Attack of the Sack | by Pat

Now then, enough Swarbrick for the time being. Back to football.

We're getting closer and closer to the 2008 season and before indulging in any predictions, it's perhaps wise to take another look at the ugly truth from 2007.

The list of things that went wrong last season is a long one indeed. But if forced to pick just one thing that stands out above the rest, the record 58 sacks allowed by the offense is a solid candidate for #1. Last season wasn't just a bad year for protecting the quarterback, it was leaps and bounds worse than usual. Cataclysmically bad. Consider that in 2005 and 2006 combined, the Irish only allowed 52 sacks. And don't think the numbers were skewed by the Georgia Tech or Michigan game alone. Only two teams failed to sack the Irish more than their regular season average and even those two were effectively tied with their season average (BC and Duke both sacked ND twice while averaging 2.46 and 2.08 sacks a game, respectively). Everyone got their shots in last season.

This post will attempt to look back over those sacks and see what, if anything, stands out and provides a few clues for what to look for next season. Should we expect immediate improvement, or were the mistakes so pervasive that a huge leap in eliminating sacks is unrealistic?

Warning: the following is not for the faint of heart. If you are experiencing chest pains, lower back problems, or are pregnant, please be advised that BGS is not to be held liable for any consequences of reading the following.

Still here? Ok then, let's dive in. First let's take a look at some of the game situation stats involved with the sacks and look for any particular noteworthy outliers.

The Irish attempted at least 447 passing plays if you factor in the 389 passing attempts listed in the season-long statistics plus the 58 sacks. Taking a percentage, we find that 13% of Notre Dame's called pass plays resulted in a sack. Ouch. That compares with 4% in 2005 and 6% in 2006. (There were also some quarterback scrambles for positive yards that were likely called as passing plays, but this post doesn't take them into account and they shouldn't change the final numbers by very much.)

Breaking down the sacks by down, we find the following.

Situation	# of sacks	# passes	% of total
1st down	26	172	15%
2nd down	15	133	11%
3rd down	15	124	12%
4th down	2	18	11%

First down stands out slightly from the rest as the only down to feature sacks at a higher rate than the overall average. I'm hesitant to try and read too much into these numbers other than the fact that it's not surprising the offense was so ineffective given how often the Irish found themselves in 2nd and greater than 10.

Shifting from when in a series a sack occurred to when in the game they happened, we get the following.

Situation	# of sacks	# passes	% of total
1st Quarter	11	87	13%
2nd Quarter	15	120	13%
3rd Quarter	14	107	13%
4th Quarter	18	130	14%

Nothing terribly noteworthy here as the numbers are pretty uniform. On the other hand, one might have expected to see the 3rd and 4th quarter sack percentages a bit higher given that ND frequently was trying to pass its way back into games and the defense didn't have to worry as much about the run. The unfortunate truth though is that ND didn't usually wait until the 2nd half to fall far behind on the scoreboard.

Slicing the sack numbers a different way, here is the score differential at the time of each sack.

Score Diff	# of sacks	% passes
Winning by 1+ pts	2	10%
Tied	13	11%
Losing by 1-7 pts	9	15%
Losing by 8-14 pts	8	8%
Losing by 15+ pts	26	17%

Once the Irish started to fall behind the sack percentages not surprisingly start to jump up. There is a bit of a dip between being down one and two touchdowns, but once the Irish were losing by 15 or more points, it was open season on Irish quarterbacks. It's hard to dig yourself out of a hole when nearly every fifth pass call results in a sack. Once the Irish lost the threat of the run, teams were even more effective at dropping the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage.

One last stats breakdown before we move on to the analysis of personnel on the sack total. After the abbreviated Demetrius Jones experiment (he was sacked once), Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen both got their shots to lead the Irish and both had their ups and downs. Here's a breakdown of the sacks that occurred when each player was under center.

Quarterback	# of sacks	# passes	% of total
Jimmy Clausen	34	279	12%
Evan Sharpley	23	163	14%

Interestingly, Sharpley was sacked at a greater percentage. It should be noted of course that Sharpley was the QB for most of the game against Georgia Tech (1st in the nation in sacks) and all of the Southern Cal (4th) game. Then again, Clausen got some snaps against the Yellow Jackets too and had to face off against Penn State (3rd), Stanford (20th), and Michigan (31st).

One final note is the performance against the blitz. All year long we heard that the Irish offensive line couldn't handle the blitz. And while this was certainly true, the number of sacks that came against a blitzing defense versus a standard four (or three) man rush was rather surprising. 33, or 57%, of the 58 sacks last season happened when the opponent was blitzing while 25, or 43%, occurred when the defense did not. That's a very disheartening number as it paints the Irish offense in an even worse light. It's one thing to give up a sack when you are out-numbered in the backfield. It's another when you have more blockers than the other team does rushers.

Now let's move on to the more murky aspect of this analysis. I took a look at all 58 sacks and tried to see what went wrong with each one. As much as possible I tried to find the breakdown that led to the sack and assign "blame" accordingly. I'm going to stress right now that the following should be considered a rough guideline more than any sort of 100% accurate recap of what truly went wrong. One of the major things working against me was identified by Charlie Weis in a past interview with Mike Frank over on Irish Eyes.

“For example, offensively you talk about protection breakdowns. What were the cause of protection breakdowns? To a fan in the stands it just looked like somebody was just getting beat the whole time. In reality it might’ve been that guy was expecting a double team. He might’ve been expecting outside help. So he’s playing with inside leverage because he expects somebody outside of him that’s helping , and that guy outside of him might not be there. So there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye in several instances.

Caveats aside, let's move on and see how the numbers broke down.

Position at fault	# of sacks
Quarterback	24
Offensive Line	26
Running Backs	3
Tight Ends	2
Solid defensive play	3

Quarterback - 24 sacks

Good news, bad news. The good news is that our offensive line wasn't at fault for every sack. Over half of the sacks from last year weren't necessarily their fault. The bad news is that there are still Irish players at fault, in this case primarily the quarterbacks.

Usually when a quarterback is to blame for being sacked, the major mistake is holding on to the ball too long in the pocket. It's tempting and certainly admirable to want to hang in there until an open receiver can be found. But each and every successful quarterback has a finely tuned internal clock that let's them know when to get rid of the ball before taking a hit for a loss. ND's quarterbacks struggled with this last season.

The flip side to this is that if receivers aren't getting open, the quarterback has to wait longer to throw the ball and that also leads to what are commonly called coverage sacks. So it stands to reason that while Sharpley and Clausen are getting blamed here for these sacks, the wide receivers and their inability to get open at times deserve some of the blame as well.

Splitting the total between Sharpley and Clausen, Clausen was responsible for 16 sacks compared to 7 for Sharpley and 1 for Jones. Sharpley's major mistakes tended to be hanging in the pocket just a bit too long. It's clear he's a fighter and will keep trying to make the play. And he did have some exciting escapes from near sacks that he turned into completions and first downs. However the tendency to hang in there as long as possible is a disadvantage as much as it is an advantage when under constant pressure. For every great hustle play to keep things alive, a quarterback is likely to get sacked more than once.

Clausen on the other hand was to blame at times for reasons that can be explained as (freshman?) mental mistakes. He picked up six sacks alone by running out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage, most notably in the Stanford game when he did it three times. That's over one third of his sack total that could have been avoided had he tossed the ball into the stands before stepping over the line. As with Sharpley, it is certainly admirable to try to make the play down to the bitter end. But there are times when a QB needs to learn to cut his losses and start over again. Hopefully this is one area where experience will make an impact. That he was still doing it in the last game of the season isn't exactly comforting, so hopefully he's spent plenty of time this off-season in the film room.

If you're looking for examples of coverage sacks where the receivers apparently aren't getting open to the satisfaction of Clausen, here is video of two Penn State sacks and a UCLA sack. Notice in all three clips that Clausen has time to throw to his primary target, but doesn't like what he sees. (Also note that on many sacks, more than just one player screwed up. But in the interest of keeping this as simple as possible, I stuck with one player per sack for nearly every sack.)

Looking to how this applies to this coming season, I do expect Clausen to manage games at a much better level in 2008 as compared to when he was thrown into the mix as a banged up freshman. Even if the offensive line doesn't improve, Jimmy's improved decision making should cut down on the number of sacks allowed by the Irish next season. He's also just mobile enough to turn a few sure sacks into positive yardage. Improved route running and experience by the wide receivers likewise will help to cut down on coverage sacks. Even if he stops running out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage that will have a large impact on the sack total.

Offensive Line - 26 sacks

Lineman	# sacks
Paul Duncan	6
Sam Young	5
Eric Olsen	5
Mike Turkovich	3
Dan Wenger	2
Matt Carufel	2
John Sullivan	1
Chris Stewart	1
All OL	1

Some surprising and not-so-surprising numbers when we look at the sacks that were the fault of the offensive line. 11 of the 23 sacks came at the expense of the Irish tackles and that shouldn't be shocking. Sam Young and Paul Duncan usually faced the toughest pass rushers that opposing teams had to offer. It does raise concern for next year since Duncan and his team-leading 6 sacks allowed will be protecting Clausen's blind side. The good news/bad news is that not all of his sacks were the result of not being athletic enough. A few of the sacks he let up were the result of being bull-rushed or mental mistakes as he appeared to turn the wrong way or failed to engage the right rusher. Better technique through additional practice and film study will help with the mental mistakes while another year in the weight room will help him stand up to bull rushes. Still, there were two big examples of Duncan failing to pick up a speed rushers against Penn State that resulted in a downed Clausen. Until he proves otherwise, his ability to protect Clausen's blindside against these speed moves will be one of the biggest worries heading into the 2008 season.

Center John Sullivan was only at fault for one sack last year, which shouldn't be too surprising as the center is rarely the point of attack for opposing defenses. Still, while he had trouble with things like a shotgun snap, Sully did do a good job protecting the quarterback. His replacement for 2008, Dan Wenger, was at fault for two sacks but both of those came while he was at guard, not at center. They also happened in the first two games of the season and he didn't let up any more over the six games he played the rest of the season.

As for the guards, Eric Olsen let up the most on the line. Most of his were more related to not knowing who to pick up more than just getting overpowered on the line. In fact, his first two sacks of the season came when he was playing tight end (Georgia Tech) and right tackle (Michigan State) and just didn't know who to pick up. It's likely he didn't spend much practice time at those spots. Now that he's settled into guard hopefully the mental mistakes will be cut down. Turk had the next highest sack total, but at least one of them should probably be blamed on Charlie, not Turk. First and goal from the UCLA 1 yard line is not the time to call for a relatively slow guard to pull and be expected to pick up an All-American pass rusher like Bruce Davis. Not when Turk is far better doing something like this . The lone sack that Chris Stewart gave up came when he fell for a swim move against Duke.

Sam Young's time at left tackle showed that he did have trouble with speed rushers, so hopefully now that he is at right tackle he won't be placed in similar situations as often. It is a bit of concern that even as late as the last game of the year he was still showing poor technique at times. Perhaps that was a consequence of his injured wrist. Still, much is expected of him heading into 2008 with the move to the right side of the line, the weight and strength gain, and the stories of him meeting with Charlie to take on a larger leadership role.

Where does this leave us for next year? Well, as Charlie pointed out in his spring presser, experience is one of the most valuable traits to have in an offensive line. With another year of lifting, practice, and film review under their belt, the OL should cut down on the mental mistakes. If not, then Coach Latina's seat will get hotter sack by the sack. Physically, the left tackle spot is still a worry as Paul Duncan has yet to show he can handle speed rushers. Hopefully he, or perhaps Matt Romine, will be able to rise to the occasion. If Chris Stewart sticks in the starting lineup he will be question mark too as the only lineman yet to start a game. Teams no doubt will key on him until he proves his worth.

One thing that did stick out as a result of this OL sack review was the horrible cut blocking performed by the Irish. More than a few sacks were the result of an Irish offensive lineman diving at the legs of an opposing defensive lineman and just failing to slow him down in the least. Consider the worst sack the Irish gave up all year. The entire line tried to cut block Michigan's line and failed. The result was this. This is the one sack that I blamed on the entire offensive line.

The cut blocks did stop being a reason for the sacks after the Purdue game, which means that the OL either got better or ND just stopped using them as much. Coach Weis said after the season that even with full contact practices the offense will not be cutting the defense, so either the team is going to need to somehow keep getting better from non-contact drills (and I have my doubts if that is reasonable to expect) or the coaches will need to continue to scale back the reliance on cut blocks in 2008.

Running Backs -3 sacks

Given how young our backfield was, I was a bit surprised that the running backs only accounted for three sacks. I have two thoughts on this. One, the point that Charlie made about protection schemes probably applies here and I mistakenly applied a sack here or there to the OL when in reality it was the running back who wasn't where he was supposed to be. Two, Junior Jabbie deserves a bit more credit from Irish fans. Jabbie was the one most frequently in the game when ND went to the aerial attack and he did a very good job. Asaph Schwapp's name isn't on this list either which might surprise some folks. He certainly had his issues when it came to run blocking, but none of his whiff blocks resulted in a sack in 2008. James Aldridge, Travis Thomas, and Armando Allen all let up a sack apiece with Allen's being the infamous Ram Vela flying leap.

It's reasonable to assume the backs will all be better pass blockers in 2008, but at the same time, ND will likely miss the contributions of the unheralded Jabbie. Physically, Aldridge and Hughes have the strength to stand up any blitzing linebacker, so whether or not they can be effective will come down to how well they pick up the roles and responsibilities of pass blocking. With Coach Haywood having his plate filled with newly minted Offensive Coordinator duties this fall, hopefully he will still be able to consistently find time for individual instruction during practice. (I don't see any reason why not.)

Tight Ends - 2 sacks

Tight end is another category that somewhat surprised me. John Carlson had some trouble at the point of attack with a few linemen and linebackers in '08, but only twice did he directly lead to a sack. And even one of those was a bit iffy.

Getting back Will Yeatman for the fall is a big boon to the blocking capabilities of the tight end position. He'll probably spend a lot of time this season on the left side of the line helping out Paul Duncan. While he isn't the receiver that Carlson was, he is a better blocker and should help to keep Clausen's jersey clean. Mike Ragone will definitely see plenty of the field next season and will need to avoid the mental mistakes that usually accompany a big jump in playing time. He did show a passion for blocking, so with improved technique there isn't much worry about his ability to pass protect when needed.

Conclusion

At the end of this haunted horrors of a post I imagine the 2008 season predictions of quite a few Irish fans just went down by two or three wins. I don't blame you. The line was as bad last season as I've ever seen it. The play-calling at times failed to take advantage of what opposing teams were doing on defense. The quarterbacks showed their inexperience by taking unnecessary sacks. Through mental mistakes and sloppy technique, the line let defender after defender rush right by them. All in all it was borderline unwatchable. Even worse, the analysis reveals that the offense had nearly as much trouble with a normal front four as it did an all-out blitzing offense.

If you're looking for silver lining for next year, there are a few things we can point to. The experience factor is a big one. Another year of playing will have a positive effect on reducing mental mistakes. Jimmy likely won't run out of bounds with the ball in his hands nearly as much or try to force things that just aren't there. Hopefully an off-season in the film room will improve his ability to read the defense, anticipate the blitz, and if needed check out of a bad play. There will still be some growing pains at the quarterback position, but Clausen should easily be able to drastically reduce the number of sacks from 2007 where he was primarily to blame.

Another positive lies with the receiving corp. As they ingest more of the playbook, young players like Duval Kamara and Golden Tate will see the field more and provide a more athletic threat than some of the older players. Contributions from someone like Michael Floyd will only help as well.

The biggest target of criticism, the OL, definitely will have all eyes on them. Paul Duncan in particular will be under constant scrutiny. The coaching staff certainly can help the line by calling more running plays, but ND will need to pass the ball eventually. And when they do call a pass, a drastic pass blocking improvement over last year is paramount if ND wants to even be bowl eligible. After watching the line start fights during spring practice, hopefully the chip on their shoulder carries through to the season and they take out the frustrations from last year on the 2008 opponents.

There is definitely reason for optimism given their added size and strength, returning experience, and rumored improved chemistry. Still, they would probably be the first to admit they have a long way to go. Facing off against the suddenly blitz-happy ND defense in practice (hopefully at least some of the time in 1st team vs. 1st team situations) can only help the line build confidence and help slow things down during the game. But as with most of the rest of the offense, it's only logical to remain cautious. If you're looking for predictions, I'll stay away from any hard and fast number. The most likely result is that ND makes major strides in protecting the quarterback, but still makes enough mistakes to get Clausen knocked around at a rate greater than what Quinn had to endure in either '05 or '06. How that translates to wins or losses we'll just have to wait and see. Thankfully, we won't need to wait much longer.

The View from (2000 Miles from) Indianapolis | by Dylan

When the rumor mill kicked into gear on Monday and Jack Swarbrick's name began to propagate in pixels around the ND digital universe, I had the feeling I had heard the name before. I googled him and checked out his Baker & Daniels bio and saw that he had been Chairman of the Board of the Indiana Sports Corporation. My father, who lives in Indianapolis, has been involved with the Sports Corp in one form or another since the mid-80's, so I called him up and filled him in on the scuttlebutt. I had barely finished the sentence when he said "He'd be perfect."

I moved to Indianapolis in 1984, just in time to see Notre Dame get their collective ass handed to them by Purdue in the inaugural game at the sparkling new Hoosier Dome. The opening of the stadium and the arrival of the Colts that year were two of the most exciting developments, up to that point, in the civic project that promised to bring a renaissance to the town trying to outgrow the moniker "Indianoplace." The engine that would drive the renewal of downtown Indianapolis would be sports, a model that is well worn now, but seemed pretty novel at the time.

The next few years would see that vision become reality as one event after another rolled through town. I remember going to see Willie Banks break the world record in the triple-jump at the USA Track and Field Championships in 1985, seeing Team USA beat Cuba in baseball at the Pan Am Games in 1987 (on a ninth-inning home run by I can't remember who, but it was his second of the game, one from each side of the plate), multiple NCAA Regionals and Final Fours, and all sorts of other national and world championship events in cycling, diving, swimming, and gymnastics.

Through the 1980s and 1990s, the momentum kept building and Indianapolis was transformed into the type of city that is chosen to host the Super Bowl. This was, quite literally, unthinkable in the early '80s, and one of the reasons it came to pass was because of the Indiana Sports Corporation and the leadership of Jack Swarbrick. Watching Indianapolis progress over the last 30-ish years, in large part by integrating amateur sports into the fabric of the town and using that integration to spur economic development, has been fairly amazing. One of the architects of that transformation is now running our athletic department. Can I get a Hell, Yeah!?

Anyhow, as we were all sniffing around on Monday, trying to figure out who this guy was, we got an email from a reader who is also an attorney in Indianapolis who knows and has worked with Swarbrick. It read, in part:

Swarbrick is the perfect choice for Athletics Director at our University. A '76 graduate with a law degree from Standford, he is the right man at the right time. He is a member of the family who not only knows how amateur sports are run in America, but also one who is anticipating where sport will go in this country.

Jack is the real deal. He understands the role the University and its athletic program must play in the community in which it is located and the communities in which it competes.

His accomplishments are truly remarkable. Whether it is the National Sports Festival, the Pan American Games, the World Gymnastics Championship, multiple Final Fours, the relocation of the NCAA headquarters, the Indiana Sports Corporation, or two Super Bowl bids, Jack has provided effective and unifying leadership ensuring success in each of these endeavors and securing Indianapolis as the Amateur Sports Capital of the world.

He is a well respected attorney and national sports consultant, proud to be the lead consultant to the NCAA. This is the guy.

Glowing praise, and apparently not an uncommon sentiment in Indianapolis and elsewhere, as you can see from the list of quotes referred to in the post below. The reader described Swarbrick as the most well-known unknown man in national sports.

Not anymore.

Meet the Press | by Pat

Up on the 14th floor of the Hesburgh Library, Fr. Jenkins formally introduced Notre Dame's 12th Athletic Director earlier today.

After a brief introduction by Fr. Jenkins, Swarbrick took to the podium and gave an impressive opening speech. The transcript of the presser is also located on und.com and well worth your time if you are at all interested in the larger issues surrounding Notre Dame athletics. The video of the presser is also available. His bio can also be found along with a "What They're Saying About Jack Swarbrick" list of positive testimonials.

Pulling out a few favorite quotes, here are some of the more interesting things that Swarbrick mentioned with his first meeting with the press as ND's AD.

On his connection to Notre Dame:

This is home because this place defines who I am. ....

My grandparents could only aspire for me to attend Notre Dame, a dream my parents also shared, parents who didn't have the privilege to go to college. And so when I got to come here, it was an important moment for a long line of people in our family. And the great reward of that for me was that this university met every one of their expectations. It was what they thought it would be.

On ND's role in college athletics:

I believe that I accept this job on the threshold of extraordinary change in intercollegiate athletics in America. I have my theories, as Father suggested, about what that change may entail and where the industry is headed. But I think it will be enormous. I think there's much about this industry you won't recognize in 10 years.

We must be at the forefront of that. We must participate in leading that change. Notre Dame cannot have that dictated to it. And I love the challenge of accepting the responsibility for trying, with the other members of the athletic team, staff, coaches, student athletes, to be part of shaping that future.

On the importance of sports within the University:

I'm not here to just do sports right. I love the competitive environment of sports. Don't step on the field if you don't want to win. We want to win. We want to be a great academic institution that furthers research in this country. We want to be a place of faith. And we want to be a place that wins on the athletic field and turns out extraordinary student athletes. In the three legs of that stool I think there might be a tendency to treat sports as the stepchild. I think that nothing could be further from the truth. Sport is an integral, not a secondary, part of that success.

On seeking input from those outside of athletic department conference rooms:

Then I want to reach out to our fan base. I want to travel, spend time with them. I want to greet them when they're here. I want to hear what they have to say. That passion is what fuels the success of Notre Dame. And I know some people get nervous about how passionate it can be sometimes, how it plays itself out. I welcome that. I embrace that.

The inconvenience of some posting on a blog you might not prefer to have is a much better situation than being at a school where nobody cares and nobody talks about you and nobody writes about you. I see the passion here as only a plus and I'm fully prepared to engage it.

If Swarbrick is correct about the swirling changes coming to the world of collegiate athletics, this press conference gives me confidence that ND will have someone heading the department that not only will aggressively work for Notre Dame's best interests in the coming years, but also has a solid understanding of what exactly those best interests are.

Jack's Back | by Pat

Jack Swarbrick will officially be introduced at 12:30 pm today. His introductory press conference will be broadcast on und.com.

In the meantime, more glowing reviews of Swarbrick. ESPN interviewed a few of Swarbrick's friends and past associates and they are unanimous in their praise of him.

Swarbrick is known by his friends and colleagues for his ability to think outside the box. Former president of the Indiana Sports Corporation Sandy Knapp recalls several instances where Swarbrick went above and beyond what was asked of him and motivated others to do the same. Knapp says Swarbrick made every project better because of his innovative style.

"He's really one of the brightest, best thinkers I've ever had the pleasure of working with," said Knapp, now retired, from her home in Austin. "And at the same time, he's so innovative. … It will be very interesting to have him bring that combination to an AD position. I think he'll establish a new standard for the hiring of athletic directors in collegiate sports.

"Someday in the future, Notre Dame will celebrate this day as a real turning point in their athletic program."

Not that you'd expect his friends to be anything less than positive about the hire, but it's still encouraging to read.

Selected Swarbrick | by Jay

Cheers to Jack Swarbrick, the latest inhabitant of Moose Krause's office. We've heard nothing but good things about his bona fides, and have received warm endorsements from a couple of people that have worked with Swarbrick in the past.

Herewith, some selected snippets from the Swarbrick file (all text c/o the Indy Star, unless otherwise noted), in no particular order...

February 4, 2004. "City to get long-term Final Four agreement."

The NCAA not only broke from its conventional bidding process, it also promised the Indiana Sports Corp. an additional event in each of the intervening years between men's Final Fours.

The women's Final Four, men's and women's early-round tournament games and the NCAA Convention will be included in each five-year cycle.

"Under the most conservative terms, this is a billion dollars of (total) revenue for the state and city," said Jack Swarbrick, former president of the Sports Corp., who brokered the deal. "And certainly out of a billion dollars, we won't have trouble finding funds to line up our end of the bargain."

In return, the Sports Corp. will arrange for Central Indiana to become a permanent backup site for the men's and women's Final Four. The Sports Corp. will also work to secure improvements for NCAA headquarters, including more parking, directional signs around the city and, if necessary, space to expand.

The long-term guarantee could help Mayor Bart Peterson build support for a stadium deal, which he wants to help keep the Indianapolis Colts from moving. The mayor said late last year that he was confident a deal to keep the NFL team would happen sometime this year.

February 13, 2004. "Sports planner brokers big deal."

...With the same enthusiasm, Swarbrick, 49, went on to broker the deal, announced last week, making Indianapolis a regular home to major NCAA events, including the men's and women's Final Fours.

It was a huge boost for the Sports Corp., still stinging from a $2.69 million loss on the World Basketball Championship in 2002. And with the long-term status of the Indianapolis Colts uncertain, it represented a selling point for proponents of a new stadium.

"He has the ability to draw common sense out of very complex problems and make everybody see the benefits at the end of the day," Bill Benner, vice president of the Sports Corp., said of Swarbrick. "There were so many components to this. Jack had the incredible ability to work all those constituencies and make them understand."

Making the deal happen involved not only dealing with the NCAA bureaucracy, which can be as nimble as a 350-pound defensive lineman, but also the city, the state, the Capital Improvement Board and the White River State Park Development Commission.

July 21, 2002. "The origins of a renewal."

..."It transformed our view of ourselves, literally in an instant," said Indianapolis lawyer Jack Swarbrick, who was team handball commissioner and later served eight years as president of the Indiana Sports Corp. "When the athletes paraded down the mall, you could almost feel a sense of, 'Wow, we pulled it off.' "

Added Sandy Knapp, then the sports corporation's executive director: "We knew it was our chance to stick our foot in the water. We couldn't blow it."

Indianapolis learned in February 1981 that it had beat out Philadelphia to play host to the festival, a multisport competition organized by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Until then, it was the highlight of the Amateur Sports Initiative championed by then-Mayor William Hudnut's administration to help turn around the fortunes of a decaying Downtown.

April 2, 2006. "NCAA deal helped make new stadium a slam dunk."

"The momentum that (deal) provided was critical," said Jack Swarbrick, the Indiana Sports Corp. board member who brokered it with the NCAA. "It reinforced the message that (the stadium) was a community need."

That allowed Swarbrick, Glass and Peterson to sell the new stadium that way.

For 30 years the city has consciously used sports to establish that unique franchise. Sports to Indianapolis is what microchips are to Silicon Valley.

"This is a franchise that we own as a community," Swarbrick said. The NCAA deal "institutionalizes" that franchise, Swarbrick said, giving the next generation something to build on.

Who knew sports would be among the nation's fastest- growing industries when the Indiana Sports Corp. was founded in 1979 as part of the fledgling development effort? "For all the brilliance of the people who started this, no one could foresee this kind of growth," Swarbrick said.

April 20, 2001. "Sports Corp lays out plan."

"The opportunity to catch our breath is about over, and we want to make sure all the pieces of the platform are in place,'' said Jack Swarbrick, who will leave his position after eight years as chairman of the board of the Sports Corp...

Earl Goode, 60, who recently retired after working 38 years for GTE, is expected to become the Sports Corp. chairman next fall. Swarbrick was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash, the state's highest honor, by Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan and given a proclamation by Deputy Mayor Bill Shrewsberry.

Net economic impact on Indianapolis from 10 amateur sports events in 2000 was $59.6 million, according to the Sports Corp.

June 29th, 2004. Chuck Wielgus, U.S. Swimming:

"At its most recent convention, the NCAA agreed to create a joint NCAA/USOC Task Force to study the status of Olympic sports programs at NCAA institutions and develop recommendations designed to protect and expand future opportunities for American athletes and coaches...

"The NCAA/USOC Task Force is being chaired by Jack Swarbrick … and there could not have been a better choice. While you may not have heard his name before, be assured that Mr. Swarbrick is a major player. He was instrumental in engineering the relocation of the NCAA from Overland Park to Indianapolis and he is exceptionally well thought of in the highest circles of NCAA leadership. As an attorney, Mr. Swarbrick has worked with numerous sports groups, including many NGBs and he has a deep understanding of our business and the issues involving Olympic sports. A visionary, with a rare appreciation for details and process, Jack Swarbrick is the ideal leader for this effort with the capability of being the catalyst for change."

December 26, 2004. "Founders nurtured their vision for city."

...But the biggest impact came from the move of the NCAA headquarters from Overland Park, Kan.

"For a long time we held the view that the logical missing piece for Indianapolis was an anchor tenant," said Jack Swarbrick, noting there are two major organizations for amateur sports, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the NCAA. "So the relocation of the NCAA was the critical piece in the long-term strategy."

Swarbrick, of Baker & Daniels, has been involved with the Sports Corporation since the early days. Not only was he instrumental in bringing the NCAA here, he brokered the deal with the NCAA for annual major events.

The RCA Dome has been and will be the site of Final Four basketball, and if Indianapolis is to have Final Four events toward the end of the 35-year deal, past the 2010 men's Final Four already awarded, the city will need to keep pace with top facilities.

That's why Swarbrick was smiling as he joined the key players for last weekend's announcement of a proposed new stadium.

Swarbrick was representing the ISC, which has been built on partnerships. Also represented, along with Mayor Bart Peterson, were the NCAA, the Colts, the Capital Improvement Board (which owns and operates the RCA Dome) and the Convention and Visitors Association.

June 6, 2006. "Indy tops Chicago for Big Ten tourneys."

...So how did Indianapolis beat its more visible rival -- which also happens to be the home of the Big Ten office?

The quality of the Fieldhouse and Indianapolis' compact downtown helped. But a financial guarantee and some concessions involving both tournaments likely sealed the deal.

Indianapolis officials also agreed to pay the Big Ten $400,000 each year. And the girls basketball state finals might move out of the city because of a conflict with the women's tourney.

"It's not so much Chicago lost it as Indianapolis won it," said Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke. "Indianapolis really wanted this event."

The Fieldhouse had three capacity crowds of 18,730 during the 2006 tournament, but that still was about 5,000 less than capacity of the United Center. Big Ten officials also believed Chicago, the nation's third-largest television market, offered more sponsorship opportunities.

"We knew early on we had to get that off the table," said Indianapolis lawyer Jack Swarbrick, a longtime amateur sports activist who helped broker the deal. "So we did."...

"It wasn't what allowed us to win," Swarbrick said. "But it allowed us to emerge as an equal competitor."

Delany didn't dispute that.

"If you get to a certain level of parity financially, other things come into play," he said.

Such as the city's history of successfully staging major sporting events.

April 27, 2005. "Swarbrick not your usual athletic director job candidate."

When university sports leaders turn to an attorney, it's often to resolve charges of wrongdoing.

That was not the case with Arizona State. The university was interested in hiring Indianapolis attorney Jack Swarbrick as its athletic director.

Although Arizona State last week awarded the position to USC administrator Lisa Love , the fact the university considered an unconventional candidate is a measure of the esteem in which Swarbrick is held.

Swarbrick, a partner at Baker & Daniels, is not a college sports administrator. He said he is not looking to leave Indianapolis, either, but responded to an inquiry by Arizona State president Michael Crow .

"For ADs, the relationship with the president is everything," Swarbrick said. "There are very few of these that I would consider. As I got to know him and understand him a little better, I was intrigued.

"My impression was borne out. It's a university that's going to do some great things under president Crow. At the end of the day, it wasn't right for me."

Swarbrick said sports can exist as a central part of a university's educational mission. Public perception is that sports, specifically big-time football and men's basketball, are merely an entertainment adjunct.

If Swarbrick were to become an athletic director, "it's because I really want to change that paradigm," he said.

Swarbrick was a finalist in 2002 for the job of NCAA president. He was a key figure in the NCAA's move to Indianapolis in 2000, and he brokered the deal that makes Indianapolis a regular home to Final Fours.

May 21, 2008. "It's ours! Indianapolis scores 2012 Super Bowl."

...Jack Swarbrick, a leader of the bid effort, said the city is ahead of the game in getting ready to host the Super Bowl. He said governmental requirements such as waiving the sales and hotel tax on thousands of league-reserved rooms and providing public safety are already in place.

"We are going to throw one heck of a party," Swarbrick vowed. "We will turn over our city to the Super Bowl. When you come to our town, you own the joint."

For a guy whose name was not widely known to Irish fans outside of his hometown, this is quite the impressive resume, and at first blush it looks like a terrific hire. I had been hoping that the N.D. brass would look outside of the traditional athletic director careerist paradigm for their candidate, and get a capable negotiator and advocate who's more than comfortable operating on a big stage. That's exactly who Swarbrick appears to be: a mover and shaker who scored big for the city of Indianapolis, over and over again. I'm looking forward to seeing that same zeal in action on behalf of the Irish. Welcome aboard, Jack.

Swarbrick signs up | by Pat

It appears that the search for Kevin White's successor is over.

One of the key players in bringing the Super Bowl to Indianapolis appears to be headed to South Bend.

Sources told Eyewitness Sports reporter Rich Nye Monday that attorney Jack Swarbrick is expected to be named as Notre Dame's next athletic director Wednesday.

Swarbrick has helped bring major sporting events to Indianapolis for more than 20 years through his work with the Indiana Sports Corporation. He is a partner in the law firm of Baker & Daniels and graduated from Notre Dame in 1976. He had no comment when reached by phone Monday.

Swarbrick helped bring the NCAA to Indianapolis and was a finalist for the job of NCAA president when Myles Brand was hired in 2002.

Swarbrick's bio is full of involvement with athletics at a high level. We'll have much more to come about Notre Dame's newest athletic director. Immediate reaction: a surprise pick, but impressive nonetheless. Being an ND grad and a student during the '73 national championship run can't hurt either. As former AD Dick Rosenthal said a few weeks ago:

If we get somebody who really understands Notre Dame and supports it, appreciates it, then the rest of it will fall in line pretty quickly.

Recruiting steams along | by Pat

It's certainly been an eventful week for ND despite being the middle of July. On the recruiting front, ND picked up the third public commit of the week and 12th overall. Illinois offensive lineman Chris Watt had been going back and forth between the Irish and Ohio State before giving Charlie Weis the good news phone call yesterday.

"[Notre Dame] offers probably the best overall package I can possibly think of in college football at this point," Watt said.

Landing the 6'4" 270 pound Watt is fantastic news for the Irish as he is considered one of the better football players in the country this year. Both Rivals and Scout list Watt as the #46th overall recruit in the country and the 2nd best offensive guard. That translates to 5-star status on Scout and 4-star status on Rivals. ESPN is usually somewhat reserved in their review of recruits but was pretty effusive in praise of Watt.

Watt is a special player: an old-school tough guy who gives 100 percent every snap while playing two ways. With his athleticism and motor, he's sure to be a major contributor at the next level.

In addition to the offer from the Buckeyes, Watt had a long list of offers from Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami, Tennessee, Penn State, UCLA, Nebraska, Colorado, Virginia, Stanford, Northwestern, where his brother plays defensive line, and others.

Last year, Watt played both offensive and defensive line and was named 1st Team All-State for both. You can check out his highlight video here and see a few of the 120+ pancake blocks he notched last season. It's also not often you see a highlight tape of an offensive guard recruit that shows him blocking a punt....coming in off the edge.

The School Week website has a nice profile of Watt that details how he came to the attention of colleges and recruitniks alike.

In the second round against Morgan Park, Watt went up against defensive end Craig Drummond, a 6-5, 250-pound junior whom the football recruiting Web site rivals.com considers “the best junior football prospect in the entire state of Illinois and one of the best overall prospects in the country.”

“Chris handled him the whole game,” Hetlet said. “And when coaches see that, it leads them to believe that Chris is a special player.”

It takes more than strength and size, Hetlet said. It takes determination. It takes a love for hitting – not just once but again and again.

“What makes him special is he finishes every play,” Hetlet said. “When you send film to Division I schools, they see that he has a great motor, that he doesn’t take any plays off.”

Watt said it’s too much fun to take any plays off.

“I think offensive line is the best position on the field,” Watt said. “You get to come off the ball. You’re already in the stance. You have power coming out of it. You get to knock somebody as hard as you can without getting in trouble for it.”

With Watt joining Bullard in the current recruiting class, ND has an excellent pair of interior linemen. When paired with last year's haul of Trevor Robinson, Braxston Cave, and Mike Golic, Jr., ND appears to have the makings of a very strong interior OL including two Top 50 recruits at the guard spots. Landing a top flight tackle is still one of the biggest priorities in this class, so hopefully seeing such high profile guards jump on board will be a big selling point.

Orsini's out | by Pat

Considered a heavy favorite by fans and the media, SMU AD Steve Orsini is no longer a candidate for the Notre Dame AD job.

"I am pleased to announce that Steve Orsini will remain at SMU as director of athletics,” school president Dr. R. Gerald Turner said in a statement released by the school. “I met with Steve today and reiterated my desire for him to stay. I am delighted that he has decided to continue to lead our athletic programs.

Given Orsini's stated interest in the job earlier in the search, it's reasonable to assume that ND is pretty close to making a hire and the finalists that don't get (or take) the job are given a chance to reaffirm their support for their current program before ND announces the hire. Either that or SMU decided to back up a Brinks truck to the Orsini residence.

Orsini was definitely a strong candidate. It will be interesting to say the least to see which candidate ND lands in his stead.

D.J. and Darrin | by Pat

Per the latest University press release...

Wide receiver D.J. Hord has decided to leave the Notre Dame football team
and will transfer to a Division I-AA school.

"I'd like to thank D.J. for all he has given to this team in his three years
and wish him well in his future endeavors," Notre Dame head coach Charlie
Weis said.

Cornerback Darrin Walls will not be enrolled at Notre Dame during the fall
semester for personal reasons and will return home at the end of this summer
school term.

“We won’t have Darrin with us this season but I hope to have him return for
the spring semester. Fortunately, cornerback is a position of strength on
our team and this will provide opportunities for increased playing time for
our corners,” Irish head coach Charlie Weis said.

Sad to see Hord go. His injuries really set him back and made it hard to ever see the field.

But the big news is the loss of Walls. One of the most talented defensive players on the team, Walls was ND's best hope at a shutdown corner. Losing him for the season immediately weakens ND's defense. The silver lining is that Notre Dame actually has talented cornerback depth. While Raeshon McNeil and Gary Gray were fighting over the nickel spot, now they will be fighting over the starting corner spot opposite Terrail Lambert. McNeil in particular had a strong spring and has the size to be very effective against the run and as a blitzer, his sack against Stanford last year a prime example. How he (or Gray) will do matched up against the better receivers the Irish face will determine just how strong the Irish pass defense can be this year. Either way, losing Walls's experience and talent is a definite setback.

That Charlie mentioned the possibility of Walls returning in the spring is a positive sign. Walls played as a freshman, so conceivably he would still have two more years of eligibility to play should he return to Notre Dame for the 2009 season.

The Laws of Supply and Lukewarm Demand | by Pat

Back once again with the results of the annual BGS lottery ticket poll. Let's breeze through the standard disclaimers and warnings of informality and the general unscientific-ness of this poll and get right to the numbers. For comparison, here are the results from 2007 and 2006.

Game	Regular Alum			Sorin Society			Monogram Club
	Req	Won	Rate	Req	Won	Rate	Req	Won	Rate
San Diego St.	594	456	77%	403	394	98%	105	105	100%
Michigan	919	172	19%	562	477	85%	178	164	92%
@ Michigan St.	169	53	31%	111	64	58%	22	8	36%
Purdue	624	330	53%	424	408	96%	103	103	100%
Stanford	537	75	14%	403	391	97%	106	106	100%
@ North Carolina	354	12	4%	178	36	20%	55	2	4%
@Washington	201	161	82%	74	64	86%	27	24	89%
Pittsburgh	489	228	47%	346	336	97%	102	102	100%
@ Boston College	328	12	3%	179	38	21%	52	2	4%
@ Navy	495	419	85%	265	231	87%	48	32	67%
Syracuse	384	358	93%	342	332	97%	61	59	97%
@ Southern Cal	210	154	76%	123	112	91%	36	18	50%

• The first thing that jumps out is the much higher win rates than last year for home games, especially for regular alumni. The logical conclusion is that ticket requests were down this year. I guess that's what a 3-9 season and mediocre home schedule will do for you. The increase in miminum donation ($100 to $200) to be eligible for the lottery shouldn't be over looked either. To be fair, it is possible that lottery revisions upped the number of tickets given out to alumni via the lottery. But I'm leaning towards the 3-9 and lackluster home opponent rationale myself. The amount of money returned is usually a decent barometer of demand and this year's total return ($4.5 million) is far below 2007 ($8.6 million) and 2006 ($11.7 million). The increased access is good news as fans have a better chance of seeing a game, but bad news when you realize that increased access is due partly to many fans deciding that trying to get tickets in the lottery isn't worth it for a variety of reasons.

• It seems that despite being the home opener and designated Senior Alumni game, the San Diego State (77%!) matchup didn't draw many requests. Overall, ND claims that the Michigan (19%), Stanford (14%), and Purdue (53%) game rank in the Top 25 in home game ticket requests. I'm curious how far down the list the Syracuse game ranks. Message board chatter indicates that ND called those in the lottery and provided an additional chance to buy Syracuse tickets. I can't verify that right now, but it sounds like demand for the 'Cuse game might not have met supply, despite the results of the poll suggesting that some did lose out. And while it may just be a statistical quirk of our limited sample size (~1000 responses), the fact that the Stanford game had a lower win rate than the Michigan game is a bit interesting.

• Pat yourself on your back if you are a regular alum and managed to snag tickets to either North Carolina (4%) or Boston College (3%). On the other hand, the Washington (82%) and Southern Cal (76%) have awfully high win rates. The 2006 poll results have the game at the Coliseum with a 14% win rate for regular alumni. Did ND get more tickets, or like with home games was demand down this year? Are Irish fans resigned to another year of Trojan victory?

• The 2006 results also show far more requests for Southern Cal tickets than Navy tickets, whereas this year Navy requests more than doubled those for the trip to L.A. Notre Dame claimed that this year's Navy game is the fourth most requested road game in Irish ticket history. As an aside, that means more people requested tickets to this year's Navy game than last year's UCLA game at the Rose Bowl, which was named fourth most requested ever last year. East Coast bias indeed.

• For those who paid the increase in donation level to reach Sorin Society levels, at least you were rarely turned down for ticket requests. Aside from the Michigan games, win rates were all near 100%. Of course, getting a Monogram remains the best way to ensure future ticket availability.

Easy choice for Eifert | by Pat

Right after ND received commit number ten, Indiana native Tyler Eifert called up Charlie and became number eleven of the recruiting Class of 2009. After receiving his offer from ND just a few days ago, Eifert quickly made his decision.

"It's about how great the school is and the football tradition they have there," Eifert said. "It's just an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Definitely with John going there and Fort Wayne being such a big Notre Dame town, it definitely influenced me."

The John that Tyler references is new freshman John Goodman, who was teammates with Eifert at Bishop Dwenger in Fort Wayne. While Goodman is coming into ND as a wide receiver, he spent most of his time at QB last season, throwing to Eifert.

With offers from his father's alma mater Purdue (his dad was starter on the '83-'84 basketball team), Vandy, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Indiana, Cincinnati, and Minnesota, Eifert didn't have an offer from Notre Dame until recently. But at the most recent ND summer football camp, Eifert performed strongly enough to convince the coaching staff he was deserving of an offer. If you want to take a quick look at Eifert, here are his highlight clips.

The question remains though just where Eifert will contribute on the field for the Fighting Irish. At 6'6" 220 pounds, Eifert played both wide receiver, where he earned 1st Team Junior All-State honors, and safety last year. And while he'll move to tight end this fall, that might not be where he winds up playing at ND.

"They're recruiting me as an athlete. Maybe play receiver or tight end, maybe somewhere on defense. They said I had good ball skills and they could use me on the football field."

Tight end is the best bet at this point, and that is where the recruiting sites have him grouped. A 3-star on both Rivals and Scout, he's listed as the 23rd and 17th ranked tight end respectively. In a way, he is similar to John Carlson, who came to ND as a 6'6" 220 tight end considered the #16 TE in the country. And like Carlson apprenticed under Fasano before coming into his own, Eifert should have time behind Ragone, Rudolph, and Fauria to work his way onto the field. To his credit, Eifert is open to playing a new position.

"I'm mainly just looking to get on the field," Eifert said. "I know they're already loaded at tight end, which is where I think I would excel the most, but it's just wherever I can contribute."

The Official Cornerback Rally Song | by Pat

All it took was a visit to campus for Fighting Irish commit #10 Marlon Pollard to switch his commitment from UCLA to Notre Dame.

"I was at a camp in Chicago and had an extra day, so I decided to stop in," Pollard said. "I knew right away that (Notre Dame) was the right place for me.

"I got the vibe from everyone - from the players, coaches, students. It's a perfect blend of academics and athletics. When I was there, it just felt right. I can't really explain exactly what made it right, but it was."

The California cornerback committed to the Bruins back in July of 2007, a month before he even started his junior year of high school. But after a UCLA coaching change and another year of high school football -- where he was named California 1st Team All-Underclass by Scout.com -- Pollard started to take another look at the other programs showing interest.

Those other programs that offered Pollard beside the Irish include Nebraska and Washington. The recruiting sites both consider Pollard a 4-star recruit with Rivals listing him as the #12 corner and the #138 overall recruit while he's the #18 CB and #204 overall player on Scout.com. ESPN won't roll out their Top 150 until early August, so for now Pollard is one of the approximately 5,000 recruits on the Top 150 watchlist. They were rather complimentary in their player review of him.

Bottom line, Pollard's great initial burst and nose for the football as cornerback can't be coached; the bulk will come when he attacks a college weight training program. Good prospect who should excel on special teams; a threat blocking kicks off the edge with his elite first-step quickness.

At 6'1" 160 pounds, Pollard fits the recent trend of ND recruiting taller cornerbacks, which fits Corwin Brown's preference to use bigger corners to press at the line of scrimmage. However, at only 160-ish pounds, Pollard will definitely need to bulk up. That shouldn't be too hard though as he's a younger recruit that will still be 17 when he suits up for his first Fighting Irish game. For now his quickness and athleticism are his strengths. In addition to posting strong combine results in the vertical leap and broad jump at the LA combine this past spring, he has set school records in the triple jump and long jump. Taking a look at his highlight video, his athleticism is pretty easy to see, as is his penchant for blocking kicks as mentioned in the above ESPN review. Pollard also does well against the run considering his size, something he focuses on.

"For my weight I have to play aggressive," said Pollard, who played his first three seasons at Valencia but transferred to Cajon High in San Bernardino following his junior season to play closer to family.

"I just go after it and I swarm to the ball. I play off my instincts and usually that carries me to the ball," he said. "I love to get involved with the run game. Most corners I watch, they kind of sit back and wait, and I don't really like that."

Pollard's switch continues ND's successful run of recruits from California. The hard work in the state is getting noticed as Brian Polian, in charge of recruiting California and parts of Ohio, was mentioned as an early candidate for Rivals.com Recruiter of the Year. Obviously Charlie ran point on the higher profile recruits like Clausen, Crist, and Cierre Wood, but as the recruiter in charge of the region, Polian's tasks include maintaining frequent contact as well as looking for new candidates, like late bloomer Taylor Dever, or committed recruits looking around like Pollard. He gets enough of the blame for when things go wrong on the field, so it's only fair to point out when he's an integral part of things going right in another crucial part of a team's success. Nice work on Polian's part.

Exit Pollin' | by Pat

The 2008 Ticket Lottery results are in.

As we've done for the past few years, please take a few seconds to fill out our little poll with your results from the latest ticket lottery.

2008 BGS Ticket Lottery Poll

Please fill out a separate survey for each application you submitted.

Thanks once again for helping us out. We'll post the results soon, likely sometime tomorrow (so hurry and get your results in).

A quick reminder if you've forgotten the Customer Number needed to access your results:

• It's the number above your name on the ND Magazine mailing address label
• You can get if from the Irish Online alumni directory.

If you are using the Irish Online alumni directory, once you log on, follow these steps.

1. Click on "Update My Profile", located in the center of the page
2. Click "Edit Notre Dame Information and Other Educational Information"
3. Click on the little arrow to the left of "Notre Dame Information"

The first field should be your ID Number. That is the correct number to use in the lotto results page. If you're having some trouble getting the number to work, start taking off the preceding zeros until it works.

Statistically Speaking: Summer Edition | by Pat

I recently realized that I never got around to finalizing the weekly in-season Statistically Speaking posts (and you thought you'd be able to avoid math this summer). Not that we all need a bunch of numbers to tell us that Notre Dame stunk on ice last season, but if we're going to chart improvement in 2008, it helps to know where we wound up in 2007.

Gimme M.O.E.

First up is the season review of the Major Offensive Errors (M.O.E) percentage. If you need a refresher, here is the original post where we introduced the idea of tracking ND's M.O.E. Looking at this year's numbers, the final numbers aren't much of a surprise. The cumulative Irish M.O.E. for 2007 was 18% compared to 12% for the opponent. Remember, the total that tends to correlate closely with victory is 12% or lower.

Taking a look at the Fighting Irish percentages for individual games overlayed with the opponent numbers, there were exactly four games where the Irish had a better M.O.E percentage than the opponent. Those games were the three Irish victories and the Purdue game. Not terribly surprising, huh?

While looking at these numbers, I was wondering if it was even worth the effort to track M.O.E again in 2008. After all, the number is basically a measure of how many mistakes an offense makes. And when you make fewer mistakes than your opponent, you're much more likely to win. Rarely does this number contradict common sense. However, there does appear to be some usefulness to this metric in terms of tracking just where you're making those mistakes. As Jay said in the comment section of the original M.O.E. post, the true value may not be in trying to hit any theoretical 12% mark as much as the analysis provides clear coaching points for where the team shows improvement and where it still needs work.

For example, it's obvious that the Irish offense in 2007 (18% MOE) was far more mistake prone than the 2005 (10% MOE) and 2006 (13% MOE) versions. What is interesting is that in one particular mistake category, offensive penalties, the numbers were lower in 2007 than in 2006. I know I certainly wouldn't have guessed that. Even when you factor in the reduced number of overall plays you get a 4.3% offensive penalty rate in 2007 versus 4.5% in 2006. In other words, while the team was letting up more sacks, fumbling more, and dropping more passes, they did manage to avoid drawing penalties at a slightly better rate. Considering the inexperience of all the new starters and likely eagerness to get something, anything, accomplished on offense, a reduction in penalties is a positive sign I would think.

I suppose it will be useful to continue to track M.O.E. for another year and see where exactly the Irish offense improves and where it continues to lag. Adding a second year of opponent M.O.E. data points will be interesting as well, especially as a way to gauge the impact of new coach Jon Tenuta.

If you want to dig through the numbers more yourself, here is the online spreadsheet with all three years worth of Irish offense M.O.E. as well as the 2007 opponent M.O.E. and a three year long chart of each game's M.O.E. Enjoy poking around and make sure to share any interesting insight with the class.

Flag on the play

As a bit of a followup to the M.O.E. discussion, the bit about offensive penalties inspired me to dig a bit deeper. As you might expect, most of the 36 offensive penalties were on the offensive line. 24 of the 36 (67%) penalties in fact were blamed on the big uglies.. That compares to 29 of the 40 (73%) offensive penalties being called against the 2006 ND OL. Here's the 2007 breakdown.

Player	Holding	False Start	Personal Foul	Totals
Sam Young	6	3	0	9
Mike Turkovich	4	2	0	6
Eric Olsen	1	2	1	4
Paul Duncan	0	3	0	3
Chris Stewart	0	1	0	1
Thomas Bemenderfer	0	1	0	1
Dan Wenger	0	0	0	0
John Sullivan	0	0	0	0

With his injured wrist and playing a bit out of position at left tackle, I suppose so many holding penalties on Young aren't all that surprising. It is a bit surprising that Duncan had so few penalties. Looking closer, he had one false start against Georgia Tech, two more the next game at Penn State, and then none for the rest of the season. In other words, he had three penalties in two games while starting at left tackle, and zero penalties in ten games will starting at right tackle. I'm sure the obvious "you have to get a hand on a defender before you can hold him" joke has some truth to it, but 10 straight games without a false start isn't a bad way to finish up the year. The question is, now that he is back at left tackle, will he be able to keep the streak going? Will Olsen pick up where he left off in the spring and make sure he gets a few more career personal fouls? Will Sam Young work on how to hold without getting caught?

If you want to see the number of OL penalties game by game, here you go.

	GT	PSU	UM	MSU	PU	UCLA	BC	USC	Navy	AF	Duke	SU
Holding	0	1	0	1	2	1	4	0	1	0	0	1
False Start	2	3	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	3	0
Total	2	4	1	1	3	1	5	1	1	0	3	1

A bit surprising that ND had so many penalties at home against BC and only one against Southern Cal (Bemenderfer's contribution to the total). Three false starts against Duke is pretty bad as well. Ultimately I don't know if these numbers really have any great significance. But I figured it's July and here's one more set of numbers to keep everyone occupied.

Season Long Running Averages

Here is the complete breakdown of the season long averages. I won't spend too much time breaking this down. Like I wrote earlier, we all know we were bad.

It shouldn't be a shock that every offensive and special teams stat tracked in this spreadsheet was worse in 2007 than 2006. Defense improved in 5 of the 12 categories, most notably against the pass. Of course, while teams did attempt more passes against ND in 2007 than 2006, practically none of them were made in a desperate attempt to score points. They were more of the short ball control types that bring down a passing average rather than the down the field shots that give average completion stats a boost.

The turnover margin took a pretty steep dive too as ND went from +10 in turnovers in 2006 to dead even in 2007. If our hopes of an improved and more focused offense and Tenuta inspired defense come to fruition in 2008, I suspect the turnover margin will be one of the most obvious places to see a marked improvement.

Summer Sit-Down | by Pat

It was around the 4th last year that Charlie Weis sat down with Lou Somogyi for a long off-season Q&A session. This year he did more of the same with Matt Hayes of The Sporting News.

The difference was while last year was more about the team and Charlie the coach, this year's version was more about Charlie the person. It really does fit in with the off-season theme we've witnessed so far from Charlie. In addition to reworking the depth chart and coaching staff in the wake of last year's disaster, Charlie has being undergoing a bit of a public perception makeover.

From his post-season autograph signing session to hanging with the team in the weight room in the early winter mornings to team dinners at his house to the Armed Forces tour of the Middle East to hitting the alumni club circuit to interviews like this, it appears that Charlie has been working to alter (repair?) how others perceive him and possibly even how he treats others. When is the last time that he has come across as contrite in an interview?

When Weis began this offseason of soul-searching, he sent a letter to Dr. Richard Pierce, a revered professor of history at Notre Dame who specializes in African American, urban and civil rights history and social and political protest. Weis wanted an idea of how he was perceived.

He got more than he could imagine.

Pierce relayed anecdotes from others about interactions with Weis. They talked -- "as colleagues at universities should," says Pierce -- about strengths and faults and finding ways to move on and move forward.

"Charlie didn't understand what got him in trouble were offhand comments and people's perceptions," Pierce says. "Those interactions you have with people -- be it the media, a campus police officer, a food service worker -- spread like a virus. And he had no way to combat it."

Maybe that's why after two straight BCS bowl appearances to begin his tenure at Notre Dame, one bad season raised bad feelings across campus. Or maybe those two BCS games simply hid something that was there from Day 1.

"I don't care that they said it, I care why they said it," Weis says. "If I said something to insult someone, I owe them an apology. I'm not a monster; I'm a husband and a father."

In addition to the main article, Hayes threw up a supplement with the rest of the quotes from the interview that didn't fit in the story. I really don't know what this season will bring for Charlie and Notre Dame football. But there is no denying that Charlie is working hard to correct the mistakes of last year, both on and off the field. Now, this doesn't mean we're going to see a new kinder, gentler Charlie at all times this coming season. He's still going to be brash at times and supremely confident.

"I'm not worried about job security," Weis says. "We're going to be good. This football team expects to be good."

But the fact that Charlie would let a prof on campus read him the riot act of how others perceive him is something that most Irish fans would have considered more than unlikely a year ago. It's very possible that this is nothing more than just another off-season fluff article and won't mean much when the going gets rough. On the other hand, this off-season could mark a notable transition in Charlie's continued evolution as a head coach. We'll find out this fall.