist looks like.

Mike Leach, forever weird. Stories about Wyoming, having a freshmen make him a specific kind of coffee, dipping, getting his players to dip, and demanding one of his players write “fuck” on a whiteboard because he left out the word in his notes while quoting Leach: all just a part of a perfectly normal QB meeting with the pirate ($).

I still want the sponsor to be Popeyes. But I’m happy the Bahamas Bowl has brought in some solid ROI for a *checks notes* Chicago suburb.

Stupid academic eligibility rulings, not just for the NCAA. The Michigan High School Athletic Association saw a Northwestern commit took too many classes before he entered high school so they took away his final year of eligibility. Seriously.

In case you haven’t noticed, college football is celebrating 150 years. This past week, that’s brought out loads of “all time” rankings and retrospectives. Both Sports Illustrated and ESPN named their top programs of all time. SI also ranked the best CFB games of all time. Finally, new ESPN employee, Bill Connelly, listed his rankings based on 150 years of #sportsmath. Spoiler alert, here’s your #1:

Excited about that new QB that transferred to your favorite team? Don’t be ($).

Opponent News

So was Bobby Petrino trying to light Louisville on fire? Because it sure seems that way based on what their new head coach had to say. Also, I would highly recommend hearing that post read aloud by Rakes on his recent podcast who joined up with Notre Dame Our Blogger to break down the entire schedule.

It seems like Virginia Tech has some issues as well. Attrition certainly is a word you could use to describe Justin Fuente’s struggles with the Hokies last season. One of the things that healed the wounds: turkey bacon. *blinks repeatedly*

A look a where Notre Dame stands in the world of college football. Pro Football focus ranked all 130 FBS QBs and The Athletic took a special focus on the top draft-eligible offensive tackles coming into the season ($).

The post (Re)Introducing the Friday Roundup appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Credit: Detroit Free Press

Brian Kelly and his staff have convinced 21 student-athletes with Michigan offers to commit to Notre Dame, while Jim Harbaugh and his group have persuaded the same number to forgo Notre Dame offers and come to Ann Arbor, according to Her Loyal Sons research.

Michigan and Notre Dame have historically battled for outstanding players in midwestern states, although the skirmish has also expanded to the East Coast and California in the past 20 years.

WOLVERINES GRAB HIGHER RATED TALENT

Michigan has swayed 3 five-stars with Notre Dame offers to join their team, while Notre Dame has landed zero. The Irish have grabbed 16 four-stars to Michigan’s 13, while the Wolverines have 1 more three-star than the Irish group.

Credit: Melanie Maxwell / MLive.com

The six best players, according to Scout’s recruiting rankings, have all headed north: defensive tackle Rashan Gary (#1 overall, class of 2016); wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (#22, 2017); running back Kareem Walker (#28, 2016); offensive tackle Ben Bredeson (#36, 2016); cornerback David Long (#64, 2016) and tight end Devin Assisi (#67, 2016).

Bredeson made eight starts at left guard for the Wolverines last year and appeared in all of their games. He allowed five quarterback hurries, three hits and one sack in 256 pass blocking snaps, according to College Football Film Room. He was also given an honorable mention on the All-Big Ten team. Gary played in all of Michigan’s games as well, registering 26 tackles, nine tackles for loss, eight hurries, eight quarterback hits and just four missed tackles.

Asiasi played sparingly – being targeted just five times and catching 2 passes for 18 yards. Long appeared in four games, mostly on special teams. A quarterback never threw his way when he was in at cornerback, so he didn’t register any stats. Walker was a redshirt.

WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT SO FAR?

Credit: MICHAEL CATERINA / South Bend Tribune

Besides Bredeson’s and Gary’s notable freshman seasons, the Irish have two players who have made equal or greater impacts on their team so far.

Dexter Williams was the first to spurn the Wolverines in favor of the Irish after Harbaugh’s hiring in Ann Arbor on Dec. 30, 2014. The running back has registered 281 yards rushing on 61 carries over two seasons. Williams has also found the end zone four times. At this point, he has proven himself a capable second back behind fellow rising junior Josh Adams.

Kevin Stepherson, a three-star unranked in Scout’s 300, had a surprisingly good freshman campaign, becoming quarterback DeShone Kizer’s third favorite target last year. Stepherson caught 25 balls for 474 yards, good for 14 first downs and five touchdowns.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

Despite posting a 4-8 season, the Irish have grabbed as many highly-rated recruits for their forthcoming class as Michigan.

Brock Wright / Photo: Scout.com

The two teams have split Scout’s top 100 that received offers from both schools. Besides Peoples-Jones, Michigan will be welcoming four-star wide receiver Tarik Black (#90, 2017) and four-star outside linebacker Drew Singleton (#93) in the summer. Notre Dame has four-star tight end Brock Wright (#76) and four-star inside linebacker David Adams (#88) coming to South Bend instead of heading farther north.

We cannot discount timing, however. The Wolverines, fresh off their Orange Bowl appearance, have the momentum of late, grabbing five of the last six commits. Those all came since the college football season started. Four-star offensive tackle Aaron Banks (#163) is the lone individual to choose the Irish over Michigan recently.

KELLY & HARBAUGH AREN’T IMMUNE TO DECOMMITS

Of course, nothing is final with 2017 or 2018 recruits until they fax or e-mail their national letters of intent. Both schools have already seen commits suddenly change their minds.

Leonard Taylor, a three-star defensive end, initially picked the Wolverines over the Irish, but then de-committed before the season started. (He’s currently undecided.) Three-star running back A.J. Dillon also picked Michigan over Notre Dame, but then committed to Boston College shortly before Christmas.

Four-star outside linebacker Pete Werner chose Ohio State after initially picking the Irish. Most recently, four-star cornerback Elijah Hicks enrolled in Cal instead of honoring his verbal commitment to Notre Dame. Hicks held a Michigan offer, among several others.

COMPLETE LIST

The post In Kelly-Harbaugh Recruit Fight, It’s Tied appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Not only have Shane and I seen or normal recording schedule go haywire, but I was in rare form in terms of podcasting screwups. Thankfully, this medium allows for edits to make the product sound much less clusterfucky; however, I felt like every loyal listener to the show deserved some insight into just how off the rails I went during recording in the form of a cold open.

I can promise the first 30 seconds of the show is absolutely gold. The other two hours are for you to judge.

Yes, we weighed in at two hours because this episode. Due to my schedule going full bonkers, I made the executive decision to combine both of our weekly episodes into one. So, we have a Friday Roundup woven into an HLS Audio Recap, released on Thursday. Follow that? Good.

Look, in the end, we saved you an hour by cramming two 90-minute episodes into one, somewhat tightly produced two hour package. Included in said package is a full recap of week 8, complete with shocking upsets and a team (and coach) that should be on your radar. Spliced in are some of the usual headlines that we would include in the Roundup (and links that we discuss are below), plus a little bonus decision regarding votes of confidence and coaches salaries.

And, as always, we close out with Eddie with weekly picks. Don’t look now, but there was one combined loss between the two of us. Watch out 50%, here we come.

The Roundup

Happy Valley: This week’s home of upsets and tear gas. The celebration after Franklin’s first ever win against a ranked opponent got ever so slightly out of hand.

Tom Herman may have taken an ugly loss, but dude is still gonna get paid. Houston is doing what they can to prevent their coach from departing.

This link is NSFW. 2 Fullbacks 1 TD.

Even in a convincing win, Harbaugh will go full Harbaugh. A bad spot, that had no effect on the outcome of the game, became the “worst call that [he’s] ever seen”.

I’m sure Stanford’s offense is fixed now. On Tuesday, Shaw announced that Keller Chryst would be Stanford’s new starting QB.

I sure hope no one was dumb enough to pick UCLA as the Pac 12 champ. Jim Mora has finally disclosed that Josh Rosen, after not playing since October 8, has a bad nerve in his throwing shoulder that will keep him out indefinitely.

BYU wins the award for the dumbest play call of all time. 4th and 19, on your own 5 in the first half? Perfect time for a fake punt that’s a run. Somehow, Boise didn’t score after that which tells you all you need to know about this game.

For everyone hoping for a BK firing at the end of this season, here’s your dreaded voted of confidence from Jack Swarbrick.

USA Today has released their annual coaching salary rankings. They have Bob Diaco making more money than Brian Kelly which is almost guaranteed to be 100% wrong; however, it is still worth taking a look at some things like just how much of a slimy shell game Michigan played to get Harbaugh’s 2016 salary listed at $9 million.

The post Roundup in your (HLS Audio Week 8) Recap appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

After a nice, even-keeled look through the latest in college football headlines, Eddie came in with loads of fire. Fueled by alcohol and rage, this week’s picks can only be described as a thing that was recorded on Thursday night.

But that’s just the tail end of an hour-plus podcast which, of course, includes a look at Notre Dame taking on a Stanford team that isn’t as good as you might remember them being. Hey, that kind of sounds familiar!

/looks in mirror

The Roundup

The sixth Mike has passed. LSU’s famed live tiger mascot succumbed to kitty cancer.

LSU/Florida is back on. The location has changed and soon-to-depart Florida AD, Jeremy Foley, decided to take some parting shots at LSU for, apparently, making this process as difficult as possible.

And you thought Notre Dame fans got angry. Y’all got nothing on the SEC until you get arrested for calling your coach out for falling to 4-2 after losing to the defending national champs.

We now know why Harbaugh decided to murder Rutgers. The man just wanted a cheaper steak dinner. No, seriously, his team caused a massive discount and he took advantage of it.

Ruth's Chris & Buzz Goebel!Sarah, me & Ann Arbor thank U for being such good sports! Plus the Steaks are A++, Mercy! pic.twitter.com/7CiB8ZMuXy

— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) October 12, 2016

But, seriously, Harbaugh, milk?!

Joey Julius has nothing on this girl. Sure the rotund kicker has been leveling people and become a target for headhunting that leads to suspensions, but I think he’s been one upped by Kelly Macnamara’s best Rhonda Rousey channeling:

7-0? pic.twitter.com/E0GQonDe2Y

— Kelly Macnamara (@kellmac_) October 9, 2016

The “BK blames his players for everything” narrative took a bit of a hit. Not only are his players saying that isn’t the case, but immediately after the loss, he squarely put the blame on himself in front of his squad:

Eddie and I actually got some picks right last week. Feel free to follow along as we see if rage and booze is acceptable in GAMBLOR’s sight.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Come for the Roundup, Stay for the Drunk Picks” Episode appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Kelly was ranked in the top 10 of all 128 FBS coaches in two separate publications Tuesday. Athlon Sports, which boasts an online readership in excess of 1 million readers annually, chose Kelly as the 10th best coach. The Sporting News, which has covered college football since before the second World War, put Kelly at #9.

Here’s what Athlon said:

The Fighting Irish just missed out an appearance in the College Football Playoff last season, but Kelly has the program on stable ground and poised for another run at the top four in 2016. Since taking over in South Bend in 2010, Kelly is 55-23 at Notre Dame, including an appearance in the BCS National Championship game in 2012. The Fighting Irish have won at least eight games in each of Kelly’s seasons at the helm and finished No. 11 in the Associated Press poll last year. Winning at a high level at different programs is nothing new for Kelly.

From 1991-03, Kelly went 118-35-2 at Grand Valley State, including back-to-back Division II titles (2002-03). Additionally, he went 19-16 in three years at Central Michigan (2004-06) and 34-6 at Cincinnati from 2004-06. Kelly is a proven winner at four different jobs and clearly has a place among the top 15 coaches in the nation.

Here’s what the Sporting News said:

Last Year: 11
Record: 55-23 (108-45)
Lowdown: Give Kelly credit. He’s the steadiest presence the Irish have had on the sideline since Lou Holtz, and he’s coming off his second double-digit win season. He’s still just 11-12 against ranked teams. He’ll test that against the same tough schedule in 2016.

Athlon and The Sporting News both considered Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, TCU’s Gary Patterson, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and Alabama’s Nick Saban to be better than Kelly. Athlon also ranked David Shaw ahead of Kelly, while the Sporting News had Stanford’s head coach at #11 – behind LSU’s Les Miles. (Miles was #25 at Athlon, so there’s quite a discrepancy there.)

Here are the coaches Kelly will face in 2016 and their respective rankings:

The post Experts: Brian Kelly is Among Ten Best College Coaches appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

We don’t have to rehash fight songs, their standing in winning percentage, the legend of Michigan students teaching football to Notre Dame to understand the magnitude of this series.

I’ll be honest: When it ended in 2014, I was so elated with Notre Dame’s 31-0 pasting of the Wolverines that I didn’t give it much thought.

Now as time passed and Michigan has rebounded under Jim Harbaugh, I feel a sense of loss as a fan that we may be missing out on some classic matchups with the series on hiatus. I would love to see the series return, though not as a part of the Shamrock Series. I want some of those games at home and not at a neutral site.

Recently, Brian Kelly suggested that Notre Dame may not need a conference alignment in order to be worthy of a playoff spot. Kelly remarked that he would put his 12 up against a conference winner’s 11 due to some of the FCS teams that they play. One of the things I think Kelly is banking on is wins over marquee teams like Michigan. Think about a year where a one-loss Notre Dame has wins over some of the conference champions. It would make for a hefty resume for the Irish.

As a result, the return of Michigan not only makes sense from the standpoint of history but also from the potential impact Michigan could have for future Irish playoff resumes. We, also from the fan perspective, get games like the three from the series that stick out the most in my lifetime. Though I was born, I don’t count Harry Oliver’s field goal as one of them as I was simply to young to remember it.

Here are my three:

1989: Notre Dame 24, Michigan 19

Rocket returns two kickoffs for touchdowns. Michigan was ranked #1 and I still smile every time I watch the late Rodney Culver waving Ismail to the end zone.

1998: Notre Dame 36, Michigan 20

If there was a signature win of the Bob Davie era this was clearly it. Michigan was the defending National Champions and led by a touchdown at the half. The Irish outscored Michigan 30-7 in the second half.

2012: Notre Dame 13, Michigan 6

After watching Denard Robinson eat Notre Dame alive for two years, the Notre Dame defense throttled him by forcing 6 turnovers on their way to a 12-1 season.

I seriously hope this rivalry renews as many have speculated that it will. Perhaps Jim Harbaugh is the next coming of Nick Saban, nevertheless I want Brian Kelly and the Irish to have a shot at matching up with Michigan.

The post Let’s Renew Our Rivalry With Michigan appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

In Part 2, we’re comparing numbers. To start, how has Notre Dame compared on the recruiting trail to its direct market competitors? (In Part 1 we defined the market as Ohio State, Michigan, Stanford and USC)

Using 247sports.com composite team rankings, here are the ranks for each recruiting class:

[table “” not found /]

* Stanford only signed 13 players in 2013.

I think the rankings draw out what we all probably thought to be true: Notre Dame and Stanford are peers; both are trying to punch above their weight with the other three. (Michigan’s Rich Rod and Brady Hoke disaster aside, Jim Harbaugh is recruiting at a level UM faithful expect.)

How about on the field? Again, let’s check the record book:

[table “” not found /]

In terms of wins and losses, Notre Dame is in the middle of its peer group. Two ten win seasons since 2010, same as Michigan and USC, but well behind Ohio State and Stanford — who have eclipsed 10 wins five of the last six seasons.

And lastly, how about developing players into NFL Draft material?

[table “” not found /]

One thing that this chart makes remarkably clear is how rare it is for top high school talent to actually make it to the NFL. These five schools recruit “blue chip” players and more often than not sign full classes, and in any given year they place about a quarter of their draft eligible players on NFL rosters.  

The other thing that recent draft history reveals is that Notre Dame is certainly able to match the top-end player development of its direct market competitors (2016 will likely rate as ND’s best year yet in terms of players drafted).

Given the qualitative assessment in Part 1 and now this quantitative breakdown, Notre Dame football from an organizational standpoint is in an extremely competitive space of the college football market. While the Irish have certainly made strides under Coach Kelly they’ve yet to differentiate themselves from the field. I’ll grant that simply catching up to its direct competitors was the goal of the first phase of the Kelly tenure at Notre Dame. But with a new six contract extension, success in the second phase will be defined by the ability of Notre Dame football to top each of these charts come 2021.

The post Notre Dame Football, The Organization – Part 2 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I’m told this fellow attended no fewer than three colleges. Though he learned about criminal justice at one of them, he obviously did not major in communication studies at any of them.

I understand that newspapermen can be a tough crowd. Plenty of Notre Dame officials and student-athletes have had to face the glare of the bright lights and the shouted questions of the rabble, defended by nothing more than a podium and their wits. As an educator, I will take this opportunity to show how one should handle the loyal opposition…er…I mean the media. I present to you a hypothetical press conference.

[We enter in medias res.*]

Coach Kelly’s contract was just renewed for another five years. Since he hasn’t won a championship, hasn’t produced a Heisman winner, and lost his most recent bowl game to a far superior coach whom you couldn’t lure to Notre Dame, isn’t it clear that you’ve settled for annual mediocrity and given up on Irish football greatness?

You must have graduated from the University in the 1960s. Brian Kelly is an excellent coach. He has over 200 victories, 55 of them with the Fighting Irish. We competed for the National Championship in 2012, a season in which we were ranked first on the football field and first in graduation success rate. That had never been done before. He is a good family man, a pillar of the community, and a snappy dresser with a dazzling array of tartan sport coats. Though in the past he may have toyed with the idea of coaching a professional football team, he has come to appreciate what Ara Parseghian knew, Dan Devine experienced, and Lou Holtz learned the hard way – it’s far more rewarding to stay at Notre Dame than to go anywhere else. The NFL isn’t for everyone…just ask Nick Saban.

I have a follow-up screed. But Kelly obviously can’t recruit. He had a lackluster class this year, falling far behind the likes of Alabama, Florida State, and even Michigan. By the way, did you see the glory and majesty that was Michigan’s “Signing of the Stars?” You must admit that Jim Harbaugh is indeed touched with the purest magic.

Since there was no interrogative sentence in there, I can’t really answer a question. But I can reflect on your flight of fancy. Coach Kelly recruits what he needs, and develops what he recruits. Isn’t that the goal? Coach Kelly does not oversign, does not revoke scholarships, and does not deceive his players. They will have to work as hard in the classroom as on the field, and graduation is their ultimate goal. After all, this is Notre Dame, not Alabama.

Since I’m fixated and rude, I’ll continue my panegyric to The Harbaugh, blessed be he. How could Notre Dame have fallen so far, that no less than Lou Holtz joined The Harbaugh on stage to serenade the Michigan recruits and fans with a ballad to the greatness of Big Blue? Clearly Notre Dame’s shameless and dastardly cancellation of the series with Michigan caused one of its most devoted acolytes to convert to the one true faith in The Harbaugh, all praise and honor to him.

While you befoul yourself in ecstasy, let me point out once again, that scheduling difficulties on both sides of the Notre Dame-Michigan series necessitated a temporary hiatus. It is out of the ordinary that Notre Dame initiated this pause in the action, since it was Michigan that created the original 33-year rift after Fielding Yost became inconsolable in the face of his first defeat by Notre Dame. But Michigan fans really need to have some self-respect and stop acting like jilted lovers who hate their former paramours so much that they can’t stop thinking and talking about them. Harbaugh should be happy that he has had the opportunity to get his (clay) feet under him without having to fight the Irish. The series will commence again, and Harbaugh will have his shot, since his electronic leash doesn’t allow him to be farther than 50 feet from his Michigan keepers.

As for Lou Holtz, he was returning a favor as any man of integrity is expected to do. Michigan had him for a day, but since Holtz has a reservation in Cedar Grove, we have him for eternity. Besides which, Holtz was talking about his experience coaching against the Wolverines; he had no part in recruiting players for Michigan. He remains loyal to Notre Dame, but he is free to participate in events of his choosing. That said, I will not be joining in Jesuit Vocation Awareness Week.

Since my colleague from Ann Arbor has collapsed in a spittle-flecked trance, I’d like to redirect our focus to Notre Dame’s real rival, USC. Pat Haden is stepping down as athletic director, meaning that the momentary stumble before Notre Dame in football will immediately return to a decade of Trojan victories. Ready?

Allow me to wish Pat Haden well. He is a gentleman and a scholar. For several years he called Notre Dame games from our press box along with that older Hammond lady who, I presume, is his wife. May they both have a happy retirement together. Pat did the best he could at USC, but he was truly like Daniel in the Liars’ Den. I would need medical attention, too, if I tried to do that job. As for a replacement, I understand the Manziel fellow is looking for work these days. I know he doesn’t have a college degree, but let’s face it – USC athletics has never been about education. And Manziel’s lifestyle would fit quite nicely with the USC campus ethos. In the alternative, Urban Meyer could take over as USC’s athletic director, since he’s been at Ohio State for four years, and that’s far too long for him to remain at any dream job. Besides, if Urban left the Big Ten, Harbaugh would sleep better…in whichever recruit’s bunk bed he is camping out.

A junior on the football team has just been elected Student Body President. How can he do both?

If Knute Rockne could teach chemistry; serve as athletic director; run the business office and the ticket office; coach track and football; design football equipment, uniforms, and the Stadium; write newspaper columns and books; broker stock and sell Studebakers, all while raising four children, I think our Robinson lad can make the Dean’s List, make the catches to score the touchdowns, and faithfully execute the office of Student Body President all at once. That’s why we recruit scholar-athletes – they’re just more interesting.

Back to Harbaugh. Michigan will be holding football practice over Spring Break in Florida. Isn’t that a hoot! How brilliant of them! But the University of Florida is saying that’s not fair. What’s their problem, and why is Notre Dame so backward?

After a long and cold first half of the semester studying and keeping themselves fit, our scholar-athletes have earned a week’s respite. The University of Florida is angry because it is school policy that Spring Break is for lewd and lascivious behavior, hospitalizations, and arrests, not football practice. And Harbaugh needs to get a life and let his players have their own – one of them is going to take out a restraining order against him sooner or later.

At a recent basketball game, your students stormed the court after defeating top-ranked North Carolina. But don’t Notre Dame students rush the field and storm the court too much? Isn’t it too dangerous?

It’s a game, it’s excitement – deal with it. If we have rules for when and how to spontaneously express emotion, we’ve really gone way too far (though I wouldn’t put it past the Oberkommando der Student Affairs). Games are for cheering, yelling, and when you come from behind to win, running onto the court to celebrate. If you don’t like that, betake yourself up to that quaint little club overlooking the court where you can enjoy a genteel aperitif and canapés without those obnoxious students and fans. And just wait until we open the Decadence Boxes in the Stadium addition – fainting couches and intravenous booze delivery will make it more silent that a church on Good Friday.

How can a supposedly Catholic school permit an event like the Keenan Revue which annually manages to insult everybody and crosses every boundary of taste and decorum?

It’s vulgar, obscene, and bawdy. It’s just what this place needs. For those offended, I have extra Holy Water to use as eye-wash and ear-rinse. I would make the Holy Oils available, but the dancing lads would just grease themselves up for that smutty kick-line. It’s filth…but it’s our kind of filth.

That’s all the time I have for now. Your questions have been patronizing, condescending, and offensive. I have tried to respond in kind.

And now I’m going to drink a lot of Budweis cheap red wine.

EFS CSC

* This is Latin, students. You would be able to translate it if we still required you to study the great Classical Languages. If you don’t think it’s cool to study Classics, I would remind you that the Englishman who sang at halftime of the Super Bowl graduated with a degree in Latin and Greek…trusa illud in fistulam tuam et id fuma!

Padre’s book Father Sorin Says: The Founder Comments on Today’s Notre Dame, is available from the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore and Amazon. Don’t give it to a Michigan or USC fan…or may be you should…

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