34 days to kickoff. | by Jay

Are you ready?

Golden ticket | by Jay

Chris Dufrense of the LA Times has a lengthy refresher on where we are/where we've been/where we're going with Charlie, and while it's nothing all that new, it's just about a perfect read for a Saturday morning. Here's the whole shebang.

Charlie and the Football Factory
Notre Dame hands the reins to Weis, one of its own and a proven NFL winner

By Chris Dufresne, Times Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It's the vampire's side of 6 a.m. on the Saturday of a three-day holiday weekend — the only interview slot available on first-year Coach Charlie Weis' monthly docket.

Morning, you could say, has broken again at Notre Dame.

"Touchdown Jesus" seems to be stifling a yawn as a three-quarter moon in the West offsets first light. Notre Dame Stadium is a quiet cavern, opening kickoff is still weeks away, the Irish's last national title is still 1988.

As a student here, Weis did not play football. He studied speech with the idea of becoming the next Marv Albert — yes, and it counts!

Thirty years later, after considerable toil and some serendipity, Weis has returned to call the real play-by-play for college football's most important franchise.

File this under: dream big.

"I'm livin' proof," Weis says between sips of bottled water.

And that pretty much wraps things up in the sentiment department.

Weis, the first Notre Dame graduate since Hugh Devore in 1963 to lead the football program, makes his home debut Sept. 17, against Michigan State. He suggests any emotional outpourings will "last seconds, not minutes."

Weis has yet to change a tangible perception of a Notre Dame program that was 6-6 last season and hasn't won a bowl game in a decade, but he has already changed the rules of engagement.

Holdovers from the Tyrone Willingham era got their first glimpse at spring practice.

Brady Quinn, last season's starting quarterback, noted of Weis, "He obviously knows how to get as close to perfection as you can get."

Since taking over full-time in February, Weis has reconfigured Notre Dame into the Midwest branch of New England Patriots Enterprises.

He will control everything, from the play-calling to the information flow, to how Notre Dame chooses its toothpicks.

Weis is the medium and the message, his mantra shucked and honed from mentors Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, two of the NFL's most practiced coaching dictators.

Popular sayings in their doctrine include "you are what you are" and "we'll do all the talking."

Weis was a longtime NFL influence peddler, most recently the offensive coordinator for the three-time Super Bowl champion Patriots. Yet, his inner core remained largely impenetrable because Belichick, who fell approximately two feet from Parcells' coaching tree, did not allow his assistants to talk to the media.

"That's what the rules were," Weis says. "Sitting in this chair now, I can see some of the benefits from it being that way."

One is keeping your organization's private business private; the downside getting named coach at Notre Dame and people saying "Charlie Who?"

"When I came here, people said he won't be able to deal with recruiting, he has no charisma, he has no personality," Weis says. "What do they know about my personality? When people don't talk to you, how do they know anything about you?"

Weis' self-confidence teeters toward arrogance, but Notre Dame's recent tribulations, coupled with his finger jewelry, give him start-up political clout.

You could argue that hiring a Dome descendant was the logical next step after a recent rash of out-of-towners that included:

• Gerry Faust, the lovable loser, recruited straight out of high school.
• Lou Holtz, a Nervous-if-not-ingenious Nellie who delivered a title in 1988 but, like Larry Brown, was a leader you felt like you were renting.
• Bob Davie, who tried hard, talked with a drawl and never won a BCS bowl (he did lose one to Oregon State, 41-9).

He was shown the dome door and replaced by George O'Leary, fired in what seemed like minutes after it was learned he fudged on his resume. This public relations fiasco begat Willingham, whose expected five-year go lasted three.

Utah Coach Urban Meyer, named after several popes, was supposed to rescue the ship, but Florida's private jet beat Notre Dame to Salt Lake City and Meyer is doing Gator claps in "The Swamp."

And so the awesome Irish football responsibility fell to Weis, Notre Dame class of 1978, a resident of Flanner Hall, a Jersey kid who sat in Row 59 at home games never imagining the seat he'd one day sneak down to.

Dan Lombard, a Notre Dame student at the time Weis was there, recalled conversations he used to have with someone named Charlie at Flanner Hall but didn't make the synapse connection until attending a football fundraiser in Chicago that included a keynote address by the new Irish coach.

And then it hit Lombard.

"That Charlie?" he said.

Still, the quickest way to get the laser-eye from Weis is to compare his story to the heart-tug of "Rudy," the former Notre Dame benchwarmer who once talked his way into a huddle.

"Give me a break," Weis says. "Let's not use that analogy. I'm 49 years old. I mean, it's not like I've been doing this a couple years. This has been a long, arduous process."

Where to start, with the long part or the arduous?

Called originally to Notre Dame by the siren of legendary announcer Lindsey Nelson, Weis ditched his sportscaster dreams because he didn't see a quick payoff.

He worked his way into teaching and coaching, turning a six-year high school stint in New Jersey into a four-year ride as an assistant at South Carolina that ended solemnly in 1989 when Joe Morrison, the head coach, died of a heart attack.

Weis returned to New Jersey to coach high school and landed some personnel work with the New York Giants, which eventually led to the break of his life — a low-level job offer from Parcells.

A single guy willing to turn the lights on in the morning and off at night, Weis rode the Parcells train from New York to New England and then to the Jets, returning to New England in 2000 when Belichick became coach.

Four Super Bowl rings later (one with the Giants, three with the Patriots), had Weis not earned the right to be considered Notre Dame's fall-back choice?

It wasn't all ticker tape. Weis fought an obesity problem, nearly dying in 2002 after complications from gastric bypass surgery.

Weis is relatively trim now and rejects the idea he had the surgery to improve his professional look, making that perfectly clear at his introductory news conference:

"You want to know why you do it?" he said. "Because for 10 years you're over 300 pounds and your father died at 56 of a second heart attack."

Weis is married, with two kids. His daughter, Hannah, suffers from a learning disorder, which made uprooting her from the Northeast more complicated.

So maybe this isn't Rudy, or even Walter Mitty.

Weis was two laps behind at the South Bend Indy 500 the second he revved engines, left to participate remotely for National Signing Day in February because New England was in the Super Bowl.

It wasn't going to be easy playing catch-up against coaches telling recruits Notre Dame isn't what it used to be.

"They've just joined the rest of us, that's all that meant," one top 20 coach mused recently of Willingham's firing after only three seasons.

Weis thinks he can out-scheme any coach he lines up against, but also knows there may be no cognitive solution to stopping USC tailback Reggie Bush.

Notre Dame needs a Tim Brown-type talent infusion, the reason Weis spent every day on the road from April 28 through May 27 — almost unheard of in coaching circles.

One day, Weis recounts, "I went from Houston, to Lafayette, Louisiana, to Oklahoma City, to Springdale, Arkansas, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."

It will take at least a year to determine exactly where the Irish stack up on national recruiting flow charts.

Weis says his handshake meant something, although not even he's sure if kids were squeezing back the Notre Dame in him, or the Patriot.

Recruiting conversations started with academics but ultimately turn to pie-eyed NFL expectations, at which point Weis put to chin the right hand bearing his latest Super ring and mused, "So you want to play on Sunday?"

Weis adds with a laugh, "If they didn't get it, then I rub the ring."

He rejects the argument Notre Dame is too hard academically to compete anymore in upper echelon, reminding everyone that New England won three Super Bowls with as much brain as brawn.

"We had the highest graduation rate of any team in the NFL," Weis says. "We had more smart guys. What we did on offense and defense, it pays to be smart."

Of course, if all it took was SAT scores wouldn't Harvard be No. 1 in the BCS?

"That's the question," Weis says. "Where is that fine line, where you get enough smart players that can play? That's what we're trying to do right now."

Everything Weis says now is pre-fight hype.

The first inspection comes with the Sept. 3 opener at Pittsburgh, when Weis makes his Irish debut against Dave Wannstedt, another former NFL coach.

Tom Panzica, a South Bend architect and contractor who graduated in Weis' 1978 class, says it is high time Notre Dame had one of its own running the show, although anyone old enough to remember the Joe Kuharich (Class of '38) years can tell you it's no cinch for success.

"If Charlie doesn't start off well, I honestly think people will cut him more slack, because they're getting what they're asking for," Panzica says.

Mysteries abound, including how Weis, a relative Boo Radley when it comes to outside exposure, handles the extracurricular influences — media, fans, the Peacock Network, Regis Philbin and legends of Irish bashers.

It's one thing having Patriot owner Robert Kraft stop by practice in a golf cart. At Notre Dame, half of America thinks they have a stake in the franchise.

Weis is already starting to feel the opposite of ignored.

"You look a lot like Charlie Weis," a shopper said recently as Weis stocked up on groceries at a South Bend supermarket.

"I've heard that," was all Weis could think to say.

Unlike those old Lindsey Nelson-narrated highlights, Weis cannot simply fast-forward to more prosperous fourth-quarter action.

He can, by the power of proclamation, put an end to all discomforting internal noise.

"I don't really want to go there," Weis says when asked if he thought Willingham's firing was fair. "I'll tell you what, I'm going to turn this into a positive spin. When you hired a guy this time, they wanted a guy with ties here, no pun intended, OK? See, I actually have a sense of humor.

"I think they wanted someone who really understood Notre Dame."

From this day until the day he's not, Weis is coach, king, trial judge and museum curator.

Dawn breaks anew over America's castle, even if the drawbridge may be closing on openness.

"I told our team there are several things you can count on," Weis says. "One thing I told them is our laundry will never be in the public. In other words, when something goes wrong, I told them you can count on me shouldering the blame. I won't blame a player, I won't blame an assistant coach, I won't blame the president or the AD. …

"Expect the headlines to be 'Weis is a Dummy' the next day. But that allows me, behind closed doors, after I've publicly taken the blame, to start spreading the wealth. OK? But I wanted them to know how this is going to go.

"You better have some broad shoulders now."

the Art of the Call | by Michael

A little bit more about offensive strategy today.

Recently we've discussed some foundational ideas like personnel groupings and the complex simplicity of formations, but now let's talk about where principle turns into practice, and science bleeds into art: the skill of play-calling.

Like an actor who knows his script inside and out but isn't really tested until the curtain comes up, an offensive coordinator on gameday is a real-time performer who takes the blueprint and turns it into points on the scoreboard. Let's look at some of the aspects of play-calling, and see if we can't find a few examples that might give us a little insight into Charlie's experience with the Art of the Call.

1. Preparation makes for good improvisation.

As with many disciplines, what seems off-the-cuff and spontaneous is often the product of a lot of groundwork ahead of time. Even an effortless, seemingly improvised jazz riff follows a strict chord progression and a defined harmonic structure. So too, with play-calling. Brilliant "calls" in the heat of the moment really start with scouting, play design, and plenty of war room strategy for days and weeks beforehand.

Dan Pompei of TSN had a piece on playcalling a few years ago, and preparation was cited by coaches over and over again. "The biggest thing is preparation,'' says Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore, who has been calling plays in the NFL for about 20 years by his recollection. "When you go through your preparation, you prepare for situations. When they come up, there are no real surprises or mysteries."

And scouting the opposition, breaking down tape, and analyzing strengths and weaknesses is something Charlie really prides himself on. Once he's found some chinks in the armor, he can start putting together his playlist and establish some favorable matchups. An example of this can be seen in Super Bowl XXXVI.

After studying the tendencies of St. Louis corners, Pats offensive coordinator Charlie Weis during the week changed the route from an "out" in the red zone to an "out-and-up." Brady made a nice pump to freeze Dexter McCleon and that allowed [David] Patten just enough separation. Brady lobbed the ball to the back of the end zone, where only Patten could get to it.

Another example comes from last year's AFC Championship game. You might recall that during the first quarter of the game, the CBS broadcasters mentioned that the Patriots coaches told them that the offense would be targeting safety Troy Polamalu's pass coverage. Specifically, they believed he bit too easily against in patterns, which would open up the post behind him. Their plan worked flawlessly.

It was after the big fourth-and-1 stop of Bettis in the first quarter that Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis went for the jugular. Starting at his 40, Brady hit Branch in stride at about the 5-yard line and the speedy receiver stumbled in from there. Brady made the play work when he looked over the middle, which drew Polamalu over and left Branch alone with DeShea Townsend.

Again, it goes back to tape study and being prepared. All the talk of hours upon hours spent game planning is not for nothing; this time it helped the Patriots win Super Bowl XXXVIII.

"I think we had the perfect play called for that coverage," Brady said. "We were really anticipating what they were going to do and Deion ran a great route. I just laid it up there for him and he made a great catch. And it gave us just enough time to call a timeout, and then Adam to run on the field."

It's not a coincidence that preparation and tape study are repeatedly mentioned when the Patriots talk about plays that really worked well.

2. Be predictably unpredictable.

How many times have seen "unpredictable" in descriptions of the Patriots' offense under Weis? Surprise and fear (along with ruthless efficiency and now, a fanatical devotion to the Pope) are all weapons in Charlie's arsenal, and nothing keeps a defense off-kilter than throwing them for loops, play after play.

In last year’s AFC Championship game, two of the Patriots’ biggest pass plays occurred on first down bombs downfield to Deion Branch. The first was a 60-yard touchdown, and the second was a 45-yard completion that later set up a David Givens score. What's more, the 60-yarder was set up by some conservative play-calling (three runs and a short pass) on the previous series.

One example of smart, first down play-call in a big-game from Super Bowl XXXIX:

Game scoreless, the Patriots had first-and-10 on their own 3. New England came out with four wides; Tom Brady took three steps back to pass, then handed to Corey Dillon on a fast-draw action, 7-yard gain and now the Patriots are not in jeopardy of surrendering a safety. This play had no major impact on the game; it's an example of New England's ability to have well-designed plays ready for any down-and-distance.

The Patriots, backed up against the end zone, knew they would have trouble running successfully against the Philly front, so they showed pass and surprised the Eagles with the draw. While this wasn't an aggressive play-call like the others, showing four wides put the defense in an uncomfortable situation. Most offenses in that similar situation come out in a heavy or jumbo look, but Charlie is keen on bucking the norm.

Pompei writes, "If a play works, some play-callers will use it as many as 10 times in a game." Charlie will often run the same play two or three times in a row, although usually out of different formations. (One time against Pittsburgh, Weis called 25 pass plays in a row. Brady called it "a great game plan"). Most recently, he did this in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles.

Philadelphia has taken a 7-0 lead at 9:55 of the second quarter, and to this point the Eagles defense had dominated, holding New England to one first down. What do you do against an aggressive pass rush? Throw screens. On first down, New England screens right to Corey Dillon for 13 yards. Now, they'll never make the same call on back-to-back plays, will they? Screen left to Dillon for 16 yards. Note to Notre Dame opponents: Charlie Weis likes make the same call on back-to-back plays, which NFL defenses never caught on to.

Of course, it's hard for a defense to catch onto this practice when an offense runs a complementary play that sets up a lot like a previous play. In the same game...

New England lined up with four wides, then Corey Dillon went in motion from the slot left to wide left. Three receivers were on the right. Earlier in the game, the Patriots had shown this formation and then thrown a slant to the closest man of three on the right. This time Tom Brady pumped toward the closest man on the right and threw to the middle of three, Troy Brown, for a 12-yard gain that gave the Patriots first-and-goal. When New England came out in this set, I immediately looked toward the closest man on the right. It worked on me, and worked on the Philadelphia defense!

The only two-play combo that I can recall from the 2004 season was the fake slip screen pass to Rhema McKnight that allowed Matt Shelton to get behind the Washington secondary for an easy touchdown. Kudos to Bill Diedrick for that one, and he should definitely try to get it in the Ottawa Stampeders' playbook this season. These types of "sister" plays should be a much bigger staple of our offense this year.

3. Don't jump ship.

Per Pompei, "Sticking with a plan that was conceived over hours of midweek preparation isn't always easy, but Fassel believes it's the smart way to go. 'The worst thing you can do is just put a collection of plays together,' he says. 'And then the tendency is if you run a play that doesn't work, let's move on to something else.' "

A good offensive coordinator doesn't ignore the countless hours of tape study that helped to develop the game plan in the first place, and he doesn't bail out at the first sign of trouble. Having a contingency is essential, but it's important not to switch gears too soon. Check this out from the Houston Texans game in 2003.

On a day full of imaginative calls, the one that stands out is the fourth-and-1 bootleg Weis called with 48 seconds left from the Houston 4.

"To be honest with you, we had a lot of discussion right before that play," divulged Weis. "We were talking about running the ball but at the last second I said, 'Listen, we went into this game and that play was our lead goal-line play. Why will we go through all this planning and then change and go to a different play?' It didn't turn out the way we planned, but Tommy [Brady] made a play, made a good throw, Daniel [Graham] made a good [touchdown) catch and we won it in overtime."

Composure under fire is essential. Lesser coordinators will wilt under the pressure and cause their offenses to implode, when all they had to do was stick to the gameplan. Notice in this play-by-play account of the game-winning Super Bowl XXXVI drive how Charlie not only anticipated how the Rams would defend but also how he calmly managed his quarterback. Some selected excerpts:

"(Head coach Bill Belichick and I) talked for 5 seconds. Maybe 10 seconds. We just said, 'We gotta go down there and kick the field goal and win the game.' First play, we called a pass with a seven-man protection. A safe way to start. If they played man, we wanted to score on that first play to David Patten down the left sideline. If they zoned, we wanted to look to Troy Brown. If he wasn't available, then J.R. All we wanted to do was make positive yardage. What we weren't going to do was make a mistake."

"We waited 5 or 10 seconds to let Tom [Brady] gain composure and understand the situation, so we took 5 or 10 seconds off the 40-second (play) clock. The headset from coordinator to quarterback turns off with 15 seconds left, so we had time to let him settle and call the play.

"We called a play where they expected us to throw to the outside and we had a play called to the inside. We wanted to attack their Cover-2, figuring they wouldn't blitz twice and they went back to their bread and butter. Fortunately for us, Troy cleared the linebacker and Tom made a great throw."

By contrast, how often have we seen ND abandon the running game too soon? In some cases, a running game that was actually working?

4. On the other hand, if you're taking on water, don't be afraid to launch the lifeboats.

Even the best-laid plans can fail, and a good coordinator will know when to chuck the blueprint and go with something else. Napoleon once said that "over-preparation is the foe of inspiration", and in the heat of the battle, it's essential to realize when things aren't working and be able to smoothly switch gears.

Again, preparation is the key. Check out the following bit from Super Bowl XXXIX:

Weis said the Super Bowl's extended halftime show, which lasted 25 minutes, gave him the opportunity to devise a strategy to combat blitzing linebackers and safeties.

"They were blitzing up the middle in an attempt to take Brady out of the pocket, so we had something to combat it," said Weis, whose offense managed nine first downs in the first half. "We started using screens and the shorter passing game and it really opened things up for us."

5. You've got to have thick skin.

Outside of referees, there's nobody on the football field who takes more abuse from fans than the offensive play-caller. Second-guessing a play is a thriving cottage industry, and entire call-in shows are predicated on this populist pastime. Pompei writes, "Play-callers are like presidents in that they are blamed for everything that isn't working. It's easier to identify bad play-calling than good play-calling."

Despite three Super Bowl wins in four years, Charlie's playcalling hasn’t been immune to criticism. There's been the occasional ill-tempered rant, but there's also been some legitimate criticism of Charlie's decisions from time to time, and it's only fair to address it. In fact, an interesting pattern emerges. First, from a Providence Journal account of a 2003 game against Miami:

What an awful day of play-calling. You want it in chronological order or from end to beginning? Why, in the name of all that's sensible, would any offensive coordinator at any level think a toss was a good idea with less than a minute left in the game and no timeouts? Even if Faulk breaks out for a 10-yard run, the clock still runs. That is a wasted possession and -- given that it was a bonus possession, thanks to Richard Seymour's blocked field goal -- it should have been treated with even greater care...Weis has good days and excellent stretches. Forget '01, the work he did after the Pats dipped to 4-5 last season was outstanding, considering there was no Daniel Graham, no Branch, a limping Brown, a porous offensive line and seemingly no options. That was Weis at his best. Sunday was Weis at his worst. The Patriots are surviving his work.

Complaints about Charlie's choices in short yardage situations are commonly found in conversations with Patriots fans and on message boards.

Or take a look at this critique of Weis from a 2004 game against Arizona. Charlie likes to be aggressive and take chances downfield, but he might have gone a little overboard here. Had an Irish receiver been injured on such a risky pass, would Irish fans be that forgiving?

Another example of risky playcalling on Charlie's part from an '03 game against the Texans. The play ultimately worked, but I think it again illustrates Charlie’s preference to be the aggressor. He likes to avoid predictable tendencies and surprise defenses; in the NFL, this often meant throwing instead of pounding the ball in short yardage situations. Notice, too, how this writer came away with a completely different take on Charlie's playcalling despite the fact that both writers watched the same game.

Finally, the Larry Centers draw play. Down 20-17 with time running out and outside Adam Vinatieri's range, Charlie called for a draw play on 3rd & 3 which got stuffed. They then threw deep on fourth down but the pass was incomplete. This is the perfect example of Charlie out-thinking himself, a complaint you'll hear sometimes from Patriots fans. SI's Dr. Z ranted about some of Charlie's peculiarity and suggested that he was trying too hard to live up to his offensive genius reputation. "He is desperate to get a head-coaching job, and you don't convince people you're a genius by running the ball, by sticking with the conventional."

The common trend is fairly easy to spot; by constantly trying to out-think his opponent, Charlie will occasionally ignore the lower risk call. He likes to roll the dice and take his shots downfield, perhaps at inopportune times, and he likes to pass on third and short. You can't argue with Charlie's overall successes, but some of the detail work was a little sketchy.

---

If you think about it, Charlie's play-calling in short yardage situations might actually be the the most dramatic change he makes going from the NFL to college. In the pros, without a dependable running back, and playing with a patchwork line of mid-to-late round draft picks and free agents, it was much harder to pick up first downs running the ball. At Notre Dame, Charlie shouldn't have any difficulty recruiting some of the best linemen and running backs in the country, so a good short-yard running game should be easier to implement.

But hey, it's his call, right?

Touchdown Irish! | by Pat

Irish legend Tony Roberts was honored yesterday with the 2005 Chris Schenkel Award. Given annually to "a college football broadcaster who has excelled in his field and contributed to his community", it's awarded by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

"Tony has been a great friend to all sports and especially college football," said NFF President Steven J. Hatchell. "He is a true professional, and his contributions over the years have greatly enhanced the enjoyment of fans nationwide. He stands atop his profession, and we are thrilled to recognize him."

Roberts can add this trophy to his collection of seven Associated Press Sports Reporting awards and seven Sportscaster of the Year awards.

Absolutely nothing gets us ready for football season like the sound of Tony Roberts' crisp, voltaic staccato.

Enjoy.

(You never get tired of hearing that voice, do you? We didn't think so either.)

BlogPoll IV: Return from Blog Mountain | by Jay

The BlogPoll Roundtable is back, and this time, it's personal.

(What's the BlogPoll, you ask? In case you haven't been following along, fifty college football blogs have banded together to do a poll and rankings throughout the season. Brian over at mgoblog has the full rundown. And, to jumpstart things, we've been having a little back-and-forth on various topics. This week, it's BGS's turn to try and corral the pack of wild blogs.)

Okay, on to the topic, and it's one of our favorites: Rivals. You know, those longstanding feuds that go way, way back...or at least seem like they do. The Hatfields versus the McCoys, the Globetrotters versus the Washington Generals, Rick Blaine versus Victor Laszlo, Liberace versus subtlety. We've all got a rival, sometimes two or three. So...

1. Who are your rival(s)? The big games. The ones you always get up for, no matter how poor the teams might be during any given season. While we all might have a general sense of what the well-known national rivalries are (Army/Navy, Auburn/Alabama, etc) this is a chance to expound a little bit on your own personal bloodfeuds. Give us a little history, a little flavor, maybe a piece of lore or a notable prank that happened in the course of this feud. Also, feel free to use this question to talk about some rivalries in your team's history that may have faded away over the years.

2. Size up your chances in your rival games this year. Pretty straightforward. Try to be objective.

3. If you could start up a new rivalry with another team, who would it be? Is there a team out there that you think would make a perfect rival for your team? Maybe you've played them a few times in the past and the games got a little heated, or perhaps there's an oldtime rivalry of yours that you'd like to rekindle. Pick a team (or two) that you'd love to battle year in and year out.

4. Overall, what do you think the best rivalry in college football is? Try to pick one that doesn't involve your own team. What makes that rivalry so much better than all the others?

5. Lastly, game trophies. What are the best and worst rivalry trophies out there? There's a lot of crazy stuff changing hands every football season: Golden Axes and Beehive Boots, Old Wagon Wheels and War Canoes. Which trophies are cool? Which trophy would you be embarrassed to see your team hoist aloft after winning a rivalry game? Here's a cribsheet to help you pick out your favorite and/or most ridiculous. And if nothing seems to fit, and you'd like to design your own trophy, you can mention that too.

BlogPollers, be sure to post your answers here in a comment or set up a Trackback so we can round everything up. And readers, don't hesitate to weigh in with your own thoughts. We'll do the BGS response a little later on, after hearing what the ND faithful have to say.

In the meantime, strike up the band, break out the homecoming floats and fly in the big donors...our old rival's comin' to town.

kickstart | by Jay

Well, it's almost noon, but I just had my first cup. That's what happens when you're out until 3am on a Tuesday. Four items of note to shake out the cobwebs and kick off the day.

• Pickin' cotton. BGI has some scoop on the Cotton Bowl wooing ND. Good to see the wheels are turning; ND goes with the Cotton Bowl like peas and carrots. We sort of figured that with the Big XII horning in, there had to be some quid pro quo going on behind the scenes. It's not a done deal yet, however.

"We have had some very serious discussions with Notre Dame," [Cotton Bowl prez Rick] Baker said. "There has been some progress but there are certainly a lot of details to work out before it becomes a reality.

"We are very committed to trying to do everything we can to try and get Notre Dame back in the SBC Cotton Bowl. But it's a two-way street and that's where it is really going to be successful, or fail."

• The way it should be. Fabled Faust-era running back and current ND color man Allen Pinkett answered a few questions for the Rockford Register Star while playing in an alumni golf outing.

"Weis promises they are going to play nasty," Pinkett said. "Notre Dame needs to get back to being a little meaner."

Meaner on defense. Smarter on offense. And more efficient in close games.

"It's been a roller coaster ride," Pinkett said. "The thing that makes it so frustrating is the last two years they have been better than their record. They lost close games they should have won. With Coach Weis there, it will turn a little back to what folks are used to, at least winning games they are supposed to win... They'll have a better game plan on offense. Notre Dame has suffered from not having a bonafide plan of attack."

That's why even alumni, such as Pinkett, who liked Willingham think Notre Dame made the right, if messy, move. Because they think at last the Irish have the right man in Charlie Weis. "They need to win again soon," Pinkett said. "You win at Notre Dame, you are the king. If you don't, you are going to hear it from all corners. And that's the way it should be."

• Second prize is a set of steak knives. Per the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:

Folks are still buzzing over a recruiting visit new Notre Dame football head coach Charlie Weis made recently with a top area high-school lineman, who clearly expected to be wooed, flattered and praised by Weis. Instead, Weis slapped a copy of the recruit's grade transcripts down on the table, chastised him for being an obviously lazy student and told him that unless things changed, Notre Dame wouldn't waste another minute recruiting him. Word is the shocked lineman is now vowing to take his classes much more seriously this school year. Weis has already received commitments from two St. Ignatius High standouts, receiver Robby Parris and defensive end John Ryan, for 2006.

• Diamonds in the rough. NDN's got a new feature called "Rock's Roundup", sort of a distillation of the daily insanity. Check it out for some good nuggets that sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Brian Polian: More Than a Famous Last Name | by Mark

"Who the heck is this kid?"

That seemed to be the reaction of many Notre Dame fans when they heard Brian Polian's name alongside the rest of Charlie Weis's first coaching staff at Notre Dame. Compared to guys like Minter, Lewis, and Cutcliffe, Polian was a complete unknown. He'd never been a head coach at any level, never been an assistant coach at a big program, never played football above Division III, and didn't have any obvious connections to Charlie Weis or Notre Dame. So how did this baby-faced kid, a good seven years younger than any of the other assistants, end up on what many would consider one of the best coaching staffs in college football?

The initial answer that most folks came up with was fairly obvious: family connections. Brian is the son of Bill Polian, President of Football Operations for the Indianapolis Colts (profile, page 4) and one of the most respected men in all of pro football. Brian's brother Chris also works in the front office for the Colts, and Chris even shares the same agent as Charlie. Aha! That must be it. But the connections that Polian had to Weis were actually much more layered than that.

For one thing, Polian was teammates with two of the assistant offensive coaches that worked under Weis with the New England Patriots. Polian went to St. Francis High School in Buffalo with Patriots WR coach Brian Daboll, and went to college at John Carroll University with Patriots QB coach Josh McDaniels.

But wait - there's more! All three of these young coaches got their big breaks in coaching at the same place, as graduate assistants for Nick Saban at Michigan State. Polian went first, serving under Saban during the 1997 season. Daboll followed in 1998 and stayed on through 1999. McDaniels arrived in 1999. Now, it's well-documented that Nick Saban is one of the people in the coaching world that Bill Belichick respects the most. So having his name on your resume seems to be a big help with Belichick. And perhaps by extension, with Weis as well.

(Speaking of John Carroll, one of the greatest pro football coaches of all time went there: Don Shula. Johnny Ray, Ara Parseghian's defensive architect, came to ND from John Carroll. Iowa's current offensive coordinator, Ken O'Keefe, is a graduate of John Carroll. And in a final testament to my OCD, O'Keefe worked under and replaced Peter Vaas as head coach at Alleghany College. If you haven't guessed it by now, I am really good at playing "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon".)

But getting back to Polian. Irish fans should take note of the title that Polian holds on this coaching staff. In addition to being the assistant defensive backs coach, Weis recently named Polian the Head Special Teams Coach. Consider that this is the role that Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel, Weis, and Eric Mangini (new defensive coordinator for the Patriots) all filled when they first got their start in the NFL.

Weis has said that special teams is going to be a vital part of his program; for background, one need only remember that three of the five Super Bowls that Weis coached in were decided by a last-second field goals. Weis's mentor, Belichick, is such a believer in special teams that he's on record saying that special teams coordinators should be considered for head coaching jobs more often, since special teams truly are one third of the game.

So what was it Weis saw that would make him think Polian could handle such an important role in his organization? Although Polian was not listed as one of the special teams coaches while at Central Florida, Polian has coached special teams in five of his eight seasons as a coach. Another feather in Polian's special teams cap is the fact that he was invited to write a chapter in the AFCA's (American Football Coaches Association) 2004-05 "Complete Guide to Special Teams" manual. Other contributing coaches included Virginia Tech special teams guru Bud Foster, special teams coach of the Philadelphia Eagles John Harbaugh, and Urban Meyer, among others. So Polian's got the basic knowledge down pat, and enough coaching experience to springboard him to the next level up. He's ready.

In the years to come it will be interesting to see what direction Polian's career takes. Polian, as a young kid growing up in Buffalo, had the great fortune to get to know Marv Levy, whom he cites as his greatest influence in coaching thus far. Now he finds himself at the reins of Notre Dame's special teams, as well as learning more about coaching defense from Bill Lewis and Rick Minter. Polian is a young up-and-comer that has a similar pedigree to coaches that were selected and groomed as practitioners of the "Patriot Way". Polian, it would seem, will be groomed in the "Notre Dame Way". Hopefully someday Brian Polian will be discussing his time at Notre Dame in the same way that Weis describes his time under Belichick and Parcells.

As for now, he's excited to be in South Bend.

"Short, chubby Irish guys shouldn't be living in Orlando, Florida," he said. "I was putting on sunscreen in late November. I belong up here in the Midwest... This is the first time in a decade that I've lived within driving range of (my family) and that has been wonderful. Getting the job here ... I don't know if there was anybody happier. Besides me, I think my dad was the next happiest."

(To read more on Polian, check out his interviews on BGI, Irish Eyes, and the SBT).

Card stock | by Pat

Today's South Bend Tribune made official what had been speculated: wide receiver Chris Vaughn is transferring to Louisville. According to Vaughn, his decision was based more on personal matters than football matters.

"I got suspended from Notre Dame for the fall semester, which of course took me out of the upcoming football season," Vaughn told the Tribune via telephone. "I would have had to sit out, which was bad enough, but then there was no guarantee I'd even be admitted back in after that."

"At that point, I felt I had to kind of explore my options, and I decided it was in my best interests to leave the university. I want to emphasize it had nothing to do with the football program. I think the football program is headed in the right direction.

"I have a lot of respect for coach Weis. He did everything in his power to help me, as far as my situation. He was concerned about me as a person. But in the end, there's only so much he could do."

This transfer shows just how quickly things can change on college football depth charts. At the end of last season, Notre Dame's wide receiving corps for '05 looked pretty deep -- and tall, too. I recall thinking that ND would be able to line up in a 5-wide set with 6'2" Rhema McKnight, 6'5" Maurice Stovall, 6'5" Jeff Samardzija, 6'4" Chris Vaughn, and 6'6" David Nelson and just throw fade after fade over helpless 5'8" cornerbacks.

Now the WR depth chart is decidedly different, and with McKnight, Stovall and Shelton all gone after this year, things will be rather shallow for 2006:

Senior - Jeff Samardzija, Chase Anastasio
Junior - (none)
Sophomore - D.J. Hord, David Grimes
Freshman - Barry Gallup, Rob Parris, whatever other WR recruit(s) commit to ND

Not the deepest group of receivers you'll ever see. Talent is there, but not much experience. Of course, there are other players currently on the team (Hoskins, Wooden, Vernaglia, Bragg, Bruton, for example) who might moonlight as receivers or make the switch entirely. The 2005 depth chart looks different than we thought it would in 2004, so it's safe to say that the 2006 depth chart could look much different than its current version.

Holtz redux | by Jay

We haven't discussed the NCAA violations at South Carolina yet, but that's not for a lack of talking points from the chattering class. There's a lot of lazy kneejerking going around, lumping together the latest stuff at USC with what happened at ND and Minnesota, and laughably, even a few citations of Looney & Yaeger's book as some sort of document of record on all things Holtz.

So let's take a look at what actually happened at the two previous stops.

Minnesota remains a big black mark for Holtz, mostly because it was part of a wider NCAA investigation that eventually touched not just football, but also the Gophers' hoops program, the wrestling team, and the entire athletic department, and led to the imprisonment of University official Luther Darville, who was convicted of embezzling $186,000 from the school. Holtz's transgressions were relatively minor in the grand scope of the investigation; he admitted to giving a former player between $25 and $40 to cover the loss of his wallet during a recruiting trip and giving another $250 for a summer course. The report was released while Holtz was at Notre Dame, and the ND administration (including an on-the-record Father Beauchamp) gave him its full support and (obviously) kept him on.

The Irish scandal involves femme fatale Kim Dunbar, whose story you probably know. Dunbar had embezzled over a million dollars from her employer, and was lavishing the booty on some ND players, including Jarvis Edison, with whom she had a daughter (and whom she ended up actually marrying). The catch was that Dunbar was part of the Quarterback Club, a fan organization open to anyone for a $25 annual membership fee. As a result the NCAA ultimately deemed her a "Unversity representative", and under the flimsiest of pretenses, her gifts were seen as a violation of NCAA rules. Inexplicably, ND decided not to appeal the NCAA decision, and swallowed a 2-year probation and a loss of 2 scholarships with nary a peep of protest. (Still maybe the dumbest decision of Monk's tenure). Yet there was no connection alleged between Holtz and Dunbar, and this wasn't a case of the head coach arranging for a rich booster to pay off his players; rather, Dunbar was an out-of-control groupie who sabotaged the program all on her own.

Now we've got South Carolina, where the major allegations involve improper tutoring and academic support, some over-zealousness on the part of the strength coach making some 'voluntary' summer workouts 'mandatory', and some impermissible recruiting contact, including by the former governor of SC, Jim Hodges. The proposed penalties are a two-year probation and loss of two scholarships for two years. Obviously, this isn't good. In fact, the NCAA tagged South Carolina with the "lack of institutional control" label, and hopefully it'll get their attention and spur them to clean up their act. But Lou's role in all this is unclear; for his part, he's barely mentioned in the 80+ page document from the NCAA.

So let's not make any excuses for Lou, but let's at least be specific. Most of the articles in the past week (some linked above in the first paragraph; scores more available via a simple Google search) have been way over-the-top and wildly inaccurate. Not all NCAA scandals are created equally, and without some context, you'd think Holtz was as bad an actor as Barry Switzer, the University of Colorado, or the Michigan basketball program in the early 90's. Holtz has done some regrettable things in the past, but the conventional "wisdom" I've seen over the past week is much too flippant and amounts to character assassination. According to the company line, Lou is "shady"; he's "a con man" and he's "slimy"; and in a fit of really ridiculous hyperbole, he's even "the sweet widow in the old Andy Griffith episode who sells Barney Fife his first car -- the same widow who turns out to be Myrt "Hubcaps" Lesch running a car-theft ring." It would all be so silly if it weren't so irresponsible.

Except for one article, which I think hits it right on the head. Phil Mobley of GamecockCentral.com penned a piece that I think perfectly encapsulates why things slid slowly out of control in Columbia.

...There's already been too much ink spilt debating Lou Holtz's responsibility for this mess, not to mention the spate of other issues affecting the program since the Clemson game. I can only offer an opinion based on my perception, but it is this: Coach Holtz failed to keep tabs on his team to the extent necessary by a modern Division-I head football coach. I do not believe that Holtz knowingly engaged in any unethical behavior, nor do I believe he condoned it among anyone on his staff (that goes for Mike McGee, too). I further do not believe that he intentionally took the course of plausible deniability. Even so, we have all been forced to confront the reality that Holtz was too much grandfather and not enough Godfather to his players. Whether due to lack of energy or an inability to recognize the severity of problems, the well-intentioned Holtz was too distant from his team. The argument that most of the NCAA trouble was in the athletic department, as opposed to the coaching staff, rings hollow. Who is the ambassador of a university's football team if not its head coach? Though the head coach certainly doesn't have authority over those outside his staff, he sure ought to know what they're doing with his players, even more so than the athletic director, whose attention is divided among multiple sports. The deceit could not have lasted as long had Holtz pried as a head coach must...

That's just an excerpt; the whole piece is well worth a read.

Lord knows, Lou's not perfect. And he should take his lumps for the things he's done wrong. But if he's guilty of anything, it's neglect, not malice.

Harris poll filling up | by Jay

Might be old news, but I hadn't seen it until today. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A couple of Irish tidbits included.

Harris says it has commitments from about 80 of the 114 people it wants for the poll, but won't release the list until late next month when the panel is final. The poll will be one of three components, along with the USA Today coaches poll and the average of six computer rankings systems, in the Bowl Championship Series formula that determines who'll play for college football's national championship...

...Who declined

• Ara Parseghian. The former Notre Dame coach said he was too busy doing work related to his foundation to participate...

...Who wasn't asked

If Harris runs out of voters, former Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust would like to throw his name in the hat...

"I wasn't asked, but I'd love to do it," said Faust, who gets to at least seven Irish games a year and catches all the highlight shows at home in Akron, Ohio. "I voted in the UPI poll for five years and enjoyed it immensely."

Others who said they weren't contacted: Terry Bowden, former Auburn coach and current ABC analyst; Gene Corrigan, former ACC commissioner and AD at Virginia and Notre Dame; Pat Dye, former coach at Auburn, East Carolina and Wyoming; Danny Ford, former Clemson coach; Ray Goff, former Georgia coach; Bob Pruett, former Marshall coach; and Darrell Royal, former Texas coach.

A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy | by Mike

We love villains. Not long ago, the American Film Institute unveiled its list of the greatest heroes and villains in film, and as noble and saintly as all the goody-two-shoes are, it's the evildoers who really grab our attention. The best villains have their own style, wit, and morbid allure. From the coolly refined (Hans Gruber) to the deranged (Alex in A Clockwork Orange) to the downright terrifying (Hannibal Lecter), it's the bad guy who hatches the plot, kidnaps the girl, plunges the knife and kicks the dog. Villains are crucial, and without them, you don't have a real story.

Notre Dame football has had plenty of dastardly antagonists over the years, from the merely irritating to the crushingly heartbreaking to the thoroughly evil. Some of these knaves eventually got their comeuppance; others still run free, wreaking their havoc. All of them, however, are among the worst of the worst of the Irish blacklist.

And now, without further ado, we give you the Notre Dame Rogues Gallery.

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Desmond Howard

Every single fall of their college careers, the Michigan class of 1991 lost to Notre Dame. But with one spectacular grab on September 16, 1991, Desmond Howard prevented the Michigan class of 1992 from experiencing the same fate, improving their record against Notre Dame to 1-3. In the fourth quarter, with the game still up for grabs, Michigan went for it on 4th and 1 from the Notre Dame 25-yard-line (needless to say, Lloyd was not their coach at the time). Elvis Grbac appeared to overthrow Howard, but with a completely horizontal lunge Howard grabbed the ball, and the game, just before it hit the ground. The play seems to hold special meaning among Michigan fans.

Despite this incredible play, in college, Desmond Howard could best be described as a poor man's Raghib Ismail -- although what he lacked in talent compared to the Rocket he more than made up with braggadocio. Thus it was particularly galling when Howard won the Heisman trophy, just one year after Ismail had been passed over for Ty Detmer.

And speaking of Rocket, the most painful television I have ever watched in my life was the College Gameday piece that paired Rocket and Howard. Just thinking about it makes me ill.

Villain Comparsion: Vanilla Ice

Like Howard, a one-hit-wonder who copied an original but didn't stack up, and in the process gained too much unfair recognition. Word to your mother.

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John McKay

Quite possibly the best coach Notre Dame ever faced (excluding this guy at Northwestern a long time ago). While Duffy Daugherty edges McKay for most wins against Notre Dame, Daugherty did not deliver any blows as devastating as the 1964 or 1974 losses to Southern Cal. In 1964, Southern Cal pulled out a last-minute victory over the undefeated Irish when a Notre Dame victory would have secured Ara a national championship in his first season. As we’ll be forced to address the 1974 game later, we’ll spare ourselves the burden of mentioning it here.

He's the kind of guy who'd school you on the basketball court, then pat you on the back and give you a word of encouragement. I hated those guys. Always respectful of Notre Dame, but never awed, McKay always seemed to bring out the best in his team against the Irish. As he said in "McKay, a Coach's Story":

I've said it a hundred times and I'll say it again. There's no greater thrill in football than playing in South Bend. I get keyed up and ready to play myself, but thank God that won't happen. I always hope my kids are as keyed up as I am... Pick any year. The Irish will be as good or better than any team we play. I tell our kids if you don't get up for Notre Dame, you must be dead.

You almost didn't mind losing to McKay. Almost.

Villain Comparison: Robert E. Lee, Confederate Army

As with Lee, McKay is a villain because he made the unforgivable mistake of casting his lot with the bad guys. Both were some of the best at what they did and both conducted themselves with class, but you just can’t get past their allegiance. (Feldmarshall Erwin Rommel might also make a good doppelgänger for McKay.)

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Jimmy Johnson

The anti-McKay. Jimmah, also known affectionately as the “Pig-Faced Satan”, first faced off against Notre Dame in Gerry Faust’s final game. With Faust on his way out, Pig-Faced Satan seized the opportunity to run up the score 58-7, and handed Notre Dame its fourth-worst loss in school history and the worst loss since a stacked Army team trounced a World War II-depleted Irish team in 1944.

During this and the ensuing years, Pig-Faced Satan did his damnedest to cultivate the renegade image of his program: clothing his team in camouflage instead of coats and ties for travelling, encouraging pre-game fights in the tunnel, and giving carte blanche to knuckleheads like Michael Irvin to run his mouth both on and off the field. These factors served to fuel the incredibly heated Catholics vs. Convicts rivalry of the late Eighties. Emotions ran so high that savvy Irish fans knew to "beat the rush -- hate Miami now", as a popular bumper sticker put it. The night before the game in 1988, Jimmah was burned in effigy at Stonehenge. Even Holtz dialed it way up; in the locker room before the game he told his players to "save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me!"

The smug grin. The freeze-dried hair. The beady little eyes. So much to dislike. And he never learned to clap properly either.

Villain Comparison: Hoggish Greedly, Captain Planet

The resemblance is uncanny.

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Michigan Coaches, the Early Days: Fielding Yost & Fritz Crisler

Yost (left) and Crisler (right) were at the forefront of Big Ten efforts to smother Notre Dame football in the cradle. Not content merely to exclude Notre Dame from their conference, they worked to convince other schools from scheduling out-of-conference games against Notre Dame.

In seeking to explain the depths of Yost and Crisler's animus towards Notre Dame, many historians point to a general anti-Catholic sentiment. Given Crisler's nativist leanings, this possibility should not be ruled out. However, the explanation might be far simpler. Yost and Crisler were overshadowed in their eras by Rockne and Leahy respectively. The simple explanation? They were jealous, and afraid of Notre Dame.

In 1909, Yost was enjoying his popularity as coach of the "Point a Minute" Wolverines and destroying opponents left and right, until Notre Dame deflated his Wolverine juggernaut, 11-3. It was ND's first victory over the mighty Wolverines and, at the time, was a huge David vs. Goliath victory.

To further infuriate Yost, Walter Camp was in attendance and told anyone who would listen that ND's running game was the best he'd ever seen. Yost was so embarassed and enraged he would ultimately refuse to play Notre Dame again. ND was scheduled to play in Ann Arbor in 1910, but Yost waited until the night before the game to cancel it, claiming ND was using ineligible players. Once Rockne started winning, Yost's hatred towards ND was cemented.

Maize: a more cowardly shade of yellow.

Villain Comparison: Ian Paisley, Member, European Parliament

These brave souls have done their part to save the world from Papery.

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Anthony Davis

You would think that when someone scores eleven touchdowns over his career against your team, the stats would speak for themselves. Yet when it comes to Anthony Davis and Notre Dame, they don’t. In 1972, Davis ran for an astonishing six touchdowns against the Irish...but it was the 1974 game that most people remember.

No one has had a game against Notre Dame like Anthony Davis did in 1974. With Notre Dame ahead 24-0 late in the second quarter, Davis scored a touchdown to put Southern Cal on the board. Nonetheless, Notre Dame had a 18-point lead at halftime and a win seemed certain. But Davis returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on. Final score: Southern Cal 55, Notre Dame 24. If you have a high threshold for pain, you can read more in this article. At least you get to read about Davis being burned in effigy.

For many Irish fans, the most memorable and galling part of the 1974 game was Davis dancing on his knees in the endzone. Was this the inspiration for the elaborate voguing the Hurricanes would do a decade later?

Villain Comparison: Damien, The Omen

Anyone that’s heard Davis tell the following story – and he tells it every chance he gets – understands why.

After the game, Davis, who was the last to leave the Coliseum - bruised and battered - encountered firsthand just how much Notre Dame fans hated him.

"I come outside and I notice these people in dark clothes, and this woman comes out of the shadows and has a crucifix and she says, ‘No one does that against Notre Dame. You must be the devil,'" Davis said.

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AP Voters, various years

Older Irish fans can point to the AP voters giving Maryland the national championship over a better Notre Dame team in 1953, but everyone knows the shifting logic employed by the AP voters between 1989 and 1993.

In 1989, Notre Dame finished 12-1 and second in the poll to 11-1 Miami. That year, Notre Dame played the toughest schedule in the nation, notching wins against Colorado (Big Eight champ, final rank – 4), Michigan (Big Ten champ, final rank – 7), Southern Cal (PAC-10 champ, final rank – 8), and UVa (ACC champ, final rank – 18). In other words, Notre Dame knocked off virtually all of what would constitute today’s BCS. The Irish also defeated Penn State (final rank – 15), Michigan State (final rank – 16), and Pittsburgh (final rank – 17). Three wins against Top 10 teams, and seven wins against Top 20 teams.

However, Notre Dame lost the head-to-head match-up with Miami, and Miami was crowned champion. Most Notre Dame fans could accept this result. After all, Miami had defeated Notre Dame. And if Notre Dame’s accomplishments in 1989 were insufficient to overcome such a head-to-head loss, surely the head-to-head precedent had been set.

We all know what happened in 1993: FSU & ND finished with the same record, but ND had beaten the Seminoles. Following the precedent, the Irish are national champs -- case closed, right? Yet AP voters disregarded the head-to-head result and awarded the national championship to Florida State. Unbelievable.

Even ESPN marvelled at the result.

Villain Comparison: denizens of Bolgia Six, The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri

Enjoy your leaden robes, gentlemen.

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Bo, you realize you're about to finish up your career with three straight losses to me, right?

Michigan Coaches, modern era:

Bo Schembechler (4-6)
Gary Moeller (2-2-1)
Lloyd Carr (3-3)

It’s not hard to figure out why the Michigan coaches of the modern era can’t stand Notre Dame. The numbers in parentheses following the coaches’ names are their records against the Irish, and what do you notice? Not a winning record among them. According to a recent post on a Michigan blog, more of Michigan’s losses since 1988 have come against Notre Dame than any other team. (It’s worth noting that during this period, Ohio State and Michigan State have each played Michigan four more times than Notre Dame has.)

Nonetheless, do these losses really excuse the pettiness displayed by the trifling trio? Let's review.

Schembechler. Schembechler has never attempted to hide his smallness vis-à-vis Notre Dame. Recall these words:

Q: Would Notre Dame be a strong addition for the conference?

A: Why? What would they contribute than any other 12th team can't contribute?

Q: The name, the tradition, the Notre Dame history, perhaps?

A: They may find out what (Penn State Coach) Joe Paterno found out, which is, it was a lot easier when they were playing Syracuse and Rutgers and Temple. When they went into the Big Ten, they found out they couldn't go to the Rose Bowl every year.

Yes, our schedule would be quite a bit tougher if we replaced Southern Cal with Indiana, or teams like Tennessee and Florida State (to name a couple of recent opponents) with Northwestern and Illinois.

And yes, it’s all about the Rose Bowl, right Bo? In fairness to Schembechler, he did lead his last two Michigan squads to the Rose Bowl. Both years, Michigan faced Southern Cal. Of course, the combined record of Michigan and Southern Cal against Notre Dame in those two years was 0-4. What a sweet bowl. I don’t see how anyone could disagree with Schembechler’s assertion that winning that game is more important than winning a national championship.

Moeller. Reports have circulated that Moeller completely omitted Notre Dame from his final Coaches Poll ballot in 1993. As a wise man once said, “looks to me like a Big Ten suckhole.”

Carr. When Michigan traded in Three-Tie Moeller for Three-Loss Lloyd, Notre Dame frequently found itself the target of Lloyd’s incessant whining. The most notable such occurrence was Lloyd’s outrage at Notre Dame’s participation in the Eddie Robinson Classic in 1999, alleging a violation of a “gentlemen’s agreement.” Although it was obvious Lloyd was lying (due to the fact that it would be metaphysically impossible for Lloyd to enter into a gentlemen’s agreement), the record was finally set straight by former Michigan Athletic Director Don Canham, who denied any such agreement ever existed. It also bears mentioning that Canham, a true man of principle, was the AD who finally ended Michigan’s boycott of Notre Dame and, along with Moose Krause, got the series going again.

Villain Comparison: Zod, Non, and Ursa, the intergalactic exiles of Superman II. Jealous of Superman's power on Earth, these three tried like hell to bump him off but came up short. Obviously Bo is Zod, and Moeller's the big oafy guy. Lloyd is the one with the boobs.

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Randall “Thrill” Hill

It’s actually possible to pinpoint the exact play where Notre Dame’s 23-game winning streak was snapped.

During the third quarter of the 1989 game against Miami, the Hurricanes found themselves backed up to their seven yard line and facing 3rd and 43. The tide seemed to be turning in Notre Dame’s favor, and it looked like the top-ranked Irish would prevail after all.

Then Craig Erickson connected with the ever-preening Hill for a 44 yard gain, and, for the first time in two years, the Irish spirit seemed to have been broken. Miami would ultimately score a touchdown on the drive, but only after burning 10:47 off the clock.

Hill epitomized the cocky, dickish attitude of Jimmah's teams. At one point he actually legally changed his middle name to "Thrill".

Villain Comparison: the rat-like creature from Return of the Jedi. He's just like "Thrill" -- a smug, cackling little pest sitting at the feet of Jimmah the Hutt, whose only claim to fame is plucking out the eye of C-3PO. Or catching one 44-yard pass.

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[The Ref Who Threw The Clipping Flag in the Orange Bowl]

With 65 seconds left in the Jan. 1, 1991 Orange Bowl, No.1 ranked Colorado was clinging to a one point lead over Notre Dame. Following two sacks that had prevented CU from running out the clock, Colorado punter Tom Rouen stepped on to the field.

Inexplicably, Rouen did not kick the ball out of bounds, and Rocket Ismail fielded the ball at the nine. Then what appeared to be the most exciting play in bowl history unfolded.

Ismail was nearly smothered by a pack of Buffalo jerseys, then somehow broke free. Ninety-one yards later, Rocket was kneeling in the Colorado endzone and Colorado’s national title hopes appeared to have been dashed. Irish fans went nuts.

But wait. [Unnamed Orange Bowl Dunderhead] threw a flag, a clipping penalty on the return, and Rocket’s fabulous run was called back. It was -- well, I don't know how to put this delicately. It was bullshit. Even Collegefootballnews noted that “[a]fter various replays, the clip was questionable at very best.”

Villain Comparison: Don Denkinger, Rich Garcia, and Neville Chamberlain, MLB umpires and British Prime Minister. Like [Unnamed Orange Bowl Jackass], Denkinger, Garcia and Chamberlain made ill-timed, boneheaded, and ultimately wrong calls when championships were on the line.

During the 1996 ALCS, Derek Jeter hit what should have been a deep fly ball to Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco. However, fan Jeffrey Maier reached out and grabbed the ball, a clear instance of fan interference. Garcia apparently got caught daydreaming in the outfield and missed Maier’s grab, because he did not call interference. Jeter was given the game-tying home run and the Yankees would proceed to win the game in extra innings.

Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler in 1938 which effectively allowed Germany to annex the Sudentenland, leaving Czechoslovakia vulnerable, one of the inciting acts of World War II.

And in maybe the most dire example of the three, in the ninth inning of Game Six of the 1985 World Series, Denkinger ruled the Royals’ Jorge Orta safe at first when Todd Worrell had clearly beaten Orta to the base. The Royals then proceeded to pull out a two-run rally and force a game seven, which the Royals would proceed to win (to Joaquin Andujar’s crushing dismay).

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Don Yaeger and Douglas S. Looney

During Lou Holtz’s reign at Notre Dame, Yaeger and Looney approached Holtz with the idea of following him for a year and producing a traditional “year in the life” puff piece. Holtz rebuffed their advances, and Yaeger and Looney proceeded to go batshit. The result was Under the Tarnished Dome: How Notre Dame Betrayed Its Ideals for Football Glory.

On the journalistic accuracy scale, Tarnished Dome falls somewhere between “Dewey Defeats Truman!” and a Jayson Blair story. Yaeger and Looney’s hatchet job was thoroughly exposed in an excellent Forbes Media Critic article by Paul Sheehan that is well worth reading in its entirety.

However, far more attention was given to Yaeger and Looney’s unsubstantiated allegations than the substantiated rebuttals. Released before the 1993 season, the book did prove to be a rallying point for that year’s team. Following the win at Michigan, many of the players dedicated the win to Holtz.

Villain Comparsion: Alex (Glenn Close), Fatal Attraction. Hell hath no fury like a sociopath scorned.

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Keith Jackson

“Whoa Nellie, I’m a jackass!” Doddering Keith Jackson combines a complete lack of any sports announcing ability whatsoever with an intense dislike for Notre Dame. While both of these traits have been on display many times both individually and collectively, these two combined in truly epic fashion during his call of the 1988 final regular season game between #1 Notre Dame and #2 Southern Cal at the Coliseum.

To wit, on Tony Rice’s bomb to Rocket Ismail from the endzone, Jackson insisted that Rice had stepped out of the endzone, and thus a safety should have been called. In actuality, Rice had merely stepped off of the USC logo within the endzone. Jackson never corrected himself. He then proceeded to completely miss Stan Smagala’s interception, announcing that Rodney Peete’s pass had fallen incomplete while Smagala raced to the endzone.

Villain Comparison: Mustafa, Austin Powers

Like Mustafa, Jackson just won’t go away. Jackson announced he was retiring at the end of the 1998 season, but somehow we're still being subjected to this overweening windbag. Please, Keith, once and for all: just go away. Don't make us break out the ill-tempered sea bass.

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The Ku Klux Klan

Fans of Generic State U often have difficulty understanding the passion subway alums have towards Notre Dame. ("Why do these people who never went to the school - many of whom have never even been to the school - love Notre Dame so much?") For many, love of Notre Dame has been passed down through the generations. Notre Dame's wild success during the 1920s, an era of rampant anti-Catholicism, assumed incredible importance to the Catholics who would become "subway alums." An excellent account of one family's story can be read here.

Perhaps no event better symbolizes the struggle of Notre Dame and American Catholics during the early 20th century than the rumble in the streets of South Bend that took place on May 17, 1924, as chronicled in Todd Tucker's Notre Dame vs. the Klan. When Klan members arrived in South Bend via the South Shore railroad for a massive rally, ND students confronted them. Two days of ferocious rioting ensued, rioting that only subsided when the heavens unleashed a torrential downpour.

Additional recommended reading: Robert Burns, Being Catholic, Being American: The Notre Dame Story, 1842-1934.

Villain Comparison: None needed. While other parts of this post are facetious, the Klan are truly, objectively villainous.

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Assorted Also-Rans, Boston College

In 1993, Boston College notched the second greatest moment in BC football history when a questionable personal foul allowed Boston College to get close enough for David Gordon to kick a career-long field goal and defeat Notre Dame 41-39.

Unfortunately for BC, following this game they immediately disappeared from the collective consciousness of the college football world, just as they had in the time between Flutie's pass against Miami and Gordon's kick against the Irish. In a desperate attempt to sustain relevance, BC adopted the C-list celeb's belief that any attention is better than no attention at all.

Thus BC has engaged in a series of classless acts reminiscent of a neglected child's cries for acknowledgment. To wit, tearing up the field at Notre Dame Stadium, vandalizing the visitors' locker room at Notre Dame Stadium, making absurd comparisons between Boston College on the one hand and Notre Dame and Cornell on the other in a Newsweek special, publicly avowing themselves to be Miami's bitch, and on and on.

Villain Comparison: Fredo Corleone, The Godfather II

I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says...like dumb...I'm smart and I want respect!

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Southern Cal's Band

“Thiiiiiis is the only song we knoooooow. It's boring and it's slooooooow.” What’s not to like about being subjected to the same handful of bars for four consecutive hours? Everything.

Touchdown? Cue the song. First down? Cue the song. The quarterback tied his shoe? Cue the song. Just finished playing the song? Cue the song. You get the idea.

In classic Notre Dame magnanimity, we are willing to offer Southern Cal a compromise that is more than fair. The next time Southern Cal comes to Notre Dame, we are willing to double the space available to the SC band in the stadium, provided that all band members are replaced with Song Girls.

Note that the Stanford Band has aspired to the throne of the most-annoying band, producing a halftime show mocking, among other things, Catholics, the Pope, and the Irish potato famine. However, the ensuing ban from Notre Dame's campus has prevented the Stanford band from developing the body of work necessary to be a true villain. Plus, they just try too hard to be taken seriously. "Hey, we're not dorks, we're edgy and provocative." Sure you are, Butters.

Villain Comparison: Los Del Rio. One crappy song. Over and over and over and over and over. Aye-yah.

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Whom did we miss? Please add your additional villain(s) in the comments, as someday we might get around to a Rogues Gallery par deux.

Harangody is Irish | by Pat

Mike Brey picked up his first verbal committment of the 2006 recruiting class when Indiana power forward Luke Harangody decided to attend Notre Dame over Purdue and Indiana.

“In the end, I felt Notre Dame was the right decision,” Harangody said.

Harangody said he could see playing time right away. He doesn’t expect to redshirt.

“Coach Brey said I could step in and get some playing time,” Harangody said. “I think I can bring my toughness, and I think I can rebound.”

Harangody is a 6'7", 250lb widebody who will add a much needed physical presence on the low post. For those tired of watching the Irish get out-rebounded, Harangody is your man. As a junior, Harangody averaged 23.5 points per game, 12.3 rebounds, and shot 66 percent from the floor as he led his high school team to the regional finals in Indiana. Harangody then hit the AAU circuit and saw his stock steadily rise. He outplayed higher-ranked kids as he took his team, the SYF Players, to the finals of the prestigious Kingwood Classic AAU tournament in Houston, Texas and later captured the AAU state title in Indiana. He was also named to the Indiana Junior All-Star team that played against the Senior All-Star team (featuring Luke Zeller).

As far as star rankings and all that jazz, Scout.com lists Harangody as a 4-star player, the 52nd overall player in the class of 2006, and the 8th best center/power forward.

Personally, when I read accolades like "throwback player" and "meat and potatoes guy", it sounds like we just landed a football tight end in baggy shorts. You know, someone who will do the dirty work, set the slobberknocker picks at midcourt, be a "team" guy, but not much of a scoring threat. I think I read where Harangody is Hungarian for "box out".

Well, I decided to check out the ample video of Luke in various AAU tournaments and the Indiana All-Star games, and I must say that I was surprised at his mid-range shot and how quick on his feet he looked. He even knocked down a few threes. I don't want to turn into Tom Lemming here, so I'll just sum it up by saying that while Harangody's calling card should be his rebounding, he looks to have some pretty good offensive skills as well.

If you want to check him out in action and have subscriptions to rivals.com and/or scout.com, you can watch him here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. In the last three, he's #4 in the red jersey (Luke Zeller is #1, in the white jersey.)

One last testimonial from a coach who watched him play in the Kingwood AAU Classic:

“You could shoot him twice and he’s still going to the basket to score and you can’t stop him.”

And that's a good thing, now that Cincinnati has entered the Big East.

Shamrock the Vote | by Pat

We've closed the voting on the all-stars and now it's time to take a look at the results. Who won? Who got snubbed? (And just how many mistakes did I make?)

First off...the most popular poll was Lou Holtz with 1059 votes. Here's the breakdown of votes per poll.

• Holtz - 1059.
• Willingham - 1052.
• Davie - 784.
• Ara - 522.
• Faust - 518.
• Devine - 477

Now then, on to the results. Remember, if there are two choices for a position, then 50% should be the highest a player can get. For linebacker, make that 33%. For the complete results of the polls, click on the coach's name.

Also, all players who were named to All-American lists, according to this link, are highlighted in green.

The Ty Willingham All-Stars

QB - Brady Quinn (75.50%) RB - Julius Jones (50.54%) RB - Darius Walker(34.18%) FB - Tom Lopienksi (49.37%) WR - Arnaz Battle (38.97%) WR - Rhema McKnight (24.93%) TE - Anthony Fasano (90.94%) OT - Ryan Harris (37.50%) OG - Bob Morton (27.22%) C - Jeff Faine (95.61%) OG - Dan Stevenson (27.22%) OT - Jordan Black (24.89%) K - Nicholas Setta (83.16%)

DE - Justin Tuck (46.25%) DT - Darrell Campbell (30.96%) DT - Cedric Hilliard (37.53%) DE - Kyle Budinscak (24.72%) LB - Courtney Watson (31.78%) LB - Mike Goolsby (29.31%) LB - Brandon Hoyte (20.65%) CB - Vontez Duff (45.94%) CB - Shane Walton (48.56%) S - Glenn Earl (36.83%) S - Gerome Sapp (33.86%) P - Joey Hildbold (72.17%)

Not too many surprises on this list. After all, you only have a three year window of choices. The recent pass defense struggles seem rather obvious when you consider that Vontez Duff and Shane Walton grabbed 94.46% of the cornerback vote. Julius broke 50% of the RB vote, which means that some people voted for him for both RB spots. On the offensive line, I thought Mahan and Milligan would win but I guess I was wrong as Morton and Stevenson edged them out in a tight race.

The Rodney Dangerfield "No Respect" Award: Ryan Grant. Julius was pretty much a no-brainer in the RB category, but the fact that Darius Walker picked up over twice as many votes as Grant was a bit surprising. Sure Darius looks like he could be a great one, but you would think that Grant's 1762 career yards (to Darius' one year 786 yard total) might have earned him better than only 15% of the vote. My guess is that he's being punished by fans who are still upset at how the previous coaching staff limited the number of carries for Julius (and Darius to some extent).

The Bob Davie All-Stars

QB - Jarious Jackson (68.01%) RB - Autry Denson (50.43%) RB - Tony Fisher (48.05%) FB - Joey Goodspeed (87.97%) WR - Joey Getherall (31.17%) WR - David Givens (39.50%) TE - Jabari Holloway (85.56%) OT - Luke Petitgout (44.23%) OG - Mike Gandy (41.63%) C - John Merandi (60.36%) OG - Jerry Wisne (22.79%) OT - Mike Rosenthal (42.90%) K - Jim Sanson (64.17%)

DE - Anthony Weaver (38.84%) DT - Lance Legree (43.39%) DT - Corey Bennett (20.71%) DE - Renaldo Wynn (30.38%) LB - Rocky Boiman (27.19%) LB - Kory Minor (24.83%) LB - Anthony Denman (19.90%) CB - Allen Rossum (47.79%) CB - Ivory Covington (20.24%) S - Deke Cooper (37.47%) S - Tony Driver (44.31%) P - Hunter Smith (100.00%)

Givens was the far and away winner of the WR category. The question is, are ND fans factoring in his NFL success, or giving him points for being mis-used by Davie? Because looking at the numbers, his career totals lag behind Bobby Brown in nearly every category. Bobby Brown finished his time under the Dome with 1563 receiving yards, a 15.9 yard per catch average, and 12 touchdowns. For his ND career, David Givens ended up with 814 receiving yards, an 11.3 yard per catch average, and 3 touchdowns. Even if you mix in Givens' rushing stats (146 yards, 4 touchdowns), it's still pretty obvious that Brown had a better career at ND.

In one of the closer races, Ivory Covington nabbed the second CB slot over Brock Williams by only four votes. Was it his game-saving hit on the Army TE in '95 that propelled him over Williams, who was a third round draft pick? Perhaps. Williams was a better cornerback, but didn't have that one, big play that cemented his name in people's minds.

Dangerfield Award: Brad Williams. The former High School All-American started as a true freshman on the offensive line against Navy in Dublin, but was moved back to the defensive line shorthly thereafter. Playing the "what if" game, I agree with those who contend he would have made an excellent offensive lineman if he hadn't been switched back. But he was, and while his career didn't live up to its lofty expectations, he certainly played well enough to garner more than 11 measly votes.

The Lou Holtz All-Stars

QB - Tony Rice (64.60%) RB - Reggie Brooks (35.78%) RB - Ricky Watters (34.30%) FB - Jerome Bettis (85.31%) WR - Tim Brown (48.58%) WR - Raghib Ismail (43.43%) TE - Derek Brown (59.10%) OT - Andy Heck (41.37%) OG - Tim Grunhard (36.54%) C - Tim Ruddy (71.85%) OG - Ryan Leahy (22.78%) OT - Aaron Taylor (46.78%) K - Craig Hentrich (62.69%)

DE - Frank Stams (45.34%) DT - Bryant Young (36.54%) DT - Chris Zorich (45.95%) DE - Scott Kowalkowski (24.33%) LB - Michael Stonebreaker (28.85%) LB - Demetrius Dubose (21.80%) LB - Ned Bolcar (17.04%) CB - Todd Lyght (37.70%) CB - Bobby Taylor (35.71%) S - Jeff Burris (48.83%) S - Rod Smith (14.56%) P - Craig Hentrich (91.06%)

Is Ricky Watters another case of a player who benefiting from a productive NFL career? Look at these career rushing yards: Randy Kinder - 2295 yards. Tony Brooks - 2274 yards. Lee Becton - 2029 yards. Mark Green - 1977 yards. Ricky Watters - 1814 yards. Unless the voters were factoring in east/west rushing yards, it would seem that Watters falls a bit short of the others on the list. To be fair, he did score more rushing touchdowns so I suppose a case could be made, but he appears to lack either the one big year like Reggie Brooks and his 8.0 yards/carry or the career production of others on the list. He was a great running back, but he wasn't the only one under Holtz.

The tight end results are interesting in that Holtz is the only coach poll where the winning tight end didn't get over 85% of the vote. So the question I ask you, is that a result of better depth among Holtz tight ends or the lack of the true superstar tight end.

Dangerfield Award- Wally Kleine. Perhaps the lack of votes for Wally Kleine is a sign that people didn't agree with him being placed in the Holtz poll. Maybe he would have done better as a Devine player. But while I didn't expect him to beat out Junior Bryant and Chris Zorich, I was surprised that an All-American and 2nd round NFL draft pick couldn't pick up more than 3 votes.

Errata. Ok, I screwed up. Pat Terrell should have been in the safety category. Really no excuse for that mistake. Odds are that Terrell would have been selected alongside Covington. Sorry about that Pat.

Also, it seems that the poll didn't add up the votes for Ray Zellars. Looking at the code, it seems all of his votes went to Anthony Johnson and all of Anthony Johnson's votes were added to Marc Edwards total. So while Bettis did still win by a landslide, Zellars did not get a goose egg.

The Gerry Faust All-Stars

QB - Steve Beuerlein (88.27%) RB - Allen Pinkett (53.76%) RB - Greg Bell (25.64%) FB - Larry Moriarty (87.64%) WR - Joe Howard (41.56%) WR - Milt Jackson (30.73%) TE - Mark Bavaro (94.39%) OT - Tom Doerger (28.32%) OG - Larry Williams (33.95%) C - Mike Kelley (60.97%) OG - Tom Thayer (39.63%) OT - Phil Pozderac (33.14%) K - John Carney (96.84%)

DE - Eric Dorsey (37.37%) DT - Bob Clasby (24.00%) DT - Mike Gann (45.92%) DE - Mike Golic (42.46%) LB - Mike Kovaleski (23.57%) LB - Mark Zavagnin (20.44%) LB - Tony Furjanic (16.02%) CB - Mike Haywood (35.39%) CB - Stacy Toran (39.64%) S - Dave Duerson (50.33%) S - Joe Johnson (32.74%) P - Blair Kiel (73.57%)

Like Julius, Allen Pinkett broke the 50% barrier so some people thought he was good enough to vote for twice. Ditto Dave Duerson. Blair Kiel made up for his 2nd place finish at quarterback by winning the punting category, which is sort of like losing Prom King but getting voted "neatest shoes". It was this theory that being a punter is slightly less glamorous than being a Notre Dame quarterback that led to us bending the rules and allowing him be a choice in two categories.

Dangerfield Award: Tony Hunter. Hunter came into Notre Dame as a wide receiver and played there for two years before switching to tight end for his final two years. The four years starter and All-American was more of a "big" wide receiver than pure tight end, but still led the Irish in receiving yards for 3 straight years and still holds on to 6th place on the all time receiving yards list. Mark Bravaro was a great tight end for the Irish, but so was Hunter. Certainly better than the 5.6% of the votes that he received.

The Dan Devine All-Stars

QB - Joe Montana (98.52%) RB - Vagas Ferguson (51.40%) RB - Terry Eurick (28.67%) FB - Jerome Heavens (90.44%) WR - Pete Holohan (43.63%) WR - Kris Haines (38.43%) TE - Ken McAfee (94.88%) OT - Tim Foley (43.15%) OG - Tim Huffman (43.27%) C - John Scully (58.53%) OG - Ernie Hughes (27.64%) OT - Rob Martinovich (21.94%) K - Harry Oliver (69.50%)

DE - Ross Browner (49.61%) DT - Jeff Weston (32.48%) DT - Scott Zettek (31.86%) DE - Willie Fry (45.02%) LB - Bob Crable (31.49%) LB - Bob Golic (34.63%) LB - Bobby Leopold (13.61%) CB - Luther Bradley (47.08%) CB - Dave Waymer (36.77%) S - Jim Browner (38.14%) S - Joe Restic (39.42%) P - Joe Restic (86.84%)

For only coaching for six seasons, Devine really has a impressive collection of some of the most famous names in ND history....Joe Montana, Vagas Ferguson, Ken McAfee, Ross Browner, Willie Fry, Bob Crable, Luther Bradley.

At this point I'd like to thank our friend John who helped out with many of the names for the Devine and Ara polls. He also gave his 2 cents on some of the results. Here's what he had to offer for the Devine poll:

My only surprise in the Devine era was at kicker. Dave Reeve was better than Harry Oliver, but Harry had that one great kick against Michigan.

Dangerfield Award: Quarterbacks not named Joe Montana. When you're on a Notre Dame popularity contest and running against Joe Montana, you really can't expect much. And yet, Montana still blew away the field by a huge margin. Out of 473 votes cast, the QNNJM totaled 6. Ouch.

The Ara Parseghian All-Stars

QB - Joe Theismann (45.51%) RB - Nick Eddy (30.97%) RB - Rocky Bleier (25.23%) FB - Larry Conjar (41.05%) WR - Jim Seymour (34.51%) WR - Tom Gatewood (31.39%) TE - Dave Casper (92.49%) OT - Bob Kuechenberg (37.76%) OG - Gerry DiNardo (32.81%) C - George Goeddeke (48.60%) OG - Larry DiNardo (19.56%) OT - George Kunz (37.00%) K - Bob Thomas (70.49%)

DE - Alan Page (49.95%) DT - Pete Duranko (24.08%) DT - Mike McCoy (24.95%) DE - Walt Patulski (34.78%) LB - Jim Lynch (29.29%) LB - Bob Olson (13.15%) LB - Jim Carroll (10.68%) CB - Clarence Ellis (29.10%) CB - Mike Townsend (30.63%) S - Nick Rassas (30.92%) S - Tom Schoen (36.93%) P - Brian Doherty (65.71%)

Quite the collection of All-Americans I'd say. Ironically, Bob Kuechenberg wasn't named All-American but was the leading vote getter in the offensive tackle list. Ahead of All-Americans Steve Sylvester, Paul Seiler, John Dampeer, and Jim Reilly. And according to the official roster list, after his one year at offensive tackle (1966) he moved to the defensive side of the ball. Here's John with some additional background on Kuechenberg:

Kuechenberg started at OT as a sophomore on the 1966 national championship team, but he moved to defensive end in 1967 due to need. He started ahead of classmate George Kunz in '66 but Kunz later got his chance and became an AA. Kuechenberg did not make AA as a defensive end, but he was a fine athlete and agreed to play out of position to help the team.

Kuechenberg returned to his natural OT position in the NFL. Both he and Kunz were high draft picks and played well for a long time. Both were All-Pro type players, but Kuechenberg may remembered by more folks because he was a stalwart on the great Miami Dolphin teams of the early 1970's.

John chimes in again with the rest of his take on the Era of Ara.

My reaction to the QB result is that Theismann's success as a player in the NFL carried some weight - even more so than his current ESPN exposure. His ND career is arguably no better than Clements or Hanratty and he did not win a NC. As a pure passer, however, he was the best of the three.

The rest of the results were consistent with my own opinions, although I was surprised by the number of votes for Eric Penick. His 1973 run against USC made him memorable, but the rest of his career was unremarkable.

I think Gerry DiNardo got more votes than his equally talented brother by virtue of his NCAA coaching career.

Dangerfield Award, and it's a big one: Steve Niehuas. By far my biggest mistake was omitting Niehaus from the all-star poll. A two-time All-American and #2 pick in the NFL Draft, Niehaus had more than enough credentials to stake a claim as one of the better defensive tackles to play under Ara and Devine.

So that's it. A big thanks to everyone that participated in the poll. Hope you had fun with it. Now of course the question becomes, which unit would you take?

the Circus is coming | by Jay

...to Pittsburgh. News care of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Pitt Sports Blather).

"It is almost certain that the ESPN "Gameday" crew will be at Heinz Field on Sept. 3 for Pitt's season-opener against Notre Dame. A Pitt spokesman said the deal is not yet finalized, but yesterday coach Dave Wannstedt made a reference to "Gameday" when talking about the 8 p.m. game against the Fighting Irish."

Summer Roster | by Pat

The summer roster was released by the University yesterday. Couple 'a notes.

• Leitko missing. From today's SBT:

Notre Dame officials had no official word on the absence of defensive end Travis Leitko from the most recently updated Irish football roster on the school's Web site.

Weis declined to discuss dangling personnel issues as well on Tuesday.

"When we get started on August 8, there will be a roster out," he said. "That's who we're coaching. At every university there's going to be some things that are better left unsaid. Unlike a lot of other universities who like to make everything their business, there's a lot of private matters (at ND), and it doesn't really do any good talking about it."

Leitko, reached at his parents' home in The Woodlands, Texas, wasn't much more forthcoming.

"Honestly," he said, "I'm not really prepared for that right now. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks or so, more will come to light, but right now I don't feel comfortable discussing the situation."

Leitko was the jewel of the 2002 Irish recruiting class, ranked 22nd among the nation's high school prospects at any position. The senior-to-be, however, has played sparingly at ND. He recorded five tackles last season, giving him 17 for his career.

Granted Travis only logged 5 minutes of playing time at defensive end last season, but his size, hustle, and special teams presence will be missed. Some of the underclassmen will probably have to shuffle back and forth between defensive tackle and defensive end in order to create depth.

• Hedgemon not missing. Labrose is back from his year-long suspension.

• Freshmen got their numbers. Lou Somogyi on BGI did a nice piece referencing the other famous names from the past wore the numbers now assigned to the class of 2009. Here's the short hand version so you can get your NCAA Football 2006 roster up to date. Also included are their listed position and height and weight. Keeping with the scrapbook nature of this blog, it should be fun to see how much this information changes in four years. (Let the depth chart engineering begin...)

1 D.J. Hord (wide receiver - 6'2 185) 6 Ray Herring (defensive back - 5'11 190) 11 David Grimes (wide receiver - 5'10 165) 13 Evan Sharpley (quarterback - 6'2 212) 27 David Bruton (defensive back - 6'1 185) 28 Kyle McCarthy (defensive back - 6'0 185) 41 Scott Smith (linebacker - 6'3 235) 42 Kevin Washington (linebacker - 6'1 215)

44 Asaph Schwapp (fullback - 6'2 230) 48 Steve Quinn (linebacker - 6'3 215) 72 Paul Duncan (offensive line - 6'7 270 77 Mike Turkovich (offensive line - 6'7 290) 85 Joey Hiben (tight end - 6'4 248) 92 Derrell Hand (defensive line - 6'3 300) 96 Pat Kuntz (defensive line - 6'2 261)

• Weight gain. As with the defensive line, building depth on the offensive line will be a key factor this season. And while it's most likely that incoming OL Paul Duncan and Mike Turkovich will need a year in the weight room before seeing the playing field, it seems weight gain shouldn't be too much of an issue. Turkovich, in particular, appears to have a head start by coming in at 6'7" 290lbs, which is about 45lbs heavier than his listed weight during recruitment. And Duncan isn't a slouch either at 6'7" 270lbs. Getting some game experience this year would be a great advantage for 2006 and 2007 when the OL depth drops to nearly nothing.

• Gorski made the roster as a preferred walk-on. For those that missed it, here's a quick rundown on who Dan Gorski is. And judging from the roster, another preferred freshman walk-on is on the team in the form of Jeff Tisak. Not much info about him, but Google shows he's a 6'5", 305lb offensive lineman from Minnesota. Interestingly, he finished 9th in shot-put in the Minnesota high school track and field state championships. That's the same shot-put competition that Joey Hiben won.

Complex Simplicity...Simple Complexity | by Michael

A little more X's and O's for you today.

One of the big questions about Weis moving to the college game has been the complexity associated with a Patriots-style pro offense, and the concern that it may be too difficult to implement at a college program. But take a look at what this frequent Pats' opponent had to say in an August 2002 article entitled "Stopping the Patriots offense can cause headaches":

"I think Charlie Weis is one of the best; he has great schemes....they will run the same plays but they would do them from so many different formations." - Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas

When it comes to the playbook, size doesn't necessarily matter: Weis's offenses desire the appearance of complexity, emphasizing a lot of different formations, packages and shifting/motion to confuse the defense, but because the same base plays are used in each look, the complexity is only skin-deep. Now, I'm not suggesting the offense is easy to learn, but rather, there's an underlying system and the learning curve might not be as steep as you would expect.

We've touched on this a little bit in previous posts, but let's take another look, starting with the lingo. Charlie & the Patriots' system isn't so much dependent on rote memorization, but rather just learning some basic foundational principles, and building up from there. Brady Quinn compared it to "learning a different language", more of a cultural immersion experience than a repetitive, linear Berlitz course. At the end of the process, you're thinking, conversing and comprehending as a matter of second nature, and able to combine and create within the language -- as opposed to having simply learned a long, but ultimately limited list of individual phrases.

The clear advantage to a language system like this is that you can easily take the subject/predicate of the sentence (the base play call), dress it up with different adjectives and adverbs (the personnel group, the formation, shifting/motion, etc), and end up with a variety of appearances. Of course, if you want to make the system complex, you certainly can. Jon Gruden's Tampa Bay playbook features 800 different formations and his quarterbacks leave the huddle with three options in a playcall. To that extent, I'm sure that the Irish version of Weis's NFL playbook has been trimmed down considerably, especially the pages dedicated to WR/FB/TE alignments, motions and pass protection schemes. In sum, the underlying system is elementary and fairly narrow in scope; yet the output is what seems like a confusing blizzard of different plays.

To be sure, Weis hasn't invented the wheel with this system; Jeff Tedford has a similar approach, as do guys like Norm Chow, Bobby Petrino and Al Borges, among others.

Larry Coker, for example, has applied the same at the University of Miami. Below you will find eight different plays Coker discussed at a 2004 Nike Coach of the Year clinic. All of these plays were drawn up to take advantage of TE Kellen Winslow's athleticism; notice the underlying pass concept(s) behind all of them. Each look/formation is different, but the pass patterns are all roughly the same.

(Note: All of these diagrams were taken from the clinic material available at the link above.)

• The first one we'll look at is out of a basic I-formation. Pretty simple concept, I think everyone would agree. The TE reads the free safety and runs either a comeback or a seam route, if the deep middle is open.
• Now let's look at a package and formation with two TEs. It's an identical concept; the second TE steps off the line, goes in motion and runs the same angle route previously run by the FB.
• Now simply replace that TE with a slot WR. Same idea out of yet another look.
• It also works out when you empty the backfield. This concept works great with backs like Reggie Bush, and hopefully we'll be able to use Justin Hoskins in a similar capacity. The lone back motions to the slot and runs the same checkdown; everything else remains the same.
• If you have an athletic TE, you can mix it up even more by putting him in the slot. Coker had Winslow, and Weis used Daniel Graham in a similar manner with New England. Can Weis do the same with the Irish TEs? Possibly.
• In this twins set, notice how Coker tries to isolate the athletic TE while the other WR lines up in the slot. It's about match-ups, something that Weis has talked about himself. There are slight variations to the outside routes in this play but it's still essentially the same concept.
• Finally, here's another look designed to take advantage of a versatile back who can line up in the slot. As you can see, not much else is different.

So what do you think's easier...learning one concept and applying it to eight different situations, or learning eight unique plays?

Here's Norm Chow to sum it up for us (from Coaching the Passing Game: By the Experts):

With that in mind at USC on the dropback passing game, we will have nine passes... Everyone has to remember the pass routes. We have nine basic patterns. We teach four one day and five the next day. That is all we have. We feel very strongly about this. We are going to keep it as simple as we can, so our kids will go out on the field confident that we are going to make the play, and we are going to know what we are doing... We have one strongside vertical route, one middle vertical, and one weakside vertical. We have two horizontal-stretch routes, a man route, four verticals, and a cover 2 beater. That is all we do. We attack everyone we play with these plays. Our kids know these plays by the second day of practice.

Minter's Tale | by Jay

The Texarkana Gazette had a nice profile of Rick Minter last week, while he was back for a visit to his hometown. Here's an excerpt (but the whole interview is well worth a read):

...A year after Minter went to Ball State, Holtz was named head coach at Notre Dame. Minter desperately wanted to work for Holtz again, but he was turned down five times.

"Coach Holtz wouldn't even talk to me those first few times," Minter said. "I changed my strategy and interviewed for jobs at Colorado State and the Navy. I called Coach Holtz for advice, and he told me to stick it out at Ball State and I would be his next hire. I did, and I was really surprised when he hired me to be his defensive coordinator."

Two Cotton Bowls with the Irish were not enough to keep Minter from accepting his first head job two years later at Cincinnati. What followed brought him great satisfaction and a very disappointing conclusion.

"We accomplished some good things at Cincinnati," Minter said. "We went to the first bowl game in 50 years in 1997. We then went to bowl games in 2000, 2001 and 2002. We won the league in 2002. It was the first conference championship in 30-something years, and then in 2003 we go 5-7 and I get released. The first guy to call me was Coach Holtz, who offered me a job at South Carolina.

"I was thinking about going to the NFL, but I owed Coach Holtz. He had given me my first real break at Arkansas, and then hired me at Notre Dame.

"I was disappointed more than anything when released by Cincinnati. You realize this day and age it doesn't really matter who you work for, it matters who your boss is. We had raised the bar at Cincinnati, so high that they're now in the Big East. I take pride in knowing how we built that program over 10 years. I just didn't get the fruits of my labor. It was a very difficult place to coach. We didn't always have all the resources and best players. I'd like a chance to do it again."

After one winning season at South Carolina, Minter was looking for work again after Holtz resigned.

"There wasn't a pre-existing relationship between me and Charlie Weis (Notre Dame's new head coach), but once my name got in front of him I think he was influenced by mutual friends," Minter said. "I was a defensive guy and he was an offensive guy. I had Notre Dame ties and he was a Notre Dame graduate. I had been a head coach. Those factors and others played in my favor."

Weis has made it off limits to his staff when talking about the Irish's prospects this fall, but Minter is still eager to promote Notre Dame.

"Our goal is to get this thing back to where it belongs at Notre Dame. We have new facilities, and there's so many other good things we have to offer a young man coming into our program. We think it's just a matter of time that we get things back to where they belong and that old mystique back there.

"I've always said if you're going to be an assistant or coordinator in college, why not Notre Dame, because quality cannot be underestimated. The image people have of Notre Dame overall is very positive; now it's up to us and the players to deliver and help get the mystique back on the athletic field.

"Are we the same program we were 10 years ago in the eyes of an 18-year-old? No. But to do that we've got to win some games and get back in the big bowls, and that's what our goal is."

Will MInter be a head coach again?

"To get what you want in life, make sure others around you get what they want in life," he said. "If we help Notre Dame get what it needs and deserves, and Charlie Weis gets what he needs and deserves, I've got to think somewhere along the line I'll be satisfied."

Know Thine Enemy: Dave Wannstedt | by Michael

(This is part 5, the last in a series on the newly-hired coaches ND will face this year.)

Over the past five weeks, we've looked at Robinson, Willingham, Harris, Mendenhall and the assistant shuffle. We'll end at the beginning of the Charlie Weis era...the University of Pitt's Dave Wannstedt.

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Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

Bio/record: Take a look at Wannstedt’s bio. He owns an 84-89 lifetime record as an NFL head coach with both the Miami Dolphins (43-32) and Chicago Bears (41-57). In three of the four years prior to the 1-7 start in 2004 that prompted his resignation and a day in court, Wannstedt won ten or more games with the Dolphins, a plateau he never reached with the Bears.

After a neck injury curtailed his NFL career, Wannstedt returned to his alma mater, Pitt, and coached special teams and receivers under head coach Jackie Sherrill. It was here that Wannstedt developed a strong relationship with Jimmy Johnson, who was the assistant head coach at the time. Wannstedt would eventually follow Johnson to Oklahoma State and Miami, where they won a national championship in 1989, before they left to rebuild the Dallas Cowboys. Wannstedt again worked as the defensive coordinator under Johnson; three years later, after winning Super Bowl XXXVII, Wannstedt was offered the Bears head coaching position.

Bears fans have never forgotten the six awful years under Wannstedt, and while some have mellowed, his name still conjures up a mixture of laughter and hatred among da Bears faithful to this day. But now that Wannstedt has replaced Walt Harris, who had worn out his welcome, all is wonderful and happy and pretty in Pittsburgh. From his bio, linked above:

“The scene outside of Dave Wannstedt’s office windows in the Pitt football practice facility provides a view that is uniquely Pittsburgh and totally fitting for the Panthers’ new head coach.

The immediate view is to the east, where in the foreground the Panthers’ lush grass practice fields capture the eye.

Just beyond the green fields sit steel mills, a reminder of the city’s industrial heritage and, for decades, the economic lifeblood of the region.

A gaze back to the west and one can soak in Pittsburgh’s breathtaking skyline. The skyscrapers now symbolize the “new Pittsburgh,” the former steel city that has evolved into a thriving center for corporations, medicine and higher education.

I cannot wait to see the same flowery, descriptive language used to camouflage Wannstedt's "offense."

Notable staff: Wannstedt retained the entire defensive staff left behind by Harris, including defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, beaten out for the head coaching position, and veteran DL coach Bob Junko. These defensive assistants consistently did more with less, and the addition of Wannstedt’s NFL experience will only enhance their productivity.

On the offensive side of the ball, Wannstedt tapped former Pitt teammate and quarterback Matt Cavanaugh to run the offense. Cavanaugh had been Wannstedt's coordinator with the Bears in 1997-1998, and after the staff was fired, Brian Billick hired him in the same capacity. From 1999-2003, Cavanaugh was both the QB coach and the offensive coordinator; last year Jim Fassel was hired to allow Cavanaugh to focus on running the offense. Since the offense still struggled, Billick and Cavanaugh mutually decided to part ways in January. Cavanaugh was one of the primary candidates for the vacancy when Wannstedt initially pulled his name from contention, and ironically, Cavanaugh was also the leading candidate to replace Johnny Majors for the Pitt head coaching position in 1997, but he withdrew his name from consideration. Per Cavanaugh:

"It seemed like I spent about one-third of my time teaching football and the other two-thirds worrying about class schedules and faculty and making sure my kids weren't getting into trouble and were getting out of bed and going to study hall. I wasn't ready to make that kind of commitment as a head coach. It wouldn't have been fair to the university or to my family. The days are just as long in the NFL, but it's all about football on this level. When the day is over, I can go home at night. I don't have to go to a booster meeting."

Maybe if he asks nicely, one of the other guys on the Pitt staff can go to the booster meetings as Cavanaugh's proxy.

One of the smartest hires that Wannstedt may have made is the addition of Greg Gattuso as the recruiting coordinator. While Gattuso, who played and briefly coached for JoePa, is not a big name in D1 football circles, he comes to Pitt after twelve years as the head coach of D1AA power Duquesne. More importantly, he has played and coached in western Pennsylvania for nearly his entire football career and, as a result, Gattuso brings to Pitt his strong relationships with the local high school coaching staffs. It’s already started paying off as Pitt has begun to erect a fence around the WPIAL talent.

Offensive philosophy: Is Matt Cavanaugh a bastard child in the West Coast Offense (WCO) coaching tree? After working for Brian Billick the last six years, one would think that he'd automatically qualify for membership because of Billick's affiliation with Bill Walsh. You'd especially think so since he also spent a year tutoring the 49ers quarterbacks under George Seifert in 1996. We're not so sure, however, and we'll be collecting funds to sponsor a paternity test in the near future.

After a year coaching TEs for Johnny Majors and Pitt in 1993, Cavanaugh coached QBs under Arizona Cardinals' offensive coordinator Dave Atkins from 1994-1995. Both stints probably did little to impact Cavanaugh's offensive philosophies; Atkins was a running back coach before that stint, and has been one ever since. Besides, Cavanaugh was probably living in fear, hoping that he wouldn't get verbally and physically abused by Buddy Ryan a la Kevin Gilbride.

After three years as a QB coach, Cavanaugh was hired by Wannstedt to run his offense in Chicago, and it wasn't pretty. I really think it was with the Bears, and then with Billick at Baltimore, where Cavanaugh developed the core concepts of his offense, which is based on a strong running game (helped when you have a Pro Bowl-caliber back like Jamaal Lewis).

It appears that this model is what Wannstedt and Cavanaugh are emulating at Pitt, and it's been jokingly dubbed the Allegheny County Offense. As an aside, it's funny how so many people, especially in the media, so loosely throw around the term "West Coast offense" and ask coordinators or head coaches to describe their offense in relation to it. Although Cavanaugh and Walt Harris might have both run the WCO in the past, their offenses really couldn’t have had more disparate results. Cavanaugh’s offenses have sucked throwing the ball, whereas Harris’s have sucked running the ball. Check out Baltimore's offensive stats during Cavanaugh's tenure (the number in parentheses is the NFL rank).

Baltimore Ravens Offense
Year    Yds Passing   Yds/Pass    Yds Rushing   Yds/Rush
2004    2,559 (32)    5.5 (32)    2,063 (9)     4.2 (15)
2003    2,517 (32)    6.1 (27)    2,669 (1)     4.8 (5)
2002    3,118 (26)    6.5 (20)    1,792 (16)    4.2 (14)
2001    3,595 (17)    6.5 (23)    1,810 (11)    3.8 (25)
2000    3,102 (23)    6.2 (24)    2,199 (5)     4.3 (8)
1999    3,360 (24)    6.2 (27)    1,754 (16)    4.1 (10)

Ironically, the offenses at New England weren’t much better statistically during the same time period...keep that in mind. Of course, unlike the Ravens, Weis and the Patriots didn't have a quality running back until Corey Dillon in 2004.

The biggest problem for Cavanaugh has been QB development. The Ravens drafted Louisville’s Chris Redman in the 3rd round of the 2000 draft, and they drafted Cal’s Kyle Boller in the 1st round of the 2003 draft. That Redman hadn't emerged within three years (admittedly, as well as his back injury, which contributed to his lack of development) was one of the primary reasons why Boller was drafted, and Boller's performance these last two seasons was one of the underlying reasons for Cavanaugh's departure. Chas from the fine Panthers blog Pitt Sports Blather (who has been incredibly helpful putting this KTE together) chronicled some of this anti-Cavanaugh scuttlebutt when he was being considered for the head coaching position.

So where does that leave returning Pitt QB Tyler Palko? Hard to say, and most Pitt fans hope that his poor performance in the spring game isn't an indicator. He threw 2 interceptions and managed only 157 yards on 27 attempts (5.6 ypa). As far as the rest of the offense, it may take a while for Pitt's linemen to become better run-blockers than pass-blockers, but the power running game will definitely develop. Two big, bruising RBs were recruited by Wannstedt, and one of them, Rashad Jennings, enrolled early and played extremely well in the spring game. While there's little doubt in my mind that Pitt will eventually develop a strong rushing attack, I just wonder what will happen to Palko during the next two years, and more importantly, will Wannstedt and Cavanaugh reverse their trend of woeful passing attacks wherever they coach?

One last note on offense. In eleven years as an NFL coach, Dave Wannstedt drafted just two QBs. The Bears took Colorado State’s Moses Moreno in the 7th round of the 1998 draft, and the Dolphins took Oklahoma’s Josh Heupel in the 6th round of the 2001 draft. By comparison, from 2000-2004, the Patriots drafted three (Tom Brady – 6th rounder in 2000, Rohan Davey – 4th rounder in 2002, Jeff Klingsbury – 6th rounder in 2003).

Defensive philosophy: Wannstedt owes nearly everything he knows about defense to defensive coordinator-turned-head coach Jimmy Johnson, whom he followed to Oklahoma State even as Jackie Sherrill was offering him more money to stay with his alma mater. The following excerpts from an article on new Packers' coordinator Jim Bates offer valuable insights into Wannstedt's defensive philosophy since Bates worked for both Wannstedt and Johnson:

The essence of Johnson's philosophy was speed, speed and more speed. He wanted waves of penetrating defensive linemen to fit a one-gap scheme and rotate constantly. He wanted fast linebackers regardless of size at linebacker. And he wanted smart defensive backs that wouldn't make mistakes in a "quarters" or Cover 2 coverage scheme. Those great Dallas front sevens were among the smallest in the NFL but they chased all over the field and gave great effort. Johnson's system started with a 4-3 "over" front in which the under, or three-technique, defensive tackle lined up to the tight-end side and all three linebackers were stacked off the ball.

Cornerbacks Larry Brown and Issiac Holt lacked bump-and-run coverage ability in the early 1990s so Johnson had to play them off in "quarters" coverage. The Cowboys' safeties lined up at the same shallow depth of just eight to 10 yards, almost creating a nine-man front and positioning them to jump routes and make interceptions. When run showed, one safety would force and the other would rotate to the deep middle. "We never had corners in Dallas," Wannstedt said. "They weren't even close to Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain, who are as good as there is. Even in Chicago we were always on the conservative side with our corners only because of ability level."

Generally speaking, the defenses that Bates was associated with over the last nine years were able to press with their cornerbacks within a "quarters" or Cover 2 zone coverage scheme. "You can't blitz without corners," Wannstedt said. "Everyone knows that. It's common sense. I don't know what Green Bay's situation is but I'm sure that will be one of the first things Jim will have to address. "Let's not make more of this than what it is. It depends on how good your players are that determines what you can do."

Still, the objective is to limit blitzing to maybe 20%, stress third down and play smart. "Our mental mistakes were minimal," Wannstedt said. "That was always a focus. Our philosophy always was that we will execute our system better than your offense plays. People around the NFL always said that we did less than most teams but we'd always do it better."

So in ten full seasons as a head coach, Wannstedt's defenses finished in the top ten for total defense five times; they also finished eleventh and twelfth in two other years. It's worked in college and the pros, and many other teams have tried to emulate it.

The conversion of Pitt's defensive personnel is well underway. Last year's starting DE Thomas Smith has moved to DT. "Coach [Dave Wannstedt] wants more speed on defense, and by moving me inside we get more speed inside, which is the key to this defense. And with the young guys on the end, we'll get more speed out there as well. We're going to be a much different defense." Meanwhile, FB Chris McKillop has been switched sides and, while undersized at 230 lbs, is expected to be a pass rusher. "One of the reasons they asked me to switch was my speed. I plan on gaining a little weight, but I know now after watching Jason, you don't have to be huge to play this position if you're quick and tough." Other switches: backer Joe Clermond has moved to end, corner Mike Phillips has moved to strong safety, and star strong-side linebacker H.B. Blades has been moved to the middle.

It's all about team speed. This year's Pitt defense should be faster, albeit smaller, and at the same time I believe they are moving away from Rhoads' two-gap, read-and-react system to the aggressive, one-gap defense that Wannstedt prefers.

Predictions: New coach, new attitude, new uniforms, new attitude...in fact, don't even call them Pittsburgh anymore, it's Pitt. In addition, the days of D1 patsies on the schedule are also over; Pitt has recently added NC State, Iowa, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech to their future schedules.

I fully expect Pitt's quick start in recruiting to carry over to the 2005 season. While I have my hesitations about Wannstedt as a head coach (especially on the offensive side of the ball), not only is college football a step down from the NFL, but the Big East is yet another step down in college. While I think the conference has promise (and I think Jim Leavitt's South Florida squad is a team to watch in the years ahead), Pitt has the resources to entrench itself at the top of the BE for some time.

Wannstedt's future will ultimately depend upon Cavanaugh's ability to recruit, develop and utilize quarterbacks in the offense. The running game will come around, but when you're replacing teams like Furman, Ohio, Kent State, Ball State, Youngstown State on your schedule with D1 powers, you had better be able to throw the ball when it's needed. The local columnists love Wannstedt and joke that neither he nor Cavanaugh have had a quarterback as good as Palko, but why are they making excuses? After all, wasn't it Dave Wannstedt who traded a first round pick, the eleventh overall, for NFL draft bust Rick Mirer?

Despite some overall improvement, Pitt's annual ceiling should be the Big East championship. I certainly believe that Wannstedt will develop some fast, disruptive defenses, and Pitt will likely overpower weaker opponents, but the good D1 teams who can stop the run will give Wannstedt and Cavanaugh fits. With Wannstedt, history repeats itself too often for me to think otherwise. Furthermore, there are several teams like Cincinnati and South Florida which should be able to parlay their Big East membership into stronger recruiting classes in Ohio and Florida, respectively. How those teams perform over the next few years could help ascertain where Pitt eventually resides in the Big East. I think it'll be at the top, but I'm hesitant to jump on the bandwagon and make Pitt a consistent national player.

The Weis Factor: Wannstedt has faced Weis numerous times, including some memorable games in recent years as the Patriots and Dolphins fought for control of the AFC East.

Jets-Dolphins
1999 - Weis 28-20, Weis 38-31

Patriots-Dolphins
2000 - Wannstedt 10-3, Wannstedt 27-24
2001 - Wannstedt 30-10, Weis 20-13
2002 - Wannstedt 26-13, Weis 27-24
2003 - Weis 19-13, Weis 12-0
2004 - Weis 24-10

Weis holds a 7-4 advantage, although Wannstedt had a 4-1 streak from 2000-2002.

Also of interest: when Weis got his start as an assistant on Bill Parcells' New York Giants' staff, Cavanaugh was a back-up quarterback. Both won their first Super Bowl rings after the Giants downed the Bills 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV. Cavanaugh didn't play in 1990 but he did get into four games in 1991 under new head coach Ray Handley; Weis was the RB coach. Cavanaugh did not attempt a pass in those four games.

The game on September 3rd is the first for both teams in the 2005 season. Initially, it would appear to be a more crucial game for Notre Dame, since their September schedule includes road games at Michigan and Washington, as well as a home game against a dangerous Michigan State team. On the other hand, although Pitt does travel to Nebraska, they also have Youngstown State at home and a road game against Ohio. A win against the Irish would pretty much ensure a 3-1 start when Pitt would enter Big East play.

A game prediction? Not yet...although I do think that Tyler Palko will be dropping some more F-bombs on September 3rd. Mostly because of some guy named Charlie. Blame him.

Picture Pages | by Pat

UND.com just released another 31 pictures of the nearly completed "Gug" football facility. Even without all the finishing touches (you know, accessories like Heisman Trophies and National Championship banners) it looks like it's going to be one impressive facility. Check it out.

It's supposed to be done in a few weeks with the coaches moving into their offices just in time for the start of fall practice. I'm sure there will be even more photo updates at that time.

Blinded me with Science | by Pat

While doing a little preliminary fantasy football research (that other glorious fall time-waster), an article about the Patriots offense caught my eye. It's by K.C. Joyner, who goes by the nom de plume "The Football Scientist", and he runs a website by the same name. If you're a faithful Dr. Z reader (and you should be) you might remember Joyner from a recent column on SI.com.

But back to the article on the Patriots offense. We're all aware of the dazzling X's and O's work by Charlie in New England, and we're all giddy about him duplicating that blueprint in South Bend. But Joyner points out that much of the credit for the Patriots' success must go to the exceptional talent of Tom Brady and the ability of the Patriots braintrust to maximize it.

One of the reasons the Patriots offense is so damn good is that they have a clear idea of what it is they are trying to do not only with each player, but also with each unit. As I've pointed out many times in this book, there are many teams who have schemes that they try to force onto players who simply don't have the proper skill set to run it. The Patriots don't have to do this on offense in large part because of Tom Brady

Everyone likes to talk about Brady's leadership, or his grace under pressure, or his ''big-game ability''. That's all fine and dandy, but you know that I don't deal in that kind of mumbo-jumbo when it comes to player analysis. There are four specific skills that Tom Brady has that separate him from the rest of the league. He has no fear in the pocket, he finds the open receiver, he's accurate with the pass, and he doesn't make bad decisions. I can't tell you how few NFL quarterbacks have all 4 of these skills, and no NFL QB has all 4 in the abundance Tom Brady does. The benefits these traits offer are sometimes so subtle that they require additional emphasis.

I've broken down nearly every New England game from the past two seasons and I have yet to find a time when Brady felt the pass rush. What I mean by this is that Brady always maintains his downfield vision, even when the pocket is collapsing. He also has the same ability Joe Montana had in making the first pass rusher miss. He has an instinctive feel for where the pocket is. He can also adjust to the pocket's movement without having to take his eyes off of looking downfield, and he seems to almost always move with the pocket at just the right time. This is something so many QBs are taught but so few can do well, and Brady is simply the best at it.

Brady also finds the open receiver. That sounds simple enough, but Brady's pocket presence actually makes this trait even more valuable. Because Brady is so good at buying time in the pocket, and because he has such an intense focus on how the play is developing, he is able to look at 3rd and 4th receivers more often than any other QB.

One of the ingenious things the Patriots coaches do to take advantage of this is to allow all of their receivers to run routes at all depths. Take a look at the Pats receivers and look at their pass depth distribution. Every single one of their receivers was used frequently on every depth level. It isn't that their receivers are so great at running routes, although they aren't bad. It's simply that the Patriots realize Brady will find the 3rd and 4th receivers and they don't want to limit what those receivers can do. It's not only that Brady does a great job of seeing the field. It's also that the Pats coaches have found a way to maximize the value of that skill set.

Even though his bad decision percentages were high, Brady doesn't typically make bad decisions. He made 12 bad decisions in 19 games, but 3 of them came in the Monday night game at Miami. Those 3 plays also accounted for 11 out of the 24 weighted bad decision points Brady had all year, so if you subtract that one bad game, you have 9 bad decisions and 12 bad decision points in 18 games. Now that's damn good.

New England also has a very clear idea of what role they want their passing game to serve in their overall offensive philosophy. When the Patriots pass, they want to do one of two things. They either want to use the passing game to augment their running game, or they want to get vertical. The best way to illustrate this is by their percentage of short, medium, and deep passes.

The Patriots had the lowest percentage of short passes in the entire league, and there's a clear reason for this. Their short passing game is simply a tool to accomplish three things: 1) To keep defenses from putting 8 defenders in the box; 2) to make sure the defense backs don't stay too far off the line to cheat for the deeper passes; and 3) as a checkoff in the event the deep pass isn't open. The Pats also run a very safe short passing game. Brady only had one bad decision on a short pass all year, and that was in the Miami Monday night game.

The Patriots also ranked 2nd in medium pass percentage and 4th in deep pass percentage. I haven't looked at the combined percentages for these metrics for the entire league, but I'd have to think that this probably makes them either #1 or a close #2.

The disparity of short and vertical passes clearly illustrates the Patriots passing game philosophy. When the Pats pass short, they are going to be certain they don't make mistakes on it. They are more willing to make mistakes on vertical passes. What I mean by this is that the Patriots seem to have a risk/reward ratio in mind when they pass the ball. They won't take any chances on short passes because the risk far outweighs the reward. They are much more willing to take chances on deeper passes because the reward is higher. Again, they have a very clear idea of what their passing philosophy is. You'd be amazed how many teams don't have this philosophical clarity.

The clarity of pass depth use provides the answer as to how to stop them, and it was Brady himself who pointed this out to John Madden and Al Michaels before the Miami Monday night game. Brady said he always struggles against Miami because Miami does two things. They play tight man coverage with their CBs and they keep their safeties deep. Or to put it another way, they do some of the same things to New England's offense that New England's defense does to other teams. Their deep safeties take away the vertical passes and their tight man coverage takes away the shorter passes. The Pats ended up having to target the Miami LBs, as the Dolphins coverage scheme put the LBs in man coverage situations, but it still slowed New England's offense down tremendously.

The Patriots coaches get a lot of credit for their ingenious playcalling and scheme management, but on offense Tom Brady should get just as much credit. The synergy of Brady's skills and the Patriots skill maximization philosophy has simply made each of them better than they should be. It truly is the subtlety of genius.

Good stuff, huh? The first thing that strikes me is that while Weis will give ND's offense a shot in the arm, we're not just going to be able to stick any old quarterback in there and succeed. Luckily for us, Brady Quinn isn't just any old quarterback. He has tremendous physical skills, and the mental acuity to be a good decision-maker. The big question is how quickly he's able to absorb what Weis is teaching him from week-to-week, and then replicate it on the field during the heat of battle. I don't expect him to be as razor-sharp and unflappable as Tom Brady right off the bat, but he's got the basic building blocks, and he should steadily improve as the season progresses.

The "short passing game as high-percentage safety valve" is also interesting. How many times in the past few years did you, your dog, and everyone else in the world know Notre Dame was about to run the ball? The other team would stick eight guys in the box, we'd snap the ball, and get nailed for, at best, a minimal gain. Hopefully a productive and effective short passing game will keep those linebackers on their toes, as opposed to drawing straws to see who gets the tackle this time.

One final note. The mention of the Dolphins defense raises a question about Bill Lewis, and if he will try to employ similar strategies for the Irish secondary. The article mentions the trouble Brady had with tight man coverage with the corners close to the line of scrimmage and the safeties kept back to help out on deep routes. The problem for us is, we don't have the caliber player that is needed to run that kind of defense yet. We've got some fast guys back there, but no proven shutdown corners, and a serious lack of game experience. Trying to run that kind of defense can get a team killed if your cornerbacks aren't up to the task. Now, if one or more of the redshirt freshman can, to use a hackneyed sports cliche, "step up" this fall, we might actually have a pretty decent pass defense. Perhaps not as effective as the Dolphins (unless we have a few Thorpe Award candidates waiting in the wings) but far better than we have seen the past two years.

Dookie | by Jay

We added Duke as a home game for 2007. Scoop is here, here, and here. (Oh, and see those articles for news on the previously noted Gator & Sun bowl arrangements, which are official as of today.) Here's the dirt on Duke, and how our 2007 schedule shapes up:

2007
1	9/1	Georgia Tech	ACC
2	9/8	@ Penn State	B10
3	9/15	@ Michigan	B10
4	9/22	Michigan State	B10
5	9/29	@ Purdue	B10
6	10/6	@ UCLA	Pac10
7	10/13	Boston College	ACC
8	10/20	Southern Cal	Pac10
9	11/3	Navy	Ind
10	11/10	Air Force	MWC
11	11/17	Duke	ACC
12	11/24	@ Stanford	Pac10

• Game: November 17, 2007

• Where: Notre Dame Stadium

• Series: 2-1, Notre Dame

• Last Game: ND over Duke, 64-0, at ND in 1966

• Duke in 2004: 2-9

• Duke's record since 1999: 11-57-0 (.161)

• Duke hoops since 1999: 189-28 (.870)

Frankly, I'm not super-pumped to be playing the Blue Devils as a 12th game. They're terrible. Army (the previously rumored 12th game), though also a patsy, at least has some history with us. Playing Duke in football is about as exciting as doing your taxes.

2007, by the way, is the magic "third year", for what that's worth.

Making the "Patriot Way" the "Notre Dame Way" | by Mark

"I'm a copycat, plagiarism guy. I don't believe in reinventing the wheel." - Charlie Weis

One of the big differences between being average and being truly outstanding is having the good sense to know when to steal someone else's idea. If you think about it, few truly successful people have achieved greatness without ripping someone else off at some point along the way: Van Gogh borrowed heavily from Rembrandt; the Rolling Stones took Chuck Berry's rhythms and made them their own; Quentin Tarantino lifted everything from Hong Kong directors; Bill Gates waited for Steve Jobs to come up with something cool, then copied it for himself.

The New England Patriots, under the guidance of Bill Belichick, have a winning formula. And based on his words and his actions thus far, Charlie Weis is doing his best to steal that formula and make it his own. Weis is rebuilding the Notre Dame football program around the fundamentals he learned and refined as one of the top men in Belichick's organization -- and with Belichick's full blessing. Belichick's always been concerned with sustaining success, and this goes for the legacy of his assistants as much as anything:

"[Belichick's] concern is helping his assistants succeed, whether in New England or elsewhere."

"A few of them are quietly talented strategists themselves, destined to one day lead their own programs. Followers of pro teams usually don't call them programs, but that's exactly what Belichick is trying to build in New England. He wants coaches...to be developed in the Patriots systems."

Those quotes were lifted (stolen?) from two books, "The Managment Secrets of the New England Patriots" by James Lavin, and "Patriot Reign" by Michael Holley. Both books do an excellent job explaining the culture of exellence that permeates the Patriots organization, and lay out the blueprint that Charlie has no doubt taken with him to South Bend.

What follows are some key themes that the Patriots consider vital to their success, followed by a quote or two from Charlie that seems to reflect Weis' application of the principle to his own football program at ND. Consider this a One-a-Day tear-off calendar of New England/Notre Dame Successories; in fact, we provided some perforation lines so you can print these up, cut 'em out, and steal them for your own use.

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DEFINE YOUR VISION FOR SUCCESS

"We are building a big, strong, fast, smart, tough and dedicated football team that consistently competes for championship" - New England Patriots' Mission Statement, created by Belichick and his staff after taking over in 2000. (Management Secrets, pg.22)

"I can tell you this. You are going to have a hard-working, intelligent, nasty football team that goes on the field. -- Charlie Weis, Introductory Press Conference.

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ESTABLISH A BASIC BLUEPRINT

"When you ask Belichick about his coaching style and philosophy... he talks not about X’s and O’s but about building a team, finding players with character who will put the team first, and building systems that will take advantage of his players’ abilities rather than finding players to fit his schemes." (Management Secrets, pg. 76)

''My team will be known for being a team, for being prepared, for going into each game expecting to win, for playing for 60 minutes." -- Charlie Weis.

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KNOW YOURSELF FIRST

"Before they can know what they need, they need to know who they are. This is one of Belichick's core philosophies." (Patriot Reign, pg.139)

“The first thing you have to do is identify your own strengths and weaknesses. Now, this gives us an opportunity over the next few months to say ‘Okay, we have to cover for this weakness and play to this strength.’ That’s how I coach and that’s how we will play ball.” -- Charlie Weis.

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CREATIVE TENSION - NO YES MEN NEEDED

"Belichick has surrounded himself with smart, competent people who are encouraged to be original thinkers...they are encouraged to disagree with him. Belichik has no problem listening to any counterargument - provided that it can be supported with some type of evidence." (Patriot Reign)

"I went ahead and hired one of the best staffs that you can possibly assemble and I think that for me, trying to think I have all the answers is wrong. What I try to do is lay out a basic format based on what I know and utilize the assistants to work together, mesh together and try to come up with something I deem acceptable." -- Charlie Weis.

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CONSULT OUTSIDE CONFIDANTES

"Belichick...solicits constructive criticism from both his assistants and outsiders he trusts and respects, like (former) LSU coach Nick Saban." (Management Secret, pg. 24)

"Weis said (Andy) Reid was one of the people that he had leaned on for advice since taking over the Fighting Irish...in addition to Belichick, Reid and Carolina Panthers coach John Fox are the 'two guys I lean on for advice the most.'" - the Philadelphia Enquirer, after the Super Bowl.

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IF WE SUCCEED, I SUCCEED

"The best way you could say something positive about yourself is to fit in within the structure of you're already working and be successful doing that" -- Charlie Weis, when he was OC for the Patriots (Management Secrets, pg. 29)

"To get what you want in life, make sure others around you get what they want in life. If we help Notre Dame get what it needs and deserves, and Charlie Weis gets what he needs and deserves, I've got to think somewhere along the line I'll be satisfied." -- Rick Minter.

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ALWAYS BE HUSTLING

"Cardinal's QB Jake McCown...was awed by the Patriots defenders' hustle. 'Everyone runs to the football. I got outside the pocket a few times, and there were people coming from everywhere. It's rare to see guys coming from the other side of the field at full speed. They are coming and the play the whole play." (Management Secrets, pg. 261)

“The one thing that Rick [Minter] tried to stress and we as a coaching staff tried to stress is rallying around the football, getting 11 guys running to the ball. If you noticed, that was one of the biggest points of emphasis going on out there. I really think that showed one major step towards being an unselfish defense.” -- Charlie Weis.

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DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY

"Humility begins with Belichick. ...Asked about making Time magazine's list of 100 most powerful and influential people, Belichick said his family 'thought it was a joke'. (Management Secrets, pg. 296)

And his reputation as some kind of offensive savant? "That’s a true joke," Weis said. -- South Bend Tribune.

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HARD WORK: THE BOSS SETS THE TONE

"Belichick tells his assistants that he expects them to emulate his standards of professionalism and dedication because players will emulate their coaches if the entire coaching staff sets a strong example." (Management Secrets, pg. 25)

Weis will hit the road himself during the spring evaluation period for high school juniors, something almost unheard of for a head coach to do...“I think I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t. If I told you how important recruiting is and that you have to go pound the pavement and have to get out there, how can I say that and not be there? They just don’t go together.” -- South Bend Tribune.

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A CERTAIN KIND OF TOUGHNESS

"If you are one of the players flinching at the harshness of these words...there is no way you are going to last as a New England Patriot...scouts are asked [by Patriots coaches], 'Can this player handle tough coaching?' What they really want to know, without the euphemism, is whether a prospect can deal with being 'motherf---d' when things are not going well." Patriot Reign, pgs. 84-85)

"I'll talk about John Latina and Jappy Oliver. I mean, these are guys who are...tough guys themselves, who like to coach the guys tough. In other words, I wasn't looking at - when we were talking about line coaches, I wasn't looking just at guys that are there to pat them on the back and say 'That's okay', because that's not they way I am. It's not okay... And I think both those guys fit that bill, fit that mold". -- Charlie Weis.

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ACCOUNTABILITY IS A TWO WAY STREET

"Everybody takes accountability, good or bad, players and coaches. It's about being accountable for what happened and owning up to that instead of pointing fingers. Belichick's always been that way...When you start having coaches point fingers at their players, it makes an adverse situation...it won't get you where you need to go. - Rick Lyle, former Patriot DL (Management Secrets, pg. 281)

"I think the head coach needs to be the focal point of the program. And I think he's got to be willing to be the dart board. When things go bad, the head coach has to be up there and make himself accountable first and kind of shield the team." - Charlie Weis

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INTELLIGENCE ISN'T A DIRTY WORD

"Belichick's system relies heavily on smart, adaptable players. The intellectually-rigorous, team-centric Patriots system would flop without smart...players...Belichick's staff relentlessly squeezes maximal performance from players whose 'excellence' is defined by their heads and hearts as much as their arms and legs". (Management Secrets, pg. 52)

"Sometimes people overplay the downside of wanting kids with higher academics. I think it's real important to understand that you can definately play that to your advantage too. You're playing the upside of how much more mental pressure you're going to put on guys, and how quickly you can put things in due to how much they can mentally handle." -- Charlie Weis

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BAD THINGS HAPPEN - HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE

"We've tried to build the depth all the way through the system. The preparation comes earlier rather than the week a crisis hits." - Bill Belichick (Management Secrets, pg. 98)

"I have a contingency plan if I lose anybody. No matter who we would lose, there's a contingency plan. You never know what's going to happen in life and what directions you're taking." - Charlie Weis

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BUILD POSITION FLEXIBILITY; CROSS-TRAIN

"From Day 1 as Patriots head coach, Belichick emphasized 'position flexibility': the ability to play multiple positions and to use multiple techniques. This enables defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel to reconfigure his defense almost instantaneously...to compensate for injuries, confuse the offense, exploit offensive vulnerabilty, or react to an unexpected move". (Management Secrets, pg. 131)

“We build depth from within. We build position flexibility. Position versatility is a very critical factor. Can a guy playing defensive end play defensive tackle? Can a guy playing linebacker play safety? Can a guy playing cornerback play wide receiver?" -- Charlie Weis

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EVERYONE IS A LEADER

"Each Patriot manages himself and helps manage his teammates. In fact, players also help manage the coaching staff. In weekly Friday meetings, player representatives make clear to coaches the issues that are troubling players. Patriots coaches' responsibilities differ from Patriots players', but coaches want players to monitor themselves." (Management Secrets, pg. 317)

"Leadership is something we often talk about but is usually an intangible quality. Leadership has to come from many places - the head coach and the coaching staff, for sure - but ultimately it must come from the players themselves. That's why the Leadership Committee will be such an important facet of our football team". -- Charlie Weis

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NO EXCUSES

"Bill Belichick doesn't want to hear whining about scheduling challenges. He expects his team to be prepared and play its best, no matter the circumstances: 'We are not going to worry about it. We are going to look at whatever it is and try to make the most of what we can with the opportunities in the time frame that we have to work in. When the games are scheduled, we will show up and play them.' (Management Secrets, pg. 46)

"They schedule them and we play them...And I think that the people complaining about those things are looking for excuses...That's the way I have to get the kids thinking, because once they are thinking like that, it doesn't make a difference...you have to sell the fact to them, number one, don't make excuses." -- Charlie Weis

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It's not hard to hear the the echo of Belichick when listening to Weis's comments. The delivery might be more like Parcells, but the content is pure Belichick.

And what will the college verion of this system look like if Weis can get the right mix of players and coaches assembled? The following is probably the most accurate description of what the Patriots have achieved and what Weis seems to be striving to replicate at the college level:

The Patriots win because their selflessness and intense preparation enable them to perform their collective best on game day. Belichick style preparation systematically covers every aspect of winning football games: opponent analysis, clock management, strength and conditioning, strategy and tactics, situational practice, two-minute drills, advance planning for inevtiable injuries, matching player talents and skills to roles, recognizing what the opponent is doing, forcing and avoiding turnovers, managing emotions, preventing penalties, avoiding trouble on and off the field, substituting players smoothly, etc." (Management Secrets, pg. 16)

It is vital to remember that creating an organization with this kind of collective mindset and culture does not happen overnight. It is achieved in small increments, step by step, over time. It takes the right combination of coaches, players, support staff, timing and luck. That said, it's comforting to know that there is a vision for success, and even if we're at the beginning of that journey, there's at least one man who can see over the horizon.

As John Heisler recently commented about the new man in charge at ND:

"Charlie has made it very plain that he is going to be the spokesman for Notre Dame football. It's part of a master plan of how you run a football program."

Six quarterbacks who have never been in my kitchen | by Michael

Question 27. Please complete the following analogy.
David Cutcliffe : Peyton Manning :: Peter Vaas : _____

Good question. Cutcliffe, as we all know, was synonymous with quarterbacking excellence, having tutored the Mannings, Heath Schuler, Tee Martin, and others in an illustrious college career.

When Peter Vaas was hired, few knew very much about Vaas himself, let alone his quarterback pupils. The names Jonathan Quinn, Todd Husak, Phil Stambaugh, Ryan Van Dyke, Kevin Thompson and Chris Lewis hardly strike fear in the minds of NFL defensive coordinators, and in most cases, neither did coordinators in college lose any sleep over these quarterbacks. That said, let’s take a closer look at each of these quarterbacks…before and after Peter Vaas' involvement.

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Jonathan Quinn
Of all the NFL Europe quarterbacks Vaas has developed, Jonathan Quinn might be the most familiar. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Quinn was a third round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1998. In college his numbers were actually rather mediocre; he completed 346 of 675 passes (51.3%) for 4,864 yards with 28 touchdowns and 26 interceptions. As an NFL quarterback, Quinn started two games down the stretch during his rookie year but then hardly played in 1999 and 2000.

In 2001, Quinn was allocated to the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe, and immediately led them to the World Bowl under Vaas. He completed 167 of 296 passes (56.4%) for 2,257 yards with 24 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Since his stint in NFL Europe, Quinn played as a back-up in Jacksonville before moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears. Last year Quinn started three games while splitting time with Craig Krenzel in place of the injured Rex Grossman, and he performed rather poorly. He completed 51 of 98 passes (52%) for 413 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Quinn was also sacked 15 times. He was released this spring after the Bears drafted Purdue’s Kyle Orton, and no one has signed him yet.

Todd Husak
The former Stanford Cardinal was a 6th round draft pick of the Washington Redskins, and he is also one of two Bill Diedrick pupils coached by Vaas in NFL Europe. Husak threw two passes during his rookie year and completed both; unfortunately, the two completions netted -2 yards. After that, Husak bounced from the Redskins to the New York Jets’ practice squad to the Denver Broncos all within his first two seasons. Immediately following the 2001 season, the Broncos assigned Husak to the Berlin Thunder, where he beat out former Boston College quarterback Tim Hasselbeck for the starting position.

In 2002, Husak led the Thunder to a second consecutive World Bowl championship. That said, his numbers weren’t nearly as good as those of Quinn; he completed 208 of 356 passes (58.4%) for 2,386 yards with 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Unfortunately, the 2002 NFL Europe season was the pinnacle of Husak’s career. He bounced off and on the Jets’ roster in 2002 and 2003, and was momentarily with the Cleveland Browns in 2004, but he never played in another NFL game. Husak is now back at Stanford, as head coach Walt Harris brought him on as a graduate assistant to work with the offense. Additionally, there was some speculation that Husak could have joined the Irish in a similar capacity...had Tyrone Willingham been retained.


Phil Stambaugh
After a record-setting career at Lehigh, Stambaugh was signed as a free agent by the Buffalo Bills in 2000. Later that year, he was released by the Bills and picked up by the New Orleans Saints, who allocated him to the Rhein Fire, where he completed 110 of 200 passes (55%) for 1,166 yards with 2 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 2001. He then found his way to the Jacksonvile Jaguars’ roster as their 3rd quarterback, and in 2003, the Jags sent him back to NFL Europe and the Berlin Thunder.

Under Vaas, Stambaugh’s play reached new heights. He completed 169 of 254 passes (66.5%) for 1,759 yards with 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions (2 coming on desperation Hail Marys).

Since then, Stambaugh has been unsuccessful in his attempts to stick with an NFL team, and for now he's simply just trying to find any professional football that will sign him. He briefly spent time with the New Haven Ninjas in arenafootball2, and while he continues to look for professional opportunities, he has been working as the offensive coordinator for his alma mater, Pius X High School.

Ryan Van Dyke
The Seattle Seahawks signed Van Dyke as an undrafted free agent coming out of Michigan State in 2002. Numerous injuries nagged Van Dyke throughout his Spartan career; he played in twenty-four games, starting five. The emergence of Jeff Smoker certainly did little to help, too. Eventually the Seahawks cut him, and Van Dyke was able to sign with the New York Giants in the fall of 2003. That winter the Giants sent him to the Cologne Centurions, a new franchise coached by Vaas.

For Cologne, Van Dyke completed 174 of 280 passes (62.1%) for 2,003 yards with 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Despite his strong play under the watchful eye of Giants' brass, Van Dyke was cut last September. He’s currently a back-up with the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League.


Chris Lewis and Kevin Thompson
Former Penn State quarterback Kevin Thompson (below) was signed as an NFL free agent by the Cleveland Browns in 2000 and had an initial tour of duty in NFL Europe during the 2001 season. Ever since then, he has tried to catch on with various teams but he hasn’t had much luck surviving training camps. The Buffalo Bills recently signed him and allocated him to Cologne, where he beat out Bill Diedrick recruit and pupil, former Stanford quarterback Chris Lewis. The Arizona Cardinals had signed Lewis as an undrafted free agent out of college and were hoping that a season in Europe would accelerate his development.

Neither Thompson nor Lewis had a strong season for Cologne in 2005; Thompson completed 126 of 234 passes (53.8%) for 1,561 yards with 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, while Lewis completed just 34 of 75 passes (45.3%) for 412 yards and 3 interceptions. A third quarterback from Japan was also on the Centurions' roster, but he struggled as well.

Because the Cardinals wanted to make room for Timmy Chang, former quarterback at Hawaii, Lewis was cut on June 24th. As far as Thompson, his future with the Bills is still a little uncertain. High draft pick J.P. Losman is expected to start for the Bills this fall, and they have also signed NFL journeymen Shane Matthews and Kelly Holcomb as back-ups.

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As the above illustrates, there have been no Mannings in Vaas’ oeuvre, nor have there been any Kurt Warners or even Jake Delhommes. It’s only fair to acknowledge that none of his quarterbacks have ever made an impact in the NFL after their stints in Europe. Is that his fault? Maybe, but realistically? Probably not.

More importantly, these next two seasons Peter Vaas will have an opportunity to develop his own Manning or Shuler...with junior Brady Quinn as the guinea pig. Two interesting aspects worth noting: (1) Vaas will have more than the one year constriction of NFL Europe to tutor his quarerbacks; and (2) he won't have the dual responsibilities of developing a quarterback while running a team (which is why Weis wanted to hire a quarterbacks coach in the first place).

David Cutcliffe : Peyton Manning :: Peter Vaas : Brady Quinn?

It remains to be seen. Irish faithful certainly hope so.

Blogpoll III: Better than Fantastic IV | by Pat

This go-round of the BlogPoll is being hosted by Straight Bangin' and it's a good one. Let's get right into it.

1a. Which unheralded player on your team will be the hardest to replace?

Team BGS went back and forth on this one. The entire offense is back so the candidate must come from the defense. And our pass defense was atrocious last year so "hardest to replace" doesn't exactly fit with that group. We ended up focusing on the defensive line. Specifically, Kyle Budinscak and Greg Pauly. Both were 5th year seniors last year and both played exceptionally well. While Justin Tuck got many of the headlines, Pauly was a force up the middle and Budinscak gave the team versatility by playing at both the defensive end and defensive tackle spots. He also managed 5 sacks to Tuck's 6. As for the unheralded aspect, Budinscak did not come into Notre Dame on anyone's Top 100 list and while Pauly was a 1st team All-American in high school, various injuries left many wondering if he would ever make a significant contriubtion on the field.

With razor thin depth across the entire defensive line this upcoming season, these two guys will be the hardest to replace. Yes, our starters should be good this year, but one twisted ankle or injured knee and Notre Dame will be turning to inexperienced and undersized underclassmen. So our split vote goes to Kyle Budinscak and Greg Pauly. Notre Dame is definitely going to miss their size, hustle, and experience this coming season.

1b. Which seemingly inconsequential player could make the biggest impact?

We're staying on defense for this one and going with 5th year senior and starting middle linebacker, Corey Mays. Mays came into Notre Dame in 2001 as a 2nd team USA Today All-American, 1st Team All-State linebacker in Illinois, and the first player from the Chicago Public League to enter ND since Irish hero Chris Zorich. But while Mays has played in 36 games in his career, nearly all of his experience has been on special teams. During the last two seasons he has only seen spot appearances as a linebacker.

Some might see him as starter by default while most pre-season attention is given to guys like Nduwke, Crum, and Vernaglia, but we disagree. With the starting job now his, we are looking for Mays to have a breakout season in his final year and finally live up to many of the accolades earned in high school (much like Greg Pauly did last year). Mays gave a glimpse of what could be when he ended up as the game's leading tackler (along with Vernaglia) at the spring Blue and Gold game. He's not the most anticipated new starter on defense, but he will have a big impact on how the it performs in 2005.

2a. Which regular-season game that won’t feature your team would you pay the most money to see this season? Why?

If we had to pick one game to go the scalper route, it would be the Texas vs. Ohio State extravaganza hitting Columbus this September. Sure there are other interesting matchups like the Southern Cal/Cal game, but this one seems to have it all. Rabid fan base overfilling a historic and boisterous stadium? Check. Visiting fans who travel well, know how to tailgate/party, and have no qualms about walking around in enemy colors? Check. A player many consider a strong candidate to take home the Heisman in Texas' Vince Young? Check. One of the game's most electrifying, multi-positional players in Ohio State's Ted Ginn? Check. Two Top-5 teams playing a nationally-televised night game that will have a large impact on the end of the season bowl matchups, while most schools are still playing glorified scrimmages against directional colleges? Check and double check. Fire up the RV. We're headed to Columbus.

2b. Bonus: Which rivalry game would you most like to attend?

The Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas seems like a blast. Anytime a game is a capstone to a three week State Fair, you know you have something. Plus, Texas thinks this is the year they will finally beat Stoops and his Sooners. Will there be mass seppuku in the burnt orange section if the Longhorns fall short once again? That's reason enough to show up. However, we already picked Texas so we're not going to pick them twice. That also eliminates the Ohio State-Michigan game, which is always full of friendly faces.

Our choice therefore is the Florida-Tennessee game. Perhaps not as historic as the Iron Bowl or Army-Navy game, there is no lack of passion and downright hate between these two groups of fans. This matchup was probably better when Steve "You can't spell Citrus without UT" Spurrier was wearing a Gator visor, but I suspect Urban Meyer will get the Swamp more than fired up this year for their Saturday night matchup with the Volunteers. We like our rivalry games noisy and emotional (and an impact on Top 10 helps too). This fits the bill.

3. If your team were a rapper, who would it be and why?

Finally, we get to the meat of the poll. This generated a lot of BGS debate. After our initial google search for "famous french catholic rap groups" turned up empty, we came up with three alternatives.

• House of Pain. Irish. Rap. Shamrock tattoos. A natural fit. And, quickly shot down. While unflinchingly proud of their Irish heritage, HoP were basically a glorified one-hit wonder. Teds did admit to buying their second album, but that wasn't enough to save them. Perhaps House of Pain would be a better fit for another Irish-Catholic themed football program, also known for a one-hit wonder. Besides, DJ Lethal (who was Latvian and not Irish) later joined Limp Bizkit, which we want no part of.

• Tupac Shakur. Some of the similarities are right on. Tupac really hasn't done anything in awhile, yet he still commands plenty of headlines and attention. He's sort of a modern legend, and many new rappers want to be like him. There have even been a few movies about him. And perhaps most importantly, friends and foes alike love to discuss whether or not Tupac's really dead. Yet, his delayed entry into the upper ranks of the hip hop universe and 'Thug Life' approach to music and real life make us think he's a better candidate for Miami or FSU sponsorship.

In the end, we chose the only group that can possibly live up to the Notre Dame name: Run-DMC. Like Notre Dame football, Run, DMC, and Jam Master Jay were pioneers in their field, and even today they command much respect in the music world. Their early, innovative work set the benchmark for hip-hop and inspired legions of young rappers who tried to copy their successful style. Rap groups will come and go, but the name Run-DMC will always be relevant. Darryl "DMC" McDaniels gives them the Irish connection, and there's no doubt they're "Down with the King" (Jesus). They even have an appropriate taste in shoes:

my Adidas only bring good news
and they are not used as selling shoes
they're black and white, white with black stripe
the ones I like to wear when I rock the mic
on the strength of our famous university
we took the beat from the street and put it on TV

That's all for this edition of the Blogpoll. Care to add your two cents? Please don't hesitate. And BGS is going to play host to the next BlogPoll Roundtable, so if you have any questions you want to see answered, let us know.

another steaming pile of BCS | by Jay

The BCS finally, formally announced the new poll that replaces the AP. Nothing we hadn't heard already, and still no pollsters named: expect another announcement sometime between now and September 25th. But here's the release. (Interesting tidbits bolded.)

BCS hopes new poll corrects some flaws in system
By Vahe Gregorian Of the Post-Dispatch
Monday, Jul. 11 2005

Caretakers of the Bowl Championship Series unveiled the final details of their annual tweaking and ratcheting Monday. Customarily, they addressed some lingering controversy but were unable to resolve other festering matters - and perhaps again created fresh unintended consequences in the way college football determines its national champion.

In confirming that Harris Interactive would administer a poll that replaces that of The Associated Press, which last December abandoned the BCS out of voter concerns over becoming news makers, BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg noted that the fledgling poll would not commence until Sept. 25 - several weeks into the season.

The concept of waiting to release a poll speaks to an inherent flaw in preseason voting that Auburn contends damaged its cause last season. Because the Tigers were ranked in the teens in the preseason polls, coach Tommy Tuberville said frequently, they never had a fair chance to surpass preseason favorites Southern California and Oklahoma.

All three finished the regular season undefeated, but USC and Oklahoma met in the BCS title game. Starting later is meant to minimize the impact of preseason guesswork and its logical companion - voting, subconsciously or otherwise, to justify previous votes.

"This will allow for some games to be played during the current season, rather than ranking teams based purely on preseason rankings," said Weiberg, the Big 12 Conference commissioner, who later added, "We have always felt that preseason polls are a weakness of the human polls."

The new poll, to be made up of 114 former coaches, players, administrators and active media members, will be used in conjunction with the coaches' poll and a third equally weighted component (six computer rankings) to form the BCS rankings, the first of which will be released Oct. 17. That essential formula is the same as last season's.

The coaches' poll, however, will be conducted as always from preseason on, Weiberg said, out of the American Football Coaches Association's belief that it serves as "a significant promotion for college football" heading into the season.

Meanwhile, the Harris poll will not alleviate another key point of controversy: Although the roster of voters will be announced before the season, their ballots will be anonymous until the last one of the season - the same as the coaches' poll.

This, despite a clamor for more transparency in the system.

"To make them public throughout the season would mean each week would focus on who voted for whom and perhaps would detract from the games themselves. . . . In fact, there was quite a bit of debate whether or not transparency at the end of the process was even a good idea," Weiberg said, adding, "We will make it available for individual voters to release their ballots as they so choose. There isn't a gag order."

Harris poll representatives said more than 70 percent of its voting panel already had been assembled through a process that began with 300 names nominated by conference offices and Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White. The intention is to ultimately achieve regional balance through 10 names suggested by each of the 11 Division I-A conferences, three by Notre Dame and one from each of the other Division I-A independents.

But Weiberg said it would be incorrect to assume someone nominated by a conference would be considered a representative of that conference. The appeal to conferences for candidates, he said, was merely to generate a cross-section of national candidates, and the idea of having so many voters follows what Harris calls its policy of "best practices and best standards."

Having 100 or more in the sample, Renee Smith of Harris said, adds stability to the results and also has the desirable effect of minimizing the impact of any one person or vote - "potentially a benefit if anyone is worried about biases creeping in," she said during a conference call with Weiberg and the media.

In a statement, Gregory Novak, president of Harris Interactive, said, "We are very pleased that our more than 40 years of polling experience will add independence, objectivity and statistically valid sampling principles to the BCS formula."

And yet this is a new endeavor for Harris, which may or may not be prepared for the wrath of college football nation.

"We're looking forward to the challenge," John Kennedy of Harris said.

Wonderful bromides and platitudes, to be sure, but the problem with the BCS really hasn't been "statistically valid sampling principles" or a lack of "best practices and standards" or "biases creeping in" (okay, well maybe some bias). The only real problem for the BCS has been figuring out who gets to play in the Big Game when there seems to be more than two worthy teams. And this latest mutation does nothing to solve issue Numero Uno.

Jason Kelly had a pretty good rant this morning on this precise point.

If not Auburn, then Oklahoma or USC would have been relegated to a lesser bowl with no hope of a title despite a perfect record.

More than two teams almost always have a case, if not quite as irrefutable as perfection, at least strong enough to cause an annual reconsideration of the procedures.

Leaving somebody out stands as the only identifiable BCS tradition.

In response to this year's issues -- and the AP withdrawing its poll -- the BCS added Harris Interactive and its "statistically valid sampling principles" to its formula.

Good thing, too, because that has been the problem all along. Invalid sampling principles.

How exactly rectifying that issue will help remains a mystery, but the BCS seems to feel most comfortable operating in a fog of data that add up to nothing.

Computer models spit out the best interpretation of facts and figures available to them.

People pretend to identify the difference between California and Texas based on highlights, scoring differentials and how often Lee Corso tells Kirk Herbstreit, "Not so fast, my friend."

From this quagmire of information and speculation, the contenders for the national championship emerge, often too many to accommodate.

So the BCS holds regular meetings, not to debate how to accommodate them all, but how to choose the two that cause the least ruckus.

To hear Weiberg describe their deliberations, they discussed who should vote, when the poll should originate, whether or not to make ballots public, the weight of human impressions versus computer calculations.

Everything but the fundamental issue -- how to winnow the field down to two, and only two, during a regular season that tends not to cooperate.

Even the side benefits of Delay and Transparency that the poll offers in the name of "integrity" are half-assed. September 25th, while later than pre-season, still seems too early if you're really serious about giving the landscape some time to shake out before voting commences. Most teams have only played three games by then, and some teams haven't even dipped into their conference schedules yet. In addition, there are some early high-profile games between big-time programs (OSU-Texas on 9/10, for instance) that are going to result in one of those teams entering the poll with a loss, and potentially allowing a suspect 3-0 team to slide in ahead. (On the other hand, the Coaches Poll will already be going since week one, so who really cares that the Harris is delayed?)

And as far as transparency goes, only the final vote will be on the official public record, so there's still no incentive for the voters to take a long, hard, honest look at things week-to-week. There's still plenty of wiggle room for covert bias and gamesmanship. What's more, instead of professional journalists, who at least presumably have a copy of the SPJ Code of Ethics stashed in their desks, the 114 "former coaches, players, and administrators" have been directly nominated by certain conferences, and probably have only some fuzzy directive from the Harris group to "be honest". Not to say an AP writer can't be ridiculously compromised, but who would you rather have voting on a Notre Dame team: Mitch Albom, or Bo Schembechler? With the former, you at least have a chance.

They just can't get it right.

I mean, seriously. To produce a National Champion, what's better...this:

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• 61 Division 1-A coaches comprising the Board of Coaches vote, counting as one-third, starting at the beginning of the season,

PLUS

• 114 former administrators, coaches, players and current media members, made up of 10 nominees from each of the eleven conferences, plus 3 nominees from Notre Dame, plus 1 nominee from the other major independents, counting as one-third, starting September 25th,

PLUS

• Six computer rankings (Jeff Sagarin, Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kennth Massey and Peter Wolfe) calculated in inverse points order (25 for No. 1, 24 for No. 2, etc.), and including strength-of-schedule calculations, dropping the best and worst ranking for each team, and adding the remaining four, dividing by 100 (the maximum possible points) to produce a Computer Rankings Percentage, couting as one-third, starting at the beginning of the season.

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Or something like this?

(I realize you'd still need some kind of a poll to narrow it down, but at least the poll itself wouldn't be the end of the line, and its impact would be mercifully diminished.)

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso... | by Jay

Sun Bowl officials are courting the Dome...

Per the El Paso Times:

The Vitalis Sun Bowl has figured out a way to get Notre Dame on its radar screen.

Sun Bowl selection committee chairman John Folmer confirmed Tuesday that the game is on the verge of finalizing a four-year contract this week potentially matching Notre Dame or a team from the Big 12 or Big East with the Pac-10 third-place team beginning with the 2006 game.

"We're hoping that comes to pass as early as Thursday afternoon or maybe Friday," Folmer said of the deal, which is not yet in writing. "This scenario would offer us great flexibility. And with Notre Dame part of that scenario, what a great opportunity that would be for El Paso."

The agreement is similar to a verbal deal, reported this week by the Florida Times-Union, that's been reached between the Gator Bowl and the Big 12, Big East and Notre Dame to play an Atlantic Coast Conference team.

Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett declined to comment on that pending contract, but said his game "has been in discussion with the Big 12 for some time" and "desires to have a relationship with the Big 12."

Under the terms of the Gator/Sun deal, the Sun Bowl would wait until the Gator Bowl picked either the No. 5 Big 12 or No. 1 or 2 Big East team or Notre Dame, leaving the Sun Bowl with the remaining options available.

Notre Dame, a favorite among local football fans, hasn't played in any of the previous 71 Sun Bowls despite efforts to bring the storied program here in the past. With 640,000 Catholic members in 10 West Texas counties making up the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Sun officials believe the Irish's potential presence here would be a huge coup.

"Without a doubt, Notre Dame is the school with the biggest football tradition in the country," Sun Bowl Executive Director Bernie Olivas said. "I'm a huge Notre Dame fan myself. It would probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them play in El Paso, but that's only if we're able to seal this deal."

For Notre Dame to end up here for the first time, the Irish would have to be bowl eligible -- but not Bowl Championship Series eligible -- which they haven't been in six years, making them available to one of the Big East-tied bowls, including the Gator and Sun. Each bowl would only be able to play host to the Irish once in the four-year agreement.

"Notre Dame would be a tremendous draw in this area," said Robert Sanchez, a Coronado High School teacher and lifelong fan of the Irish. "Everybody's a fan of the Fighting Irish and they know about the symbolism and history that Notre Dame brings, like 'Touchdown Jesus' and the 'Knute Rockne era.' There is a gigantic fan base here."

Call this the "6-5" fallback.

One thing that's interesting: with the Big XII and Big East cozying up in not one, but two bowls, you have to wonder if a stronger Cotton Bowl option for ND is also forthcoming.

Kids These Days | by Mike

Great coaching will win football games, but great coaching needs great talent to win national championships. A coach's ability to reel in that talent depends in no small part on 17- and 18-year-old's perceptions of how "cool" his school is. In recent years, Notre Dame has not been a cool school among high school athletes. While not descending to the depths of Rush-like uncoolness, we haven't exactly been Miles Davis either.

Consider the views of Robby Parris's peers at St. Ignatius, a Catholic school in the Midwest, as detailed in Bob Wieneke's South Bend Tribune article:

As Robby Parris struggled with deciding between Notre Dame and Michigan, he began to notice a pattern forming in the free advice he was being offered.

Family and other parents were telling the Cleveland St. Ignatius wide receiver to pick Notre Dame. Kids Parris' age, on the other hand, were touting Michigan.

Michigan, given their superior record to Notre Dame overall (though not head-to-head) over the last eight years, is regarded as cooler than Notre Dame.

It was not ever thus. Back in the day, Notre Dame was the choice not just of parents, but their kids, too. Of course, back then, many of our best players rocked haircuts like this.

Achieving renewed coolness is simple and requires one thing: winning. Charlie Weis undoubtedly understands that winning is the key to making Notre Dame cool with today's high school athletes. (Hell, Mike Krzyzewski was able to accomplish the monumental task of making this school cool, just by winning games.)

However, Weis, unlike some of his predecessors, understands that there are other things he can do to help Notre Dame's reputation among today's youth. Bob Davie, for instance, upon discovering that Notre Dame was different than Texas Agricultural & Mechanical, decided that Notre Dame was hopelessly uncool and conveyed this message to recruits. Recall the television interview he gave wherein he claimed that Notre Dame was "as much fun as one of the military academies." If this coaching announcing thing doesn't work out for you Bob, maybe you can find a career in public relations.

While Willingham did not appear to share the distate for Notre Dame shared by his predecessor Davie and his hagiographer Alan Grant, he had no idea how to relate to today's youth. His attempts to establish a rapport with Lorenzo Booker would have been comical if they hadn't cost Notre Dame a recruit.

Charlie Weis's most important tool in changing perceptions of Notre Dame is his coaching acumen. Nothing that happens off the field can be a substitute for on-field competence. But Weis also understands what off-field actions will effectively supplement on-field success. Consider Weis's whirlwind tour of the nation's high schools. Charlie could not seek out recruits, but he knew how to make himself the topic of conversation among recruits' peers. Charlie was not shy about loaning out his "bling," to use the parlance of our times. During his June 7 press conference, Weis remarked that, "There are schools where there are probably 150 kids that have pictures of them wearing a Super Bowl ring." Weis has demonstrated an ability to connect with kids that his predecessors lacked.

The loss of prestige among today's high school athletes is a serious problem for the Notre Dame program. However, Charlie Weis seems to have recognized this problem and to have tackled it head-on.

The early returns, according to Jeff Yelton, James Aldridge's coach:

"When he walked down the hall, you saw a lot of necks snapping around quickly."

It's in the game | by Pat

Today marks the official release of the highly anticipated NCAA Football 2006 video game. And while we don't have a video game system installed in the BGS Lounge, we do understand the importance of this game to the general world of college football. Fans love it for the realistic stadiums, rosters, small touches unique to each school, and the opportunity to make things right in the world.

The NCAA Football series is so ingrained into the fabric of college football that when recruits take their visits to various universities to sample the college life, playing this game with guys already on the team is as much of a staple of the visit as meeting "some friends of ours" named Tiffany, Crystal, and Veronica.

We'll leave the game review to other sites, but did want to mention one specific ND improvement. This year they modified the offensive playbook when you play as the Fighting Irish. It seems the new "Charlie Weis" playbook is a bit more advanced than last year's Diedrick-inspired design.

update: While we're talking video games here, Jay reminded me of the fact that Weis was used as a consultant in the creation of NFL Quarterback Club '99 for the Nintendo 64. Here's a nice quote from the game's lead designer, Bill Lacoste:

Another innovation big change in this year's game is the completely rewritten AI. In reworking the AI, we got the advice of an NFL pro, Charlie Weis, the offensive coordinator of the NY Jets. He spent some time with us here in Austin and spoke to everyone on the team about the principles of football and the responsibilities of every player on defense and offense depending on the coverages or plays that we were going to run. The great thing about Charlie is he didn't just give us this information and then leave. He worked with us through the entire development process to make sure we captured the feel of running an NFL offense or defense.

Given the affinity towards video games found in nearly every recruit, I wonder if Weis causally mentions that fact.

the Parris Option | by Michael

no, not that Paris, and not that Notre Dame

Rob Parris, a 6'4", 185 lb wide receiver out of St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio became the ninth verbal, and the second WR, of the 2006 Irish recruiting class. Last year Parris caught 39 passes for 900 yards and 13 touchdowns. Here's the writeup from the SB Trib and the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"It seems like a good fit for Robby," said St. Ignatius football and track coach Chuck Kyle. "It looks like there will be some very good opportunity early to get playing time. The receivers coming back [at Notre Dame] are all upperclassmen so, once they graduate, the spot is open. Plus it's a great fit academically."

Earlier this spring, Parris received written offers from Iowa, Kansas, Miami-Ohio and Illinois, but both Notre Dame and Michigan had asked Parris to participate in their summer camps before they would extend an offer. It was rumored that both staffs were interested in evaluating Parris's speed, and apparently he was fast enough for both programs. After strong performances in Ann Arbor and South Bend, Parris got offers from both schools.

The Irish held two advantages that ultimately swayed Parris in our direction. First, there was the promise of early playing time with a thinning WR depth chart at ND (the Irish will lose Matt Shelton, Maurice Stovall and Rhema McKnight after the 2005 season). Per the Scout article:

"When I talked to Coach Carr, he said that he can't make any guarantees, but that I'd get the chance to play early on. Down at Notre Dame they told me that they expected me to come in as a freshman and be ready to play," said Parris.

Secondly, there was teammate John Ryan, who had verballed to Notre Dame in early June. As Parris related to BGI, “He was really pumped up. Johnny was a big factor. He was a big tie-breaker.”

High school teammates within the same recruiting class are not a new phenomenon at Notre Dame. Willingham’s recruits actually featured three sets of classmates: Ambrose Wooden & Victor Abiamiri, Chinedum Ndukwe & Brady Quinn, and finally, Jeff Samardzija and Carl Gioia (a preferred walk-on who earned scholarship in 2004).

What’s different about this case is that none of those other schools is a high school football juggernaut on par with St. Ignatius, which has won nine state titles since 1988. The school is constantly sending kids to D1 programs, and even as I was watching two highlight videos of Parris, I couldn’t help but notice the talent of a lot of the other players, too. Check out this list of other D1 football players who have graduated from St. Ignatius since 1990 (thanks to our friend Glass for his help in brainstorming this list):

LB Kareem Ingram – Colorado State DL Jamie Bennett – Colorado State QB Joe Pickens – Duke (transferred from Ohio State) WR Mark Ruddy – Northwestern DL Trent Zenkewicz – Michigan OL Juan Porter – Ohio State LB Chris Gizzi – Air Force QB Scott Mutryn – Boston College RB Eric Haddad - Purdue WR Drew Haddad - Buffalo OL LaCharles Bentley – Ohio State

OL Jim Massey – Ohio State DL Chris Hovan – Boston College DL John Favret – Wisconsin TE Dan O’Leary – Notre Dame OL Jason Brooks – West Virginia (transferred from Michigan) QB Dave Ragone – Louisville OL Jacob Bell – Miami (Ohio) RB Doug Gizzi – Air Force DL Pat Massey – Michigan LB John Kerr – Ohio State (transferred from Indiana)

OL Kevin Sheridan – Boston College WR Anthony Gonzalez – Ohio State OL Mike Eynon – Ohio U. OL Steve Miller – Ohio U. LB John Haneline – Bowling Green DB Darnell Martemus – Vanderbilt TE Mike Massey – Michigan QB Brian Hoyer – Michigan State DB Sean Kavanagh – Miami (Oh.) TE Jim Ramella – Boston College

There are probably a few missing from that list, but you get a good idea of the pipeline of talent from St. Ignatius. (The talent isn’t simply football-centric, either.) Now that Charlie Weis has refocused on recruiting in the midwest, and especially Ohio, as my colleague Pat pointed out in his rundown on teammate John Ryan, here's hoping ND can start tapping into regional powerhouses like St. Ignatius again.

On a final note, Parris won’t be the only Irish/Wolverine recruiting battle decided this summer; defensive back Steve Brown has a top three of Notre Dame, Michigan and Purdue and his announcement could occur in a day, a week or a month. Most recruitniks believe it’s a two-team battle between the Irish and Wolverines, and similarly to Parris’s recruitment, early playing time could be the biggest factor in his decision.

In any case, a quick welcome to Rob Parris. (And if this pic from the SBT is any indication, he's already got the SYR wardrobe covered.)

the Big XII horns in | by Jay

Looks like the Gator Bowl wants to get the Big XII in the mix, at the expense of more Big East participation. The upshot, according to this article, seems to be that ND will be limited to just one appearance in the Gator over the next four years.

The Gator Bowl Association's next four-year contract could match up teams from the Big 12, the Big East or Notre Dame against the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Times-Union has learned.

The proposal, if ratified, would begin with the Jan. 1, 2007 game at Alltel Stadium. It would enable the Gator Bowl to invite a Big 12 team for two years, a Big East team for two years, or bypass a Big East team once to select independent Notre Dame if the Irish are bowl-eligble and not in a Bowl Championship Series game.

For non-BCS bowls, Notre Dame is part of the Big East and bound by agreements reached by that conference.

The Big 12, Big East and the Gator Bowl executive board have not yet finalized the deal, but officials of the conferences said an announcement about their bowl affiliations could come as early as this week.

The commissioners of the Big 12 and Big East have verbally agreed to the deal, said 2006 Gator Bowl chairman Mike Hartley...

If the agreement is passed, the Gator Bowl would join the Cotton, Holiday, Alamo and Champs Sports Bowls among the Big 12 affiliates. Among the teams playing in those games in recent years: Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas Tech...

The major sticking point is the conference's relationship with Notre Dame. For the Big East to remain affiliated, GBA officials still wanted access to Notre Dame. Initially, the GBA wanted the Notre Dame option in any given year, if the Big East remained with the Gator Bowl, but Hartley said that position has been softened with the addition of the Big 12 to the picture.

"We don't need to demand the access to Notre Dame in all four years of the contract, since we've got the chance to get Big 12 teams such as Texas, Nebraska, Kansas State or Colorado," he said.

Attendance averaged more than 72,000 in Notre Dame's two appearances in the Gator Bowl: 2003 against North Carolina State and 1999 against Georgia Tech.

"You can assume that any agreement with the Big East involves the option of taking Notre Dame when it is not in the BCS and bowl-eligible," Smith said.

Feels like the walls just closed in a little tighter. Keep in mind that under the old Big East arrangement, the Gator Bowl could select Notre Dame whenever it wanted; this limits our potential participation significantly.

Lots more to shake out on the Bowl front for ND, of course, but for now our options are slightly scaled back.

Dangling Chads | by Pat

If it's early July, that means it's All-Star time for major league baseball, and in the spirit of the season we decided to put together our own ballot of All-Stars covering ND football. There's no perforated card stock to worry about (my car keys never did a good job of poking holes in those things anyway), no trying to figure out who the best shortstop in the National League is (a herculean task, to be sure); just a quick survey on whom you consider the best of the best of the Irish gridders.

We broke all the players down by head coaches, starting with Ara. To our mind, Ara marks the beginning of the modern era of ND football; plus he's about as far back as our collective firsthand memory goes.

Why do it this way? It seemed original! In other sports, we've had a lot of All-Decade teams and Top 50 Player lists and Best Half-Century squads and All-time Greats and so forth; now we'll get a look at who comprises the All-Parseghian team and the All-Devine team, on down through the All-Ty team. (Understandably, we didn't put together an All-O'Leary team).

So for each coaching era, we picked out the top handful of guys at each position, just to narrow it down. What follows is our highly unscientific "methodology" in figuring out who went where...

1. One player; one coach.

A large number of ND players played for more than one coach, but to enforce some rigorous discipline on ourselves (and who doesn't need a little more rigor and discipline in their lives?), we decided that each player should belong to only one coach, and one coach only. No double-dips. Most of the time it was easy, since players who spanned a couple of coaches just seem to belong to one regime or another. Tim Brown? Signed by Faust, but he's a Holtz guy, of course. For some players, it was a little trickier, and in those cases we just went with our first gut reaction. Marc Edwards? Andy Heck? Julius Jones: is he a Ty guy, or does he belong to the Bullet? (You'll have to take the survey to find out).

And this kind of deliberation extended to players who played multiple positions as well (with a few punter exceptions). Grant Irons lined up as a defensive end, defensive tackle, and linebacker during his time under the Dome. We had to slot him somewhere; what position do you remember him as?

2. When in doubt, look at the awards.

If a player earned All-American status under a certain coach but not under the other, we're going to throw him in with the former. This also counts for guys that moved positions during their career. If a guy played at a few different spots, the nod goes to whatever position won him honors. Perhaps not a great rule, but it made things easier on us.

3. Don't get too fancy.

For a position like linebacker, we didn't worry about things like weakside, strongside, or middle backer. Rather, we just lumped everyone into one, big, linebacker stew. Likewise, we didn't differentiate between strong and free safety, or flanker and split end. Choose who you want; if you want to be really geeky and pick out a quick weak-side rush end and a sturdy strongside end, that's up to you.

We also decided on a base 4-3 defense for the all-star team. That means 4 down lineman (2 defensive ends, 2 defensive tackles) and 3 linebackers. A majority of Notre Dame teams used this defense, so that's what we went with.

4. Mistakes are allowed.

In some cases, we broke our own rules (but that's the beauty of running your own poll, isn't it?), in other cases, we no doubt missed the boat. Feel free to write a comment and let us know where we screwed up. In fact, we encourage it. And if after all that, our explanations still don't make sense, feel free to hit the "Next Blog" button at the very top and read about some 20-something in Topeka writing about what her cat did today.

Now then, enough of the exposition, and on to the ballots. Vote for the ones you feel like voting for; skip the ones you don't. And make sure to let your friends and neighbors know. The more the merrier. And sometime after the results are in, we'll combine all this into one massive All-Time All-Star poll.

So commence voting, and remember: no chad left behind.

Vote for the Ty Willingham All-Star Team.	Willingham Results
Vote for the Bob Davie All-Star Team.	Davie Results
Vote for the Lou Holtz All-Star Team.	Holtz Results
Vote for the Gerry Faust All-Star Team.	Faust Results
Vote for the Dan Devine All-Star Team.	Devine Results
Vote for the Ara Parseghian All-Star Team.	Parseghian Results

By the way, if you need an assist, here are some handy links: All-Time Notre Dame Lineups, Notre Dame NFL Draft History, Notre Dame All-Americans, Notre Dame Record Holders. Dig in.

Know Thine Enemy: The Underlings | by Michael

(This is part 5 of a series on the newly-hired coaches ND will face this year.)

Over the last four weeks we've profiled some of the new head coaches for our opponents, and before tackling the last one (Pittsburgh’s Dave Wannstedt), we’ll take a quick look at some of the assistant coach shuffling for some of the other teams on this year's slate.

(Note: the Vols and the Midshipmen apparently made no changes to their staffs this offseason).

---

Michigan Wolverines
Take a look at the current Michigan staff. During the off-season, former Irish assistant Bill Sheridan left to coach linebackers with the New York Giants. Sheridan was the recruiting coordinator and the DL coach, although he was originally hired as a LB coach. Veteran DL coach Steve Stripling will replace Sheridan; he comes from in-state rival Michigan State and his coaching resume also includes over fifteen years of coaching linemen with Minnesota, Louisville and Indiana.

In my opinion, this is a great move for the Wolverines. Why did defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann and/or Lloyd Carr ever think it would be a good idea for Sheridan to coach the line when all of his previous experience came from coaching linebackers and safeties? In the two years that Sheridan has been the DL coach, sacks dwindled from 42 to 29 to just 21 last season. Is it a coincidence? Considering how much technique is required for defensive line positions, and the vast experience that Stripling has over Sheridan, it’s not hard to imagine that Michigan’s line performance will be greatly improved in '05. (But I’m still left wondering why Sheridan was made the DL coach in the first place.)

Michigan State Spartans
Who would have ever imagined that a Michigan State defense that gave up 381.4 total yards and 27.2 points per game last year would be raided for coaches by the two Big Ten powers, Michigan and Ohio State?

As mentioned above, Lloyd Carr cherry-picked the Spartans for his new DL coach. Upon losing Stripling, MSU head coach John L. Smith took his search for a new line coach beyond the Big 10 and hired Lucious Selmon, a former All-American at Oklahoma who had most recently coached DL for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1995 through 2002. Although Selmon has been out of the game for two years, he has over 25 years of coaching experience and he would appear to be a great find for Smith.

Meanwhile, Smith also lost secondary coach Paul Haynes to Ohio State, but he quickly found a great replacement in UTEP defensive coordinator Tim Hundley, who had over 30 years of experience coaching at UCLA, Oregon State, Washington and Colorado. As Smith said at the announcement presser, "Tim Hundley was the No. 1 guy on my list. I have wanted to hire Tim for years but the timing was never right."

Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right this year, either. Soon after the announcement, Hundley changed his mind and went back to Mike Price and UTEP.

Smith eventually found another former coordinator who was willing to take a step down to work as a position coach: former Ole Miss coordinator Chuck Driesbach, who has solid experience in the 4-2-5 scheme that Michigan State ran last year. Driesbach has previously worked as a defensive coordinator at TCU (Gary Patterson was one of the first coaches to embrace the 4-2-5), Western Michigan and Pittsburgh (under Johnny Majors).

The Spartans weren’t hit with losses only on the defense; when Ron Zook took over at Illinois one of the first hires he made was Reggie Mitchell, who had been Michigan State’s ace recruiter and RB coach. To fill this hole, Smith hired Ben Sirmans, who had held the same position at Kent State for the last five years.

Finally, Michigan State also lost one of their defensive graduate assistants, David Watson. Why is this relevant? Well, it was Southern Cal who snatched him up, and considering how dominant the Trojan program has been the last few years, I’m quite certain that Pete Carroll had plenty of applicants to fill his two graduate assistant openings this year. Watson may be someone to keep an eye on down the road.

Overall, while I’m not sure how well Michigan State will do on the field this year, I have to admit I'm impressed with Smith’s staff -- especially some of the new hires.

Purdue Boilermakers
Take a look at the current Purdue staff. Tony Samuel was hired to replace DL coach Gary Emanuel, who joined the San Francisco 49ers as their DL coach. Joe Tiller got a steal of an assistant coach with this move. Samuel had been the head coach at New Mexico State from 1997 to 2004, and while that may not turn any heads, prior to that he coached outside linebackers and rush ends at Nebraska under Tom Osborne from 1986 to 1996. Under Samuel, Purdue's pass rushers should continue to terrorize opposing quarterbacks.

Purdue also added Mike Jacobs as a graduate assistant; he'll work with the offense. Jacobs played center for Ohio State from 1997-2001 and will replace Burt Thornton.

USC Trojans
Last but certainly not least, take a look at the current Southern Cal staff. Everyone knows that Norm Chow left to become the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, but fess up, who knew that their QB coach, Carl Smith, took the coordinator position with the Jacksonville Jaguars?

To replace those two key figures in the Trojans’ juggernaut, head coach Pete Carroll promoted WR coach Lane Kiffin to coordinator and hired Steve Sarkissian as assistant head coach and QB coach. Sarkissian, who was a quarterback under Chow at BYU, will run the offense while Kiffin, who played under another QB guru, Jeff Tedford, at Fresno State, will call the plays from upstairs. Confused? I’ll let Pete explain:

This is a great opportunity for us to keep our philosophy intact and our style and concepts... 'Sark' grew up under Norm Chow and played for him. We'll be able to keep our continuity... It's a big role to fill as Norm leaves. But Sark will be the guy you'll go to now with questions on the offense... [Kiffin will] do all the duties Sark needs... Sark will administer the game on the field and have the last say on the plays. Lane will be upstairs calling the plays. But Sark has the final say-so, unless I enter in.

Did you follow that? Consider it the Rock-Paper-Scissors offense. Kiffin calls the plays, but Sarkissian trumps Kiffin -- yet Kiffin plus Carroll beats Sarkissian. With returning talent like Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Lendale White, Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett, it probably won't matter most of the time, but who knows. I can't imagine this three-headed creation being more effective than a single-brained Norm Chow.

The Trojans lost another cog of their offensive coaching staff as OL coach Tim Davis joined Nick Saban’s Miami Dolphins staff. Enter Pat Ruel, who comes from the NFL and possesses over 30 years of college and pro experience. Ruel seems like a nice, safe pick, but to be honest, I would have expected Carroll to find someone better. He’s been with four teams in five years since he entered the NFL (Detroit Lions in 2000, Green Bay Packers (split OL duties) in 2001-2002, Buffalo Bills in 2003 and New York Giants in 2004). His collegiate experience isn’t much better, with his most recent stops being Northern Illinois (1985-1987), Kansas (1988-1996) and Michigan State (1998-1999). Take a look at his background and decide for yourself.

The other high-profile loss from the Trojan staff occurred on the defensive side of the ball, as DL coach, recruiting coordinator, and majority whip Ed Orgeron replaced David Cutcliffe as the head coach at Ole Miss. To replace Orgeron, Carroll hired Jethro Franklin, who had most recently been the DL coach for the Green Bay Packers. Franklin has also coached at the college level, with stops at UCLA and Fresno State on his resume. Additionally, Kiffin will take over Orgeron’s recruiting coordinator role.

Also on defense, Carroll promoted former graduate assistant Ken Norton, Jr. to a full-time assistant position. Norton will be sharing LB coaching duties with Rocky Seto. The other graduate assistant, Dennis Slutak, was promoted to Director of Football Operations.

David Watson, as mentioned above, and Sam Anno are the new Trojan graduate assistants. Watson will work with the offensive line. Anno, who will assist the defense and special teams, played linebacker for Southern Cal from 1983-1986 and then enjoyed a seven-year career in the NFL. He was most recently was an assistant coach at Venice High School.

Hoop Scoop | by Pat

We would be remiss if we failed to mention some of the recent Irish basketball news. Here's a quick rundown on the latest.

• New Big East officially forms

The new 16 team Big East officially expanded with Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, and South Florida replacing departing Boston College. Now the biggest basketball conference in the country, the addition of Cincinnati, Louisville, and Marquette will make it an extremely competitive basketball league. And to make things officially official, the league jazzed up the league logo.

• Torin Francis returns to Notre Dame

After his short dance with the NBA Draft, Torin Francis returned to Notre Dame for his senior year. He wasn't considered a first round selection going into the draft camps and his return to South Bend wasn't that much of a surprise. And while Irish fans had hoped to see Francis participate in a big man camp, he should benefit from not only the competition level at the draft camps, but also the frank and honest feedback from pro scouts.

NBA draft consultant Chris Ekstrand summed up Francis' performance at the draft camps with a report card that mirrors much of the conventional wisdom on Francis:

“He’s got some things to learn and work on to be an effective NBA player. The fact that he’s here and holding his own is positive. He needs more variety in his offensive game. He does very well defending his man. He needs to anticipate game situations a little better. He’s improved with that.”

Francis came into Notre Dame with only a few years of basketball experience under his belt and back injuries curtailed one of his seasons. Now, he will have one final year to prove that his game has progressed to the point of becoming the NBA prospect that everyone hopes he will become.

One interesting note from the draft camps. While always reported at either 6"10 or 6'11, Francis officially measured in at 6'8" 3/4.

• Chris Thomas goes undrafted

Notre Dame's other high school McDonald's All-American, Chris Thomas, was not selected in the recent NBA Draft. In a draft where often times potential outweighs production, Thomas did not hear his name called out and now must work to make a team through summer camps and free agency. While he leaves Notre Dame the career leader in a multitude of categories, his career was uneven and it seems his draft stock dropped every year. After a knee injury, he never appeared to have the same speed and quickness as he did as a freshman. Still, Thomas is still working to make an NBA team in the future and will start by playing for the Indiana Pacers summer league team.

• Torrian Jones eyes NBA Development League.

There is a nice storyabout Torrian Jones on Phillyburbs.com and his work towards making the NBA. After a successful season in the USBL, Jones plans on playing in the NBDL, which is the minor league equivalent for the NBA. And in other Irish news, last year's NBDL MVP, Notre Dame's Matt Carroll, just received a qualifying offer from the NBA Charlotte Bobcats, a team he played in 25 games for last season.

• Freshmen start at Notre Dame

Continuing a recent trend, the incoming freshmen basketball players are on campus already taking summer classes and working out with the team. They were added to the official roster, which has a few interesting points. Kyle McAlarney is listed as guard/forward, but at 6'1" I can't see him at anything other than guard. Ryan Ayers apparently is still growing. After being a reported 6'5" on all the various recruiting sites (which usually bump up things like height anyway) he is listed as 6'7" on the official roster. And in a good sign for getting early playing time in the rough and tumble Big East, Luke Zeller weighed in at 245lbs (up from a recruiting weight of 230lbs) and Zach Hillesland really packed on some weight and now is listed at 220lbs (up from 190lbs).

• Big East releases 2005-2006 Basketball Schedule

The upcoming basketball schedule was released today (.pdf file here) by the Big East. The quick version is:

HOME GAMES: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, and Villanova.
ROAD GAMES: UConn, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Providence, Seton Hall, and WVU.

Notre Dame will play DePaul, Marquette, and Providence twice and will not play Cincinnati and St. Johns at all during the regular season.

The initial reaction is that it shapes up to be a rather easy home game schedule and a very difficult road game schedule. UConn, Louisville, and West Virginia are some of the stronger teams in the league and will all be tough games to play on the road. Pitt lost some of its best players, but is still a tough road venue. The Joyce Center should see a number of wins although Syracuse and Villanova will be strong this year. The home and home teams (DePaul, Marquette, and Providence) are not as tough as the recent schedules which put the Irish in twin bills against league powers UConn, Syracuse, and Pitt. And while this scheduling quirk may help the Irish to a better conference record, the strength of schedule might take a hit. Perhaps a few "stronger" out of conference games might make their way onto the schedule.

With a team that has missed out on the NCAA Tournament two straight years, the schedule does actually shape up nicely if the team is able to gel under the leadership of Chris Quinn at the point. While the road games will be difficult, the potential for big road wins are there and that is something that the NCAA Committee takes into acount. And putting up a solid home record is another key part of the NCAA Selection puzzle. Now, we'd rather be going into Selection Sunday with a bid already in hand, but just in case things come down to the wire (again), the schedule should give the Irish the potential to build a solid case as a bubble team.

T.B. Retires | by Jay

Tim Brown signed a one-day contract with the Raiders yesterday and promptly hung up his cleats. From NFL.com:

After 17 decorated NFL seasons, Brown has decided to retire, those close to him confirmed. Brown is expected to sign a one-day contract with the Raiders so he can retire with the team that he spent 16 of his 17 NFL seasons.

A part of Brown wanted to continue playing. Even last week he admitted the fire still burned in him. But as Brown surveyed the NFL landscape this offseason, he found that there was little interest in his services. As it turned out, there was more interest in him from the television side.

FOX-TV would like Brown to join its team and become an analyst. NBC has mulled the idea of Brown joining its team to commentate on Notre Dame, where the wide receiver won the Heisman Trophy for the 1987 season. Other business ventures have also appealed to Brown, who always has been one of the classiest players representing the NFL. In the end, Brown decided it was time to take off his cleats and slip on his loafers.

The numbers are now complete on one of the greatest careers any receiver ever has had: 1,094 catches -- third most in NFL history; 14,934 receiving yards -- second most in NFL history; 100 receiving touchdowns -- tied for third most in NFL history; nine Pro Bowl selections; nine straight seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards; a streak of 175 straight starts for the Raiders; most every significant Raiders receiving record. And now, Brown will be an almost-certain first-ballot Hall of Fame selection.

Brown will first be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2010, a class that is expected to include running back Emmitt Smith, the leading rusher in NFL history. Brown, the last Raider left to have played in Los Angeles, will celebrate his 39th birthday on July 22.

Away from the field, one of Brown's trademarks was his candor. It almost was as if he served as the Raiders spokesman. Yet at times, it left him at odds with team management. But even through some of those rough times, Brown always remained one of the most popular players in the locker room.

Though Brown will be remembered as a Raider, he did finish his career in Tampa Bay, where he caught 15 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in the first three games of the 2004 season before watching his playing time diminish. Brown might have made his greatest mark in Tampa with rookie wide receiver Michael Clayton, who consistently credited Brown for being a role model on and off the field. It is the way Brown always has handled himself.

(For some more background on No. 81, including a retrospective of his Irish career, take a look at our reflection on Brown from back in January.)

So, whither Brown? To Fox Sports? To the Irish broadcasting team on NBC? To the Irish staff?

There was a report in January from the Tampa Bay Tribune (complete with quotes from Brown, detailed in our retrospective linked above) that Tim was headed to work with Charlie's staff in South Bend once his career came to an end. Rumors circulated that he'd be an assistant coach or some kind of recruiting liaison. Since then, he's appeared on campus as a guest coach for the Blue & Gold game, but there was no further confirmation that he'd be rejoining ND in a staff position anytime soon.

Yet even if he takes a broadcasting job in the near-term, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brown back on campus someday in an official position. It's clearly something he's pursued as recently as a few months ago.

Last note: I love these one-day contracts for retiring players. Emmitt Smith did it earlier this year, returning to the Cowboys for 24 hours; Jerry Rice will most likely do it sometime in the next fifteen years, or whenever he decides to hang it up. For the record, when I retire, I would be deeply honored to sign a one-day contract with St. Louis, so I could go out a Cardinal. It just seems like the right thing to do.

2005 Opponent Position Preview - Wide Receiver | by Pat

(This is the third post in a series. Previously we highlighted opposing Quarterbacks and Running Backs. Today we take a look at our opponents' Wide Receiving corps.)

When you start sizing up ND's defense, one thing is immediately apparent: Notre Dame is very green and very young in the secondary. Only Zibby has any live combat experience thus far. And there will be no grace period for our tenderfoots to get up to speed: starting with the first game, ND is going to face a lot of teams that like to air it out, and along with them a host of fleet and dependable receivers. Let's see what we're up against.

(all stats are from the '04 season)

PITTSBURGH

Greg Lee. 68 receptions, 1297 yards, 10 TDs. Returning Starter.
Joe DelSardo. 49 receptions, 573 yards, 4 TDs. Returning Starter.

In the past eight years, a Pitt wide receiver has led the Big East in receiving yards seven times, and the early reports are that Greg Lee (right) is a favorite to make it eight out of nine. One of the top WRs in the country, Lee has the size (6'2", 200 lbs) to go across the middle, but his 19.1 yards/catch average shows he's a potent deep threat as well. He will be a big test for the season opener. Complementing Lee is former walk-on Joe DelSardo. It's not often you see the "possesion receiver" label applied to a 5'8" wideout, but that's what DelSardo is. He has excellent hands and can be dangerous if too much attention is paid to Lee. Depth: The top six pass catchers all return for Wannstedt's initial season, but four of the six play either tight end or running back. Some of the younger receivers will need to pick up the new offense quickly and help take pressure off of Lee and DelSardo.

MICHIGAN

Jason Avant. 38 receptions, 447 yards, 3 TDs. Returning Starter.
Steve Breaston. 34 receptions, 291 yards, 3 TDs.
Adrian Arrington. 2 receptions, 12 yards, 0 TDs.

There is no obvious superstar this year, but Steve Breaston (left), when healthy, is one of the speedier and more dangerous receivers in college football. For now he is better known as a return man, but he should be a primary target in the Michigan offense this season. Jason Avant returns to the starting lineup and appears to be more of a possession guy than a fly-pattern type. Still, he is the returning leader in receiving yards and will be a frequent target of Chad Henne's passes. Sophomore Arrington is tall and lanky (6'3" 184 lbs) and will try to live up the high expectations placed on him when he came in as a heralded recruit. Depth: Arrington's hold on the #3 WR position isn't solid and he could be replaced by senior Carl Tabb, who only has 10 career catches to his name, or redshirt frosh Doug Dutch, a 5'10" laser. Another possibility is incoming freshman Mario Manningham, who had an excellent game at the recent Ohio North/South All-Star game.

MICHIGAN STATE

Matt Trannon. 36 receptions, 405 yards, 2 TDs. Returning Starter.
Kyle Brown. 23 receptions, 302 yards, 1 TDs. Returning Starter.
Jerramy Scott. 39 receptions, 444 yards, 3 TDs. Returning Starter.

The Spartans receiving corps does not have any standout stars, but they're a very experienced bunch that has plenty of playing time under their belts. Matt Trannon (right) is a towering target (6'6") who also plays on the Spartan basketball team and will be dangerous on jump-ball situations. Jerramy Scott is a dependable hogskin wrangler who led the Spartans in both receptions and yards last season. Kyle Brown is the Spartan's roadrunner, and after nearly being switched to saftey he responded with a strong spring, where he showed the ability to become a solid vertical threat. He could easily become Drew Stanton's favorite target. Depth: Speedster Agim Shabaj was declared academically ineligible, but the Spartans still have a deep bench. Senior Aaron Alexander (6'5") is finally healthy and should contribute. Carl Grimes, brother of incoming ND freshman David Grimes, is coming off a redshirt year and will likely see the field as well.

WASHINGTON

Corey Williams. 10 receptions, 128 yards, 0 TDs.
Craig Chambers. 19 receptions, 408 yards, 2 TDs. Returning Starter.

The Huskies will start two younger, yet talented receivers who have plenty of potential to drastically improve the Washington aerial attack. Irish fans might recall Corey Williams as the WR who flashed some skill before crashing into the wall at Notre Dame Stadium last year and breaking his wrist. He's healthy now and should have a good year if the Huskies can get him the ball. Likewise, Chambers (left) is a sizable guy at 6'3" who averaged 21.5 yards/catch and was Washington's best receiver towards the end of last season. His strong finish last year should give him confidence going into the fall. Depth: Sonny Shackelford led the Huskies with receptions last year and will be a veteran presence off the bench. Quintin Daniels is quick, but is trying to return from a torn ACL.

PURDUE

Kyle Ingraham. 51 receptions, 624 yards, 7 TDs. Returning Starter.
Dorien Bryant. 38 receptions, 584 yards, 3 TDs. Returning Starter.
Ray Williams. 14 receptions, 146 yards, 0 TDs.

Six-foot-Nine telephone pole Kyle Ingraham (right) is Purdue's leading returning receiver, he provides a tall target (well, that's an understatement) for QB Kirsch. On the other side, speedster Dorien Bryant is the wind to Ingraham's tree. Only a sophomore, he is looking to become the star of the Purdue offense. Rounding out a very deep receiving group is senior Ray Williams, who's pretty quick but still hasn't put together a dominant year. Depth: Brian Hare came in as a JUCO last season, averaged an impressive 26.0 yards/catch, and will return as the primary deep threat for a team that usually will go with 4-receiver sets. Angelo Chattams will back up Bryant and Purdue's incoming freshman Greg Orton (6'4") and Selwyn Lymon (6'5") have the size and speed to make an immediate impact.

USC

Dwayne Jarrett. 55 receptions, 849 yards, 13 TDs. Returning Starter.
Steve Smith. 42 receptions, 660 yards, 6 TDs. Returning Starter.

Stop me if you've heard this before: the Trojan wide receivers will be a challenge for the Irish secondary this fall. Lofty (6'5") and rangy Dwayne Jarrett (left) started out a bit slow as a freshman last year but kept getting better every week and ended up leading the Trojan receivers in yards and touchdowns. Steve Smith missed time with a leg injury but still had a solid season, an impressive Orange Bowl, and showed he has a nice right hook. These two might be the best receiving duo in college football (recall, for instance, what they did to Oklahoma as a freshman and sophomore). Depth: Chris McFoy would start for most other programs and is a very dependable oblong catcher. Whitney Lewis is still trying to stay academically eligible, but has the talent to make an impact. Incoming freshman Patrick Turner (6'5) was rated as one of the top receivers in the country and most likely will start seeing playing time right away.

BYU

Todd Watkins. 52 receptions, 1042 yards, 6 TDs. Returning Starter.
Bryce Mahuika. 1 reception, 50 yards, 0 TDs.
Matt Allen. 1 reception, 26 yards, 0 TDs.

Perhaps the best single wideout that Notre Dame will face next season, Todd Watkins (right) is one of only two 1,000-yard receivers in the country (the other being Greg Lee) and will likely hit 4 digits on the odometer again. Mahuika is a smaller and sprier, who was primarily used as a return man last year. Allen is another special teams player who will have to step up and help take pressure off of Watkins. Depth: BYU's other star WR, Austin Collie, is on a LDS mission this year and will definitely be missed. Incoming freshman Michael Reed is expected to push for playing time, while Brent Cooper is another quick special teams player looking to make his mark as a receiver. BYU's pass-happy offense will mean plenty of receptions for everyone.

TENNESSEE

Robert Meachem. 25 receptions, 459 yards, 4 TDs. Returning Starter.
Jayson Swain. 29 receptions, 388 yards, 4 TDs. Returning Starter.
Bret Smith. 18 receptions,291 yards, 5 TDs.

Robert Meachem (left) has rapidly emerged as an excellent receiver and will only be a sophomore eligibility-wise this fall. At 6'3" he has the size to dominate smaller corners and enough speed to beat many of them deep, as his 18.4 yards/catch average attests. Swain will help to take pressure off Meacham, and his velcro hands will likely be top target on 3rd downs. Smith adds more size (6'3") to the Vol unit, and on only 18 receptions he led the Vols with 5 touchdowns last season. Depth: Chris Hannon is the biggest Tennessee wideout at 6'4" and he's also one of the fastest. Recovering from an arm injury, he will provide depth behind Meachem. C.J. Fayton isn't as fast as Meachem but also has an excellent 15.8 yards/catch average. Incoming freshman Slick Shelley is an unproven, but tall (6'4") receiver who will try and add to the Volunteer WR depth, as well as provide some serious moniker credibility.

NAVY

Jason Tomlinson. 16 receptions, 273 yards, 1 TD. Returning Starter.
Mick Yokitis. 2 receptions, 20 yards, 1 TD.

Traditionally, Navy wideouts tend to be more blockers than catchers. Still, Tomlinson (right) returns after leading the Midshipmen in receptions last season, and he can get open if Navy decides to pass the ball. Yokitis is a big, strong player at 6'2", 223 lbs, which is good, because he's mostly throwing blocks. Depth: Lloyd Regas and Kyle Kimbo round out a receiving corps that won't see the ball all that much.

SYRACUSE

Tim Lane. 0 receptions, 0 yards, 0 TDs.
Rice Moss. 4 receptions, 40 yards, 0 TDs.
Landel Bembo. 14 receptions, 115 yards, 0 TDs.

Syracuse is going to have to find some dependable pass catchers after losing their top 5 receivers from a year ago to graduation and positional changes. In fact, it's possible none of the listed guys will be starters come September. Lane played special teams, but he's got a lot to prove at wideout, and who knows...he might be passed on the depth chart by the time ND rolls around. Moss started a game last year, but only has 4 receptions to his name. Landel Bembo (left) started two games last season, but at 5'8", 168 lbs he isn't an imposing target. Depth: many 'Cuse fans hope that incoming freshmen Richard Abney and Lavar Lobdell will be able to step into a starting role. The Orange offense will need the help.

STANFORD

Mark Bradford. 34 receptions, 482 yards, 1 TD. Returning Starter.
Gerren Crochet. 3 receptions, 43 yards, 0 TDs.
Evan Moore. 39 receptions, 616 yards, 6 TDs. Returning Starter.

The Cardinal receivers will be a solid, experienced group this season, led by Mark Bradford and Evan Moore. Bradford is entering his third season as a starter and should be Trent Edwards' main target. Moore (right) is a very tall (6'7") receiver who is the leading returning receiver in terms of yardage and touchdowns. Crochet is a fast deep threat who also runs on the Stanford track team. With offensive guru Walt Harris in charge, the passing game will again be a focus for Stanford, and Cardinal receivers will be an essential component of the Stanford attack. Depth: Marcus McCutcheon and Justin McCullum are a step down from the starters, and aren't expected to contribute very much.

2005 Opponent Wide Receiver Analysis and Ranking

This year, the general theme for our opponent receiving corps seems to be, "experienced and deep". There aren't all that many superstar receivers we're going to face, but many teams will offer a core of solid, veteran talent. Michigan State, for example, probably doesn't have any one receiver that will make first team All-Big Ten, but they'll still be dangerous based on their overall depth and above-average talent spread across the entire unit. This means that stopping the pass for ND this season will involve more than just shutting down one guy (except for Pitt, perhaps); the entire ND backfield will have to work together to contain passing attacks that throw the ball to multiple receivers and spread the receptions around. I'm not sure how this year's crop of opponent WRs measures up overall when compared to previous years, but it does seem like a very talented and veteran group. And combined with the number of returning starting QBs, the Notre Dame pass defense will be tested early and often this year.

One extra point that sticks out is the appearance of several very tall wide receivers, especially Kyle Ingraham of Purdue and Evan Moore at Stanford, at 6'9" and 6'7" respectively. Defensive coaching and alignment will have to be sharp to prepare us for simple jump-balls to the corner of the end zone every time a team enters the red zone.

Here's my take on the best WR units that ND will face this season:

1. USC - Jarrett and Smith are a lethal 1-2 punch. Turner is already showing he will be a good one.
2. Tennessee - Meachem and Swain make up a pretty good combo themselves.
3. Purdue - A very deep and experienced receiving corps that adds some tall, talented freshman.
4. Michigan - Breaston should have a breakout year. Others are talented and dependable.
5. Michigan State - No superstars, but an experienced unit with height (Trannon) and speed (Brown).
6. Stanford - Bradford and Moore are both quality wide receivers. Crochet adds plenty of speed.
7. Pitt - Greg Lee is already a star. Pitt needs to develop some more depth though.
8. BYU - Watkins alone should have them ranked higher than this, but the others are inexperienced.
9. Washington - Young receivers have plenty of potential. Now they need to produce.
10. Syracuse - When you are hoping freshman will start, that's not a good sign.
11. Navy - Good athletes, but they will be using their skills to block nine times out of ten.

Next up: Tight Ends.

Consistently inconsistent | by Jay

OmahaDomer, the Yoda of Notre Dame statistical analysis, has an interesting look at the consistency (or lack thereof) of a few of our recent coaches. I think most folks had a general sense that the way our seasons unfolded under Willingham often defied rational explanation, but it's nice to see it all worked out on paper. And the conclusion is warm and fuzzy:

The good news, I suppose, is that ND has played well enough against the good teams to have decent or better years. But the Irish haven’t been able avoid season-killing losses to weak teams. If ND starts to beat the teams it should, things will look up in a hurry.

the delicate balance | by Jay

Nice article in the SBT today by Eric Hansen, who documents the softer side of Charlie in a piece called "God, Family, Notre Dame".

"It was 1991 -- March 9, 1991, to be exact," [Weis] said. "That's the day I met Maura at the Jersey Shore. I was a rookie coach in the NFL. We had just won a Super Bowl, so I'm feeling pretty good about myself. It's my first year in the NFL, and I've already got a Super Bowl ring. But to be perfectly honest, your life is kind of empty, because you have no one to share it with."

Charlie wanted to make sure that resonance wasn't washed away by his career drive. It still isn't uncommon for him to put in 100-hour weeks during football season, so he made sure Maura got a taste of that life before they were engaged.

"Here's what my family knows," Charlie said. "They know when I'm not working, I'm doing something with them. They know I'm not on the golf course. I don't go fishing. I don't go out with the fellas. They know I will give them every second I possibly can. My whole life, my whole career, my whole impetus for whatever I do is Maura, Charlie and Hannah."

Know Thine Enemy: Washington's Tyrone Willingham | by Michael

(This is part 4 of a series on the newly-hired coaches ND will face this year.)

Last week we profiled new Stanford head coach Walt Harris, and this week we'll stay in the Pac-10 to review former Stanford and Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham, who has assumed the reins of the Washington Huskies. You may have heard of him before.

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Tyrone Willingham, University of Washington

Bio/record: Check out Willingham's Husky bio. Or his Irish bio. Or his Cardinal bio. Willingham amassed a 21-15 record at Notre Dame during the last three years; prior to that he was 44-36-1 in seven years at Stanford. He replaces Keith Gilbertson, who resigned after a 1-10 season in 2004. Willingham worked as a running backs coach in the NFL and college, and when Dennis Green left Stanford, Willingham was promoted to the head coaching position.

Notable staff: Tim Lappano was hired as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Lappano is best known for working with Dennis Erickson at Idaho, Oregon State, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers, and he also has coached at Cal, Wyoming, Purdue and Washington State. Most of the remaining Husky assistants are a who’s who of the old ND staff: Mike Denbrock will be the sole offensive line coach. Kent Baer will be the defensive coordinator. Trent Miles will coach running backs (as opposed to wide receivers at Notre Dame). Steve Wilks will coach defensive backs. Bob Simmons will coach tight ends and special teams. Former Irish punter Joey Hildbold was also added as a defensive graduate assistant.

Offensive Philosophy: Seven weeks is how long it took Willingham to hire an offensive coordinator and, in my opinion, there are two ways of looking at this. The first, gracious viewpoint is that Willingham patiently and thoroughly evaluated his candidates for OC, and the process legitimately took seven weeks. The second, more realistic take is that the candidate pool was limited (I'll come out and ask it: is Willingham viewed as being on the downswing of his coaching career?) and Willingham needed seven weeks for viable candidates to emerge. Some internet rumors even suggested that Willingham was trying to hire his coordinator at Notre Dame, Bill Diedrick, against the wishes of a Washington administration who remembered his first tour of duty under Jim Lambright, and more specifically, the 1994 Oregon game. I seriously doubt that was the case. Ultimately, the delay may have cost Washington some recruits who didn’t want to sign for a program with no offensive identity, but Willingham hired Lappano, who has an extensive offensive background and appears to be a very good fit for the program.

Lappano has a strong coaching resume, and I think a variation of the one-back, spread offenses he developed with Erickson and Joe Tiller may eventually emerge in Seattle. With that in mind, so far Lappano has remained a little secretive when asked about the offense’s identity (Scout.com subscription needed).

“I can’t tell you guys too much. That’s one of the advantages that we have…no one knows what we are going to run.”

Of course, all coaches say stuff like that during the spring practice although this year was a little different since Willingham, unlike previous Washington coaches, closed practices to the media and fans.

Ironically, Lappano has strong ties to deposed Husky head coach and offensive coordinator Keith Gilbertson, so what they run in 2005 could be fairly similar to last year's offense. Gilbertson worked with Lappano for one year at Idaho (under Erickson), for three years at Cal and finally, for one year with the Seahawks (under Erickson again). This will probably mean a relatively easier transition to the new offense since most of the terminology should be the same, and a lot of the playbook should be similar. While greater use of a fullback has been discussed in the new offense, it wouldn’t make sense for Willingham to hire a coordinator like Lappano if he didn’t want a one-back, spread offense like the ones Erickson and Tiller have made popular. After all, that's Lappano's bread and butter.

Two great Scout.com articles (subscription required) from Dawgman.com reveal more. The first discusses offensive philosophy and the second includes Lappano’s thoughts on the Huskies’ personnel:

“I think the more looks we give the defense, the more we have to make them prepare for different formations and personnel groups, the more difficult we’ll be to defend...I do NOT want to be known as a finesse offense. We will run the ball and we will use two backs. I want a fullback at times to lead a power running game, to go with some one back...When we can stretch the field vertically and THEN get into two backs and run the ball physically, we’ll be hard to stop.”

Washington stopped itself quite a bit last year with turnovers and miscues. A similar lack of execution was one of Willingham’s pet peeves at Notre Dame and, looking at the Huskies' offense, there is nowhere to go but up. Quarterbacks completed a paltry 40% of their pass attempts, threw 24 interceptions and averaged 5.2 yards per pass attempt. Their running game managed a paltry 3.2 yards per rush. Those numbers are pathetic, and what compounded the problem was that they had 42 team turnovers (-19 differential). I expect that number to improve dramatically in 2005.

The option has been removed from the base offense, so that will help cut down on the fumbles, and because of their desire to control the ball and limit turnovers, I would expect a short passing attack featuring lots of screens. It’s what Lappano did with Jim Chaney and Tiller at Wyoming and Purdue, and it’s what he did with Erickson at Oregon State. Despite all the talk about the Huskies developing a power running game, I think the one-back spread will be their calling card this fall and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Oregon transfer Johnny Durocher ultimately win the nod at quarterback. He may be the best fit for Lappano's offense, although reportedly Isaiah Stanback is ahead of the other quarterbacks at this time.

The biggest question I have about Lappano is whether or not he's prepared to take over the reins of an offense. How will he do without Erickson or Chaney (Tiller's offensive coordinator) looking over his shoulder? I have some concerns but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, for now. Lappano is an intriguing pick, and his return to the Pacific Northwest should be mutually beneficial for both the Huskies and Lappano. (One thing's for sure, he's a helluva fisherman. He caught a 26-lb king salmon back in 2000, when he was working at Oregon State.)

On a final note on offense, two of Washington’s quarterbacks (Stanback and Carl Bonnell) may be better suited to run the option or a variation of the Bowling Green/Utah/Florida spread/option hybrid. Is Tyrone Willingham trying to fit a square peg into a round hole again?

Defensive Philosophy: Yes, there was an actual philosophy behind the Irish defense the last three years. Defensive coordinator Kent Baer favors a 4-3 defense with multiple fronts, and his defenses want to take away an offense's rushing attack in an attempt to make them one-dimensional. While Notre Dame had a great rushing defense the last few years, at times this strategy completely backfired because the Irish couldn't defend the pass. In the Pac-10, where more offenses are built around the passing game, it should definitely be interesting to see how Baer adapts. Even at Stanford, Baer's defenses were criticized because of their soft zone coverages, and these same soft zones were abused last year by Irish opponents.

With that in mind, I actually tend to believe that Baer's defenses at Washington will be better than what most might predict. At Notre Dame, Baer's best defense was in 2002, when he had an extremely quick weakside linebacker in Courtney Watson, who was pretty good in coverage. Last year, two of his three starting linebackers were recruited as middle linebackers (Mike Goolsby, Derek Curry), and the third, who was the fastest, was poor in coverage (Brandon Hoyte). At Washington, Baer will have smaller, more athletic linebackers, just like the linebacker recruits the Irish were landing before the staff was fired. For example, Evan Benjamin, the starting outside linebacker, is a converted safety and measures in at 215 pounds. Joe Lobendahn, who played middle linebacker last year, has apparently moved to the strong side, and he's undersized at 5'11 and 230 pounds. Then there's Scott White, who was heavily recruited out of high school; at 230 lbs, White is a small middle linebacker. All three of these players have extensive experience (they totalled over 280 tackles last year combined). Size isn't the only factor that contributes to speed but it would appear that this year's Husky linebacking corps will be faster and more athletic than what Baer had at Notre Dame.

If the linebacker talent is as good as I believe it to be, Baer should be more successful with the soft zones he favored at Notre Dame and Stanford. I can't imagine he would radically depart from this philosophy, especially with a team that had serious turnover problems last year and struggled moving the football on offense. Washington will play soft zones to take away the big pass play; they'll force teams to throw to the underneath and drive the length of the field in order to score. Additionally, the linebackers will have some experience behind them in the secondary, which could really come together by the end of 2005. The top three corners all have experience, and they return both safeties. If their free safety plays well, he could be the key to the Huskies' ability to mix and disguise their coverages; having a rangy centerfielder can make a huge difference, something Irish fans didn't see last year with Quentin Burrell, who appeared to play hurt.

Finally, one of the big problems the Huskies faced in 2004 was their inability to stop the run, but they have some young talent along the defensive line. This group gained invaluable experience last year when they were thrown into the fire, so to speak. As every Notre Dame fan knows, Baer will make it a priority that his defense stops the run. This is a no-brainer. If the Husky line is able to keep blockers from getting to the linebackers, Baer and the Huskies could have a very surprising defense in 2005.

Predictions: The excitement level is high in Seattle, and the Washington administration is trying to milk the hiring of Willingham for all it's worth. For instance, check out these weird commercials on their athletics site (for those that heard the rumors about how much Willingham enjoyed golfing in lieu of recruiting, there's a driving range commercial which will draw a chuckle).

I like the possibilities for the Huskies' offense and defense in the years to come, but there's one thing that Willingham did that would really bother me if I were a Huskies fan. Why on earth did he hire Bob Simmons to coach special teams? This hire is emblematic of the worst of Willingham: his irrational loyalty to incompetent assistants, to such an extent that it actually endangers the job security of everyone else. For example: in January 2002, Buzz Preston was given the task of coaching Notre Dame's special teams, although he had very limited experience. For the last three years Irish fans held their breath with every punt and kick-off, and closed their eyes on every kick-off return; special teams were abysmal. Now Simmons has been charged with coaching special teams for the Huskies, and guess what? He has zero experience. When there are plenty of hungry, qualified coaches at various levels waiting for an opportunity to coach special teams at a D1 school, this is the best Willingham can do? Why? To put it bluntly, under Ty, Stanford sucked at special teams, Notre Dame sucked at special teams, and now Washington will suck at special teams. In fact, it would be wonderfully ironic if the Irish scored a special teams touchdown against their old coach this year.

In the end, I'm left thinking that Willingham is headed for another round of his typical inconsistency at Washington. There will be bad seasons, and there will be good seasons, as I think Willingham does have some talented, smart, hard-working coaches on his staff who will recruit the Pacific Northwest and California fairly well. While a Rose Bowl bid isn't out of the question (if Willingham could win one at Stanford, there is no reason he can't do it at Washington, although the rebuilding job in Seattle will be much more arduous), I don't think he'll ever turn them into a dominant program. He makes too many poor staffing decisions (like the Simmons hire); similar moves were his downfall at Notre Dame, and they will prevent him from making Washington a consistent Pac-10 championship contender a la Don James and Jim Lambright.

If there is one thing Husky fans can hope for, it's that after one strong season the NFL finally comes calling for Willingham, and the school hires someone else...someone who can continue what Willingham may have started. He'll turn around Washington to a certain extent, and get them back into the middle of the Pac-10, but that's about it.

The Weis Factor: Weis has never faced a Willingham- or Baer-coached defense, although it's worth mentioning that the offenses which gave Baer the most fits were the balanced ones capable of running or passing. On the other side of the ball, Rick Minter has never coached against Tim Lappano, although he has certainly seen his share of spread offenses -- if that is what the Huskies decide to implement.

And let's be honest: Irish fans are looking forward with a lot of anticipation (and bemusement) to September 24th in Seattle. Extremely high expectations have been set that an ass-whooping is in the offing...preferably by more than 31 points, the magic number during Willingham's brief run in South Bend. That said, I'd be really surprised if such a blowout occurred. It's a road game, Washington won't be as bad as they were in 2004, and the game will be incredibly emotional for many of our Irish players.

And if Ty somehow happens to beat Charlie...?

The Big Day | by Dylan

So the hour is, at last, upon us.

For some, the transition of the Presidency of the University stirs feelings akin to those of the wandering Israelites upon Moses leading them out of the desert and into the promised land. For others, it's the biggest anti-climax since Hugh Hefner's 80th birthday party. One thing should be obvious to all, though. Based on his handling of Ty Willingham's dismissal and Charlie Weis' hiring, it's clear that Fr. Jenkins' vision of the University is substantially different from that of his predecessor.

We here at BGS have drafted a manifesto, which we hope to slip into Fr. Jenkins' pocket in the vacuum of moments during Dr. Monkenstein's wane and Fr. Jenkins' wax, hopefully to be read during his remarks after formally assuming his new position.

Here's what we would do if we were President.

NOTING that the U has been akin to a ship, if not without a rudder, then one with a drunken (and likely French) mime at the helm, and

DESIRING to set the compass both backward and forward at the same time, and

ENSURING that the student experience is the renewed and continued focus of the university,

WE PROPOSE the following changes:

• The immediate and prejudiced destruction of Legends. Surely one of our alums owns a bulldozer. In its place shall be constructed an establishment containing 2 parts Harry's Bar, 2 parts Doug Weston's Troubador, and 1 part O'Connell Street. In this establishment, students and alums will be able to eat food that does not suck, drink booze that does not suck, and hear live music that does not suck, all in an atmosphere that does not resemble the Perkins restaurant on 33. The fact that alums' first reaction upon entering will no longer be, "What the &@%# is this?" will be gravy.

• The university will commission a statue of Ara Parseghian, to be placed outside the northwest wall of the stadium.

• The University shall no longer engage in underhanded, dopey, ridiculous, heavy-handed tactics in the parking lots during home football weekends. Never again will an 85 year-old man named Bud and his 35 year-old grandson be asked, "You fellas gonna behave today?" by a mall cop in a plastic dayglo vest whose most intimate experience with a golden dome was when his date's hair fell out after too much fake-bake before the 1978 IUSB Spring Mixer.

• And speaking of tailgating, we will ease up on the black ops that have been found in the lots every football Saturday. We get it; underage drinking is wrong, but we believe undercover agents are a little much. We don't want you to feel like bolting whenever you see two casually dressed people who are too old to be students and too young to be parents; tailgating should be a relaxed and fun experience for all ages, not an episode of COPS.

• The University will shutter the Office of Manufactured Spirit, which has been flooding the campus with saccharine, inane, Ned-Flanders-on-laughing-gas "mystique" since the publication of the 1991 Dome. Any student or adminstrator found creating, proposing, or otherwise endorsing a "spirit banner" shall be forced to wear it as his lone garment for the period of one week. All hazing of said offender during this time shall be considered to have been performed in self-defense and, therefore, immune from prosecution.

• The University is hereby out of the Gameday T-shirt business. We will no longer defile our unparallelled football tradition by commemorating, in cotton, games against Navy, BYU, and Stanford. Students will not be prohibited from doing so, but are subject to the whims of the market. If you can sell a Notre Dame vs. Rutgers t-shirt, good on ya.

• The University will draw up an amendment to its charter, a "Declaration of (Conference) Independence," as a bit of preventive medicine to avoid the fate of other once-proud Independents. We are not whores, so we figured we might as well put that one on paper. The Big 10 Polka is over.

• From this point on, referring to Boston College as our rival will be grounds for mandatory enrollment in a 3-credit course on the history of the University. We have one rival, and they know who they are. If you are an ND opponent and are asking yourself, "Are they talking about our school?" then you ain't it.

• An expanded and improved display of Notre Dame's football awards, team and game photos, and all manners of ND football memorabilia will be included in the upcoming Joyce Center renovation. (Thanks to Gator77 for the fine suggestion, by the way). The current hallway displays at the JACC fall way, way short of what a ND Sports Hall of Fame should be. Great care will be taken to construct a well-researched and non-cheesy exhibit space that will feature archived photographs of teams gone by, trophies, award displays, film clips of great games, and an interactive experience on what it feels like to be sacked by Ross Browner.

• In light of the recent tragedy and in an effort to maintain the University's cultural heritage, the recently-condemned CJ's Pub will be relocated to LaFortune, complete with crappy popcorn, Ricky Joe on guitar, and the best burgers in the country, bar none. ($2 pitchers of Bud Light on Tuesdays.)

• Pep rallies will be returned to student control, where they rightfully belong. Chuck Lennon is a good man, but he comes flying out of that tunnel every Friday night, spouting off as if he's been drinking straight Red Bull for the past 4 hours. He tries his best, but students "raise the roof" out of ironic bemusement, not school pride. Scratch Chuck, or at least give him a less vital role, find students willing to fire up their peers, and be less concerned with showing Mom and Dad a good time and more concerned with getting ourselves and the football team excited for tomorrow's game. A return to the noisy, cramped space of Stepan Center will be a good first step in reclaiming the spirit of the old rallies, as any alum who recalls the old Fieldhouse days will attest. Oh, and a yearly guest appearance by Coach Holtz wouldn't hurt, either.

• SYRs will be returned to the dorms. The reason for this is two-fold. First, the students are adults, and should be treated as such. Second, it is invariably true that, given the choice between drinking in their rooms with their section-mates and skipping down to the K of C for a junior-high-style social with punch and cookies, Notre Dame Men and Women choose option A every time. We might as well let them have dates while they do it. This is logical, and the University is, above all, a place of learning. This senior class will be the first class without SYRs, and as a result an important tradition is about to die. It only takes four years to kill a campus tradition, and the cultural memory is about to run out, to be lost forever. Save the SYR.

• A new "Champions of Notre Dame" commerical will be created to replace the ones in rotation on NBC. The new version will feature Motts Tonelli, Fr. Paul Doyle, Mary the maid in Morrissey, George Wendt, Ted Leo, Clashmore Mike, Tony Rice, Terri Buck, and Steve Bartman.

• DART will no longer be available online. DART will go back to the phones. DART's beeps and boops will be replaced by Officer Tim McCarthy saying "May I have your attention: congratulations!" or "I'm sorry, that class is full. Please drive safely!"

• Chris Zorich will be brought on to be the Associate Provost for Kicking Ass.

• The defunct ethanol plant, in recognition of its years of serving the University through the production of, well, ethanol, will be converted into a brewery, manufacturing high quality beverages such as Ara's Ale and Leahy's Lager. Tours and tastings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, appointments available through DART. Students will handle Quality Control.

• Parietals will be revoked; however, in order to maintain in loco parentis, the University will ban alcohol for everyone from 2AM to 4AM during the weekend. This will be known as the "Dodged Bullet" period, in which men and women recover their senses and avoid making those special errors that earn them the mockery/pity of their peers.

• The New Bookstore will be lifted off its foundations, placed on a very large flatbed or perhaps a barge, and will be transported to Orlando, Florida so it can do what it was born to do: it will sell overpriced Mickey Mouse garbage to people who have no choice but to buy it there. An exact replica of the Old Bookstore will be built on the vacated spot. Waiting in lines in cramped areas builds character.

• Michigan sucks.

It is so decreed by us, BGS, on this First Day of July, in the year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Five.

Yours in Notre Dame, et cetera and so forth.

In all seriousness, we wish Father Jenkins well in his new endeavor. We know it's a tough job, and we pray that the University, under his guidance, will continue to reach for the heavens while acknowledging and nurturing its roots. Welcome aboard, Father.

(Thanks to Pete for his help in brainstorming the above.)