"No Excuses" | by Pat

Charlie Weis started off his first full week working at Notre Dame with a 6am informal Q&A with students. Union labor laws prevented BGS from being there personally, but here is a first hand report we managed to get from our network of spies (a.k.a. notre dame message boards)...

I just went and saw Charlie Weis speak to the students, and boy, am I glad I got up early to do so. We started off in the football auditorium but by 5:45, it was packed so they moved us to the basketball arena. I would estimate about 250 – 300 students were there. Not a bad showing for 6 am on a Monday morning. Here are the highlights from Charlie’s talk:

Talked about Ty and how he was well liked and had a lot of integrity. He said that is what made the transition to a new football coach so tough. However, he said that anytime there is a change, it is made for a reason. Quite frankly, “expectations weren’t met”. He told the players not to whine about it because “if they weren’t 6-6, then they wouldn’t have let the coach go”.

He said that when ND came calling, he talked to his wife and said “this is it, honey.” Talked about how there were only 3 jobs he coveted. The NY Giants job which he lost out to last year, the ND job, and the South Carolina job. Said the South Carolina job interested him because he coached there five years and the special needs organization they are building will be in South Carolina.

He said that he would have had other NFL opportunities. In fact, he said on the night he was going to accept the ND job, one NFL team told him not to take the ND job, because he would have one if he waited. He said he even got a call from the Giants to gauge his interest and he told them, “you had your chance”.

He indicated that his job is to raise expectations. He said but don’t say to your fellow students, “Did you listen to that guy. We are going to go undefeated”.

The first thing he said he had to do was to get all the players thinking the same way as him. He indicated that he would have to first earn their respect. He said coming from the pros and being from Jersey, was probably not a great combination to try to do that.

Charlie said that he has never been in a program that has lost. He said that was not because of him, but he was a reason for it. He said that he has worked for two of the best coaches, Parcells and Billecheck, and he has taken the best from both of their personalities.

He talked about USC. “Pete Carroll is a friend of mine...but he's never really done great against me." He cautioned, however, that right now, USC has a better football team than ND. If you don’t think so, you are just kidding yourselves. He said his job is to get ND once again to that level. He indicated that he would begin to get ND back by finding smart kids who are good kids.

“No Excuses.” He said he doesn’t want to hear excuses about admissions being too hard, the scheduling being too tough (for example, 4 of the first 5 games being on the road), excuses about coaching, or excuses about Xs and Os’. He said we have had “too many excuses”.

He indicated that his kids will attend classes or they will have to answer to him. On one of the Fridays he was here for a day, he found out that about 6 players missed a class, and he “hammered them for it”. He said the University is giving them a scholarship to a great University and they should take full advantage of it.

He talked about how he had hired a great coaching staff. And he said for all those folks complaining about the administration, they should realize that they are the ones that stepped up to the plate to allow him to hire such a good staff. He believes in surrounding himself with good people and the administration allowed him to do it.

He talked about recruiting and said he didn’t lose recruits; they just didn’t want to come here. He said the problem is that ND is no longer the place to be for college football. He indicated it is just an option now. He said he wants to get it back to where it is the place to be. He didn’t set a timeline but indicated that we “will be back sooner than people expect.” He said that he didn’t want recruits that people would be in awe of, but would be “just one of the guys”. He said, “I don’t want prima donnas”.

In regards to recruiting, he indicated that Feb 27th, would be a big junior recruiting weekend. For the UCLA game, they are going to bring in a bunch of junior recruits they are interested in. He wants the students to help him recruit.

Here are the things which Charlie said we were going to get with him:

• He will be around and visible across campus.
• He said he won’t do anything to embarrass the University, because ”I don’t do anything. I am boring.”
• Will bring pro experience with him
• He is a good family man
• He plans on being here for a long time, at least a decade. He wants his son to get through school at a minimum.
  

He said that he doesn’t know how many wins they will have, but he will promise that every week, we will have a team that is ready to go and prepared. He said that there will not be any lackluster performances. He will be on the sidelines and let them know about it if there are those types of performances. He cautioned that people should not sit too close to him and “don’t read his lips either.” He said he may have gone to ND, but he has been in the pros for 15 years.

At that point, we went to questions. Someone asked him how much time he would spend with the offense and defense. He said that he would split his time equally between the two units. He then thought better and said that he was just as concerned about special teams and was going to focus on those just as much. He said very bluntly, “the special teams here sucked.” He said that he would put 1st teamers on special teams and this will be the first place you will see improvement and we will see it in a hurry.

When questioned about if he would call the plays, he said that he would be involved until he is “comfortable giving it up”. When he felt the offensive coaches could call a good a game as him, he would let them have it. About the defense, he said that he would share his philosophies about defense and he wanted to know why were doing things at all times. He gave an example of Pitt. He said that they had a good passer and that he didn’t care if they blitzed every down or dropped 8 in coverage, but they better be able to tell him why.

Someone asked about the green jerseys and requested that we only use those for the big games. Charlie said that rah rah stuff only lasts about 10 minutes. He said preparation is the reason you win and not emotions. Emotions can carry you only through part of the 1st quarter and then it comes down to who is better prepared.

He said football has become a very intellectual game. He would determine what his players could do and then mold the offense around what they could absorb and execute.

He did say that he was a big bulletin board guy and wanted to make sure the players did not produce bulletin board material for the other team. He said our guys will say the right thing, because “they will be coached on it”.

He said the only thing he really uses his Super Bowl rings for is recruiting. He also said that he will not display or wear anything from a game in which the team loses. He commented on the Insight bowl trophy and told them to “put that thing in the closet because we aren’t displaying it”. He doesn’t like to lose and doesn’t want to be reminded of losing by a trophy.

He was asked the greatest strength and weakness of the team. He said the greatest strength is character. Ty recruited character guys and you can win with character guys. He said the greatest weakness is trying to implement a new offensive and defensive scheme. He said that was on him, however, and he would be responsible for that. He said he will always deflect negatives from the team and to himself.

I think that is about it. I found Charlie to be an excellent communicator. He combined his no nonsense football approach with an excellent sense of humor. I can see him being a great motivator and recruiter. Heck, I was ready to strap on a helmet after his talk.

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And more interesting ND news was highlighted in Malcolm Moran's USA Today article about future ND schedules. Here are the key paragraphs.

The plan, the result of a two-year study, is expected to take effect in 2009. The Fighting Irish will increase the number of games at Notre Dame Stadium from the current six to seven, and four games will take place on the road.

For a 12th game each year, athletics director Kevin White said, the school is considering cities such as Chicago, Orlando, Jacksonville, New Orleans and Dallas. The Irish would negotiate terms that would include games, perhaps in prime time, in its agreement with NBC.

If you are anything like me, September 3rd can't get here fast enough.

Friday Afternoon on the Island of Notre Dame Du Lac | by Pat

It's getting down to crunch time in college basketball and the Fighting Irish made a stronger case for their invite to the Big Dance with a win over the previously undefeated BC Eagles. However, Brey's team still isn't anywhere near a lock and will need to play well down the stretch. (How's that for insightful!)

Reviving a February staple of his, El Kabong on ndnation.com is offering up his "If the Big East Tournament Started Today..." post. It's a good look at where the Irish stand in relation to the rest of the conference.

Another good article on where the Irish currently stand is Jeff Shelman's take on ND's chances to get back to the field of 64. His opinion is that Notre Dame still has plenty of chances to sell itself to the selection committee but will need to keep playing with the chemistry it displayed in the Boston College game.

The BC game was also an example of Notre Dame's newfound balance. While this is still Chris Thomas' Irish team, the senior guard no longer has to do everything. A year ago, if Thomas didn't score, Notre Dame didn't usually win. Thomas' scoring average is down by about six points per game this season, but he's third in the Big East in assists. That's the result of Notre Dame having more options. Colin Falls (seven three-pointers against Boston College) is scoring more, as is Chris Quinn. Inside, Arizona transfer Dennis Latimore is taking some of the pressure off of Francis.

And in bluegraysky's first (and last) foray into photojournalism, here's a picture taken by a BGS staffer from the rafters at the end of the Notre Dame/BC game that would make Georges Seurat proud.

Notice the masterful composition, the interplay of light and dark...oh, who are we kidding. It's a snap from a crappy cell phone camera.

Rack him. | by Jay

Jim Rome had a pretty good interview with Charlie yesterday. Here's a link to the audio from Rome's website.

UPDATE: It must be multimedia day. Here's a video clip, albeit a little older, from CSTV of Charlie talking about recruiting. Enjoy.

Ciao, Chow | by Jay

Norm Chow just left USC to take the job as the Titans offensive coordinator.

Without getting into the kremlinology of the Carroll/Chow relationship or lamenting the lost opportunity to play (and beat) a Chow-led Trojan squad this fall, I do think that Chow presents an interesting analogue to Charlie Weis.

Weis and Chow are passing each other on the up/down coaching escalator, and this should be a fitting litmus test comparison for their respective intellects. Both are seen as tactical geniuses in their respective circles. However...

Weis has already proven himself on the big stage, and now his challenge is to take that intimidating football IQ and translate it to a younger game. He's a little like Norman Dale going back to coach Hickory High.

Chow, on the other hand, has been a big fish in a little pond, about to jump into the raging sea.

Who has the more Sisyphean task ahead of him?

ND Surprises Recruiting World | by Jay

In my alternate-reality version of the Notre Dame universe, there'd be no need for the year-long round-the-clock frenzy of recruiting. Players would base their school decisions on sound reasoning and careful contemplation, free from spastic media attention and the prying eyes of self-styled recruiting gurus, and the land would be devoid of coercion and corruption by schools with a less-than-savory moral fiber. Tomorrow we'd wake up, and this would be the front-page story...

---

ND SIGNS EVERYONE

SOUTH BEND (AP) -- With almost a year to go until the 2006 National Signing Day, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish preempted the annual recruiting circus, and shored up their offense, defense, and special teams by getting a verbal commitment from every player in high school football in the entire country.

"Shit," remarked USC coach Pete Carroll. "We're screwed."

Among the recruits was that big lineman from that state with the snow, and that wide receiver who runs faster than everyone else on his highlight reel, and every single player in the states of Florida, Texas, and California, as well as the other 47 states, parts of Canada, American Samoa, and this one Gaelic football player from county Cork who seems like he might make a good punter. (Somehow, despite signing every player in the country, the Irish still weren't able to land a true cover corner.)

Every recruit in the country lines up to sign with the Irish

"I guess there's no point in following recruiting this year. The Irish landed everyone, and it's not even March yet," lamented Tom Lemming, reached while on a recruiting trip to Phuket, Thailand. "I'm out of business. No Lemming Bowl. No breathless chat sessions on ESPN. Crap, I'll have to scale back on the turtleneck budget. And I gotta find another use for this 900 number. "

How did Weis do it? Shortly after the Super Bowl victory parade in Boston on Tuesday, Weis embarked on an around-the-country whirlwind tour, visiting over a thousand recruits in just twelve hours, a travel schedule rivaled only by Santa Claus, or maybe the guy who leaves fliers for Chinese restaurants on everybody's door.

Most players verballed to Charlie on the spot, although some wavered a bit before committing to the Irish. Prep superstar Chuck Shick was a silent verbal, and then a barely audible verbal, and then a slightly under-the-breath verbal, then a verbal aside to someone offstage, before finally verballing to ND in a normal tone of voice.

On Wednesday the line of players stretched for miles across campus, as one by one they pulled an Irish hat out of a gigantic duffel bag. ESPN covered the event live on television.

"I'm really trying to think of something negative to say," remarked ESPN Gameday host Chris Fowler. "Gimme a second here. I'll think of something."

Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com: "The mystique is dead! ND football is dead! Wait a second...what? How the hell did they do that?"

Some coaches bemoaned the clean sweep of every recruit in the land by the Irish.

"We tried everything," exclaimed Florida coach Urban Meyer. "We bashed Notre Dame as hard as we could. We told the recruits that it snowed a foot a day in South Bend and the girls all looked like Janet Reno. Nothing worked. We tried to ply them with cars and Gator cheerleaders, but for some reason, these guys wanted an education with their football. Losers."

"Waahhh!" remarked Lloyd Carr.

Added Meyer, "thank God for JUCOs."

"I see no reason why teams like Michigan and Florida can't continue to remain competitive, just because they lack players," Charlie Weis responded. "Look at Penn State, for example. They've been without a living head coach for two decades now, and they still manage to play the games."

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham managed to salvage his class by landing 10 walk-on students from Stanford, 5 caddies from Glen Acres country club, 3 players who were kicked off of other teams last season, and Bill Diedrick, who will play flanker on bubble screen plays.

"I thought of something negative!" interjected Chris Fowler. "ND is greedy, keeping every player for themselves! Yeah, that's it."

Ace reporter Myron Brabble of the website the Blue-Gray Sky initially reported the news of the Irish landslide. Said Brabble, "BGS has been criticized in the past for not focusing enough on breaking news or getting any inside scoop. Well, I got a scoop for you. Right here." Sources said Brabble may or may not have grabbed a part of his anatomy while making the announcement.

Added Brabble, "Remember, even if another recruiting service announces a verbal to ND, you heard it here first. Got that? We were first."

MVP | by Mike

Deion Branch was, of course, the official MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX.

The Philadelphia Daily News, however, had their own opinion:

The lopsided coaching mismatch was led by our High & Inside Super Bowl MVP, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. College coaches, brace yourselves now for Notre Dame's future. The man is brilliant.

Notre Dame fans must be salivating, while AFC defensive coordinators have reason to celebrate Weis' departure for South Bend.

Roundtable, par deux | by Jay

We now resume our Memphis layover, with part II of our Recruiting Roundtable.

(Setting the scene: Dylan has just been defeated by Sean in a stunning best-of-three Rochambeau challenge for the last Chili's rib. Sean, licking his chops, continues the conversation...)

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Sean
One thing I like about this year's recruiting class - their nicknames. Check out the writeup from the SBT. Some very creative nicknames. Like Scott Smith is Smitty. No way. And Asaph Schwapp is Ace. But I think my favorite ones are Joey Hiben and Kyle McCarthy, whose nicknames are "Joey" and "Kyle", respectively. What will they think of next?

Teds
Hey, if we've got an "Ace", shouldn't we also have a "Gary"? Although that might mean that they should have gone to Southern Cal instead, or even oiled each other up for a transfer to play for the ol' wrasslin' coach down at Ole Miss. But I digress.

Pat
One other point that I'd like to make about this class is it's flexibility. Weis mentioned as much in his press conference and I think that multiple guys will end up moving around during their time at Notre Dame. Just taking a quick look at the recruits, Steve Quinn was recruited as a wide receiver and linebacker, Pat Kuntz as a defensive end and defensive tackle, both cornerback and safety for Kyle McCarthy, Washington as I mentioned earlier is a linebacker who also plays free safety, Joey Hiben is a tight end who has also been mentioned as a possible defensive end, linebacker Scott Smith has the size to move to the d-line, and fullback Asaph Schwapp was also recruited as a linebacker. Weis mentioned in one of his earlier press conferences that he likes to recruit "big guys" and "skill guys" and fit them in slots later. Well that seems to be the early hallmark of this class. As Weis mixes the current talent on the team with the incoming talent of future classes, the flexibility of this current group of 15 should prove invaluable to fill any holes or depth issues in the coming years.

Jay
Damn you, Pat, you stole my thunder. I was thinking about the same thing when I was writing up the recruiting post the other night.

Don't forget Duncan, who started as a pretty good tight end as a junior and bulked up to play tackle. Apparently he's a fantastic hoops player to boot.

I wonder, though, if this isn't typical of most recruiting classes. Most of these guys are the best athletes at their school, so it follows that they will have played offense, defense, multiple positions, other sports, etc.

Do we think that this group is exceptionally versatile?

Teds
I don't think the group is exceptionally versatile, at least compared to other recent classes. Guys who you hope can play corner make decent safeties, and tight ends often have the frame and quickness to handle SDE. These aren't particularly earthshattering concepts.

17-year-old prep recruits damn well should be versatile, because many of them aren't close to done growing yet. So anyone who wants to put a kid that age in a box and make decisive pronoucements about what he can't be at the next level does so at his own peril. As Weis is someone who has coached and developed players at the high school, college and professional levels, so his experience probably gives him some insight on the subject that recruiting gurus like Lemming and most of us don't possess.

I don't doubt that Weis has different things in mind for some of the members of this class than what you'd gather from reading Rivals.

Michael
Agreed on this...I think there is more a perception of versatility because of Weis' background but I'm not so certain that this class is any more versatile than previous ones. A lot of the position changes being discussed have been discussed in previous years...same conversations, just change the names.

Jay
I think maybe the versatility factor is accentuated, or at least “noticed” more because Charlie Weis is the new coach, and we’ve seen how the Patriots use players in a variety of roles. I’m thinking here about how they put Vrabel at tight end sometimes, use Richard Seymour as a blocking back, shift Troy Brown over to DB, etc. So while this class may not be “more versatile” than other classes, and I think that there’s going to be a willingness on the coaches’ part to actually use and test that versatility, shift guys around, you know -- perhaps to a degree that we haven’t seen in a long time.

If I remember correctly, Holtz did a bunch of this when he first came in: making Heck a tackle, putting Stams over on defense, moving Steve Belles (Steve Belles!) to defense, George Poorman to DB, etc. He wasn’t afraid to simply assess a guy’s raw talent and put him where he could prosper. Charlie seems to think the same way.

Anyway, switching gears for a second...When we fired Ty, we pretty much immediately lost a few commits: Harrison, Wilson (seemingly) and Frierson, and things were thrown into turmoil.

A question that comes to mind...do you think there was a better way we could have handled the firing of Ty and the transition to Weis that could have salvaged these guys, and maybe strengthened the class overall? In other words, here's an invitation to do some Monday morning quarterbacking. Given what we know now about how recruiting ended up this year, what would you have done differently? Could anything have been done differently? Is this the best possible class that we could have gotten under the circumstances?

Mike
I don't think there was a better way to handle this, because I believe the two factors mostly - if not entirely - responsible for the defections were two factors beyond our control. These factors were:

1) Ty's recruiting sales pitch. It was always more about the opportunity to be molded by Ty Willingham than the Notre Dame experience. To this end, Ty presented himself as a larger than life figure to recruits. If a player had committed prior to the firing, they probably bought into this image of Ty, which would make his firing hard to swallow.

2) Media coverage. Dodd, Wilbon, et al, couldn't wait to get their shots in at Notre Dame. Nothing we could have done would have changed this - Wilbon never gave ND credit for hiring Willingham in the first place. Willingham was portrayed as a great, noble coach who got a raw deal. I'm sure recruits followed the story as closely as we all deal, and until Weis was named coach the standard media spin was almost all the recruits were hearing.

So factor 1 + factor 2 = a few pissed-off recruits. An inevitable short-term loss.

Perhaps there is one thing we could have done - had Kevin White not been a completely self-serving jackass at the press conference announcing Willingham's firing, the media would have had less material with which to work. But I don't think the spin would have been materially different had he not.

Teds
First off, there was no better way to handle this. Cripes, we had a new coach in place ten days after Willingham was removed. Given the Meyer schtupping and everything else that went on, that's more than satisfactory. I know that it felt like a good month or two based on our own handwringing and the ridiculous media coverage that followed it, but the University acted swiftly and intelligently in making their decision. And Chris Fowler is more than welcome to [expletive deleted] if he thinks differently.

Brandon Harrison and the other recruits who reference how Willingham was "handled" are sidestepping the real issue . There wasn't a damn thing unprofessional about how Willingham was ousted. They just didn't like the fact that he was dismissed at all. I wish that these people would be more honest about their feelings instead of implicating the University for some sort of gross misconduct, as if they deviated from the standard code on how to fire a football coach. Kevin White bent over backwards to praise Willingham in the press conference. Short of retaining him, what else could you possibly want?

The biggest miss this year was definitely not landing a pure cornerback. Most of this falls on Willingham, because anyone who watched ND play for more than about three minutes this past season could see that there was an immediate opportunity for someone with some semblance of corner skills. But Willingham couldn't even sell the potential of immediate playing time, because he was a completely insufficient recruiter. No matter what Weis does in the immediate future, keeping Willingham on for another season probably would have set the program back another two or three years. That's what a poor coach and recruiter he really was. Kids might have liked and respected him (such as Allen Smith and his mother), but they weren't nearly so gung-ho when it came to actually playing for him.

We're so much better off for being rid of Willingham, and my giddiness leads me to make absurd proclamations, like that Weis will produce as many NFL draft picks from the current signing group as any Irish recruiting class has accounted for over the past decade. This is how strongly I feel about how insufficiently our players have been developed during the Willingham and Davie regimes. Irish fans have become conditioned to think that we need to outtalent our opponents to win games, but that's simply not the case.

Sean
Anyone who is using this year's class as a reason to temper expectations next year, take a look at Weis' overall body of work for recruiting this season. He brought 11 non-committed kids onto campus and signed EIGHT, with one (Lorig) still deciding. That's a phenomenal closing ratio, especially for a guy who had less than a month and virtually no face-to-face time to build a relationship with any of these players. If anything, that speaks to (1) Weis and his staff's phenomenal sales skills and (2) the staying power of Notre Dame as a brand name with the right kids (see Herring, Ray).

By the way, here's a real nice story from signing day. Further proof that Tom Lemming is the anti-Christ and college football recruiting is the beginning of our societal downfall.

Jay
That leads me to my next comment. This whole recruiting thing...it's ugly, it brings out the worst in people, it's slimy, and it's the closest I'll come to feeling like a pedophile. That said, it's a necessary evil, but I sort of wish I didn't follow it as closely as I do.

Sean
Wait, are we talking about recruiting or porn?

Pat
Sounds like a future post topic: "Recruiting, or Porn?"

"Hold on honey, I'm just downloading some videos of a 17 year old boy off the internet."

Recruiting or porn?

"Thank goodness for these pay chat rooms where we can talk about the kids without worrying about people stealing our information."

Recruiting or porn?

"Hey, let's head over to the high school and see if there is any good talent this year."

Recruiting or porn?

Sean
With Burt Reynolds starring as Tom Lemming: "He's my 17 year old piece of gold."

Teds
The more attention I pay to college football recruiting, the more convinced I become that I'm completely wasting my time by paying so much attention to college recruiting. By and large, great college players are developed at the next level, not plucked ready-made from the vine.

And there's only a small trace of sour grapes in there. Swear.

Sean
I'm so hesitant to trash college recruiting in 2004 and the way that Lemming and his ilk approach and profit from it because we all follow it so closely and eat up what he's serving like candy. That said, these kids are WAY too empowered, and a lot of it is because of the age we live in and the stage that the Tom Lemmings of the world have created. There's just something a little unsavory about a guy getting into a car and driving 5,000 miles around the country so he can watch a bunch of spandex wearing 17 year olds in Mississippi lift weights and run the forty. I'm just saying....

Pat
Looking for positives, recruiting has always been shady and just a bit creepy. One of the benefits of the increased exposure in college recruiting is that it is helping to expose some of the blatant criminal acts some schools and coaches perform to get certain kids to their schools. The story about the coach paid $150,000 to steer his prize player to 'Bama and the whole Willie Williams fiasco are two small examples of things that go on all the time and never get reported. Now with more people looking, it's getting harder for the criminals to keep recruiting kids the "old fashioned way". Eventually they might have to sell the kids on actual football and academic reasons.

Sean
Good point - the dialing down of the lear jets and four-lobster/two-steak dinners (which I attritbute directly to the Willie Williams diaries last year) can only help our cause. Now if the NCAA would just tie graduation rates to bowl eligibility...

Teds
What I find sort of odd about all things ND is how often the developments, especially with coaches, come out in what seem to be these blatent characatures of good and evil.

Take a guy like Urban Meyer. Some of us (guilty as charged) loved him and thought that he was born to coach ND and restore the team to greatness. So Willingham gets dumped, Meyer gets offered the job and...he turns it down to go to Florida. In most situations where that sort of scenario plays out, Meyer would simply go about his business in Florida, doing just what he's done before without any serious controversy and leading a winning team at Florida. Perhaps even winning a championship and doing the sorts of things that we pined for him to do at ND.

Instead, he's exposed himself almost immediately as this shady character dispossessed of any purported loyalties to ND that would prevent him from taking our coaches or recruits. And now we have evidence that he doesn't even have enough respect for this program, one he called his dream job and referred to as the pinnacle of college football just months ago, to avoid trashing us to prospective recruits and their families. The only detail left hanging is the press clipping about him cheating on his wife or kicking someone's dog.

So I ask you: am I imagining this because of the bias, or does it often seem like those who abandon Notre Dame announce themselves as louts and generally unsavory characters?

The situation wasn't altogether different with Matt Doherty, when he left Notre Dame to take over as coach at his alma mater of North Carolina. Once there, he had a few recruiting entanglements with ND, then went on to prove himself to be something of a bad apple, a coach who wasn't all he was cracked up to be and, ultimately, a failure who was dishonorably discharged from his dream job within three seasons. Drop curtain.

I also see some good "evil antagonist" characteristics in the Pete Carroll figure with his Eddie Haskell underpinnings, and I see someone who's ripe for a fall in the sort of "Behind the Music" way that I've described elsewhere.

So does life always live itself out in these broad morality plays, or does it just seem that way with our coaches?

Sean
I don't know the answer to your ultimate question, but if "Urban Meyer's Florida coaching career playing out the same way as Matt Doherty's UNC coaching career" were available on Ebay, I'd pony up $5,000 and not even care. Seriously, it would be THAT entertaining and satisfying to watch. I'm not exagerrating. 5 grand, EASY.

Pat
I'm of the opinion that recruiting is like soap operas for guys. Aside from the lack of amnesia subplots, it has all of the intrigue, backstabbing, wild speculation, ever evolving cast of characters, and complicated storylines. Here's my take on some of the notable storylines/characters from this year.

Feel Good Story - I think Ray Herring is the hands down winner in this category. Not only was he ND's biggest cheerleader in his online recruiting journal, but in a recent diary entry he dropped this emotional bombshell about his father who was paralyzed during a high school football game.

"My Dad told me a secret after I made my decision final. Notre Dame was his dream school that he wanted to go to before he was paralyzed. God always works things out! Now, I can play for both of us!"

Most Anti-Climatic Story - The whole David Nelson saga. As he dragged out his "I'm a soft commit, but looking around" saga, his actions turned off a lot of Notre Dame fans and really started to get under the skin of people for varying reasons. David, if you're looking around that seriously, you're not committed. Furthermore, don't use the "lack of personal attention" routine to justify squirming out of your previous verbal committment to Notre Dame. Just come out and say you want to go somewhere else. By the time he dove headfirst into the deep UF depth chart, most ND fans had already had enough of the name David Nelson.

The "Amatuer Hour" story - The way that the former staff attempted to recruit and sign a quarterback was hilarious...for everyone that doesn't like Notre Dame. Obviously Mark Sanchez was the prime suspect, but even though ND made his final four list, Diedrick couldn't be bothered to meet Sanchez when he came to campus and ND didn't even offer him a scholarship until 2 weeks before he made his decision. Maybe that's because Diedrick was enamored with the cannon arm of Rob Schoenhoft. Despite the fact that Robbie had mediorce stats, was benched by his own coach for mediocre performance, and looked like a tight end in the making, Diedrick apparently saw a fit for his "system". Meanwhile, Evan Sharpley calmly and confidently waited until ND offered him a scholarship and he prompted committed. The whole fiasco was maddening from a Notre Dame fan point of view and was an up close and personnel look at the disorganization and lazy recruiting style of the previos coaching staff.

The "Karma's a Bitch" Story - North Carolina was pursuing running back Montario Hardesty and when they thought they had him they made room for him by yanking the scholarship from a previously committed, lower ranked running back. Then, on signing day Hardesty changed his mind and signed with the UT Volunteers.

Jay
Recruiting game = a soap opera for guys. That's about the size of it.

Sean
Final thought -- I don't think it's a stretch to call the 2006 recruiting class the most important in the last 25 years. Given the lack of numbers in key areas and the overall dip in talent level in the last two recruting classes, Weis needs to hit a 1987 or 1990 Vinny Cerrato style home run. 1987 is probably the best analogy, since that was Holtz's first full recruiting class coming in on the heels of the Faust Era. If you remember, 1987 gave us immediate impact freshmen like Ricky Watters, Todd Lyght, Tony Brooks, Andre Jones, and sophomore building blocks like Chris Zorich, Tim Ryan, Scott Kowalkowski, and Mike Heldt. If this staff recruits like everyone seems to think they will, they will probably give damn near the full 25 scholarships next year. There have to be at least 7 or 8 kids ready to play right away in that group. As for the kids we did get, given that we only brought in 15 (for now), I think we addressed some key areas. We got the all-important quarterback, a couple of very good wide receivers, bookend tackles, a top notch tight end, a sleeper fullback, and we loaded up on the defensive side of the ball. Obviously, the glaring omissions are a tailback (any tailback), an impact pass rusher, lockdown corner, and some more offensive linemen.

Jay
I can't disagree with that. To borrow an overused cliche, next year is everything.

(Looking at watch) Christ...is our flight ready to go yet?

Sean
The one they rebooked us on? It looks like it just got cancelled.

(the table sighs.)

Dylan
Another onion blossom, anyone?

Following up on my last hoops post | by Dylan

Responding to my post about ND’s position as number ten all-time in NCAA Division I basketball wins and my excitement that ND will likely overtake IU and move into ninth position this year, reader John brings me back to earth:

I have to disagree with your contention that this is some sort of a watershed moment for ND basketball. For the most part, ND has had the lead in total wins since early in the 20th century, and IU pulled ahead less than ten years ago. As the NCAA records indicate, IU entered the season with a seven-game lead, 1555 to 1548. Now, think about how bad ND was in the 1990s. From 1991-92 (the beginning of the MacLeod era) through 2004, IU won 283 games, and ND won 213. That would mean ND had a 63 game lead when MacLeod came to town. I had the exact figures and lost them, but I calculated it when I read your post on NDN, and it appears that IU only pulled ahead in 1997-9.

John makes a great point about the impending jump to ninth not being an historic changing of the guard. But in a way, this adds to my bewilderment (and points out how badly I need to read Mike Coffey's book). According to John’s information, ND was, until a miserable, decade-long slump, well ahead of IU in basketball victories. Granted, ND has no national titles, but I think this underscores the fact that the Irish, while never truly considered “elite,” have been among the most successful Division I programs for a long, long time. ND has won more games than any school in the Big Ten, save Indiana, and that will change (we hope) this year. Particularly galling is Illinois, whose basketball reputation inexplicably looms larger than that of the Irish, but has over 50 fewer wins and has never won a title. Notre Dame has won over one hundred more games than NC State, about 150 more than Connecticut, and almost 200 more than Georgetown. We have won 220+ more games than Michigan State. The elephant in the room is, of course, titles. They have ‘em, we don’t. Go figure.

If ND had won two more games in 1978, would it be considered to be an “elite” program today?

It's not bragging if you can back it up | by Mike

At the press conference announcing Notre Dame's latest recruiting class, the abundance of five-star recruits that characterized the Vinny Cerrato days may have been missing. One thing that wasn't missing, however, was confidence from the head coach. Weis told reporters:

"Now let them try to stop a pro-style offense. Let's see how they're going to do. They've had their advantage, because I came into recruiting late. But now it's X's and O's time. Let's see who has the advantage now."

In front of the year's largest television audience, Weis gave further evidence of who will have that advantage this fall. Weis solved the complex, blitzing defense of Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. And Brock Spack is no Jim Johnson. (Don't feel bad if you had to click on the link to know who the hell Brock Spack is.)

This morning's newspapers have been filled with stories extolling Weis's brilliance. Hank Gola of the New York Daily News begins:

Think Patriots X's and O's and you usually think defense. But it was departing offensive coordinator Charlie Weis who was the Grand Master of last night's chess game.

With Weis headed to take over Notre Dame, the Patriots will find it hard to replace him.

Gola then proceeds to break down the Patriots' offensive game plan, relying heavily on Weis's own explanations of what he sought to accomplish. For example:

"They had to go back and forth between nickel and dime and get them into personnel groupings that they'd rather not be in on first and second down," Weis said.

ESPN's cerebral John Clayton was similarly effusive in his praise. (Alright, I don't actually know if John Clayton is cerebral, but he sure looks cerebral.)

Though Eagles players made plays, Patriots coaches had better answers for what the Eagles were doing. What Charlie Weis did to a brilliant blitzing scheme by Johnson was masterful.

Starting from the fifth possession, the Eagles didn't know what to do because Weis got into Johnson's head. He hit back-to-back screen passes to Corey Dillon that worked for 28 yards. For the rest of the second half, Johnson occasionally substituted Reese for Trotter at middle linebacker, giving him better pass coverage. When he did that, Weis called runs by either Dillon or Kevin Faulk.

And then Clayton goes on to describe what Irish fans have been waiting eight long years to see:

The final nail in the Eagles' coffin came at halftime. While Paul McCartney gave a long concert, Weis went to work on revising his game plans. Super Bowl halftimes are 25 minutes. Regular season halftimes go 12.

"The 25-minute halftime gave me the opportunity to script my plays for the start of the second half," Weis said. "With the 12-minute halftime, you don't have time to do that. Usually you come out in the regular season and start to think as you walk on the field, 'What plays am I going to start out with?' Here, I was able to script what we wanted to do."

The result was a 69-yard touchdown drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel, who was playing tight end near the goal line.

The end result is that the Patriots outcoached the Eagles. That's the only thing you can say.

One game does not a great coach make. Even if the Patriots had lost this game, Weis would already have established himself as one of the game's best offensive minds. Weis's gameplans against Indy and Pittsburgh were no less notable, and he his track record of player development is quite impressive. (Perhaps his most impressive work was with the Jets - compare Testeverde's numbers under Weis to his career averages.) However, it's nice to see Charlie get the recognition he deserves from the national media.

Recruiting Roundtable | by Jay

This week we were coming back from our annual BGS corporate team-building retreat slash LOI Day beer-bender in Sun Valley, Idaho, when disaster struck – they cancelled the last leg of our flight, and we got stuck in the Memphis airport.

Seems we had loaned out the BGS learjet to Tommy Lee for his commutes back and forth for his reality TV show at the University of Nebraska, and he never gave it back, so we were forced to fly commercial (note to secretary: that’s the last time we trust Tommy with anything).

Not used to such bourgeois travel impediments, we promptly panicked and commandeered the entire Terminal 3 Chili’s, ordered an onion blossom, a plate of ribs, and a round of beers, and resorted to what we usually do in times of distress: we started talking Irish football recruiting. Here's the conversation that ensued.

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Jay
Okay, as of right now I don't think Lorig is coming in, so the final tally is 15 recruits. We can talk about the new guys and how the class shapes up, but first I want to throw out a couple of quotes from this week:

"Next year's pitch will be our record," Minter said. "But for now, we're trying to get kids to jump on board based on faith without proof. We're saying, 'Have faith in Charlie, have faith in Rick, have faith in our staff, have faith in (quarterback) Brady Quinn, have faith in our players. We're going to get the job done.' That's a tough sell."

and

"This is a new beginning for Notre Dame. No more excuses," Lemming said. "Notre Dame could have a top-three class (next year) if the staff is up to it. Weis you know is up to it. If the coaches are as good as advertised, then there's no way it won't be a top-three class."

First off, I guess, do we agree that no matter how poor -- well, let me use the word "incomplete" instead of "poor" -- our class is this year, it won't matter that much in the long run, as long as we have a good season in '05?

Dylan
Well, my first thought is: this onion blossom is exquisite. My second thought: how can anyone read that Lemming quote with a straight face? "Notre Dame could have a top-three class (next year) if the staff is up to it." If they're not, we won't, I guess. I am putting on my turtleneck and stating, for the record, that Notre Dame will win the National Championship in 2005. Unless they don't.

Teds
Regardless of what Lemming says, I think that Minter's right, but it has less to do with "believing" in what they'll accomplish than it did not having the opportunity to build the sort of relationships with this class of recruits that almost all of the other schools did. In the end, most of the best recruits still out on the board didn't know the Weis group and weren't willing to take the time and trouble to rectify that. And when ND has been on the skids for so long and you have the Oklahomas, Southern Cals and Texases jockeying for your services, it's an understandable state of mind.

Just look at someone like Eugene Monroe, the prized offensive line prospect from New Jersey who committed to Virginia. This is a kid who could have played for Miami or Oklahoma or any other number of top programs, but he's taking a leap of faith with Al Groh and the Cavaliers. I presume that he "believes" that Virginia will actually win more than 8 games someday, but it's certainly nothing he's gathered from their exploits on the field. Instead, I think that comes from knowing and being courted by the coaches for an extended period, buying their particular schtick. So that's an opportunity that Weis and his assistants will have next year, and they'll be ten times better for it, 2005 record be damned.

No question, we stand to fare better in recruiting next time around by winning 9 or 10 games right out of the gate, but I believe that the new staff's first full class will be better and more complete than any in recent memory, regardless of the results on the field. These guys appear to work very hard at it, and that's half the battle in recruiting. Most schools who bust their asses in this respect aren't selling what ND can and will.

Jay
Good point, and in another part of interview Minter talks about how he intends to "sell" Notre Dame, how he feels comfortable there, and how he looks at himself as a de facto "alum" of the school, or rather, a "coaching alum". Getting guys like Weis, Haywood, and Minter on board is light years away from the previous two regimes, where any affinity to the school really had to be learned and affected rather than deeply felt. Hell, I'm not sure Davie ever really bought into it in the first place. So I'm looking forward to seeing what the "Irish homies" can do with a full year of building relationships, scouting talent and selling the school.

Something else about what Minter said really rang true, too: much of it comes down our record on the field next year. This isn't Premier Properties, and no matter what Mitch and Murray say about the prime leads, we're not selling swampland. Our '05 season is really make-or-break as far as setting up the future of the Weis franchise, and if we muddle around .500 we're screwed. As much as we want to give Weis some breathing room for a year or two, winning is vitally important right out of the box. The good thing is, as I look at the '05 schedule, I can foresee a maximum 3-loss season pretty easily.

Pat
I think one important word here that has been mentioned and reflects the attitude the new staff is bringing is "selling". Notice in all of the quotes and actions that Weis and his staff are selling Notre Dame to the kids. They aren't content to just let Notre Dame sell itself. All of the proactive press releases on und.com, the large photo spread of the half-completed Gug, it really seems like they realize that the current crop of high school kids might not be as familiar with the successful Notre Dame as we rabid fans might like. The fact that the current coaches already have experience with Notre Dame and so far appear to be hard-working in the recruiting front is a great early sign.

But by far the best sign in my mind is that they are selling the program and making sure that every kid they talk to realizes the full power of the Notre Dame Football Program when it is clicking on all cylinders. As Teds said, that image is one that the kids just have to trust for now. But if (once?) Weis gets the program headed in the right direction, the sell will be easier and some of the old excuses..too cold...too far...too many classes...too religious...will fall by the wayside as kids want come to Notre Dame to play football.

Jay
So, the official list has just been released by UND. Here's the link. Quick poll of the group: who was our biggest "get", who was the biggest one we missed out on, and who do you think is the biggest sleeper of the guys we picked up today?

Teds
This will probably sound like sour grapes, but I can't remember ever caring so little about landing or losing particular recruits on signing day. None of them is more than remotely likely to make a positive impact on the 2005 team. It's not as if there's a lockdown corner on the board who could help us out right away.

The guys this year like Roche, Wilson and Nelson have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something that could turn out to be pretty special. And if they choose to go elsewhere, so be it. My suspicion is that we'll be in very good position next year to land five to seven kids at any one of those slots who are at least as promising as the guys we might lose today, and a decent number will be talented enough to make up that one-year head start in college experience without much trouble by the time they need to be called on.

If you held a gun to my head, I'd say that Michael Turkovich and Paul Duncan are the most important recruits in this class, because they appear to be the sort of stable bookend tackles that could serve as a quality foundation for future Irish offenses. There are others like Evan Sharpley and D.J. Hord who might prove to be better or more renown players, but we need to work at building this thing from the ground up, and that begins with competent and technically-sound play on the lines. We've been missing that on offense since practically the day that Joe Moore skipped town.

And Scott Smith is someone I'd consider the sleeper of this class, at least in terms of how productive he might prove to be compared to the notice he got during the recruiting process. He appears to have the sort of aggressive mentality and hunger for contact that makes All-American college linebackers out of seemingly unimpressive physical specimens, like Rocky Calmus or Zach Thomas.

Sean
I can't remember the last time I was this nonplussed (positively or negatively) by a recruiting class, and I don't say that as a knock against these kids. The fact of the matter is that this was really just a chaotic, bizarre warm-up act for what is going to hopefully be the main event next recruiting season. Even as kids were falling out today - Wilson to Ohio State (enjoy probation, Larry) and Roche to Louisville - I didn't even really care because that's one more scholarship we have next season.

It's funny to look at the message boards and see people fretting about losing out on a couple of 18 year old kids. As downtrodden as people got, you'd think that a sinkhole just swallowed the Golden Dome and Sacred Heart. Seriously, none of us, not even the so called experts, know what any of these kids are going to do. Wilson is considered a very good player, but certainly no lock to contribute early. And Roche is considered a decent to good offensive lineman, who admittedly looked a lot better to us only because we are so starved for offensive linemen (like the old bit on Eddie Murphy "Raw"; when you haven't eaten in a month, a Ritz cracker looks like a steak dinner. Brian Roche is basically a Ritz cracker.)

Charlie Weis has not done a single thing since December 13 that leads me to believe he won't fill each of those slots with as good or better players than Roche and Wilson. This is not like CJ Leak in 1999, where it essentially started a ripple effect at the quarterback position that we are just now recovering from. Nor is it like Lorenzo Booker in 2002 who (at that time, at least) was considered a true impact player and difference maker. Roche and Wilson will be an afterthought this time next year, trust me.

Biggest get? Duncan and Turkovich. Without these two, we have a depth chart situation on the offensive line that no amount of five star athletes at other positons can cure. It's sad to see how far o-line recruiting had fallen under the Willingham regime. What was once a constant (landing o-linemen) is now a cause for celebration. So wrong.

Biggest miss? If I had to attach some names, I would say it was the group of offensive linemen who at least had us in the mix when Willingham was let go, and then just stopped looking at Notre Dame even after Weis was hired - Doering, Moosman, Trump, and Eubanks (although Eubanks did end up at least visiting). Any one of those four would have really solidified a still tenuous o-line situation.

Sleeper pick? Scott Smith, LB. I know the rivals.com video clips are typically all positive plays for whoever the subject matter may be. That said, you can just tell from his video clips that Scott Smith is a player. He hits like a truck and had a few plays where he came out of nowhere to chase down players in the open field. On top of that, he was one of the few players who never wavered from his commitment to Notre Dame. He didn't care who the coach was, he just wanted to be a Notre Dame football player. I respect that. I'll go out on a limb and say that when this group of kids are seniors, Scott Smith will be one of the captains. (File that somewhere; I'm sure now he'll become the next Huntley Bakich.)

How about this for a category: monograms as freshmen. Scott Smith (LB), Evan Sharpley (QB), David Bruton (S). I think Smith will at the very least see time on special teams. Sharpley, I'm predicting, will quickly become the number two QB and Weis will get him reps at the right times throughout the season to get him some seasoning. As bad as our secondary was last year, it's hard to believe one of these frosh won't contribute there. Bruton is the most accomplished athletically of the trio of safeties, so I'll take him also. I was tempted to include Hord and Hiben, but we are very deep at WR and TE, and I think if Charlie can keep the redshirt on both of them, he will. My only other thought on recruiting in general is who signed Ryan Bain's letter of intent for him? There's no way he could have signed it himself without opposable thumbs.

Mike
As with everyone else apparently, Scott Smith would be my pick for sleeper. Conceding both that I know nothing about evaluating recruits from their high school video and that Smith's competition may not be the strongest, I was nonetheless quite impressed with Smith's highlights. Granted these were probably his best plays, but no one seemed to gain a yard after contact and he chased down a few RBs and WRs from behind.

As for biggest get - well, I thought we had five glaring needs in this recruiting class (which may conflict with my adherence to the "recruit every position, every year" school of thought) - QB, OT, DT, MLB, and CB. Thus I'll select my biggest get from these positions. Others have already mentioned Duncan and Turkovich, so I'll go with Sharpley. Ever since CJ Leak, our QB recruiting has been a clusterf---. Overrecruiting in some years, whiffing in others, landing headcases, etc. Pat Dillingham put a lot of effort in to the program, but it's absolutely godawful that he was our back-up QB for three years. Three years. Sharpley seems to combine a fair degree of talent with a level head. Given how many QB recruits these days are absolute prima donnas (sorry, I'm a moran, I meant premadonnas), a healthy attitude has surprisingly become a valuable asset in a QB.

Biggest miss - this goes back to the needs I addressed above. I'd also throw in RB, as I believe we should recruite an elite RB every single year. How many top-tier recruits were Willingham & Co. even able to interest at these positions? Did Willingham show even the slightest interested in recruiting a true DT? So while I can't give you the name of a specific recruit that we missed out on, I will say that a true cover corner was probably our biggest miss.

Michael
Biggest Miss- AJ Trump. We needed OL and we led for this kid. Real shame because Miami was able to sneak in and steal him despite being 4th...but Florida and ND fired their head coaches, and FSU fired their OL coach. That's simply what enabled Miami to move in and by the time our ducks were in a row, he had already established a strong relationship with their OL coach. Real shame because that kid was so athletic that, despite weighing 280 lbs) he was also playing LB for his high school in summer passing leagues. In Florida no less.

Biggest Get- Evan Sharpley. This is a tough call and we landed some very good kids at need positions (DJ Hord as a speed receiver, Duncan and Turkovich as OTs, Kuntz at DE/DT, Smith at LB/DE) but we needed to land one of our top QB targets and we did just that with Sharpley.

Sleeper- David Grimes. He's exactly the kind of WR that we need to complement what else we have, and he has great hands to go with good quickness. Good but not great speed, but what people who have seen him play tend to say is that he runs perfect routes and doesn't lose any speed going in and out of his cuts. Hardly played as a sophomore, as a junior he played in the shadow of his brother Carl (MSU beat out FSU last year) and Talonnie Russell, and rarely played, and finally, in 2004 he emerged and outplayed Russell. His best days of football are ahead of him...

Overall, it is a mediocre class with some holes, but like Weis said in his presser yesterday, "I'm content." Most importantly, we landed the most important recruit- a competent head coach, and he delivered an impressive staff. We'll see dividends on the field next year and in recruiting, though I can't get the idea out of my head that we won't be competing for a national championship anytime soon. I can see us as a consistent top 10-15 team by 2006 and beyond, but this year I really paid closer attention to other teams' recruiting more than I've done in past years and the Irish really have some built-in disadvantages...not being able to take in 30 recruits, not being able to take in JUCOs, not having the same flexibility with admissions, not being able to "give" recruits chicks and money like other schools do. Even USC, who has some of the best talent in the country in their own backyard, has been relegated to needing JUCOs to help push them over the top. I'm very anxious to see how things play out in the years ahead because I do think Weis will give us a distinct coaching advantage, but at the same time, is it enough without the top talent?

Either way - I can't wait to find out.

Jay
Do you have any examples of USC restocking with JUCOs?

Michael
This year they took Gabe Long (DT) and Kevin Myers (OL). Given that they lost their top two DTs (Cody & Patterson), Long has a shot to step in immediately and contribute. The beauty of JUCOs.

Last year they took four. Taitusi Lutui (OL) who played a lot at RT. Scott Ware (DB) who I think played quite a bit. Ryan Powdrell (LB) and Alatini Malu (OL).

Then the year before there was Will Poole (CB) and John Drake (OT/OG) who were big contributors. Poole would have been a first rounder except for a DUI arrest/conviction and Drake should go fairly high this year in the draft unless injury/weight concerns scare off teams. But he was USC's best OL (save Winston Justice) the last two years.

Pat
The biggest "get" in this class was Paul Duncan and Michael Turkovich. Offensive lineman, especially tackles, were a top priority and by all accounts ND got two good ones. That only gives Notre Dame six offensive lineman in the past three years which is really going to hurt in a few years unless the young players develop and develop fast. I'm of the opinion that the play of the offense depends largely on the play of the offensive line. Even the best QB in country can't do much if he's being chased around the field. And even though ND missed on a few other tackles and guards in this class, Duncan and Turkovich appear to be quality players and fill the position I figured was the most glaring need this year.

For the class sleeper, I'm going to pick Kevin Washington. We've had solid middle linebackers for the past few years, but where we've been beat is when some of our outside linebackers try to match up with fast running backs motioning out of the backfield. The interesting thing about Washington is that he played free safety in high school (in addition to quarterback) so he definetly has the speed to cover players in the passing game. To me he sounds like the kind of guy that may have been an average recruit at his high school position of free safety, but will develop into a highly productive outside linebacker.

The biggest miss would have to be the complete lack of a running back in this class. Granted Darius is a only a freshman and Justin Hoskins has shown flashes as well, but running back is the one position I think should be addressed every year. They are the guys that take the most hits and injuries are not uncommon at all. Depth at running back is almost as important as who is starting. Another reason I had hoped ND would sign a running back is they tend to be the most versitale athletes on the team. If things get crowded at running back, they can be moved to cornerback, safety, linebacker, or fullback. No question that landing at least two running backs is the number one priority heading into the 2006 recruiting campaign.

The class is obviously a small one and I don't see any freshman making an immediate impact outside of special teams next year, but this class seems to have the type of guys that quickly become fan favorites. Half of the class had committed to Willingham and firmly stuck by their committments to Notre Dame even when the school didn't have a head coach. That type of loyalty goes a long way with Notre Dame fans. Others like Herring, Kuntz, and McCarthy seem to be the high energy types that fire up the crowd, outplay guys who may have more physical size/talent, and end up as captains their senior year.

Michael
What's scary about the OL situation is that it's actually only 5.

Harris, because he played as a freshman, runs out of eligibility at the same time as the OL from the 2002 class. So that leaves only Sullivan, Kadous, Incarnato, Duncan & Turkovich. But my guess - and I think Smitty commented on this somewhere - is that Nicolas will end up at OG.

Pat, I really like the Washington pick. He's going to be a very good LB. He has consistently run in the 4.6 range despite being 215-220 lbs and he's already strong (19-20 reps of 185 lbs). Considering his free safety background, he's perfect to play at Will. Wouldn't surprise me if we heard the same accolades about him this fall that we heard about Crum last fall.

Sean
To your point about Washington, the other thing I like about him is the level of competition he's played. Sugar Land is in the Houston area, which is a high school football hot bed, and I know the school he plays at plays top notch opponents.

Since I'm certainly not an expert at evaluating game film, the two things I always look at when evaluating the recruits is (1) level of competition, and (2) who else was recruiting them. Last few years we've had way too many guys who have their finalists as "Indiana, Stanford, Pittsbirgh, and Notre Dame". I'm looking forward to ND butting heads with USC and the Florida and Texas schools again.

Michael
But if that's the case, then you're contradicting yourself and you can't like Washington because he had offers from only Wisconsin and Notre Dame, and even the schools in his region passed on him. I know there was one - whether it was Houston or Baylor - that invited him to their summer camp, saw him up close and still didn't offer.

Sean
Huh? I'm not sure where I said that a recruit had to have both of those qualities (tough competition and big time schools pursuing them) for me to "like them" as players, just that I myself use those two facets as a barometer (along with other things) when trying to evaluate how successful they may or may not be. All I was saying about Washington was that the level of competition was "the other thing I like about him". The perfect college player would be a supreme athlete, good student, who played stellar competition in high school, and was recruited by other heavyweights in the Top 25. Kevin Washington is a supreme athlete, good student, played stellar competition in high school, but was only recruited heavily by Notre Dame and Wisconsin. So I "can't like" him? Uh, ok.

Michael
I just wonder if you're applying the same "logic" to all the recruits, including the ones who only had "offers from Indiana, Stanford, Pittsburgh et al." Were you as aware of their level of competition as you are of Washington's?

As far as the level of competition goes...as a junior, Washington played FS. As a senior, he played QB and didn't play defense at all because he was so vital to his team as its sole offensive playmaker. Further, how can level of competition even be a factor when projecting him as a college LB since he didn't even play defense his senior year and only during his junior year did he even play FS, not even LB?

Sean
Well, from 1994 through 2001, I lived about 10 minutes from where Washington lives, and attended several high school football games in Sugar Land, so I do have a working knowledge of his part of the country and have many other areas I can compare to from live viewing, having lived in Connectiuct, Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, and now Chicago. So while I could name every team in Kevin Washington's district, no, I couldn't break down the strength of schedule for Kyle McCarthy at Cardinal Mooney. So, you got me. Red handed.

Anyway, how can "level of competition" NOT be a factor in evaluating him? Athletically speaking, the speed, strength, football sense of his opposition in Distrcit 20-5A in Houston is among the best in the country, and the game at the college level will certainly be slower for someone like Washington than for, say, Asaph Schwapp, who played in the mighty CCC-West in suburban Hartford, where he was probably bigger and faster than all of the offensive linemen on his opposition all year. (I know this because my high school plays in Schwapp's conference. The conference is much better known for soccer than football. Just trust me.)

Teds
Michael's right about Trump. I don't usually get mistyeyed over losing offensive line recruits, but Trump appeared to be an unbelievably versatile player who is poised to explode at the next level. If I had to guess at it, I'd say that Trump will turn out to be a better college offensive lineman than any of the others that ND missed out on.

It nagged at me that he never gave Weis a chance after having the Irish as an odds-on favorite for some time. But it also seemed this situation was more a case of an existing recruit who simply tired of the process than one who was stuck on Willingham's cult of personality like David Nelson and a couple others.

Dylan
After reading the UND recap and wondering if it’s really necessary to point out that so-and-so is the 77th most highly rated player at his position, I started thinking that the rag-tag bunch of loveable misfits that comprise next year’s freshman class could, in four years, resemble another storied class of college athletes. Fifteen years from now, might those fifteen names hold a place of honor in ND lore similar to the one at Kentucky held by Woods, Feldhaus, Pelphrey, and Farmer? Those four average (at least in terms of their college careers; Woods had been the second-highest rated prep point guard in the country behind Chrismoud Jabdulckson-Rauf) players had their jerseys retired at the school that has won more basketball games than any other. Why? Because they stuck around when UK was pole-axed by the NCAA after Chris Mills received the most famous package ever delivered by Emery. The causes are different, but it’s hard to argue that ND’s football program is in any better shape than UK’s basketball program was after the post-probation exodus from Lexington. Might these “Fab Fifteen” be our version of “The Unforgettables?”

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(Stay tuned for part II of our Recruiting Roundtable, where Dylan reaches for the last rib on the plate, and gets his comeuppance.)

"I'm just praying for a misdemeanor" | by Mike

A common argument among certain media halfwits (I'm looking in your direction, Wilbon, Dodd, and Caple) in the wake of the Willingham firing amounted largely to this:

Tyrone Willingham may not be able to win football games, but Notre Dame is obligated to retain him because he recruits high-quality individuals and he graduates them.

The flaw in this argument is obvious to all Notre Dame fans - at Notre Dame, on- and off-field success are not viewed as mutually exclusive. The university's goal is to deliver both.

However, setting this misconception aside for the moment, I still remain puzzled by another of the argument's premises. Namely, Willingham's reputation as the man responsible for those high graduation rates and high character student-athletes. Willingham developed this reputation while serving as the head coach of Stanford and Notre Dame, two of America's most prestigious private universities. Graduation and proper conduct off the field have always been non-negotiable at these schools. In other words, Willingham simply maintained the status quo at Notre Dame (well, off the field, anyway) and Stanford.

The aforementioned media twits were quick to claim that Notre Dame had sold its soul for football glory, while Washington had taken a righteous stand for integrity. Unfortunately for them, the early returns cannot support such an assertion.

Despite another rather time-consuming responsibility (perhaps you've heard of the Super Bowl?), a recent article reveals Charlie Weis has already addressed classroom performance with some of his Notre Dame players.

"Last Friday, I had six kids in my office who I hammered for missing class," said Weis, 48. "You can spread the word: Notre Dame's academic adviser just gained a new best friend."

And what has Willingham been up to? At this point, recall his reputation:

In College Football, Notre Dame fired Head Coach Ty Willingham who wasn't winning enough, but who was graduating all of his players (without any special favors from school professors) and keeping them out of the local crime blotter--and that's a full time job these days

Well, Tyrone Willingham, in his first month at a school other than an elite private university that demands high graduation rates and well-behaved players, has announced the signing of a recruit exiled from Nevada for a vicious assault.

As Ted Miller, of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes:

The character claim, however, is surprisingly debatable, considering Willingham was supposed to eliminate the too frequent embarrassing headlines about Huskies legal scrapes.

Chris Handy, a cornerback from Arcadia, Calif., who arrives via Pasadena Community College, is the only member of the class who already has competed in Husky Stadium. Playing for Nevada in 2003, he returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown in the Wolf Pack's 28-17 humiliation of the Huskies.

He also was booted from Nevada because of his involvement in an off-campus assault in July 2003.

According to police reports, Handy and a buddy severely beat up a young man, kicking him in his face and head after he fell to the ground. The victim apparently had been flirting with the other assailant's 16-year-old girlfriend.

There is no justification for two guys kicking an already whipped guy while he languishes on the ground.

When reporters questioned Willingham over the decision to recruit such a player, Willingham offered a positively Bowden-esque rationalization.

"We did our homework and believe the young man is a fine, upstanding young man," Willingham said.

Willingham then noted that even he makes mistakes, confessing that he once got a parking ticket, before asserting, "I look at Chris' situation the same way."

Wow. I could re-read that quote all day and never see the similarity between the two situations.

Let me make clear, however, that my intent is not to indict Willingham (it is, after all, up to the University of Washington to decide what degree of character risk they are willing to tolerate in their student-athletes), but rather to debunk the notion - widespread among the media - that it was Willingham, and not the universities, that set such high standards at Notre Dame and Stanford. As Weis's statement suggests, Notre Dame's academic integrity did not walk out the door with Tyrone Willingham.

Ace | by Jay

Great portrait of Asaph Schwapp from the Hartford Courant. To say he's excited to come to ND would be a massive understatement.

"I couldn't have ever imagined this day would ever come," Schwapp said. "It's really a dream come true."

Schwapp says he is a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, but he has been "paying a lot more attention to the Patriots lately."

"I love his offense," Schwapp said of Weis. "He gets the fullback involved a lot. He throws the ball in flats. He likes to run the I-form. All their plays set up in the I-form. He might motion with the single back but they all start in the I-form. I like that idea. When you see the Patriots you see so many people involved in that offense. He pretty much uses everybody. I think that style is going to translate well into the college game."

Schwapp seems to be a local hero: Apparently even the mayor of Hartford showed up at the signing yesterday. Schwapp's legal guardian Clarke King was pretty excited to see him pick ND:

King said there were three reasons he was happy to see Schwapp going to Notre Dame. The first is that academics are No.1. The second is that all Notre Dame games are on TV.

"Third of all, he's eating me out of house and home," King said. "My grocery bill keeps going up and up. Let Notre Dame take care of his eating habits now."

(Tip of the hat to PMan over on NDN for the heads-up.)

New Crop | by Pat

Okay, everybody's got their own recruiting rundown of the new guys in town, so instead of offering up the same, we'll point you towards these fine recaps:

• the Official ND press release
  
• the South Bend Tribune - "ND Recruit Profiles"
  
• Blue & Gold Illustrated - "Irish Sign 15 Prospects"
  
• Irish Eyes - "2005 Class comes to a close"
  

Also, be sure to check out the transcript of Charlie Weis' signing day press conference. ("I'm happy. I'm very content with where we are right now.")

In addition, we'd like to highlight a few choice tidbits about each new recruit -- a little something to round out the picture if you will.

---

Iron Man. Defensive line recruit Patrick Kuntz played both offensive and defensive line all season for Indiana powerhouse Roncalli High School. That is, until he broke his arm in the sectionals of the state playoffs. After that, he took it easy. With the broken arm, he only played defense.

Double Dip. Quarterback Evan Sharpley is equally adept on the baseball diamond as well as the gridiron, and will be joining Jeff Samardzija as a combination football/baseball player for the Irish. Sharpley was an all-state third baseman for Marshall High in Michigan.

Mr. Versatility. While playing for a state championship in the final game of his high school career, Kyle McCarthy (DB) ran for a touchdown, threw for a touchdown, ran an interception back 93 yards for a touchdown, and also had two touchdown-saving tackles.

Shadow. David Grimes (WR) always seemed to be overlooked. He played in the shadow of his brother Carl Grimes, who was a national recruit last year, and Talonnie Russell, who is a national recruit this year. Carl and Talonnie were so great in high school that David hardly got much of a chance to contribute. Then his brother graduated and David really played well this year...in fact outplaying Russell according to most observers. David gets to square off against his big brother when the Irish meet Michigan State this year.

Olympian. Minnesota native Joey Hiben (TE) pulled off the unusual feat of qualifying for the state final in both the shot put and 110 meter hurdles his junior year. He ended up finishing 3rd in the hurdles and 9th in the shot put.

The Steal. David Bruton (DB) - came from a small school in Ohio that doesn't send many kids - if any - to Division 1A. And yet, he outperformed nationally-ranked Adam Myers White at the Ohio State camp according to all observers. David was pissed about Willingham getting fired ("I'm going to go ahead and say it," safety David Bruton said. "It was bulls--t. You can print that.") But Weis sold him on the new regime, and to his credit David honored his commitment.

Blocking back. Maryland offered Asaph Schwapp (FB) at their camp early last year, and he verballed to the Terps at one point. Maryland told him they'd pull the scholarship offer if he went to any other camps, but he went to ND anyway (on his own dime) and ended up with an offer from the Irish. “What really stood out was my size compared to everybody else they were recruiting,” the 6', 240lb Schwapp said. “I was a little bigger than everybody else. I moved pretty well compared to everybody else. Then when we did pad blocking I was knocking other kids out.”

Leatherneck. Valley Forge Military Academy cadet Michael Turkovich (OL) comes from the same alma mater as former general Norman Schwarzkopf, playwright Edward Albee, and Arizona Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald. That would be one hell of a dinner party lineup.

6'2, 300. That's Derrell Hand (DL), a fireplug of a defensive lineman who's still mobile enough to play tight end, which is what he did in high school. Big D also happens to be a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan despite the fact his new coach runs the offense for the Patriots. "I asked [Coach Weis] for the Super Bowl game plan," said Hand. "But he hasn't called me yet with [it]. I think he's scared I might snitch on him."

Lightning. You probably knew D.J. Hord (WR) is the one bona fide "skill" superstar ND landed this year. Maybe you knew D.J. stands for "Don Juan". Did you know he had offers from Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Boston College, Wisconsin and LSU, and he still picked the Irish?

Ice to the Eskimos. Kevin Washington (LB/DB) committed to ND early, then wavered after the firing of Ty. Wisconsin got involved at that point, and ironically, it was Rob Ianello making the sales pitch. When Ianello was hired by ND, Washington reaffirmed his Irish status -- no doubt with a friendly push from Rob. Sidenote: for his senior season, he switched to quarterback because there was no one else who could play the position on his high school team. And he did pretty well, too.

Like Rudy, but with talent. Playing for a losing team gets old pretty quick, as Paul Duncan (OL) no doubt knows. In high school his team suffered eleven straight losses under the new coach before winning the last game of the season. Duncan constantly stressed the need to win in his recruiting interviews, but hesitated to pull the trigger on Notre Dame with Willingham as the head coach. "As a kid I grew up pulling for Notre Dame and it was my dream to play there". Landing Weis sealed the deal.

11th Hour. Things moved pretty quickly for Steve Quinn (LB) this week. Quinn had been committed to Penn State since last fall, but in the course of the last seven days 1) he expressed some private interest in the Irish, 2) word got back to ND that he might be considering a switch, 3) Charlie called and made an offer, 4) he came for a daylong visit last Sunday, meeting Weis in the airport for about an hour, and 5) decommitted from Penn State and cast his lot with the Irish. Whew.

Solid. In stark contrast to Quinn, Scott Smith (LB) has been a ND commit since way back in July of last year. No need to shop around: "I just love everything about the school." Period.

Majority Whip. By now we've all seen Ray Herring's (DB) famous recruiting diary for a Florida newspaper, but the kid just keeps cracking me up. There was a new entry yesterday where he dubbed Coach Weis "Hurricane Charlie":

That nickname popped into my head because Coach Weis took Notre Dame by storm and assembled the best coaching staff in college football. His offense is unpredictable and devastating and he makes a serious impact wherever he goes, just look at his history. I believe "Hurricane Charlie" is going to help us win at least one National Championship before I graduate from Notre Dame. My area has had four direct hits by hurricanes this year, one named Frances, one named Jeanne and two named Charlie. Three real bad and one real good!

Hurricane Charlie has himself a great bunch of guys as his first recruiting class. And even they aren't as starry and heralded a group as, say, USC's recruiting haul, here's hoping they're able to look back someday and say, "I was there at the beginning of a great run of Irish football." Best of luck to all of them.

Hoops on LOI day? | by Dylan

Sure, why not.

ND Basketball was my favorite sport when I was a kid. It's been harder to follow since I've been out of school and living in California, but I learned something today that shouldn't have shocked a true Irish fan, but blew me away. I will use this space to trumpet my ignorance.

Notre Dame is the all-time tenth-winningest Division I Men's Basketball program (beware, .pdf lurking). As of this moment, Notre Dame has won three fewer games (1,561) than Indiana (1,564), even though the Irish have played five fewer seasons than the Hoosiers. Passing IU this year and scooting into ninth place all-time would seem to be a done deal.

Allow me to repeat myself: We are about to pass Indiana University in basketball victories.

What a great time to be alive.

Media Day | by Jay

Of course the previous photo was from the Super Bowl Media Day yesterday in Jacksonville, where Charlie had some face time with the press, and he ended up fielding quite a few questions about his next job. Charlie expounded on his busy schedule, his first recruiting class for the Irish, and what the future holds for ND football. (He even had some choice words for David Nelson). Terry Bannon of the Chicago Trib has the full scoop:

JACKSONVILLE -- Charlie Weis is working this week with a Notre Dame cell phone in his left pocket, his personal cell in his right and the gaudy Super Bowl ring from last season on his right hand.

Notre Dame's new coach is spending his final days living in two worlds and juggling two of the most high-profile jobs in football—coach at Notre Dame and offensive coordinator for the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

"This time of year you have to suck it up," Weis said Tuesday. "Two of the most important days in football -- college signing day is Wednesday and we're preparing for the Super Bowl; you can find enough energy."

Energy hasn't been an issue for Weis, but holding down two jobs has complicated his first recruiting class.

It won't include wide receiver David Nelson from Wichita Falls, Texas, who opted for Florida when the Patriots' victory over Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game Jan. 23 prevented what he and his father wanted—a face-to-face meeting with Weis.

"I told them that's not the type of kid we're looking for," Weis said. "I said if they want the Patriots to lose to come to Notre Dame, then you go somewhere else because I'm not into losing, and that's what I told him very clearly, and he understood what my point of view was."

Nelson said Tuesday it wasn't that simple. He also liked Florida's tradition, new coach Urban Meyer and its offense. But to Notre Dame, it did not come as a coincidence Nelson announced for the Gators the day after the Patriots won the AFC title.

"That's not what I'm about," said Nelson, who added he did not want New England to lose. "I just told him meeting the head coach is very important to me, at the same time, it's not that important. For some reason, I worded something wrong and it got blown way out of proportion."

Weis' first recruiting class still could be good. Weis said he won't use all his scholarships.

"I want a full year in recruiting and take those extra few we don't use this year and take an extra few next year," he said.

Weis was coming from behind in recruiting after replacing the fired Tyrone Willingham. He knows the Super Bowl exposure will come too late to help on signing day. But he's convinced all the free advertising he will get Sunday night will help down the road.

"I think that for any sophomore and junior in high school who's watching their head coach out here working the sidelines [in the Super Bowl] for the third time in four years, if that doesn't make an impression, I don't know what's going to," Weis said.

"It'll be the type of class who fits the prototype of guys we're looking for. I'm not looking for volume, I want to sign ones who'll be the foundation for the program. Anyone can go in and fill out the bottom of the roster and take another four or five guys at the end; that's not what we're looking for. We don't want to put a number and say, they got 19. We want the right 19."

It has been said recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. Weis said he can't wait to get pumping full time.

"I'm going to recruit like they haven't been recruited before, and that's not a slight on Ty or Bob [Davie] or anyone before me, but I have a passion for recruiting," Weis said. "I really enjoy doing it."

Be sure to check out the entire article. A couple of quick reflections:

• David Nelson isn't doing himself any favors by trying to rationalize why he said 'no' to Notre Dame. His explanation of how his words got twisted around actually makes things more confusing, not less ("I just told him meeting the head coach is very important to me, at the same time, it's not that important"). Dave, please, put down the shovel.

• Charlie confirms what many recruitniks had surmised for a while: that filling all the slots this year is of lesser importance than holding some open for next year's class, for when Charlie and the staff have had a full head of steam on the recruiting trail.

• That said, next year's class better be galactically impressive.

• "I said if they want the Patriots to lose to come to Notre Dame, then you go somewhere else because I'm not into losing." Jesus marimba -- what a sentiment. Kevin White once said that he thought George O'Leary was an Irish football coach straight out of Central Casting; the more I think about it, the more Charlie Weis seems more apt for that comparison: blunt, brash, outspoken, and painfully honest. He's the Archetype, in so many ways.

Snapshot | by Jay

What Charlie Weis was up to today:



What Lloyd Carr was up to today: