With the advent of the College Football Playoff, we -- the Elvii of college football -- have joined together to present our weekly playoff nominations to keep the selection committee honest. We call it the TCB Poll. ...
Image courtesy @AuburnElvis
Stanford
I Never Liked The VanGorder Hire
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 ...
Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey (5) runs the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Joe Schmidt (38) during the second half at Stanford Stadium. Credit: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
Opponent Watch: Is a McCaffrey Heisman Campaign Bruin?
Each week in this space, we examine two things: Notre Dame's strength of schedule (from USA Today's Sagarin rankings), and who Irish opponents are facing. For those of who want to scout future opponents, I'll give you my recommendation for who to watch when you're not watching Notre Dame Football. ...
Friday Roundup: The “No More Talking to Myself” Episode
When I came back from my podcast break, I said that the main goal of the show is simple: having fun and creating an entertaining show. When I go back and listen to what I've done so far and, quite frankly, while recording, I feel like the times I'm missing that simple goal is when I'm just talking to...well, no one. So with that in mind, I decided that there was a need for a co-host on the show. Shane, aka SuperManTDJesus, aka the one that brings you awesome videos here on HLS, had mentioned ...
Credit: Tim Heitman / USA Today
The Irish Get Well With Nevada Win, But Spartans Loom
Last week I foretold the beginning of the end of the Brian Kelly era. Several people on Twitter and HLS strongly disagreed. Hey, it happens! The Irish got exactly what they needed on Saturday with a convincing win over Nevada. While I don’t think Nevada is a great team, any win on Saturday was welcome. I would also argue that Nevada is akin to a victory over a top MAC program as the Wolf Pack have been in a bowl game the last two seasons. It is also a much higher quality game than the FCS ...
Here is Every Notre Dame Football Game on YouTube*
Here is a playlist of every Notre Dame football game available on YouTube, as of today. There's about 500 games here, dating all the way back to 1913. ...
Credit: Irish Sports Daily
Playoff in 2016? I’m Changing My Prediction
In an article last month, I suggested the Irish were a playoff team. I generally focused on three areas: the schedule, the offense, and the “breaks” finally breaking Notre Dame’s way in a given year. However, I also cautioned that nothing great ever happens in June and July…see Alize Jones. ...
Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey (5) is brought down by Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Greer Martini (48) and safety Elijah Shumate (22) during the first half at Stanford Stadium.
Scouting Report: Stanford
Notre Dame was 30 seconds short of a legitimate shot at the playoff last season. That’s a distant memory given the bowl loss to Ohio State and Jaylon Smith’s career-altering injury, but there it was nonetheless. Ranked No. 6...with the lead...on the road...against a Top 10 team...to close the season. A win would’ve only lead to an argument for a Top 4 spot, and a chance–if the conference championship games broke their way. But Kevin Hogan led a five-play, 45-yard drive to set up a game winning ...
(Featured photo: John Mersitis/Landov)
What Should The Yearly Expectations Be For ND Football?
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 ...
Notre Dame Football, The Organization – Part 2
If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, do that now. 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: * 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; ...