A Notre Dame Football Blog
I never liked the Brian VanGorder hire. VanGorder was hired in 2014, following the departure of Bob Diaco to become Connecticut's head coach. The criticism of Diaco was his "bend but don't break" approach made his defenses appear somewhat vanilla or "boring." So what? They were fundamentally sound, rarely beat themselves and were always in the top half of the nation in total defense. Much enthusiasm ensued when the Irish brought VanGorder and his NFL pedigree to South Bend. Many media ...
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder yells from the sideline during the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Spring football game on Saturday, April 16, 2016, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. South Bend Tribune Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." - Winston Churchill. Much has been discussed, written, and analyzed of the 50-47 loss Texas handed Notre Dame this past Sunday. Many have called for change among the defensive coaching staff as it relates to the 50 points a young Texas team hung on the Irish defense. Ironically, the change that is being clamored for is due to the inability to do just that - change. In the ever evolving landscape of today's college football, ...
Daveed Diggs as Lafayette in "Hamilton."
"Hamilton" is the smash Broadway musical that has garnered a Grammy, a Pulitzer Prize and 16 Tony nominations. Since the hip-hop musical (listen here) about our the founder of our nation's financial system is currently on repeat in my house, I decided to combine my two loves and ask: Which Notre Dame football player would I cast in each "Hamilton" role? I don't know anything about each player's rapping and singing skills, so instead I'm going to assign players based on how similar their ...
http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/111415aaf.html
Sheldon Day was a formidable defensive lineman and even more cherished leader during his tenure at Notre Dame. Back in the 2011-2012 recruiting cycle, Day was a four star prospect (per 247sports composite ranking), and was ranked the 111th best prospect in the country. Day was an early enrollee, which helped make him an early contributor in his freshman year where he saw action in all 13 games accounting for 23 tackles (13 solo) and 2 sacks. In his sophomore season, Day played in 11 games ...
With the NFL Combine half over, here are some of the emerging story lines regarding former Notre Dame players: JAYLON SMITH'S INJURY EXAMINED Linebacker Jaylon Smith gave contradictory - or confusing - answers to reporters' questions about possible nerve damage in his left knee. Smith tore his ACL and LCL during the Irish's Jan. 1 loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. NFL team physicians were allowed to examine Smith today to evaluate the extent of his injury. Doctors will need to ...
Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith (9) leaps over Boston College’s Myles Willis (23) as QB Jeff Smith (5) passes during the second half of the Notre Dame-Boston College NCAA football game on Nov. 21. SBT Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
When the Irish and the Buckeyes take the field this Friday, the two offenses may be fairly similar with perhaps a slight edge going to the Irish, but the game's eventual outcome will be more a tale of how each side's defense handles these two explosive offenses. The season-long numbers provide a distinct edge to Ohio State. Let's consider how each team ranks nationally in several important categories (actual value in parentheses): Simply put: the numbers strongly favor Ohio State. Whether ...
Dan Fox & Jaylon Smith bring down a Stanford ball carrier. (Daniel Hartwig via Flickr)
A couple weeks back, Tex provided some evidence as to why Notre Dame having but one player picked in the 2015 NFL Draft shouldn’t be too troubling. Of course, telling ND fans not to panic is a lot like telling USC students to go to class – it’s just not going to happen. While there are certainly stronger indicators of program performance than NFL selections, it’s undeniable that analysts, fans, and even (theoretically) recruits consider a team’s track record of NFL graduations when assessing ...
via Indystar.com
As andrewwinn mentioned in his daily Morning Roundup, some eyebrows were raised with Ben Koyack was the only Notre Dame player selected in the 2015 NFL Draft--and in the seventh round at that. While some within ND fandom grew concerned about what this meant for the current talent in the Brian Kelly era, some outside of it saw a golden opportunity to take a lazy potshot at the Irish as the draft wound down: https://twitter.com/SBNationCFB/status/594598544507469824 Now, there's the obvious ...
Good morning! Here are your headlines: FROM OUR SITE Step one: Northeastern VIDEO WatchND: Brian Kelly press conference - March 17, 2015 (42:18) Blue & Gold Illustrated: Video: Kelly previews spring ball (3:03) Irish247: Video: Kelly previews spring practice (3:08) Irish Illustrated: Video: Kelly welcomes QB battle (3:03) Irish Sports Daily: ISD video: Brian Kelly press conference (3:16) PODCAST Blue & Gold Illustrated: The Irish Huddle (28:15) RECRUITING ...
Enjoy this picture because it's probably the closest we will get to Zaire running the offense.
Good morning! Here are your headlines: PODCASTS Irish Sports Talk: DaVaris at NFL Combine & Notre Dame scholarship at 82 - Feb 23 IST153 (46:45) Irish Illustrated: Insider Podcast #166 - Turnover margins (44:55) VIDEO StudentSports: GoPro: Manti Te'o - Hawaii linebacker coach (2:06) WatchND: Tire Wars (0:42) CURRENT TEAM Irish Illustrated: Spring questions: Defensive line (Jarron Jones, Isaac Rochell, Romeo Okwara, Andrew Trumbetti, Grant Blankenship, Jhonny ...