Weis visits Davie | by Mike

Relax. The Davie the headline refers to is Davie High School, not the woeful Aggie himself. As a follow-up to Jay's chronicle of Charlie's spring odyssey, here is a closer look at what happens on one of Weis's stops.

In today's South Bend Tribune, Eric Hansen quoted James Aldridge's coach on the effect of Weis's visit

"He walked into my freshman biology class, and the kids were in awe, to say the least," Merrillville football coach Jeff Yelton said. "It was an honor and a privilege for this to be the first school in Indiana that coach Weis visited. And it wasn't just the players who got a kick out of it. The coaches, the whole community was excited.

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

Of course, Aldridge had already committed to Notre Dame. Did Charlie's visits have a similar effect at the schools of undecided prospects? According to the Salisbury (N.C.) Post, apparently so.

Highlights from an excellent Nick Bowton article on Weis's visit to cornerback Raeshon McNeil's high school. Chicks may dig the long ball, but top high school recruits are uniformly enamored with Super Bowl rings.

Weis, who offered McNeil a scholarship in early April, came to Davie to speak with football coach Doug Illing and principal Larry Bridgewater. Because of NCAA rules, Weis couldn't interact with McNeil, but the 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back managed to catch a glimpse of Weis' Super Bowl rings.

A former NFL offensive coordinator, Weis owns four of them.

"Those rings were nice," said McNeil, a junior. "I bet a lot of people's wives would like to have diamonds that big."

However, recruits seem even more impressed with Charlie's decision to visit them personally than they are with his rings.

"I think that when I go into a high school, the fact that it's not just an assistant coach popping in there — it's also the head coach popping in there — sends a message," [said Weis].

That message? We want you. Really.

McNeil and Illing got the point.

"So far he's the only head coach that has come to see me," McNeil said. "And the fact that how prestigious he is, his background and all of that, made it even better."

Added Illing, who spent 45 minutes speaking with Weis and [defensive backs coach Bill] Lewis: "A lot of schools want you, they offer you a scholarship — which is good and everything — but how many times does a head coach come by to see you?

"You must be really, really high on their list when the head man takes time out of his day to come down to North Carolina and (you're) the only individual in North Carolina that he's coming to see."

Weis's personal visits also allowed him to deploy another of his important assets - his personality. By all accounts, Weis seems to be magnetic when interacting in person. Jason Kelly summarized Weis's presence nicely:

He has the personality to develop a rapport with recruits and coaches, the jewelry to establish credibility and, pardon the expression, the jewels to alter the prevailing negativity about Notre Dame.

At once confident and self-deprecating, a family man and a football-aholic, an elite leader and one of the guys, his presence can be approachable and imposing in the same breath.

There's no sense in keeping that charisma hidden in the football offices of the Joyce Center or out on the golf course.

Following Weis's visit to Mocksville, McNeil made a visit to Notre Dame the weekend of June 3, and left with Notre Dame atop his list. With McNeil planning a decision by the end of the summer, it may not be long before Weis begins to see concrete results from his nationalwide tour.

Know Thine Enemy: Syracuse's Greg Robinson | by Michael

(This is part 1 of a series.)

The Irish weren't the only team to undergo a coaching makeover when they hired Charlie Weis last winter. Five of the eleven teams on the 2005 schedule will enter this fall with a different head coach patrolling the sidelines: Syracuse, Washington, BYU, Stanford and Pitt. Additionally, a sixth team, Southern Cal, has a three-headed offensive coordinator to replace the departed Norm Chow.

The philosophies and schemes of these opponents' offenses and defenses will very likely change, but by how much? What can Notre Dame fans expect to see from these teams in 2005, and will these teams thrive under new leadership? Over the next few weeks, we'll evaluate these coaching changes, starting with Greg Robinson, the new head coach at Syracuse.

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Greg Robinson, Syracuse University

Bio/Record: Take a look at Robinson’s bio. An assistant coach for the last thirty years, this is Robinson’s first head coaching opportunity. He is known as a fiery, enthusiastic coach in the mold of Pete Carroll (more on that later). Last year he served as the defensive coordinator for Texas, and prior to that he had served as an NFL defensive coordinator for the Chiefs, Broncos and Jets. Robinson replaces Paul Pasqualoni, who coached at Syracuse for fourteen years and compiled a 107-59-1 record. One month after getting a vote of confidence from new athletic director Daryl Gross, a 37-point blow-out loss in a bowl game changed Gross's tune. "Sometimes you just know you need to make a change."

Notable staff: Former Irish RB coach Desmond Robinson is back after coaching high school football in Connecticut; Major Applewhite will coach QBs after working as a graduate assistant at Texas; former Bears OL coach Bob Wylie is back in football after a brief absence.

Offensive philosophy: Brian Pariani is the new offensive coordinator, and he comes to Syracuse from the Broncos, where he was the TE coach. Robinson’s relationship with Pariani goes back to the days when Robinson coordinated the Broncos’ defense. Pariani appears to have little practical experience running an offense, especially considering that most of his experience at Denver has come under Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan, who are both widely recognized as the designers of the Broncos’ offense. Robinson better hope some of their genius has rubbed off on his friend. Another telling hire was the luring of former NFL offensive line coach Bob Wylie. While this name may be unfamiliar to some, I think the addition of an experienced NFL line coach suggests that Robinson wants an offense capable of pounding the football and controlling the clock. What's been said in the media is that Syracuse is installing a West Coast offense, but what does that mean these days, anyway? Often, that's simply a college football buzzword.

"The offense that Pariani and offensive line coach Bob Wylie have brought with them from the NFL is a hodgepodge of setups. Pariani spent the past ten seasons as tight ends coach for the Denver Broncos, and Syracuse's new attack borrows concepts from the Broncos."

Because of the hirings of Wylie and Pariani, I’m led to believe that Robinson wants to put his stamp on the offense. Defensive-minded head coaches are often stereotyped -- for good reason -- with desiring a conservative offense that protects their defense. Keeping that in mind, check out these comments:

"Offensively, we’re going to be a balanced offense. We know that we have to run the football. We have to have the ability to run the football, but we’re going to throw the football and throw it well, with precision…but, I know what I’m looking for, as far as having that balance on offense and having that aggressive style of defense."

Hasn’t every former defensive coordinator-turned head coach said this, or something similar, in his opening remarks? Or, at least, haven’t the average and worse head coaches said it? On the other hand, Bob Stoops adopted an aggressive, spread offense, and he has already won a national championship. Pete Carroll went out and hired Norm Chow, and he now possesses two national championships. I’m left believing that “balanced” really means “conservative” and that calling it a West Coast offense is meaningless. Mark my words, this is going to be the vanilla offense of a defensive-minded head coach. Robinson simply doesn’t want his offense turning the ball over deep in his own territory, which could make his defense look bad if they give up points.

Bob Davie perfected the art of forsaking an offense to protect his defense, and Syracuse RBs coach Desmond Robinson can probably reveal to his new boss a few of Davie’s tricks of the trade. Perhaps he already has; in the 2005 spring game, the defense beat the offense 34-30 after an ingenious scoring system was devised that enabled the defense to accumulate points based on sacks, third down stops and other stats. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Overall, if I were a 'Cuse fan, I’d be concerned about the offense. An inexperienced coordinator, a brilliant but equally inexperienced coach responsible for mentoring the most important offensive position on the field and a defensive coordinator who wants to keep his fingers in the cookie jar…this is a recipe for disaster.

Defensive philosophy: Robinson and Pete Carroll are tight – personally and philosophically. Both like aggressive 4-3 defenses that look to create turnovers, scores and scoring opportunities. Further, after playing together at Pacific, Robinson worked as an assistant under Carroll with the Jets before assuming the defensive coordinator duties when Carroll became head coach. Primarily from his experiences working with Carroll and Monte Kiffin, Robinson developed his own “read and react defense based primarily on cover 2 or cover 3 protections with a variety of zone blitzes and coverage packages” with the Broncos, and he eventually took it to Kansas City after he was fired.

It’s very similar to what Carroll runs at USC, and what Ed Donatell ran with the Packers for three years (before he was fired) and now with the Falcons defense (all three were on the Jets’ defensive staff together). Another important element of these defenses is that, like Kiffin, one of the safeties is almost always in the box for run support. I'm led to believe that Robinson prefers the two-gap, 4-3 defense often associated with"read and react" defenses, whereas Kiffin, Carroll and Donatell prefer one-gap, 4-3 defenses. Unfortunately, I don't have confirmation of this...

Robinson was fired from the Chiefs because according to this NFL.com writer, “Robinson’s scheme relied heavily on the correct defensive call being made to correspond to whatever the offense was showing or doing. Wrong calls or slow reads could easily open the door to a big offensive play.” As a result, Robinson took a lot of heat and even found himself on the NFL’s Most Overpaid List. The importance of calls and reads ties into one of Robinson’s central focuses in his coaching philosophy of the 2 Es and 2 Is that he described at his press conference – intelligence. Furthermore, this disgruntled KC fan provides some interesting analysis of the scheme’s need for intelligent players:

“Gifted, intelligent players seem to thrive in Robinson’s schemes. Less gifted and less intelligent players get overwhelmed and overloaded and fail. So Robinson’s schemes were good, but overly complicated for Denver’s deteriorating secondary and for KC’s entire stock of defensive personnel. Robinson lacked the ability or the willingness to scale things back for these less-able players.”

That quote may or may not contain the answer for why Robinson earned accolades in leading the Longhorns’ defense last year. After wrestling with lots of conflicting info that I’ve encountered, I’m not so sure it was deserved. I think two things occurred here.

• Mack Brown had very likely stocked far more talent than every other team on the Longhorns’ schedule. The Longhorns’ defensive roster (Derrick Johnson, Rod Wright, Larry Dibbles, Aaron Harris, just to name a few) was a coordinator’s dream.
  
  
• Not only did Brown hire Robinson last year, but he also brought on Dick Tomey, the architect of Arizona’s “swarm defense” of the early 1990s, to coach the defensive line. The combination of Tomey and Robinson is certainly intriguing; how influential was Tomey’s hiring in the overall success of the defense?

Robinson did scale back the defense a bit earlier in the year and later started introducing various blitzes as the season progressed. Nonetheless,as the season went on, an argument could be made that their defensive performance was less dominating.

• Robinson was entirely befuddled by Les Miles’ game plan as Oklahoma State raced out to a 35-7 halftime lead.
  
  
• Against arguably the most talented front seven in the country, Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson ran for 220+ yards.
  
  
• Who would you pick between an NFL coordinator with 2 Super Bowl rings and a boatload of talent versus conservative Lloyd Carr, a freshman QB and a freshman RB? Yet, Michigan had little trouble moving the ball as they scored 30+ in the Rose Bowl.

When Texas faced teams with above-average talent, or when they faced teams with capable running games, just how successful was Robinson’s defense? As Robinson introduced more blitzes into the Texas defense over the course of the season, did that improve them or make them more vulnerable? Would offenses have figured out his system and predictable play-calling even more so in 2005, had he not taken the Syracuse job, just like they did when he coached the Broncos and Chiefs?

As far as the defense he inherits at Syracuse, there’s no question the talent level is nowhere near what he enjoyed at Texas. Little news has trickled out of spring football practices but the emphasis appears to be on simplifying the system. “The new staff is focusing on fewer schemes and just two options - one for a pass and one for a run. "They just let you play. You don't have to be out there thinking about a thousand things." How many times have I heard that before? Generally, I have found it to be the case that people find things easier to pick up or learn when they are engaged and interested in what’s being taught, and I think that’s what Robinson has done at Syracuse – he has infected the team with a new attitude, which it has sorely needed. Additionally, just as he did with Texas, I’d expect Robinson to gradually build more of his schemes into the defense. Syracuse gave up 180+ yards on the ground rushing per game last year, and I’m not certain they have the front seven, especially the interior linemen, to do what Robinson wants.

Prediction for Coach Robinson: Syracuse fans may think they have the second coming of Pete Carroll, but there are three enormous differences between the two head coaches. Carroll’s defenses never got lit up as often as Robinson’s defenses have been. Additionally, Carroll hired a proven offensive coordinator in Norm Chow upon taking over USC. Finally, the Trojans had the talent on-board to turn things around more quickly, which they did. It’s hard for me to buy into the belief that Robinson will turn around the Orange; I’m not sure that his philosophy and background suggests he’s the best fit.

If it is going to happen, though, I see two keys. The first is the offense; what kind of coordinator can Pariani become, and how much flexibility will Robinson allow him? After that, it’s all about recruiting. Robinson has the personality for it, but will the product on the field attract recruits? Looking at Syracuse’s schedule next year, which includes Louisville, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Virginia and Florida State, it’s hard for me to believe he can do it.

Weis-Factor: As coordinators, Weis owns a 3-1 lifetime record against Robinson in the NFL. In all four games, Robinson’s defenses have done a very good job of stopping the run and Weis was forced to air it out more often than not:

• 2002: Patriots 41, Broncos 38
• 2000: Patriots 30, Broncos 24
• 1999: Jets 21, Broncos 13
• 1998: Broncos 23, Jets 10 (AFC Championship game)

Travels With Charlie | by Jay

Steinbeck may have covered more ground, but then again, Steinbeck had a whole year for his leisurely ramble across the country. Charlie, on the other hand, was riding a whirlwind.

"It was a little bit hectic, but I think it was definitely a necessary evil," Weis said.

From April 28 through May 27 Charlie was on the road: visiting high schools, eyeballing recruits, schmoozing coaches, and laying the foundation for his first full recruiting season. Charlie visited somewhere on the order of fifty or sixty different recruits, from Seattle to Orlando, from Boston to San Diego, all in just under a month.

So just where did he go?

It's tough to say exactly. We do have a number of legitimate reports that peg Charlie with certain recruits in certain cities on certain days. Some other recruits we know he visited, but we can't say for sure when. And for all the gaps, we always have hearsay and conjecture.

In any case, here's a wild-ass stab at Charlie's odyssey through the month of May. Consider this as illustrative rather than definitive...that is, "for entertainment purposes only". If nothing else, you'll get a good sense of what a college coach goes through during the dog days of the recruiting season. Off we go.

Charlie kicked off the May evaluation period with a trip to Merrillville, Indiana (1) to visit James Aldridge on May 2. Aldridge, as we know, committed to ND on 5/2. Then Charlie was off to Chicago (2) to see Demetrius Jones and Jamie Cumbie.

From Chicago, Charlie toured western Pennsylvania (3) to see a bunch of guys: Zach Frazer, Jason Kates, Jared Odrick, Jeremiah Hunter, and Darrin Walls.

Next stop was East Rutherford, New Jersey (4) for the Elite Combine followed by a visit to Myron Rolle in Princeton, NJ (5). Charlie then headed up to Boston (6) to see Barry Gallup.

The Nike camp & combine was in Ann Arbor (7) on May 7th, and Charlie was in attendance. Sunday was a rest day in the evaluation period for Charlie, as as we know from the presser on Tuesday, Charlie flew home to Rhode Island (8) for some brief family time on every Sunday in May. On Monday he was in Cleveland (9) to check out Rob Parris and John Ryan. It's possible he also visited Cincinnati sometime around here for a visit with Kallen Wade or Robert Williams.

On May 11 he was in Dallas (10) to see Mike Morgan and Curtis Bailey. Then to Oklahoma City (11) for George West, Gerald McCoy and Laron Moore, a brief stop in Springdale, AR (12) to see Mitch Mustain and perhaps Bartley Webb. Charlie wrapped up this leg in St. Louis (13) on May 14th to see Prince and Mullen, and finally went back to Rhode Island again for the Sunday breather.

Charlie next visited Rome, GA (14), Tucker, GA (15), and Anderson, SC (16) to visit Ben Alexander, Toryan Smith, and Asher Allen respectively, all on May 16th. Mocksville, NC (17) is home to Raeshon McNeil, whom Charlie met with on the 17th. Then Charlie vaulted to Clermont, Florida (18) for a look at Richard Jackson and on to Fort Lauderdale (19) for Daniel Wenger and Sam Young on the 18th.

Details from the 19th to the 21st are sketchy, but there are a host of other east coast athletes that Charlie was rumored to have visited, and he probably spent this time checking out some guys who didn't pop up in official reports. We do know he saw Percy Harvin and Damon McDaniel in Virginia Beach (20) sometime in there. Charlie returned home once again on Sunday the 22nd.

On May 23rd Charlie was off to the west coast to take a look at Taylor Mays in Seattle (21), then headed for Aurora, Colorado (22) to see Butch Lewis.

Charlie then dropped down to southern California on the 24th & 25th for a series of stops: Konrad Reuland in Mission Viejo (23), Travis Goethel in Vista (24), Menelik Holt in San Diego (25), Kai Forbath in Sherman Oaks (26), and Allen Bradford in Colton (27).

Charlie wrapped up the May period with a visit to St. Paul to check out Matt Carufel, then down to Jasper, Indiana for Luke Schmidt, who committed to the Irish on May 27th. Then Charlie finally headed home to reintroduce himself to his wife.

Whew.

Again, the above consisted of published reports, educated guesses and a lot of blind speculation. But whatever the exact itinerary, there's no doubt it was a killer. Here's the whole map, with the places we know Charlie visited:

So, did the effort pay off? Was Charlie happy with the trip, and did he enjoy himself?

In typical fashion, Charlie was bluntly honest when asked that question on Tuesday:

“I’ll enjoy it when I know what the results are."

Jumping Ship | by Pat

For the last few weeks, rumors of transfers from the football program have been swirling via email, IM, and message board posts. Coach Weis addressed these issues during his press conference on Tuesday and confirmed who is leaving and who is staying.

"I don’t know if Duerson will be going to school here or not, but he will not be with the football program. In addition to that John Kadous will not be with the football program and Chris Vaughn will not be with the football program for a semester, but I am not sure where that will take us, but he will not be with us this upcoming semester. I’m not getting into any particulars; I will just say he will not be with the team this next semester and as far as his future I cannot discuss it.”

While Weis declined to comment on Duerson's status as a Notre Dame student, rumors mention that he might continue his football career at another school. He was lightly recruited coming out of high school, but practice reports stated he could hold his own on the field. It will be interesting to see where he ends up and how his career progresses.

The departure of Kadous is a real blow to the offensive line depth chart. After the 2005 season, assuming all of the 5th year eligible players return and no one is knocked out by injury, Notre Dame will only have 10 returning scholarship offensive lineman. What was a very important position in this year's recruiting has quickly become the most important position with plenty of available playing time for any interested recruit. The South Bend Tribune has a story that quotes Kadous as saying he's transfering to the University of Arizona and might take a year off from football.

As for Chris Vaughn, his transfer situation seems to be a bit more complicated. The fact that Weis said he is only off the team for the fall semester suggests a return is possible. However, in a recent update on Louisville's scout.com site (you need a subscription) Vaughn is quoted as saying Louisville is probably his top choice for a transfer. That seems to be a pretty clear sign that he's not coming back to Notre Dame as a student in the fall. With the graduation of Matt Shelton, Rhema McKnight, and Maurice Stovall, a starting spot for Vaughn in 2006 seemed almost a given. But, Vaughn's career with the Fighting Irish appears to be over.

On the bright side, Weis did mention that certain players rumored to be transfer candidates will be back in the fall, ready to suit up for the Irish. In addition to cornerback LaBrose Hedgemon who will return from his year-long suspension, offensive lineman James Bonelli and defensive lineman Ronald Talley, both suspended from spring practices, will return. All three are not expected to contend for a starting spot in the fall, but will add valuable depth at thin positions.

Transfers occur at every school whenever there is a coaching change so the departure of some players, while never great news, was to be expected. Weis hopes however, that the rush for the exit is over.

“As far as I know that’s right. I haven’t scared too many more of them off I hope. I just mentioned guys in general right now that are in and out because when the roster comes out those three will be in and those three will be out."

Distillery | by Jay

Yesterday's hour-long presser with Charlie was so chock-full of interesting stuff that I hesitate to even try and write it up. You'll find some good overview articles (the papers who didn't simply copy Tom Coyne's AP brief, I mean) in BGI, the South Bend Tribune, the Chicago Tribune (here, here, and here), the Elkhart Truth, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, and the Chicago Daily Herald. Also, if you want to watch the entire presser, IE has the full video.

But let's try and boil this down to some quotable essence.

On injuries: "Everything looks to be right on pace for us to come in as healthy as we could have anticipated. John Carlson could have gone either way for awhile. That is a situation where you get the MRI and you get the good news or the bad news and we got the good news.”

On ND's talent level: “There are a lot of good players here. A lot of people take shots at coach Willingham and those people but there are enough players here to be competitive every week and if I didn’t think that I wouldn’t say it. My job now is just to get more of them.”

On freshman getting PT: "I like competition and first of all freshmen that can get into the mix in a hurry are going to get in the mix in a hurry, but they had better be ready to play on special teams."

On the problem with coaches voting in the BCS poll: "Here’s the problem with those votes. You’re playing on Saturday; how do you really know what those other teams are doing?"

On coaching the running backs: "That’s something that, talking to our running backs now, is new for them to understand how here is where the play is called and how it is designed to go but based on the pre-snap look, this is probably where it is going to go."

On Brady Quinn's progress: "He had some major flaws that we had to straighten out and we still have some work to do."

On suspended players: "Bonelli and Talley are back and Hedgeman is back too."

On balancing work and family: "Every day I’m not working, I’m doing something with [my family]. They know I’m not on the golf course unless I’m doing something for work...I don’t go fishing and I don’t go out with the fellows. When I’m not at work, I’m with my wife, Charlie, or Hannah and they know I will give them every second I can that’s not work-related. They know that’s as fair as I can possible be.”

On new QB coach Peter Vaas: "When it came to Peter, he and I have talked several times over the years about the possibility of him coming in and working with us as the quarterbacks’ coach, but the situation was never right. I wanted to hire an experienced guy that had head-coaching experience to replace a guy who had head-coaching experience...I have talked to Peter several times and as soon as David told me he was thinking that way, and as a matter of fact, I was on the road when he was thinking that way – sorry Kevin, but I ran up a $169 phone bill that night talking to Germany at that time. I had the phone number right then. It was 3:00 in the morning over in Germany when I called him. I woke him up and asked him if he was ready to talk and he said, ‘I am now.’”

On the value of a split Offensive Coordinator/QB coach: "So that is what Peter will bring as a valuable resource for me because I will be able to watch the whole play while he can worry just about what his guy is doing...Because several times people who have been the quarterbacks’ coach have really just been the coordinator and I think for the coordinator to coach the quarterback and watch the whole offense at the same time it is really tough to do that."

On the staff's current agenda: "Every day we spend half the day on recruiting right now. We are spending a half day on football and a half a day on recruiting."

On recruiting 'aids': "There are schools where there are probably 150 kids that have pictures of them wearing a super bowl ring...when kids are looking at these visions of playing on Sundays, there is no greater symbol of playing on Sundays than that ring."

Mountaineering | by Jay

Another piece of the scheduling jigsaw puzzle from Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston Daily Mail in West Virginia:

Irish eye football series with WVU

Something tells me that within a few years, West Virginia is going to have a new record for football season ticket sales.

The "something" is the way the WVU future schedules are developing. The Irish are coming to Mountaineer Field several years down the road.

Notre Dame Associate Athletic Director John Heisler and his counterpart at WVU, Mike Parsons, have confirmed talks in published reports -- but have nothing concrete -- on a future series. WVU and Notre Dame are expected to play as soon as 2009 or '10.

Those games would be part of Notre Dame's agreement to play at least three games against Big East teams annually, beginning in 2009. One of those three will likely be against Rutgers or Connecticut at Giants Stadium. Another is a Pitt-ND series that runs from 2008-15.

A WVU home-and-home with Notre Dame would join the Mountaineers' impending home-and-home series with Florida State that was part of the ACC/Big East legal settlement. Those games are to be played between 2008 and '12.

Makes sense we'd play the Mountaineers in light of the 3-game Big East deal. WVU is one of the few Big East football programs I could get mildly excited about (the other two being Pitt and Louisville).

Interesting, too, that UConn might be as a possible opponent at the Meadowlands. Previously the speculation was Rutgers/Navy, and this is the first time I've seen the Huskies mentioned.

But let's go back to West Virginia for a second. Frankly, I'd enjoy a series with them. We've crossed paths with the Mountaineers a few times over the years, both on and off the field, and it's pretty clear: they hate us. And not just in a garden-variety "ND sucks" sort of way. There's a special kind of bile for ND leaking out of the hills of Morgantown; after all, ND derailed what was probably WVU's best season in history, and even after fifteen years the bitterness is still fresh:

"The Top 10 WVU Football Games I Will NEVER Watch Again"

1. #3 West Virginia vs. #1 Notre Dame-1989 Fiesta Bowl-Tempe, AZ. WVU has the top team in the nation, and the most exciting player in college football in Major Harris. 3rd play of the game, for the national championship, Notre Dame defensive lineman Frank Stams hits Major while he's on the ground and separates his shoulder, effectively nullifying the WVU offense for the rest of the afternoon. ND wins 34-21 and they play that annoying fight song again. WOULD SOMEONE SHOOT THAT MASCOT? 34-21 Notre Dame.

Some of the tinfoil-hat crowd in Morgantown even believe that Lou "ordered" the hit on Harris.

The disgruntlement crossed over to coaching ranks a couple of years ago when ND was negotiating its bowl options with the Big East. WVU coach Rich Rodriguez had some choice words for the Irish deal and the enmity was pretty obvious:

Rodriguez said something needs to be changed about the way the Big East's bowl selections are made.

"I don't know if slighted is the right word, but I do question sometimes what is Notre Dame's affiliation with our league," Rodriguez said.

Notre Dame, an independent in football but a Big East member in nearly every other sport, was added to the league's portion of the BCS mix after the 1997 season, when the league went 0-4 in bowl games. Miami was ineligible because of probation that year.

"All the athletic directors agreed to this," Big East spokesman Rob Carolla said.

The contract, which was recently renewed, runs through 2005.

"I know this agreement was made earlier," Rodriguez said. "I'm just a football coach and our players are just players, but we don't understand some of the political things. I don't understand why Notre Dame is getting the best of both worlds.

"I think the Big East is a great league and we can stand on our own. In my opinion, Notre Dame either needs to get in or get out."

"It would have been interesting if they had been in the Big East to see if they'd have finished ahead of us," Rodriguez said. "I'm not sure if they can finish in second place in the Big East. They would have faced three of the top teams in Miami, Virginia Tech and West Virginia."

Rowdy Roddy, stirring the pot. You think he wears a kilt?

So mix in a couple of other less-than-savory brouhahas -- the Cooper Rego affair, 'eers hoopsters hawking loogies at our cheerleaders -- and a WVU series has just enough spite and backbiting to make it interesting. Plus, playing at Morgantown would be an absolute delight.

Wait, did I say, "delight"? I meant deathwish. At one point Morgantown was trying to take the title from Detroit for post-game craziness:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University officials will study videotape and photographs to identify rowdy football fans who ignored pre-game pleas and set fires in the streets to celebrate the Mountaineers' 28-7 upset of No. 3 Virginia Tech on Wednesday night.

At least a dozen of approximately 90 fires set early Thursday were described as "sizable" by Monongalia County emergency officials. County officials activated an emergency operations center for about 2½ hours early Thursday and considered cutting off power to Morgantown's Sunnyside neighborhood, where many students live.

Inside the stadium, police used pepper spray on fans who tried to tear down the goal posts after West Virginia's victory. State Police and dozens of yellow-shirted security personnel surrounded the goal posts and kept fans at bay.

Brad Anderson said he was hit by the pepper spray when he ran down onto the field. "We can't breathe. We're hacking up our lungs, but it was worth it," Anderson said.

Fans retaliated by throwing debris at the security officials. After West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez pleaded with fans over the public address system to depart, the field cleared quickly. Outside the stadium, an unknown number of police and fire officers were struck with rocks and bottles, but all were treated and released from hospitals and no serious injuries were reported, Flanigan said.

"I saw people burning couches, mattresses, recliners," said student Harrison Hume.

The fires marked the third time in the last year that fans have started fires following weeknight football games.

So here's the plan: after we win the game, run right out the tunnel and directly into our waiting team buses. If you drop your helmet or something, LEAVE IT. Then haul ass to the Pennsylvania border, Road Warrior-style.

In all seriousness, if we're consigned to three Big East games, then I like the idea of playing a series with the Mountaineers as part of that. They're a decent enough program, in and out of the top twenty. For all his whining, Rodriguez is a smart coach and an innovator, running a no-huddle spread offense that's pretty impressive.

And while it'll be just another game on the schedule for us, for the choleric Mountaineers fans, it would be Wild and Wonderful.

Ranking The Shirt | by Pat

In a previous post, the 2005 version of "The Shirt" was awarded one star. Judging from internet message boards and the like, both the color and design are not exactly causing Irish fans to line up at the Bookstore, cash in hand. But where does it fall compared to previous versions of The Shirt? Here now is one man's rankings of one of Notre Dame's newer traditions: The Shirt.

(For any of the shirts, click on the year to bring up a larger picture. These pictures and more info can be found at theshirt.nd.edu)

#1 - 1992

The shirt that solidified "The Shirt" tradition is also probably one of the most inspired. The official induction of Lou Holtz to the pantheon of great Irish head coaches and the declaration that merely playing football isn't tradition at Notre Dame; winning is. An instant classic.





#2 - 2002

Perhaps a controversial pick here, since any mention of "Return to Glory" brings back painful memories of the lackluster Willingham era. But going on design alone, it's still a great shirt. While other shirts reference things like spirit and love, this shirt comes right out with a battle-scarred helmet raised high in victory and a quote from Rockne about destroying your opponent on the field of play. The ghosts of Rockne and the Four Horsemen remind us of ND's rich history while the "Return to Glory" is a public admission of the mistake that was hiring Bob Davie. A great shirt, unfortunately marred by the coach who couldn't live up to its logo.

#3 - 1990

The one that started it all. Nothing pretentious here and no signs of the over-commercialization of later shirts. Just a fun shirt to be worn by students to the game for a good cause. A simple direct front and a "highlights of ND" design on the back make it a great shirt to wear around anytime. Simple and successful.





#4 - 1994

Another shirt that calls upon the past glory of Notre Dame football. The Four Horsemen, Gipp, and Rockne might be a bit oversold when it comes to Notre Dame football paraphernalia, but this is the first "The Shirt" to use them, so it gets a pass. After 1993's attempt at a dark shirt, the color is wisely brought back to something that stands out in the stadium.




#5 - 1996

Another green shirt and while it is in the Top 5, it's more of a lack of competition than anything else. Nothing too special about this shirt. Just a solid design that keeps it all about football and doesn't try anything too fancy. Bonus points for taking the "Win Over All" Victory March lyrics out of context. No longer just about Ol' Notre Dame overcoming adversity, it now also clearly spells out what fans expect Notre Dame coaches to do against future opponents.



#6 - 1999

The first non-green shirt on the list, the '99 version took a break from previous designs and opted for the final line from the Alma Mater. Maybe it's a bit sappy, but it's one of the few that I'll still throw on and wear around, so I guess that counts for something. It's also the last shirt to feature the Golden Dome on the front.





#7 - 1993

Just before the mid-way point finds the first shirt to use the a line from the Victory March. The '93 shirt is also the first to use the raised helmet graphic that showed up on the 1999 and 2002 shirt. Other than that, it's a pretty average shirt. The dark color isn't ideal if you want it to stick out in the stadium, but the design itself isn't that bad.




#8 - 2000

Not much to say about this shirt. Another year where they simply took a line from the Victory March, stuck in a picture of some football players, and called it a day. Again, some credit for the green color since it stands out in the stadium (I'll leave the 'but it's not our school colors' complaint for others) Not terribly inspiring, not ugly either. Hence a slot firmly in the middle of our countdown.




#9 - 2004

To be honest, I kind of like this shirt. The previous four in the list are all boring variations on a theme. At least they took a design chance with this one. The decision to include Joe Montana was a nice touch. The line from When Irish Backs Go Marching By is decent change from plucking lines out of the Victory March. But where this shirt goes wrong is the approximately 47 font types used on the front and back. This is probably the shirt that draws the most varied responses. Some love it. Some hate it.


#10 - 2001

Another boring cookie cutter shirt in the mold of #5-8. No surprise this was the last of the "Victory March quote" shirts. A bit odd that they leave the end of the Knute Rockne "Gipper" speech hanging.

To Go In There With All They've Got
And Win Just One...

Win just one? What happened to winning all of them? Was this a subtle attempt by Davie to lower the bar? Hmmm....


#11 - 1997

"Hey I know, let's try teal this year!" Or is that sage? I can't tell. Really, what was the reasoning behind the color of this shirt? The "new" ND lining up against the "old" isn't a bad design, but the color is so atriocious that I really wonder what they were thinking when this shirt got approved. I'm sure someone will undoubtly mention that the color bears a striking resemblance to the name of this blog, but if that is what they were going for, then a Grantland Rice quote might have driven the point home a little better. As it stands now, it just looks they they checked the wrong color box on the order form.

#12 - 1998

Another ugly color. And people complain about a normal green shirt? The picture makes it look gray, but the one sitting in my drawer is definitely more of faded olive. And the too-cute 1-9-98 uniform numbers? Pass. To be honest, after this shirt and the '97 shirt, they should have just cancelled "The Shirt" project. It's as this point that it really stopped being a student-run fundraiser and turned into a ham-handed administration attempt to force another tradition on ND fans. I still like the idea, but it either needs a breather for a few years or some serious design effort.


#13 - 1991

I guess this shirt could be ranked higher, but I stuck it here. The main reason being by looking at the back of the shirt you can't tell if it's a football shirt or the logo on school stationary. The Madonna blue is a nice nod to ND's historical school colors, but it also brings Faustian flashbacks for many ND fans. It's not an ugly shirt, but it's also not a football one.




#14 - 2003

Now we're getting into the shirts that were best left on the design table. The 2003 shirt completes the administration sell-out by quoting (in 5 different fonts) from "Here Come the Irish". And while I still like that cheesy song, the whole idea to use the lyric on the shirt smells of marketing synergy. And to make matters worse, the subtle shamrock design on the front looks like a beer stain out of the corner of your eye. I can't tell you how many times I started to wipe off the front my shirt the first time I wore it.


#15 - 1995

This is one creepy shirt. The evil, disembodied head of Knute Rockne hovers ominously and seems to crack a smile as a Notre Dame football player is electrocuted by a bolt of lightning. Why Knute, why? Ara could stop the rain. Can't you stop the lightning? And the purple accents are just a great touch considering ND was playing Northwestern in the home opener. If you plan on brainwashing your kids to like ND, keep this shirt out of sight.



#16 - 2005

Where do I begin? The story goes that the break from the bright color green was to differentiate between the Willingham and Weis eras. However, they still wanted the people who wear the shirt to stick out, so bright yellow (is it supposed to be gold?) was chosen. I suppose it will stick out in the stadium.....if people wear it. The main problem is the ultra-cheesy Joe Theisman quote selected for the back design. It's more suited for a Notre Dame Christmas card than a football shirt. Besides, ND spirit can light up the universe, but we still can't play a night game at home? Whatever. And to put a final nail in the overcommercialization of "The Shirt" project, check out the logo on the sleeve. Could it be any more obnoxious? If they want this tradition to survive, next year's shirt is going to need to be great or else people are just going to stop buying it, or at least stop wearing it to games.

---

Well, that's my take on things. Disagree with any of my choices? Here's an online poll where you can pick your favorite iteration of The Shirt. When you're done voting, click here for the results. Thanks for playing.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch | by Jay

Dennis Dodd is still a moron.

"Weis has to scramble to find a new offensive coordinator. Anticipating the possibility of Cutcliffe leaving, Weis said he has a candidate in mind. The new coordinator, he said, will have to adapt to the new offense, not install one. Three months from kickoff, it's never a good thing to have to replace the assistant head coach who is also the guy that designs the offense."

Sprechen Sie Talk? | by Jay

The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger's take on Peter Vaas departing stateside.

My German is a little rusty, but it's still better than Google Automatic Translations. Check this out:

(Cologne) - the ways of the Cologne Centurions and her coach Peter Vaas separate. The Head coach its resignation explained one day before the last season play of the Cologners with Berlin Thunder (not terminated with editorship conclusion of this expenditure yet). "I leave the Centurions and the NFL Europe with a heavy heart", said to the 53-Jaehrige, which had missed the qualification for the World Bowl with the Cologners. Vaas will in the future train the Quarterbacks at the University of Notre lady in the US Federal State Indiana. 1990 and 1991 had already worked there Vaas.

"it is a great opportunity to train again college football which I enjoyed, said always very much" Vaas - and pointed thereby on a contrast for the homeland of the Cologne Centurions.

At the university Notre lady come against it more than 80,000 spectators to the plays. Vaas, which will return today to the United States, strengthens there the team of the new coach Charlie, which can show three Superbowl victories with that new England Patriots. "Notre lady is somewhat completely special for me and my family", said Vaas, whose daughter studies Katelyn also there.

And our hearts forever...love thee Notre Lady.

Vaas won his last game in NFL Europe today, leading the Centurions over his old team, the Berlin Thunder. The broadcasters on Fox highlighted Vaas's imminent return to South Bend, and even cued up the fight song a couple of times during the game. Vaas spoke briefly at the end of the game, wishing his Centurions well, and expressing his excitement at working with Charlie Weis at ND ("Here come the Irish!")

It was interesting watching the game, as it's probably the first time I've watched European football since Tony Rice was taking snaps for the Barcelona Dragons in the nascent days of the old World League of American Football. (Quick -- how many of the original 10 franchises can you name?) The quality of the football is pretty good, but that shouldn't be surprising since a lot of the guys in the league are on assignment from NFL teams, or are better-than-average college players trying to hook on with a pro squad. Look at some of the NFL Europe alums who have made it to the NFL:

Kurt Warner Kelly Holcomb Jake Delhomme Jay Fiedler Jon Kitna Brad Johnson

La'Roi Glover Adam Vinatieri David Akers Dante Hall Marco Rivera Bill Schroeder

And these are just the bigger names. In fact, at the beginning of the 2004 season, you had 182 former Europe players on final NFL rosters for opening day. That's about five or six guys on every team, roughly 11% of the league. By my count, at least 30 of those players were coached by Peter Vaas at one point or another. And that's strictly for 2004, and doesn't count the guys who have already come and gone to the NFL under Vaas during his eight years in Europe.

So for the past eight years Peter Vaas has been working with and developing players with a pretty good amount of talent, and sending a fair number of guys to the NFL. I think this experience should serve him well under the Dome.

In any case, here's something to think about. In a game between the best of college football and the best of NFL Europe, who would win? Say USC played the Berlin Thunder...would the Trojans stand a chance?

Position Filled | by Michael

Replacing David Cutcliffe was indeed a tall order, but it appears that we've quickly and seamlessly found a replacement in Peter Vaas. As Charlie related in a press release today:

"For several years, Peter Vaas has been on our 'radar' and was certainly on my short list (of coaches) when I took this job," Weis said. "After further research, the support for Peter from people I know and trust was overwhelming, making this move an easy one. An additional plus was Peter's Notre Dame experience in 1990-91, adding another coach with Notre Dame ties. I'm looking forward to working with Peter as we prepare to kick off the 2005 season."

You might remember Vaas as a former RBs and QBs coach under Lou Holtz. In fact, his resume is littered with stops all over the place: at colleges large and small, the CFL, and NFL Europe.

In comparison to the high-profile resume of David Cutcliffe, Peter Vaas may seem at first like a huge dropoff. Yet Vaas is an experienced, successful coach with solid credentials, and after you discover a little more about him, his hiring by Coach Weis won't seem so surprising. While losing Cutcliffe was surely a blow, Weis has tabbed a jewel of an assistant coach.

You might look at the smaller schools on Vaas's resume -- Allegheny, New Hampshire and Holy Cross -- and cringe. (It might even remind of your reaction to reading about the CFL acccomplishments of one Bill Diedrick.) Vaas was a three-year starting QB at Holy Cross despite walking-on to a program that could offer athletic scholarships. Upon graduation, he took a job as a janitor and assistant coach at Allegheny, and from there he built his career in the lower tier of college football.

But Lou Holtz saw something in him, and in the early 90s he was hired as an offensive assistant with the Irish. After two years on the Notre Dame staff, Vaas's alma mater, Holy Cross, called him to become their head coach, and it was hard for him to pass up that opportunity. Holy Cross was traditionally a Patriot League power, but times had changed and Vaas took over at a school that had decided to abandon atheltic scholarships. After four dismal years and a terrible record he was fired. Worth mentioning is that his replacement at Holy Cross, Dan Allen, had a history of turning around other programs. But Allen, too, failed to make the Crusaders a winning program again.

After a brief stint in the CFL, Vaas found work with NFL Europe, where his coaching career slowly resurrected itself. Starting as an offensive assistant with the Barcelona Dragons, Vaas was eventually hired to coach the Berlin Thunder, with whom he won back-to-back World Bowl championships. (By the way, take a gander at who the opposing QB was for the Barcelona Dragons when Vaas won his first cup.)

When you consider that NFL Europe is a league that starts up every year with new players, sustained success is directly attributable to coaching, as this article illuminates:

One head coach who seems to have found the winning formula is Peter Vaas, who has guided the Berlin Thunder to a second World Bowl appearance in successive seasons.

Vaas, now nearing the end of his third season as head coach of the Thunder, won the World Bowl in 2001 and is gunning for a place in history on Saturday by having his team become the first to win back-to-back World Bowls.

"This league is so different to the college or NFL ranks," Vaas said. "You have new players coming in each season and that's why your coaching staff is more important here than any place else.

"If you were in the NFL you would have veterans that come back and act as extra coaches on the field and in college you have seniors and juniors that help out the freshmen.

"Here in NFL Europe everybody is a freshman or a rookie and you lean on your coaches a lot more. There is a lot that goes into the formulation of a team each year and it is extremely gratifying and makes me proud that we have taken two different Berlin Thunder teams to the World Bowl."

As a head coach, Vaas is big on garnering team spirit and the results certainly seem to suggest the former college coach at Holy Cross and Allegheny hits the right notes in the locker room.

One man who will back up such a claim is Berlin Thunder linebacker Jude Waddy, who said: "Peter Vaas is a great guy to play for and he certainly creates a great atmosphere in the locker room and on the practice field.

"He can get players going and fired up without getting down on them and he is a lot of fun to be around."

Explaining his coaching style and philosophy, Vaas said: "I try to be very communicative and let people know where the boundaries are. Then once we are inside those boundaries I tend to be very relaxed and loose and try to make the game fun. But if you cross those boundaries I can be nasty.

"We want to create a strong feeling of trust and to get to the World Bowl like we have means we have taken a group of strangers and been able to make them into a team. That is very satisfying."

Here's another NFL.com article on Vaas that echoes much of the same sentiment. Both this and the article above are well worth a full read.

After four years with the Berlin Thunder, Vaas was chosen to be the very first head coach of a new NFL Europe team, the Cologne Centurions, and helped build the franchise from scratch.

A few other things we dug up on Coach Vaas. Check out the following videos. In one of them, Vaas reminisces about a certain favorite game of his:

A great moment was when I was an assistant coach at the University of Notre Dame, we played in New Orleans in the Superdome, against Florida in the Sugar Bowl in a game that we weren't supposed to be in, and we came away with a victory. That was a tremendous feeling.

Want to read an article that Vaas wrote for American Football Monthly? Check out Dragon Attack, which Vaas wrote while an assistant with Barcelona in NFL Europe (complete with some nifty diagrams). This offensive philosophy might sound familiar:

You can create a variety of mismatches and a great deal of confusion through the use of formations and motion, yet you won't confuse your players with a lot of new learning. They must understand the concept of what you are trying to accomplish and react within that concept.

Kory Chapman, a practice squad running back for the Patriots who was optioned to play under Vaas's Cologne Centurions had this to say in a recent Boston Globe blog entry about the difference between the Centurions' offense under Vaas as compared to the Patriots offense under Weis:

"It's a spread offense, sort of how we do it in New England, spreading the defense out and hitting them with the run. I'd say it's similar, but not the same."

Also, do these two comments remind you of anyone else's offensive strategies?

"The new Cologne fans should be ready for an offense that does not have a lot of different plays and wants to beat the opposition through superior execution and unexpected play calling."

"In Peter Vaas' offensive system, the quarterback position is probably even more important than usual."

For that and more on Vaas's offensive philosophies check out this terrific NFL Europe preview from last year.

Vaas's ties to Notre Dame go beyond his brief tenure as an assistant coach in the early 90s. Vaas was also a coach at last year's Notre Dame summer Fantasy Football camp. In addition, his daughter is currently a student at ND. You can read about both on Vaas's online diary, Peter's Points, found on the Cologne Centurions' website. It's a revealing look into Vaas's personality, especially as it relates to his family and former players. Notre Dame is constantly mentioned. (On a sidenote...did anyone else know that Reggie Brooks is currently an assistant for the Berlin Thunder? News to me.) There's even more on Vaas at the Centurions site, but be sure to have your Langenscheidt's English/German dictionary at the ready.

Finally, no one's summed up Peter Vaas better than Barry Terranova, the publisher of American Football Monthly. In the same issue (November '99) where Vaas presented his article on the Dragon Attack, Terranova included this Letter from the Publisher. And Terranova called it...six years ago, even before Vaas's NFL Europe career (the italics are ours):

As the 1980s ended, Vaas was a "hot" coach, coming off of a very successful stint as head coach at Allegheny (Pa.) College. In his five years with the Alligators, he turned a team without a winning season in the previous seven years into a national contender in NCAA Division III. The big boys began to notice and Lou Holtz offered Vaas the chance to join the Notre Dame staff as quarterbacks coach. From Allegheny to South Bend—Vaas had arrived.

In 1992 Vaas made a decision that still haunts him to this day. His alma mater, Holy Cross, came calling, eager to have a favorite son return to take over the program. Vaas knew that the program was transitioning from the only Patriot League school giving athletic scholarship to non-scholarship status. He realized it would be difficult, but this was a chance for he and his wife to go home and raise their kids in the pleasing environment of suburban Boston. He also had a healthy dose of attitude, ". . . to heck with the hardships. . . I'll get it done."

Needless to say, Holy Cross did not enjoy the same level of success in the non-scholarship era, and in 1995, Vaas was unceremoniously dumped after a 14-30 record over four seasons. School administrators knew how difficult it was going to be to win once the scholarships went away. Vaas felt somewhat bitter and betrayed.

Fired, Vaas found himself in a tough situation. He felt labeled as a "small-college coach." Vaas went through a period of soul searching, even questioning the sanity of staying in the coaching profession. But, ultimately, he realized he is a "ball coach" and coaches should coach.

March 1996 began a sojourn that has seen Vaas go from offensive coordinator of the CFL's Montreal Alouetts to his current job with Jack Bicknell in Barcelona. All along the way, he has sent out countless resumes, trying to get back into the college or NFL circle.

So, now what does he do? Keep shaking the trees in hopes a job will fall his way, or enjoy the decent life he has with his family?

I suppose I know the answer. Peter Vaas will keep trying to get back to the Notre Dames of the world. Success has that effect on you—once you've tasted it, nothing else will do. You say to yourself, "If they can do it, I know damn well I can." Hopefully, one day soon, some coach will realize that the true test of a man is how he performs under adversity. And Peter Vaas has not only passed, he has persevered and thrived.

For anybody doubting the appropriateness of Peter Vaas as our new QB coach, this description sealed the deal for me, and it should seal it for others, too. Simply put, Weis has found a terrific offensive assistant, a guy with a sterling character and solid coaching know-how -- and not to mention, some familiar Irish roots. Peter Vaas's perseverence has paid off, and he's made it back to ND...much to our blessing. As Coach Vaas himself said today:

"I'm looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity of returning to the Notre Dame family," Vaas said.

"In this business, you always leave a place with a heavy heart and some sadness, yet arrive at your new place with a smile on your face. That certainly will be the case with this move. I've been in NFL Europe for eight years now, so I'll be leaving a part of me over here, but I'm excited about returning to Notre Dame.

"My past experience in college football was tremendous, and I've had some opportunities to return to college football over the last 10 years. But none of those opportunities were as exciting as this one. Our first experience at Notre Dame was fabulous, something that had a great impact on my family and me. The chance to return to South Bend and to work with - and learn from - Charlie Weis is an amazing opportunity."

Look at the stars. See how they shine for you. | by Pat

"At Noon EDT Monday, Rivals.com AMP presents a behind the scenes look at the Rivals.com rankings process 24 hours before the release of the first five stars!"

"Tuesday, AMP again will bring you coverage of the rankings release with an 8 a.m. EDT sneak peek just hours before the five stars are released!"

"Be sure to tune into Rivals Radio on Tuesday as five five-star selections will be released live at 11:45 a.m. EDT!"

"On the Rivals100.com recruiting network message board, five more of the five star selections will be released exclusively at 11:50 a.m.!"

How the hell did we ever survive so much excitement?

Wednesday capped off two days of celebration and unbridled recruiting hoopla/paranoia as the Rivals Recruiting Network finally unveiled their brand-spanking-new 5-star rankings and Top 100 Recruiting List for 2006.

There were thrills! There were spills! There were shocks and upsets!

There were...well, there were people like me, who wonder why there's so much hype for a list that's going to change plenty of times before National Signing Day in February.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking down my nose at those who follow recruiting. I've already taken the red pill/stepped through the looking glass/eaten the forbidden soul donut/you name it. I follow recruiting as much as the next guy.

But somewhere along the line, recruiting journals decided that providing simple, concise updates on the unfolding story just wasn't enough, and some sort of ranking system was needed. Thus, the birth of the "star system": a scale ranging in complexity somewhere betwen the Periodic Table of Elements and the dichotomous purity of Beavis and Butthead ("He kicks ass / He sucks").

As if mixing together the different player positions into the same listing isn't bad enough (how exactly do you tell that a 6'5 lineman is the #2 prospect to a 6'1 wide receiver?), each service has to have its own criteria. Rivals will only have 27 5-star players. But if your guy doesn't make their cut, just mosey over to Scout, where they'll be listing 50 5-star players. And if he's still not high enough? That's where Max Emfinger comes in. He has just over 200 kids graced with the 5-star label. It seems the main criteria to earn a 5-star rating with him is to be brave enough to pick up the phone when his name pops up on the caller ID.

But wait! There's more!!!

It gets better. Rivals also augments their Stars with some sort of bumfuzzled numerical grading system. Check out this scale.

• 6.1 / Franchise Player. Considered one of the elite prospects in the country, generally among the nation's top 25 players overall; deemed to have excellent pro potential; high-major prospect.

• 6.0-5.8 / All-American Candidate. High-major prospect; considered one of the nation's top 200 prospects; deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on college team.

• 5.7-5.5 / All-Region Selection. Considered among the region's top prospects and among the top 500 or so prospects in the country; high-to-mid-major prospect; deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on college team.

• 5.4-5.0 / Division I prospect. Considered a mid-major prospect; deemed to have limited pro potential but definite Division I prospect; may be more of a role player.

• 4.9 / Sleeper. No Rivals.com expert knew much, if anything, about this player; a prospect that only a college coach really knew about.

A scale that goes from 4.9 to 6.1? It's like GPAs Gone Wild.

Ever since Rivals and Scout (and Emfinger and Lemming and everybody else) started peeling off little gold stars and sticking them on a player's sheet, fans have been using these imperfect rankings as the primary ammunition in countless scintillating water cooler arguments and internet flame wars. And every year it seems to get a little more shrill, a little more hysterical. It worries me that the emotional health of so many people is riding on the whims of a couple of guys in Tennessee surrounded by stacks of videotapes.

A while back I poked fun at how serious the US Army All-American bowl took itself. The same thing can be said for Rivals.com and their Top 100 list. A multiple day, multi-staged unveiling of a list destined to change numerous times between now and next February is just ridiculous. With recruiting, there's plenty of authentic drama to go around; there's no need to drum up even more hucksterish ballyhoo with "behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at our ranking systems" and the like.

So anyway, how'd we stack up? (After that rant, I shouldn't even indulge. But like I said, I'm already a recruiting degenerate.)

ND placed two guys in the Rivals 100, both of them 4-star prospects:

28	James Aldridge	RB		6-1/215	Crown Point (IN) Merrillville	Notre Dame
	His ability to go from first gear to full speed is unmatched by anybody in the nation. His burst helped him rack up 2,100 yards and 22 scores in 2004.

44	Zach Frazer	QB		6-4/215	Mechanicsburg (PA) Mechanicsburg	Notre Dame
	Strong arm, accuracy and Charlie Weis should equal success for Frazer at Notre Dame. Racked up 3,684 passing yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior.

Surprisingly (or not), that's as many as ND has ever had since Rivals started this silliness in 2002. Ok, Greg Olsen made it 3 in 2003, but let's only count guys that make it through freshman orientation. And I applaud Rivals for their sagacity. By my own assessment, James Aldridge was precisely the 28th-best prospect in the country. They nailed it. Bravo, Rivals. (I had Frazer at 42nd, but you can't be perfect.)

Anway, we here at BGS didn't want to fall behind the times, so herewith we present to you our own Blue-Gray Sky Star Rankings™. We'll be updating periodically through the year, and additional rankings may be presented without warning. In the meantime, here's a super-special sneak peek at what we have so far. Can you stand the excitement? Neither can we.

New Coke with Lime ad jingle: 3 stars
Vonage ad jingle: 1 star

Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones: 4 stars

ABC's Dancing with the Stars: Ironically, only 1 star

Carl's Jr. $6 Low-Carb Burger: 2 stars

South Bend City councilpersons: 1 star

Billy Idol, comeback tour: 3 stars
Billy Idol, original tour: 1 star

The Shirt, 2005 version: 1 star
The Shirt, if worn by Jennifer Connelly: 5 stars

Belushi: 5 stars
Farley: 3 stars
Sanz: 1 star

EZ-Pass: 4 stars

"My bad": 1 star
"Rad": 3 stars

Watching the movie "Sideways": 3 stars
Quoting the movie "Sideways" at a restaurant or wine bar: 1 star

Dancing Grannies: 1 star
Sausage races at Miller Park: 3 stars
Milwaukee Brewers baseball: 2 stars

Star Jones, used to be pushing 4 stars, now just 2 stars

Golden Retrievers: 4 stars

Halls Fruit Breezers Screaming Fan of the Game: 1 star

Southwest Airlines "Festival" Seating: 2 stars

James Aldridge: a whole lotta stars

Rivals Top 100: 1 star

Blue-Gray Sky: 5 stars (alleged regional bias)

The Long View | by Jay

It's all how you look at it.

Consider these pairs of numbers:

130 - 37

1649 - 688

3 - 0

Depressing, right? Well, take a look at this:

And finally, consider:

Sort of puts it all into perspective, doesn't it?

"Now sometimes you're up and sometimes you're down. When you find that you're down, well, just look around. You still got a body, good legs and fine feet, get your head in the right place and, hey, you're complete."

-- a Jackalope, "Boundin'"

One other note | by Jay

One more thing from today's Cutcliffe presser, and it's about our head coach and his propensity to plan ahead. Check out this little excerpt from Charlie today, on who's going to replace Coach Cut:

I have a contingency plan if I lose anybody, so it's not just him. No matter who we would lose, there's a contingency plan.

Just as I told you coming in, I wasn't blowing hot air when I talked about having a depth chart of coaches. Well, once you hire them, now you need to revise that depth chart so you know who's waiting in the wings and who you can get if something happens, and you have to have them at every position because you never know what's going to happen. You never know what's going to happen in life and what directions you're taking.

Contingency plan? Come on, this is Notre Dame. When it comes to hiring football coaches, we never plan ahead. We turn around three times, bless ourselves and wing it.

Then again, maybe things really have changed. Here's Charlie wrapping up his commentary today:

I'm saying the process is in play. In other words, it's like this. We're already down to who we're hiring and if I didn't come with this answer, A, I wouldn't be very organized; B, I'd have 50 people applying for the quarterback coaching job this afternoon. So they need not apply.

So Charlie actually has a process for hiring new assistants. Just fantastic. And it's a good thing, too, seeing as for the first time in a while, we've got some guys on staff who are undoubtedly looking to move on to bigger and better positions once their stint with the Irish comes to a close. Mike Haywood is unabashedly on record as desiring a head coaching position someday; Bill Lewis certainly has the credentials for another go-around in the NFL; Brian Polian is an up-and-comer who you can bet won't be happy as assistant special-teams coach for the rest of his career. As the Weis era develops over the years, we're going to have turnover in the coaching ranks, and it's nice to know our skipper will have a replacement ready when someone decides to jump ship.

Now if we could only get our administration to have some semblance of a plan when it comes time to select the next head coach after Charlie. There's probably a decade of lead time for this one, guys. Let's hope some of Charlie's perspicacity rubs off.

Cut Out | by Jay

Melancholy news today.

Still in cardiac rehab after his bypass surgery a few months ago, QB coach David Cutcliffe resigned his post as quarterbacks coach today and will take some time off to recuperate. Said Cutcliffe at the announcement presser:

During my limited time at Notre Dame, I learned to appreciate the unique spirit inherent in this university and the people who enliven it. It's a spirit that demands full attention and boundless energy. I'm happy to say that I am on the mend and, in fact, that I am healthier since my bypass surgery than I've been in years. However, it will be months before I can claim that mental, physical, and emotional intensity and would never give any program less than the passion and energy it deserves. To do so would unfairly penalize the Irish players, staff, students, alumni, and devoted friends. As anyone who knows me can attest, it's all or nothing with me.

The good news for Coach Cutcliffe is that it's not a permanent retirement, and it sounds like he'd like to get back into coaching as soon as he's up and about. He's only 50 years old, so his potential career is far from over.

It's a shame for us, though.

Getting a guy with Cutcliffe's experience and expertise to be "just a QB coach" was a real coup for ND in the first place, and it was a confluence of fate that saw him ignominiously dismissed from Ole Miss the same year that Weis took over at ND and canvassed the nation for the best assistants he could find. We were lucky he was available, and we were lucky to get him. I think many of us felt he was the top assistant on the staff; as the mentor to the Mannings, and a very successful OC and head coach in his own right, Cutcliffe was overqualified for the position.

For his part, Cutcliffe seemed genuinely excited to be under the dome. A few months ago the SBT peeked in on Cutcliffe to see how he was adapting to life north of the Mason-Dixon line, and it sounded like he was doing great and was really looking forward to tutoring Brady Quinn. Cutcliffe was also a key member of Charlie's recruiting team, and his southern roots would have been a welcome entry into a region of the country where ND would love to build up some cachet.

One thing that's been overlooked a bit is Cutcliffe's other title, that of Assistant Head Coach. Having a senior guy with former head coaching experience was no doubt one of the big draws for Charlie Weis as he moved into his new role, and Charlie will miss being able to lean on Cutcliffe for advice as he acclimates himself to being a head coach.

ND's losing a hell of a coach and a real gem of a guy. Replacing him won't be easy.

In the meantime, here's wishing him a speedy recovery, and I'm sure any notes of encouragement would find their way to Coach Cutcliffe via the ND athletic department mailing address.