Winslow Throwing QotW Layups

The Dayton Daily News, one of my favorite papers to read for Browns updates, published some clips from a Sirius interview between ex-Brown Kellen 'I Don't Give a Hell' Winslow Jr. and Sirius personality Adam Schein:

Host Adam Schein: “Who is the better QB for the Browns this year? [Derek] Anderson or [Brady] Quinn?”

K-2: “I would say Brady Quinn. I love Derek Anderson. Great quarterback. It just didn’t work out. Brady Quinn is coming in, he has tremendous upside. Very calm, very mature and, I mean, give the guy a chance. What’s the big deal? I really don’t get it. This guy is coming in, he has worked his tail off. I bet you he is there working out right now. Just give him a chance. He is a leader, he is coming into his own. I really don’t get what’s the hard decision up there. My choice would be Brady Quinn.”

I breathed a big sigh of relief when the Browns didn't give up Quinn and a first rounder to grab a difficult Jay Cutler (good luck with that Chi-Town), and hopefully that non-trade will lead to Quinn seeing some serious PT in 2009. Granted he won't have anyone to throw to, but that's another story...

By the way - if you have an extra 25 seconds on your hands and can't figure out how to spend it, try checking Weis' new Twitter page. I thought it was pretty lame when I first heard about it, but for the effort it takes to read (none), its actually not a bad read.

For me, its back to the homeland this weekend to do the Easter thing. One week until Blue Gold, Go Irish!

Spring Fever

Spring football is moving into full gear, and all around the country, schools that failed to post double digit wins in '08 are postulating why their team will be the team in '09. Looking back on the past two springs, however, Irish fans should know that positive projections in April don't always lead to a successful September.
That being said, it still feels good to hear good things about your team in the spring. Here are a few articles that are predicting some good things for the 2009 squad.

From Scout.com:

• The defensive backfield looks to be as good as advertised.
• Ethan (Johnson) is an elite talent. Enough said.
• A person would be hard pressed to find a more impressive group of Tight Ends than the four on the Notre Dame roster.
• This offense is good enough to win several games without utilizing the running game.

From BlueGraySky:

• Barring injury, the current corps of receivers at Notre Dame will be remembered as, without question, the most prolific group in school history.
• If you look at the postseason awards the past two years you'll notice that no Notre Dame player has even been named as an honorable mention All-American. That drought ends in 2009.

From ESPN.com:

• "I'm not saying they are LenDale [White] and Reggie [Bush]. I think Robert could be better than LenDale. Armando has another gear, but I don't know if it's that Reggie gear." - Weis
• But the possibility exists that after two years of saying goodbye to the BCS, it will be time for Notre Dame to say hello.

Enjoy the optimism. Go Irish.

Quote of the Week... Talkin bout Practice

A few thoughts from all the Spring ball stuff thats been floating around with the start of practice this week.

I like what I've seen so far from the new coaches. Randy Hart has a very young group of defensive linemen to coach, and he hasn't been wasting any time. His drills involve a lot of energetic talking, a lot of rapid fire movement by the linemen, but most importantly, he is taking the time to correct technique. A spring a summer with Hart should have the trench men playing aggressive and off instinct.
Frank Verducci, while coming from the NFL (if you can call the Browns part of the NFL...), seems to have a good plan to mesh his coaching style with the college game. "The NFL is a more details game," Verducci explained to the media earlier this week, "whereas the college level is more about development." Adding that he hopes to teach linemen the details in a way that will "accelerate their development." What I like most about his coaching philosophy though is his expectations. Frank understands that the new techniques he is implementing may be new and mistakes may happen, but he is a guy that gets on people for repeat mistakes; that attitude will hopefully improve the consistency that Weis is hoping for this year.

My favorite coaching addition so far though has to be Tony Alford. As seen in the practice video, while the RBs carry the ball through routine agility drills, Alford is aggressively slapping at it, trying to dislodge it. The dirt on Alford coming in was that he is very intense about ball security, and while you can only tell so much from a 5 minute video clip, it looks like he doesn't plan on having his backs dropping the ball this year.

Furthermore, Alford seems to have already established a great relationship with his players, and he has instilled a mindset that will make them better. When talking to the media, Armando Allen was quick to point out how well his teammates have connected with Alford, but he also gave us this QotW gem:

"The difference between good and great is going out on the field and finishing plays. Not even in games, I'm talking about practice, walkthrough, its the little things for us." "We go out there everyday with the midset to grind, to do whatever we have to do to get better."
-Armando
That's it for now. Go Irish!

IBG - Still Searching

After an extended absence from the Irish Blogger Gathering, the Nasties crew is jumping back into it today by responding to Subway Domer's questions.

1. Take your temperature. A) What sort of things are you looking for the team to work upon to help the 2009 season? Group improvements, players improvements, new fertilizer... whatever. As general a question as you will find. B) Same question, but instead of just the 2009 season- the future of the program as a whole.

I'm registering a comfortable 98.6 right now, and the first part of this question is too easy to answer because it has just about until last month for my temp to come down to normal after being forced to watch our run game in 2008. It was comforting to watch our pass protection improve from 2o07, but with a senior heavy line this fall I am expecting big things from our backs. James Aldridge just before he points at enemy linebackers, causing them to explode into blue goo.
As for the direction of the program as a whole, I would like to see a few scheduling adjustments - less of this weird 7-4-1 format and the addition of a few good non-traditional teams on the lineup (no, Washington State does not count). Fortunately it looks like Swarbrick is making some improvements on the latter.

2. It remains to be seen if I will be traveling to the spring game. My wife may have objections to yet another birthday of hers being used for a game that essentially doesn't count. (I know, I know- she just doesn't get it.) Don't you think it's about time that the spring game was televised? You know ESPN is dying to get inside that stadium for a live broadcast. I don't think it would interfere with the NBC contract, and if it does- why aren't they televising this?

Not sure why its not on TV, but if it was I would have a much easier time watching the game at PigTostle.

3. What position battle will be decided this spring? Which one will have to wait for summer/fall?

I really hope that the Left Tackle position is decided by spring. Turk had a helluva year keeping pass rushers off Clausen's back, and while he is the only starter we lose, I fear that it could be a big loss. It should be Paul Duncan's job to lose, but a definite replacement will hopefully be settled on by spring.
I think the void at safety from Bruton's departure may take longer to fill, especially with so many unique options. Depending on the schemes used by Brown/Tenuta we could either see Harrison Smith, Sergio Brown, or Ray Herring in center field, but after the first few games, I expect one of the three to make enough plays to win a majority of playing time. Here's my bet:

4. If you could change anything about the way spring practice/ Blue-Gold Game is done- what would it be?

Of course this depends on the available depth at each position, but I've always favored a true scrimmage format to the weird offense defense option where teams get points for first downs and punts.

5. Name your 5 favorite players and change their jersey number. Tell us why...

5. Michael Floyd - #3 to... #3. To paraphrase Demetrius Jones, no one who is a bust ever wears #3.
4. Brady Quinn - #10 to #19. I like the idea of following in Koszar's steps.
3. Julius Jones - #22 to... #22. My favorite number for the best back.
2. Justin Tuck - #44 to #0. For a DE that was a black hole, swallowing QBs... probably not legal, but that would be pretty sick.
1. Ronald Talley - #99 to... #99. Anything else just wouldn't work.

6. Last year two sophomore's won the MVP awards for the Blue-Gold Game (Harrison Smith and Robert Hughes). Predict who this years MVP's will be using the same criteria. (Same class- 1 OFF. & 1 DEF.).

Brian Smith and Golden Tate for sure.

Get Excited

Quick quote of the week from Randy Hart about improving the defensive line:
"Football is twenty two people going out on the field in organized chaos. To be the eleven most excited people is the most fun."
Words of wisdom. Speaking of getting excited, the Nasties crew (my roommates and I) are taking a paid vacation (thanks Adsense) to Negril Jamaica, and we're getting ready to drive to Chi-Town in a few hours to catch our flight. Hopefully we can come back with a few good (and safe, legal, etc...) stories to share with everyone. But for now, happy spring break Domers, and good luck to the men's team in the Big East tourney!

Februtosis

Hello to all the nasties fans out there that have been craving for a post to keep them moving until spring break and (hopefully) warmer weather reaches us in a few weeks. There's no real theme to this post, but here are a few Notre Dame happenings:

Bengal Bouts is in full swing right now; the semi finals were held last night at the JACC, although due to a lack of 200+ pound bodies to fill the heavyweight division, students were also treated to the big bruiser finals Tuesday, where Will "The Stimulus Package" Burroughs beat his good friend Kevin "I Left My 6-Pack in my Gym-Bag" Crepeau to win it. If you want a piece of the bouts in your own home, you can check out plenty of fights on the GooTube and can watch a preview for the upcoming Bengal Bouts documentary here.

In campus news, students are still getting shot around Club 23. Undergrads can at least take comfort that the South Bend Police force wasn't occupied trying to raid every student bar during the incident.
2010 DE commit Chris Martin eats children at the USC Rising Stars Camp. And you thought you were done looking at pictures of high schoolers...
If this recruiting cycle for football left you craving for more, the guys at the UHND blog put up a preliminary top 10 list of prospects that the Irish hope to land in the 2010 class, and there is also a post breaking down Notre Dame's biggest position needs in the upcoming recruiting cycle.
David Bruton was the only graduating member of the 2008 squad invited to the NFL combine, and he is doing his best not to disappoint. Bruton placed second among all safeties with his 4.46 40 and placed (or tied) for first in the vertical jump (41.5"), broad jump (11'0"), 3 cone drill (6.60), and 60 yard shuttle (10.96). Projected as a 4th round draft pick before the combine, these impressive numbers will hopefully boost his stock. Former teammate Chinedum Ndukwe's performance for the Bengals should also give teams another reason to draft an ND safety. I've also seen Mike Turkovich and Mo Crum predicted to go as early as the 4th with DE Justin Brown going in the 7th, but these are all probably optimistic. Best of luck to all Domers in the draft.
Lastly, the #8 Notre Dame Lax team off to a good start, notching a 13-8 win over Penn State this week behind a 4 goal, 4 assist performance from Neal Hicks. More impressive though, was their exciting finish against the 17th ranked Loyola Greyhounds in Atlanta, Georgia to start off the season. Senior Ryan Hoff put in the game winner off of a Grant Krebs feed to put the Irish up 10-9 with 5:29 left in the 4th quarter. Notre Dame takes on Dartmouth this Saturday at Loftus.

That's it for now. Go Irish! Beat Knights!

More on Recruiting... QotW

I had a chance to watch Charlie's press conference about signing day. For those of you that didn't have a free hour, here are a few of the highlights:

Zeke Motta: Weis said Motta reminds him a lot of Harrison Smith in terms of his athleticism and tackling. When watching Motta's tapes, the thing I like most is his aggressive downhill pursuit to the ball carrier; this guy doesn't mess around. He should be perfect for a Notre Dame safety that has (perhaps unfortunately) been asked to help a lot in run support.E.J. Banks: While Banks will be playing DB for the Irish, he did run and throw for over 1,000 yards playing quarterback his senior year. I was a little surprised with how Weis addressed the possibility of Banks playing QB in his press conference because he didn't rule out the possibility. With Clausen and Christ preventing a QB from really being recruited this year, Charlie alluded to the fact that some players like Banks might work their way under center in special packages. After watching Banks' highlight reels, I say it's worth a shot to put him in 'Wild Leprechaun' a few times a year.

Theo Riddick: With a premier back the caliber of Cierre Wood in this signing class, Riddick has been overlooked by some. Weis even said that this class didn't need two RBs, but when you get the opportunity to pick up someone of Riddick's talent, you can't say no. As such, be sure of the fact that Riddick should see some touches in the next few years despite the immense depth at the position. Possible roles mentioned during the presser include being used as a speed back or working from the slot.
Special Teams: It seems odd to some for ND to offer 3 special teams scholarships in one class, but Weis defended his offers very well. He expects Cowert to be competing for a starting spot at long snapper this September. Having snapped over 370 balls in four years of high school without any errors, Cowert could bring stability to a position that, as Weis put it, "could have been the difference between wins and losses" last season. If that weren't enough, Cowert played for the same high school and punter Ben Turk, who in addition to being labeled as one of the country's premier punters, won two state titles in Florida. At the very least, these two shouldn't crack under pressure.
Kicker Nick Tausch will be a welcomed addition to this team as well - half of his kickoffs in high school went for touchbacks (an area where ND has greatly struggled). As a funny bonus story, Tausch's dad won a ring in the NFL as an offensive linemen, and Nick's brother (280 lbs) signed to play line for TCU yesterday. How one family produces two excellent linemen and a kicker, I have no idea.
Manti Te'o: I was floored that Te'o picked ND. In addition to the fact that he attended an awful Syracuse game (where it was snowing) for his official visit, I heard that teammates took the devote Mormon out to some crazy parties later that night, and on top of it all, I heard he told someone "There is no way I will play here." Just goes to show you what rumors are worth I guess. Weis apparently spent a lot of time introducing Te'o to all of the Mormon faculty and students, and in the end, Charlie said that the values of the Notre Dame family closely aligned with the values he had been brought up with, and that was a major factor in his decision.
The hype of his commitment hasn't only been limited to fans though, as Weis said that the majority of the team sent him congratulatory text messages on signing day.

That's it for now. Go Irish!

Happy Signing Day!

After the success of last year's signing day photoshop, I thought it would only be appropriate to welcome the recruiting class of 2009 in similar fashion.
This year's image shows the commits in front of the War Memorial. With defensive hard hitters like Ty Stockton, Zeke Motta, and Carlo Calabrese, this class should be rock solid (...) in the front seven. Oh, yeah, we got this guy today named Manti Te'o this morning that is a pretty good defensive player, too. One of our commentors has already pointed out my poor prediction skills relating to Manti's commitment, so all I can do is apologize and be happy. Check UHND for the video of Te'o putting on the Irish hat this morning.

The offensive side addressed some important needs on the line with Zach Martin, Chris Watt, and Alex Bullard, and also drew in some sexy recruits in RB Cierre Wood and Shaq Evans.

Welcome to ND guys!

Hold your breath

Normally, when I write something for this blog, I like to at least think that its not too close to the content of any of the other ND sites out there, but I couldn't help thinking that what OC Domer wrote today would fit equally well on my site:
"Look, I'll admit that new Irish O-line coach Frank Verducci is sort of handsome in a New Jersey way (if not in a SoCal way), but I'm tired of seeing his mug at the top of my blog, so I have to throw something up here."
Amen. Now lets move away from jokes about my lack of recent posting and move on to some football stuff.
While those iron city mutts were able to walk away with a 6th ring, I was at least able to take solace in the fact that Leinart won't get a ring before Quinn. One thing I disagree with OC Domer, however, was the best commercial. How can you beat this?

Signing day is tomorrow, and while that day always harbors a bit of anxiety for college football fans, I can't say I know enough about the recruiting situation to write much about it now (my one guess is that we don't get Teo), but I'll put something up in the next few days about duds and snubs or something. Have a good week - and for God's sake, Go Irish! Beat Bearcats!

Quote of the Week: Resurrection

Try as I might to understand what's going on in Weis' head, sometimes I just inevitably end up falling short. The announcement of former O-Line coach John Latina's departure to make way for Frank Verducci surprises me; I'm not confused about the selection, but rather by the timing of this announcement.

Former Offensive Coordinator Mike Haywood was interviewing for head coaching jobs for awhile before he left, perhaps most notably when he was turned down by Houston last season. Keeping this in mind, I figured that Weis and Co. would be well ahead of the curve in selecting his replacement. In fact, I assumed that the candidate had already been chosen, but Charlie was waiting to introduce the new, revamped staff all at once.Now that Verducci's hire has been made public, it tells us that Notre Dame may not have a ready candidate to step into Haywood's role or into the D-Line coach vacancy left by Jappy Oliver. For all I know, contract negotiations may already be underway, but I'm still relatively surprised that this announcement came before we settled on an O-Coordinator.

Moving on to Verducci, though, it looks like he should be an improvement in the coaching staff. He seems to fit the classic definition of journeyman, working for four different NFL teams and taking two years off during a ten year stint, but you can't help but think that 30 years of coaching experience across D-1 and the NFL should serve him well. I like that he is reportedly an intense coach, and I like his excitement about his new job. Weis has always valued people that respect the tradition of the university, and that is where this week's quote comes from:

"I'm very excited for this opportunity and am grateful to Coach Weis," Verducci said. "Notre Dame is the one college job I pursued and is the only school I considered leaving the NFL for."

Welcome to Notre Dame, Frank. Now teach those hog mollies how to run block!