Recruiting

Superlatives for the Recruiting Class of ’16

May 6, 2016 by BJ Konkle

If you have ever watched Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, then you have likely seen his “Late Night Superlatives” bit. This sparked an interesting idea to present further insight into a few members of the #NDFB 2016 recruiting class. While I certainly don’t believe I have quite the comedic abilities that Jimmy does, but I do think I can provide more value when talking all things Notre Dame Football. Unlike your old, dusty senior yearbook where all of the “Most likely to…” were voted on by an entire ...

(Featured photo: John Mersitis/Landov)

What Should The Yearly Expectations Be For ND Football?

April 18, 2016 by Jimmy Grant

What is good enough for Notre Dame? I was a child of the Lou Holtz years, when Notre Dame was in the hunt for a national title almost every season. That has not been the case at any point since Holtz left. In this article, I'm going to look at some of the stated "hurdles" and determine if they're relevant. Then, I'm going to answer: What is a reasonable expectation for Notre Dame football on an annual basis? Schedule “We won nine games two years out of the five. I think the difficulty is ...

Credit: ND Insider

Like We Needed Another QB: Kelly Gets His Guy in the Class of 2017

March 21, 2016 by Bayou Irish

Avery Davis, a multi-star, Texas recruit and a junior out of Cedar Hill High, verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame on Saturday. Davis finished last season with a sixty-five percent completion rate (128/197), twenty-two touchdowns, 1,966 passing yards, and 934 rushing yards. He runs a 4.6 forty and stands 6'0" tall. Lauded for his fleet feet and powerful arm, Davis presented a perfect opportunity for the Irish to prize local talent from the rich state of Texas. Because he was not ...

Notre Dame Has Talent To Win 10 Games in ’16

February 11, 2016 by Fresno Domer

Winning on Signing Day is critical to winning on Saturdays, or so we’re told. Given that it’s the middle of February and we’re a long way away from actual football, I decided to investigate the veracity of this so called truism. I went back to the 2009 season and compared 247sports composite team recruiting rankings, final BCS or Playoff Committee rankings, year-end AP rankings, wins/loss, and s/p+ strength of schedule for more than a dozen teams. There is a lot of really interesting data ...

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Tales from the Trail

February 2, 2016 by tricerapops

My coffee is getting cold. Not sure I want to step foot into another Waffle House until it's a respectable hour. They tired of me real quick over at the one on Ogeechee Rd. - I guess Nancy didn't want to discuss Descartes at 3AM, but to each his or her own I suppose. What DO they put in their coffee in Georgia? Never figured it out during my time in Statesboro, but my guess is it's part turpentine and some opioid. It's mighty addicting and isn't too bad lukewarm. Thinking of the last time I ...

Playing the Numbers: How do the Irish Stack Up?

February 9, 2015 by Bayou Irish

With National Signing Day in the rear-view mirror, and with the popularity, and proliferation, of shows about "the haul," shows like Deadliest Catch, Lobster Wars, Alaska Fish Wars, Swords: Life on the Line, and Wicked Tuna, it struck me that it might be interesting to compare Notre Dame's recruiting hauls under now sixth-year Head Coach Brian Kelly with our 2015 competition. Then, I threw LSU into the mix, for a little flavor, a little lagniappe. So, without further ado, let's look at the ...

National Signing Day So Far: The Irish at 24

February 4, 2015 by Bayou Irish

Well, it's been a good day, so far, for the Notre Dame Figthing Irish, with twenty-four recruits, including early-enrollees, in the bag. Once again, Coach Kelly and his staff trolled far and wide to land this class, pulling athletes from what appear to be thirteen (13) states, giving Brian Kelly 224 votes in the Electoral College. But the biggest troll of the day, so far, was the (tragically-incorrect) news that Brady Hoke had joined the Irish coaching staff as a defensive coach. This would ...

So Why Go? The Importance of Going Bowling

January 26, 2015 by Bayou Irish

Last week, one of our newest writers, Moons, wrote a solid and well-received piece on whether or not bowl games serve as a "springboard" for success the following season. Moons suggested that a bit of micro-analysis or team-specific inquiry could flesh out his general theory and add a little nuance. In today's piece, I decided to look specifically at the Irish. What I found was that while there was no correlation between a bowl appearance, much less a win, for that matter, and a better record ...