Manti! | by Pat

At this point, he shouldn't need much introduction. But in case you're one of those smart people who stay away from the annual soap opera that is recruiting, here's a quick primer on ND's Signing Day coup, Hawai'i linebacker Manti Te'o.

• Hawaii State Defensive Player of the Year (2nd year in a row)
• Gatordate Hawaii State Player of the Year (2nd year in a row)
• Parade All-American
• USA TODAY National Defensive Player of the Year
• Sporting News High School Athlete of the Year
• inaugural Butkus Award winner for nation's top prep linebacker

On top of that, he's a 5-star recruit on both Rivals and Scout. Scout has him as the #1 strongside linebacker and #6 overall recruit. Rivals has him as the #2 inside linebacker and #12 overall recruit. ESPN has him with a 93 overall score, which translates to #1 linebacker recruit and #2 overall recruit on their list.In fact, in the four years they have been ranking recruits, only five recruits total have been given a higher score than Manti. He had a scholarship offer from everyone, with the Trojans and Bruins his runner-up finalists.

So yeah, he's good. If you want to see for yourself, enjoy.



Back to the announcement, here's video of Manti donning the right hat and signing his Letter of Intent. While fans were watching and sweating out the decision, so were the ND coaches.

"Notre Dame was the only school I didn't call," Te'o told ESPN.com during a phone interview. "I wanted to be respectful to the other schools and thank them for recruiting me."

You can see the jubilant reaction of the coaching staff (especially Polian) at the 6:35 mark in this behind the scenes video on und.com. There's a reason why Polian gets so much attention from the other coaches in the video. While Charlie undoubtedly deserves a lot of credit for his multiple trips out to visit Te'o, it was Polian who made return trip after return trip to keep up with the talented Te'o.

"I'd like to take this chance to thank the crew of United flight 81," Polian said with a smile. "I got to know them well, because I took the same flight every Wednesday from LAX to Honolulu."

Polian, Notre Dame's special teams coordinator and lead West Coast recruiter, made that journey 10 times in the last 14 months -- including three trips in December and three more in January -- just to visit linebacker Manti Te'o, one of the highest-rated prospects in the country.

The repeat flights worked and certainly helped to contribute to the ND-favored outcome.

"Their recruiting coordinator, Brian Polian, flew here every week from South Bend, and that just shows me his determination and dedication, and I took that into consideration,"

When you think about it, it's a stunner that a recruit that was arguably Pete Carroll's top defensive target picked ND over Southern Cal. The Trojans not only have a program running on all cylinders, but they hosted Manti the weekend right before he made his pick. It's a recruiting rule of thumb that the last school to get a visit usually has the best chance to sign said recruit. ND on the other hand brought Manti in for a freezing, snowy game and promptely lost to a 2-8 Syracuse team in embarrassing fashion. Then again, that horrific loss sent the ND squad to the Hawai'i Bowl, where Te'o was able to take in a few more ND practices and get a warmer look at his possible future teammates. He's also a religious person and an Eagle Scout, which certainly falls within the normal ND student Venn Diagram.

The legend of the top linebacker from Hawaii started to grow his sophomore year when, despite breaking his arm only four games into the season, he was still named 2nd team All-State. The accolades kept coming and, last month, he wrapped up his high school career in the Under Armour All-American Bowl on ESPN against the best players from rest of the US.

From the beginning of the first practice Wednesday, Te'o quickly demonstrated why he is considered the top overall linebacker prospect in the country. After dominating against lesser perceived talent out in the Hawaiian Islands during his high school career, Te'o didn't need long to stake his claim as the best linebacker and maybe overall player on the mainland. His great speed, striking explosiveness and uncanny instincts stood out all week, even to former NFL coaches who were in awe of his talents. Te'o took most of his reps on the inside, displaying the great scheme versatility he will bring to the next level. We knew he had the closing burst and overall tools to develop into a disruptive perimeter 'backer in college, but we were impressed this week with the short-area power, strength and leverage he showed between the tackles at the point of attack. Te'o made a living blowing up opponents' backfields in Orlando; he dominated in a fashion similar to that of last year's No. 1 overall player DaQuan Bowers.

Obviously with these kind of glowing reviews, expectations are going to be pretty high for Te'o right out of the gate. "Will Te'o start?" will probably dominate spring practice and the summer off-season as we slowly inch closer to the 2009 season. ND has shown a tendency to err on the side of seniority early in the season the past few years, but there should be little doubt that Te'o is being counted on to make an immediate impact to the linebacking corp.

After 2009 though, the future gets a bit more murky as Te'o likely will not be around for the 2010 and 2011 seasons as he takes his 2-year Mormon mission.

"The coaches support that and I'm happy that they do support my decision to do that," Te'o said. "I am going to do my mission after my freshman year. That is the plan as of right now."

Eligibility-wise, the mission won't affect Te'o. He will still have all remaining years of eligibility left when he returns. He will have the ability to switch to another school after the mission, so the recruiting of Te'o isn't quite done yet. But that's still a bit down the road.

The last time ND signed the USA Today Defensive Player of the Year, Kory Minor turned into a four year starter. But with so much hype coming in, he never lived up to the expectations in the eyes of some ND fans. Given all the fawning press for Te'o, including this post, Manti will be subjected to similar sky-high expectations whether he wants them or not. Then again Te'o isn't saying anything to diminish those expectations.

"My dream was to join a program that's building instead of joining one that's already built, and I knew if I could build a program into greatness that's when legends are created and that's when people are remembered forever and that's what I want to do," said Teo.

...but wait, there's more! | by Pat

As the hoopla settles down from yesterday's excitement, there is still a bit of unfinished business for the current recruiting class. Wide receiver Robby Toma, a commit to UCLA, is still wavering on where he'll wind up this fall.

"When I sat down, I didn't feel like signing," said Toma, who lives in La'ie nearby Punahou linebacker and close friend Manti Te'o, the nation's top linebacker prospect who signed with Notre Dame. "I didn't fax it (to UCLA)."

Notre Dame complicated matters by recently offering Toma a scholarship, and after Hawai'i coach Greg McMackin learned of Toma's indecision yesterday morning, he too made a last-minute scholarship offer.

While ND waits for Toma's decision, they also had a bit of last minute drama with Florida safety Jawanza Starling. He announced his pick for USC over finalist Notre Dame, but didn't fax in his Letter of Intent. While Pete Carroll had his press conference last night talking about his new class, the ND coaches put in a last minute sales pitch to the undecided safety. Alas...

One more!
02-05-2009 9:48 a.m.

Defensive back Jawanza Starling (Tallahassee, Fla.) just faxed in his official letter of intent to the football office, making him the 18th member of USC’s Class of 2009.

More on the recruiting class of 2009 once Toma makes his decision.

Get on your boots (recruiting boots) | by Pat

It's 7AM on National Signing Day, the witching hour on the one day of the year that the increasingly obsolete fax machine is king of all machines in athletic departments across the country.

There won't be any minute-by-minute updates here, but feel free to share all the latest rumors and glory/despair that comes with Signing Day in the comment section. Und.com has a running blog highlighting all the incoming faxes, so make sure to re-visit this link all day. We'll probably link up any major news that comes across the wire. Analysis and a roundtable discussion of sorts will follow in a day or so after all the smoke has cleared.

While you are waiting to hear which faxes came in and which were sent to a rival fax machine, pass the time with this interesting history of Signing Day over on the Rutgers blog Bleed Scarlet. The only thing I would add to their excellent summary is ND grad Joe Terranova, whose annual program recruiting rankings were mainstream enough to make the pages of Sports Illustrated around Signing Day back in the late 70s and early 80s.

One quote from the Bleed Scarlet post in particular stood out as a perfect summary of college football fans on a day when they might not get all the shiny new recruits from their wishlist.

We needed him. There’s absolutely no point in paying attention to the next four years on the gridiron. I might as well stop following the sport entirely. Oh wait, you tell me there’s another top player looming on the horizon, only twelve months away? Hot damn.

Happy Signing Day everyone.

UPDATE:

Sweet fancy Moses. Manti Te'o just put on the Notre Dame hat.

Young Again | by Pat

Notre Dame is heading into Signing Day still absent a defensive line coach -- ex-Browns head coach Romeo Crennel is a rumored target according to Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune -- but they still made a move in shoring up the coaching staff along the d-line.

In what is surprising and fantastic news, Notre Dame All-American and likely NFL Hall of Famer Bryant Young has officially accepted the job of graduate assistant for the next season.

"I'd first like to thank Coach Weis for giving Kristen and me this chance to return to Notre Dame and introduce our four children to the Notre Dame spirit," Young said. "Notre Dame is a very special place that is near and dear to the hearts of my wife and me.

"When I retired from the 49ers in 2007 I wanted to get away from everything and clear my head before deciding what I wanted to do with my life. The game of football and thoughts of coaching never escaped me though. I explored options other than coaching but quickly found that I had a strong desire to be on the field and around the game.

"When Coach Weis presented me this unique opportunity I knew it warranted serious consideration. It's not often that chances like this come around and the ability to work with kids and hopefully make an impact on their lives really interested me.

"My family and I had a wonderful 14 years in California but coming back to Notre Dame was a no-brainer because opportunities like this don't present themselves everyday. I can't wait to get back to Notre Dame and start this new chapter in my life."

It's great news for ND as it brings an all-star talent to help assist the coaches and while Young isn't allowed by NCAA laws to travel for recruiting purposes, he can call and field calls from recruits as well as interacting with them during visits to campus. The instant impact he'll have on the defensive line probably isn't great as he will still be the position coach's assistant and do all the dirty work that comes along with the GA job title. But it's natural to assume that this hire was made with the idea of grooming him to eventually take over a position coaching job at ND. So far it has been an effective strategy for Pete Carroll. This past season, USC's defensive line, linebackers, and secondary coaches all were previous graduate assistants at USC under Carroll.

Back to Young, Lou Somogyi over at Blue and Gold Illustrated wrote a wonderful piece on Young and his first go-round at Notre Dame. Make sure to check it out.

Charlie tried a similar approach for the offensive side of the ball, shooting for ND great Tim Grunhard as offensive graduate assistant. (Each program is allowed two graduate assistants) However, Grunhard, a high school head coach, opted to keep his family where they are for the time being.

“I have four kids who are very happy and established in the Kansas City area,” said Grunhard, who met with Charlie Weis last week to interview for the position. “Although it was a nice offer and a great presentation by the people at Notre Dame, it’s probably not the best time to do it. We thought about it long and hard.

“It’s always been my dream to coach at Notre Dame, though, and I think some day it will come to pass.”

Local Call | by Pat

We are only a few short days from National Signing Day and it should be an eventful one for ND fans as a number of recruits -- Byron Moore, Manti Te'o, Jawanza Starling, Damien Thigpen -- are all still considering ND.

But once again the attention quickly turns to the next recruiting cycle as Notre Dame picked up another recruit for the recruiting class of 2010. South Bend's Daniel Smith received his official offer to Notre Dame as last weekend's Junior Day and publicly committed to ND the following
day.

"Right after they offered me, immediately I was just astounded. I couldn't believe what had happened at that point. I decided I was ready to commit to this school, I had always dreamed of this as a kid," Smith explained.

The 6'4" 205 pound receiver is just one of many recruits in this current class with plenty of ties to ND, making the quick decision no surprise at all. In addition to playing his high school ball in the South Bend area, Smith's brother-in-law is former ND safety Gerome Sapp.

You can see video of him announcing his ND decision, interspersed with a few game highlights here. For more highlights, youtube has you covered.

The second member of the Class of 2010, Smith picked ND over offers from Indiana, Purdue, and Central Michigan. The list of competitors isn't stellar, but you can view that in two ways. One, Smith wasn't a top priority for other elite programs or two, schools weren't going to invest too much time in a recruit that was obviously going to pick ND the minute they offered. The truth is probably somewhere in between. Smith did attend ND's football camp this past summer providing ND a chance to watch him play up close against other top recruits.

At least one recruiting service thought highly of Smith though as Scout.com lists Smith as a 4-star recruit and member of their first Top 100 list. (Incidentally, that means right now ND, according to Scout, now has as many Top 100 recruits (2) in the 2010 class as in the 2009 class.) Rivals and ESPN haven't given any sort of evaluation or ranking of Smith yet.

Given the relatively low level of competition in Smith's high school conference, the leap to playing at ND will be a sizable one. It is worth noting that aside from football, Smith has been active in track and has excelled in the high jump and long jump. Last year he won sectionals in the high jump after clearing 6-6 and placed fourth in the state in the long jump with a leap of over 22 feet. He was also a member of the 1600 relay team that placed 6th in the state. Looking at his 6'4" height and strong high jump numbers, you can already see the fade passes being thrown his way.

Notre Dame will probably try to sign three to four receivers in the Class of 2010 and it's shaping up to be a very strong class of receivers with interest in the Fighting Irish. Smith helps get the group off to a strong start. More importantly, it gives the class a local recruit who can always be around to hang out with visiting recruits during home games and official visits.

Gruden Rumors! | by Jay

Weis out! Gruden to Notre Dame in hush-hush deal!

And in other news, this is for sale:

Adding Alford | by Pat

News broke yesterday that the newest addition to the Notre Dame coaching staff is former Louisville running backs coach Tony Alford. Alford will replace Mike Haywood, now the head coach at Miami University.

"I'm very happy to add Tony Alford to our staff," Weis said. "In talking with several sources at the college and NFL levels for suggestions the first name that came up was Tony's. He came highly recommended because of his tremendous reputation as both a running backs coach and as a recruiter and is a great addition to our program.

Before digging into Alford's resume for hints about what he will bring to the Fighting Irish, the fact that he was hired explicitly as a running backs coach seems to heavily point to the fact that Charlie Weis will resume/keep full-time play calling duties as the de facto offensive coordinator next fall.

As for Alford, rather than go over a litany of running back rushing stats from his former coaching stops -- stats that were impacted by numerous other variables -- I'll lead with the Cardinal reaction to Alford leaving Louisville. Here is Mike from Card Chronicle on Alford's job change.

In losing Alford, the Cardinal football program is not only losing one of the hardest working and highest energy guys it had, but perhaps its best recruiter.

Sounds good to me. Frankie V. goes a bit more in-depth on Alford's recruiting impact over on his UHND blog and it's definitely worth a read.

Another thing that I thought was a bit unique about Alford is that unlike many other assistant coaches who bounce around positions while working their way up the ladder, Alford, a former honorable mention All-America running back at Colorado State, has always and only been a running backs coach since he started wearing a whistle in 1995.

He started his career in Ohio at Mount Union and Kent State. His first boss, Mount Union's Larry Kehres, still has high praise for him.

"Tony Alford brought enthusiasm and discipline to our running backs when he coached them in 1995," Kehres said. "We have stayed in touch over the years and he is still coaching with the love of his players and the game in his heart. He will do a great job for coach (Charlie) Weis."

From the Buckeye State, Alford landed at Iowa State for four seasons. Rick Neuheisel then hired him away to be the running backs coach at Washington. But after only one year away, Iowa State coach Dan McCarney hired Alford back as his running backs coach by giving him a raise and also naming him assistant head coach. Alford also helped out on special teams, working with the kickoff return units.

After McCarney was fired, Alford found work in Louisville, where he has worked for the past two seasons. This past year he helped redshirt freshman Victor Anderson crack the 1,000 yard mark and earn Freshman All-America honors.

There usually isn't too much written about running backs coaches in general, so there aren't a whole lot of articles about Alford at his former coaching stops. His gives a little insight into his practice philosophy on this Coaching clinic DVD. (Scroll down to see the sample video)

There is also an article from 2001 about Alford's impact on the Washington running back corp and his focus as a coach.

Hurst starts his final season as a Husky learning a new set of drills and demands from his new coach. Alford's system centers around ball security with a lot of game-oriented drills.

Whenever there is a fumble in practice, the whole running backs unit pays the price in drills. When the ball popped out of sophomore Matthias Wilson's hands during Tuesday's practice, Alford was all over it. All seven healthy backs stayed behind to get down on the ground and perform rigorous balancing techniques while moving up and down the field. The "punishment" drills force the players to hold the ball with both hands all the time. Hurst approves.

"Anytime the ball comes out, the whole group has to do one of those, no matter who did it," Hurst said. "Honestly, I am wondering why [the coaches] haven't done it before. It's very tiring, so you'll get it in your head that you will not commit a fumble because you don't want to do that drill."

Under Alford last year, the Iowa State running backs had zero fumbles all season while ranking 17th in the nation in rushing. It was all part of an amazing Iowa State turnaround that saw the Cyclones go from a 4-7 team in 1999 to 9-3 and an Insight.com Bowl victory in 2000.

"I think that you get what you're stressing and I've always been a guy who has stressed ball security," Alford said. "I'm proud to say that I'm not the one taking any hits. I'm not going to get tackled one time, and it's really the guys out there who are the ones taking it to heart. Those guys have to understand that they're carrying the entire program under their arms at any given time."

That's one heck of a quote there at the end on the importance of not fumbling. The players must have bought in because ISU running backs lost a total of 13 fumbles in the 8 years Alford coached there. As a point of comparison, ND backs lost 12 fumbles the past two seasons.

But it will take more that ball security to turn around the ND ground game. Alford certainly has his work cut out for him, despite a lot of natural talent on the roster and a deep depth chart. After hearing of "four horses running downhill" and "pounding it", ND fans are eagerly awaiting that long promised dependable rushing attack. Along with big contributions from new OL coach Frank Verducci and the head guy himself, hopefully Alford will help make Notre Dame more than a one dimensional offense.

America's Got Talent | by Pat

Continuing with my recent trend of covering all the weeks old news that's fit to print...

Slowly gaining more momentum and even more attention, the bifurcated high school all-star bowl season took place three weekends ago. According to the TV ratings, the NBC hosted US Army bowl on Saturday afternoon still edged out the ESPN hosted Under Armor All-American Bowl 1.7 to 1.0. But in only its second year, the UA Bowl certainly is making the move to be the more prominent end-of-the-recruiting-year all-star extravaganza. (I hope NBC doesn't turn the US Army Bowl into even more of a shameless ND commercial in a bid to keep Irish viewers if ESPN starts to get the upper-hand ratings-wise. On the other hand, I hope ESPN stops shamelessly moving players who commit to their game way up in their rankings.)

ESPN moved the game to prime time and the organizers were smart enough to sign up some of the better passing QBs. The US Army game didn't have as strong a QB crop and, combined with the attempt at running a spread offense on only a few days practice, the result was a pretty boring game aside from the predictable goofball declarations. Chris Watt, Tyler Stockton, and Zeke Motta all started in the US Army bowl, with Jake Golic, Cierre Wood, and Shaq Evans seeing time. Here's a quick video of the 6 together at the game. There isn't too much to report on their play either good or bad. If any of the readers watched either game and want to offer up their comments, go for it. The good news is that all made it through the game unscathed. Over in Florida, Zach Martin represented ND as the lone Irish commit and did a fine job blocking at the right tackle position.

The biggest recruiting news of the weekend for ND fans however wasn't even with one of the players in the games, or even with a current senior. Junior offensive tackle Christian Lombard became of the earlier commits I can remember by announcing his early decision to accept Notre Dame's early scholarship offer. Actually, he didn't even get to really announce it. While showcasing the 10 junior recruits who were already invited to next year's US Army game, Tom Lemming causally mentioned that Lombard, one of the invited 10, would be heading to ND. That Lombard was wearing an ND hat was a pretty big hint too I suppose. A few hours later, Lombard confirmed his intentions.

"I felt overall (Notre Dame) had the perfect blend of what I wanted," said Lombard, who has a 3.0 grade-point average and is considering studying business. "I got along with the players and I got to know the coaches really well.

"Most importantly if something was to go wrong in football, I can fall back on a great education from Notre Dame."

The first member of the Class of 2010, Lombard plays a need position for that class as an offensive tackle. Lombard had been to ND recently to watch the team practice before heading out to the Hawaii Bowl. That last trip more or less sealed the deal and Lombard decided there was no point in delaying the inevitable.

It's a bit silly that the recruiting sites already have Top 100 type lists out for the junior recruits, but since they do, here's where Lombard falls. He's a member of Rivals's unordered Top 250 list and is one of only 10 juniors in the nation to be given a 5-star on Scout.com's Top 100. Now, while it's very impressive that ND already has a commitment from a recruit ranked nationally in the Top 10, keep in mind that of the intial members of Rivals's Top 100 list for the current senior recruits, only 47 are still on that list now. Things will change plenty over the next 12 months. Lombard also had a solid collection of early offers in addition to Notre Dame. He picked the Irish over offers from Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Stanford, Iowa, and others.

The ND OL will be in a bit of a state of flux when Lombard shows up his freshman year. Obviously a lot can change in the 19 (!) months between now and when Lombard actually suits up for an ND practice, but here's a rough guesstimate of what the OL depth chart will look like minus Lombard and whatever freshman linemen join him.

LT - M. Romine (Sr), L. Clelland (Jr)
LG - T. Robinson (Jr), Nuss (Jr), Bullard (So)
C - Wenger (5th), Cave (Jr), Golic (Jr)
RG - C. Stewart (5th), C. Watt (So)
RT - Dever (Sr), Martin (So)

With Lombard now in the fold, it's time to archive those 2009 recruiting spreadsheets and prep the ones for the Class of 2010. What linemen will be suiting up alongside Lombard as 2010 freshmen? Only 381 recruiting days left to find out!

It was Verducci All Along | by Michael

After four years of an inconsistent ground game, and one year after his offensive line contributed to the dubious record of 58 sacks allowed, John Latina has been replaced by former Cleveland Browns assistant OL coach Frank Verducci.

There isn't a lot of info out there on Verducci, but here's an attempt to reconstruct his past.

Like many entry level assistant coaches, Verducci bounced around for a while. Finally he found a home at Iowa, where he coached from 1989 to 1998. Although the stats would seem to suggest otherwise, Iowa fans remember him more as a strong recruiter, particularly in the state of New Jersey, where his father was a head coach at Seton Hall Prep, than for his offensive lines.

In 1999, Verducci left Iowa for the greener pastures of the NFL. He joined Bruce Coslet's Bengals as the TE coach and kept his job even as Coslet was fired and replaced by Dick Lebeau.

Coslet resurfaced in 2002 as the offensive coordinator of the Cowboys, who were floundering under Dave Campo. He lured Verducci to Dallas by offering him the opportunity to be the OL coach. However, the stint was short-lived as the Dallas offense struggled behind rookie quarterbacks Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson. In fact, midway through the season, Dallas switched from zone blocking schemes to man blocking schemes presumably because their offensive line personnel were better suited as man blockers.

Verducci was unemployed in 2003, but Mike Mularkey offered him the opportunity to coach TEs for the Bills in 2004. A year later, Verducci was reassigned as the offensive line assistant coach, and he worked with veteran OL coach Jim McNally. However, after the 2005 season, Verducci was fired (while McNally was kept). One week later, Mularkey resigned himself.

Verducci sat out 2006, and Romeo Crennel hired him as the assistant offensive line coach in 2007. Cleveland's offense surged to 10th in the NFL as the offensive line coached by Steve Marshall and Verducci paved the way for a successful ground and air attack behind Jamaal Lewis and Derek Anderson, respectively. More detailed information about Verducci's responsibilities in Cleveland from today's press release:

His job responsibilities included assisting the offensive coordinator in framing the run game, presenting the weekly opponent scouting report to the offense and installing Friday's game plan to the offensive unit. Verducci assisted the play caller on game day's with situational offense and was responsible for clock management.

And now Verducci will travel to South Bend, the one college job he said he would leave the NFL to take. At the same time, it's a homecoming for his wife, who attended Saint Mary's.

Verducci will inherit an offensive line that returns four starters, an experienced "sixth man" in Trevor Robinson, and the lofty expectations that Latina, whose resume seemed much stronger than Verducci's at the time of his hire, never achieved in his four years as OL coach. Verducci seems to be an assistant coach whose entire background is in zone blocking, so in that regard, continuity of schemes should not be an issue. Additionally, he would appear to be a more fiery personality than Latina. And while Latina enjoyed some successes as a recruiter -- despite the tag as a supposed poor recruiter -- Verducci would seem to own the edge. How quickly he can reestablish the pipelines he had in New Jersey remains to be seen, and then again-- what top Jersey prospects with grades have the Irish failed to land recently?

Questions abound, and one of the bigger ones will be addressed by Verducci in the spring: Who will win the vacated left tackle position?

As far as the long term ramifications of the hire, it's hard to imagine that such a journeyman assistant OL coach was a top tier candidate for what is arguably the most important coaching hire in Weis's tenure. Can he really be the key to unlocking the potential in the Irish offensive line?

Current Irish verbals may believe that, but after the offensive struggles the last two years, many in the Irish fanbase probably won't believe it until they see it. Who knows, maybe this will work out. I'd have rather had someone who's a current college success, and someone whose most recent track record was more definitively positive, but maybe Charlie knows what he's doing with this hire.

Roster Roulette | by Pat

Round and round the wheel spins. We've got a number of personnel matters to follow up on over the past few weeks. Let's jump right in looking at the guys that are on their way in or on their way out.

First, it's bad news for ND that Will Yeatman will be transferring to Maryland to play both football and lacrosse. From a purely football perspective, this move hurts the team, but it probably isn't a killer. Yeatman is the best blocker of the tight ends right now, and taking him out of the lineup will make it harder for ND to run the two- and three-tight end sets that are so instrumental to this offense. However, ND does have a number of younger tight ends with plenty of potential. If Ragone can stay healthy and Fauria can add some strength to his frame in the off-season, they will form a strong complement to the Freshman All-America Rudolph.

What's most disappointing about the Yeatman transfer is the way Notre Dame handled his circumstances and punishment. This topic probably deserves a longer rant from me, but suffice it to say that I don't blame Yeatman one bit for deciding to transfer away from a school that touts in loco parentis and a supportive, family atmosphere, and then turn around and hammers its students with draconian punishments that don't fit the transgressions. While I'm aware that it was Yeatman's second alcohol-related offense, he was suspended for an entire semester for being busted at a party with a BAC of 0.02, which amounts to one or two beers. Once again, ResLife showed an inability to exhibit common sense and instead of Will getting benched for a few games and a strongly worded "three strikes and you're out" warning, ND went with the nuclear option. What's also disappointing is the reaction to this news of Will's transfer from many ND fans, who naively and unfairly assumed that Notre Dame applied fair judgment. From the overzealous bust by the Excise cops, to the mug shots posted all over the web, to ND's cowardly response, the whole thing stinks. Good luck, Will; I don't blame you for leaving.

Yeatman won't be the only player missing from the roster for spring ball. Cornerback Gary Gray missed the Hawaii Bowl and now is not enrolled at Notre Dame for the spring semester. He is, however, expected back on campus next year.

That doesn't mean he is necessarily done with Notre Dame...the expectation is for a return to school and the team in the summer of 2009 for the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Columbia, S.C. product.

After going through a similar separation period, cornerback Darrin Walls is all set to resume his studies at Notre Dame this semester after missing the fall.

“This year I want to get back and be able to compete for a position. There are a lot of good athletes on the team that play my position, so I’m going to have to work hard to get it,” he said. “I want to get back on track and graduate on time also.

“Everyone wants to go to Notre Dame to win a National Championship. After being away, I want to spend as much time as I can with my teammates and work towards reaching that goal.”

“What happened in the past has shaped me. I’m going to use that to focus on my future,” he concluded.

Walls will have two years of eligibility left and will battle Raeshon McNeil and Robert Blanton for a starting corner spot.

Finally, incoming freshman Marlon Pollard switched his commitment (back) to UCLA. Initially committed to the Bruins, Pollard switched to ND back in July. After a recruiting trip to UCLA this weekend, the SoCal native switched back. This leaves the cornerback depth a bit more shallow, especially with incoming freshman E.J. Banks arriving with a torn ACL. Still, there are a number of talented corners with a few years of eligibility left on the roster. ND will just need to add that much more emphasis to cornerback recruiting for the next cycle.

update: Another ND player isn't enrolled at ND for this current spring semester.

Notre Dame safety Jashaad Gaines is not enrolled at Notre Dame this semester, Notre Dame football sports information director Brian Hardin said Tuesday.

Gaines, a Las Vegas native, missed most of the fall semester dealing with a personal issue back in Nevada.

No word yet if Gaines will be back in the summer or fall.

Year-End Clearance | by Jay

Like a pig roasting in an imu pit, this post-Hawaii Bowl post has been smoldering underground for a while now. Let's unearth it and dish it up.

A few years ago we did an excruciatingly detailed series of posts about the four long touchdown plays by Ohio State that broke the back of the Irish in the Fiesta Bowl ("Four Plays"). You can link to them in the Best of BGS sidebar, down there to the right. I think it's only fitting that with our first bowl win in a century we return to the same format. This time, thankfully, the tables are turned: here are the Four Plays (or maybe five) that swept the Irish to a big win in Honolulu. E'ai kakou!

Play-action to Grimes


This was a play-action pass off of a Wham-style run (where the motioning tight end trap blocks). We had run an actual Wham earlier in the game (on the first drive), which set up this nice out to Grimes.

Bomb to Tate


For this 69-yard TD to Tate, here's a tidbit. When we used that package and formation (Regular/0 Near, no motion) we didn't pass too much. This is probably why Hawaii switched up its defense and went to cover 0 (something Clausen pointed out in the post-game presser). They were expecting run. Rudolph crosses underneath, but Clausen reads the Go all the way and drops the biscuit in the basket.

Play-action to Tate


Similar package and formation as above, but with a little motion mixed in. Immediately prior to this play we'd been stuffed on a stretch with Hughes and what looked like a trick play (Allen to pass), and so here we were on third down with just a few seconds left before the half. Had to throw for a score here. We used this set and formation a lot earlier in the year, but shelved it for a while because it wasn't really working for us. We resurrected it for Southern Cal, and used it 7 times against Hawaii. All in all, we never got much production out of it all year, except for this amazing throw and catch.

Screen to Allen


The screen pass TD to Allen is interesting because the Irish did something different in this game that I can't recall us ever doing on a screen, and I think it helped out dramatically: we motioned a receiver down to the line of scrimmage. While his contribution probably doesn't seem like much, it may have afforded Clausen and the blockers an extra second or two to release and set things up. On the previous screen (for 41 yards), the motion man actually came down and blocked a LB, which helped open up the outside. I don't recall us ever doing that with screens -- normally we just send our WRs downfield and let them stalk block DBs or try to run off the coverage.

The bonus highlight in that play is the spectre of Chris Stewart pulling out and bearing down on a poor, defenseless back like a thundering, one-man herd. That is quite a sight.

Golden Go II


Another snap, another long bomb on the Golden Go. Clausen just throws it up there.

And that concludes our Hawaii game review.

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Bonus Footage! I lied.


First kickoff return for a touchdown in literally years. Check out Tate with the pancake block, and then the effortless strides to catch up to Allen. The man is fast.

Finally, at this link you'll find a hodgepodge of Hawaii notes that were batted around the BGS lounge following the game. I just dumped out the inbox, and y'all can pick through the pile. There might be some interesting tidbits in there...happy hunting.

Confucius Say | by Jay

Like I said, it's not Chinese New Year yet, but here's a fortune cookie message for you. Who uttered it?

On Southern Cal: "We have to get where they are as a football program. We understand that. That's our goal, and they're a measuring stick for us. They're a constant measuring stick. We're going to play them this year, and we're going to play them 20 years from now, and we have to get to where we're consistently winning this game."

Answer: Jack Swarbrick, on his radio show podcast, about six weeks ago. In all the years Kevin White ran the department, I don't recall him ever articulating such a specific and decisive goal for our football team. Sure, I heard we needed to be "better on Saturday" and how we'd like to get more competitive, in a general sort of way. But I never heard him put it so bluntly as, "Beat SC."

I like the bluntness. I'm tired of being fortune's fool. Here's to a happy, healthy, and competitive 2009. Beat SC.

Auld Lang Syne | by Jay

Somewhere between New Year's Day and Chinese New Year falls Football New Year. Last night was it. Happy Football New Year. (My only question after watching the Gators win last night is: is this when Tim Tebow goes to Disneyland, or does Disneyland come to Tim Tebow?)

Even after a long night of revelry, the AP is up early. Final standings here. I thought for sure Southern Cal would get more than one first-place vote, but there you have it. With the standings final, this gives us a chance to update the Pick Six and crown our winner. Congratulations to Beekfather, who didn't have Florida, and didn't have Utah, but who nevertheless strode past voidoid into first place on the backs of Virginia Tech (up to #15) and TCU (#7) and their strong bowl appearances. Nice work.

Finally, I'm not usually given to chit-chatty blandishments, but...is it me, or did this season just fly by?

Oliver Out | by Pat

We're still working up to covering the events of the past two weeks. But while we do that, how about some more current events. Eric Hansen is reporting that defensive line coach Jappy Oliver is out.

SOUTH BEND — The changes Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis promised in vague terms after a 7-6 season have begun to take shape.

Defensive line coach Jappy Oliver was fired Thursday after four seasons under Weis, two sources close to the team have confirmed.

Along with the Mike Haywood to Miami news we haven't really covered yet, this will give ND two assistant coach openings. Much more to come on this soon.

update:

It seems ND put out an official statement and the SBT followed their lead, changing "fired" to "resigned".

Defensive line coach Jappy Oliver is out after four seasons under Weis, Notre Dame football spokesman Brian Hardin confirmed Thursday. Hardin said Oliver “resigned to pursue other career opportunities.”

The end result is the same, but it puts a softer spin on the separation. No word yet on possible replacements.

Holiday Hangover | by Jay

Pardon our sluggishness; we're still shaking out the cobwebs from end-of-the-year festivities. There's plenty to get to: Hawaii bowl tidbits, some BCS musings, an assistant out the door, one player gone, and a new one committed. And maybe a season review (or two).

In the meantime, something to tide you over: there was a bit in the NYT about our new recruits at the Army Bowl, including this choice quote from OL commit Chris Watt:

Weis has promised changes, but he did not elaborate on them, Watt said. "He’s trying to get the program back on two feet again..."

Hawaii Bowl Photo Galleries | by Pat

Here are a collection of photos from the fun bowl win on Wednesday. If you notice other photo galleries, add a link in the comment section.

Right now, there are game day photos found at UND.com and the Honolulu Advertiser (plus pre-game and fan photos).

The picture of the game has to be Golden Tate hauling in yet another deep pass en route to his 177 yard, 3 TD day. NDnation poster The Irish Cardinal has a report from the game that ties into the runner-up photo.

After the game, some fan in a "Rudy" costume ran his way out on the field; he was quickly pulled off by police. His "helmet", a gold-painted cardboard box, was used by some of the players in their pics.

Here's a picture of that homemade helmet, courtesy of Asaph Schwapp.

And if you're looking to extend the luau with some game highlights, ESPN has you covered.

Merry Christmas | by Jay

Go Irish!

Take the Irish Bowling | by Jay

Four years ago, in the dawning days of this blog, I wrote a bit called "Insightless" about how going to the Insight.com bowl was a bad idea: Willingham had just been fired, the rest of coaching staff were lame ducks (and even traitors, in the case of Greg Mattison), we were playing a tough team we didn't really match up with, the cost of the trip was exhorbitant, and so on. Charlie had already been hired, and this bowl game felt like one final, frustrating delay before the massive house cleaning that was going to get the Irish back on the winning track. Good Lord, just get it over with already. Get this lame duck bowl game done, sweep away the old staff, and let's start fresh.

This year, there are plenty of legitimate complaints about playing in the Hawaii Bowl. For starters, some folks say that a .500 Irish team should never go to a bowl game, and I hear where those people are coming from -- there's something to be said for maintaining that stubborn Irish tradition of self-dignity. And while I'm less chagrined than some of my colleagues about this year's tropical destination, or the appearance that this is some sort of "reward" for a lackluster season, there's no getting around the fact that playing on Christmas Eve simply sucks. Of all the time slots in the bloated bowl season, it's unquestionably the worst.

I think this year's circumstances are quite different than in 2004, however, and that's why I'm glad we're going bowling, regardless of the where and when. Four years ago we should have turned down that Insight Bowl (just like we did in 1996, during another coaching transition), as it just delayed the inevitable, but this year, the trajectory is entirely different. While the 2008 season was an overall disappointment, we can all see that this is a young team still trying to find itself, a young team that's still on the rise. Expectations for next year are going to be very high, and rightly so: all that budding talent is just popping up through the topsoil. They need more practice, more reps, more live fire, and another chance to prove themselves. A bowl game is just the thing.

If you watched any of the captains' interviews this week over on UND.com, you know that the motivation for the senior class "band of brothers" is to put an end to the bowl losing streak and exact some revenge for being tagged "the worst recruiting class in ND history." (Like Paul mentioned to me, I'm sorry, but after watching the Grimes-Crum-Bruton press conference, all my opposition to the Hawai'i Bowl as a destination, Christmas Eve or not, vanished.) But for the rest of the team, for all the guys returning -- and that's most of them -- I think playing a bowl game is an important rung on the ladder towards continued improvement.

And just imagine if we actually won this thing. A bowl win would put a capper on the disappointment of 2008, and begin to set the stage for next year. An Irish bowl win would be a stocking stuffed with gifts, instead of a lump of coal. It'd be like George Bailey being visited by that Angel. It'd be Brian Boitano brokering a peace between Jesus and Santa Claus. It'd be the former Bishop of Turkey putting a present in your wooden shoe, instead of hitting you with a switch.

All in all, it'd be a bona fide Christmas (Eve) miracle.

A Closer Look at Hawaii | by Pat

Ok, let's take a look at this Hawaii team that will be facing off against Notre Dame in a little over 24 hours. Feel free to add any comments, corrections, or criticisms. Also, make sure to check out Tombo's work at UHFootball.blogspot.com. He does a great job covering Hawaii football.

First off, Hawaii's season to date:

L @ Florida (12-1)         10-56
W Weber State (10-4)       36-17
L @ Oregon State (8-4)     17-45
L San Jose State (6-6)     17-20
W @ Fresno State (7-6)     32-29
W Louisiana Tech (7-5)     24-14
L @ Boise State (12-0)      7-27
W Nevada (7-5)             38-31
L @ Utah State (3-9)       14-30
W @ New Mexico State (3-9) 42-30
W Idaho (2-10)             49-17
W Washington State (2-11)  24-10
L Cincinnati (11-2)        24-29

Now let's take a look at the positions.

Quarterback

Greg Alexander. RS Junior
2008 stats: 131 completions, 206 attempts, 1634 yards, 12 TDs, 4 INTs.

Greg Alexander started Hawaii's first game of the season against Florida but was benched during the game for his rocky start. He rode the pine the next few games while Hawaii tried two different starting quarterbacks. Alexander returned to the field in a relief role against Nevada and wound up leading the team to a come from behind victory. Since that game he's been the starter and led Hawaii to a 4-2 record after a 3-4 start. In the last six games, Alexander has been completing nearly 65% of his passes and has a stellar 12-2 TD/INT ratio. Depth: Redshirt junior Inoke Funaki took over the starting job from Alexander early in the season but wasn't terribly effective with a poor 6/12 TD/INT ratio. Five of those interceptions came against Boise State, which led to Funaki losing his starting job. Still, Funaki provides some experienced depth off the bench if Hawaii needs him. Tyler Graunke also started a game this season, but is firmly the third QB at this point.

Running Back

Kealoha Pilares. Sophomore.
2008 stats: 54 attempts, 281 yards, 5 TDs.

Sophomore Kealoha Pilares missed the last two games due to injury, but is expected to return to the starting lineup against Notre Dame. Hawaii's running game is ranked 108th in the nation, but Pilares averages an impressive 5.2 yards per carry. He has also spent some time working out of the slot where he has 26 receptions for 230 yards and 2 TDs. Still, his sprained right foot has been giving him a bit of trouble at recent practices so it will be interesting to see how effective he can be during the game. Depth: Senior Daniel Libre actually led the team in rushing with 431 yards on 98 attempts. He also leads the team in rushing TDs with six. If Pilares's foot starts to affect his performance, look for Libre to get the bulk of the carries in the game. 5th year senior David Farmer started three games this season and as the team's best blocking running back will see even more time if the ND defense is getting early pressure on QB Greg Alexander.

Wide Receiver

Greg Salas. RS Sophomore.
2008 stats: 50 receptions, 755 yards, 3 TDs.
Michael Washington. Senior.
2008 stats: 56 receptions, 693 yards, 5 TDs.
Malcolm Lane. Junior.
2008 stats: 31 receptions, 584 yards, 6 TDs.
Aaron Bain. Senior.
2008 stats: 44 receptions, 448 yards, 4 TDs.

Although not as prolific as last year's passing attack, Hawaii still boasts the nation's #33 passing offense. Spreading out the field with four receivers on most downs, Hawaii has a quartet with over 30 receptions this season. Michael Washington leads the team in receptions and for his efforts this season was recently named 2nd Team All-WAC. At 5'8" 170, he's also the smallest of the main Hawaii receivers. The deep threat is Malcolm Lane, who boasts an impressive 18.84 yards per catch. He also leads the team in receiving touchdowns with six. When Hawaii decides to test ND deep, Lane will be the likely target. He's also 12th in the nation in kickoff return yards with a 27.8 yard per kick return average. Another quick receiver, Greg Salas led the team in receiving yards, but was fourth in receiving TDs. He's also the team's biggest starting receiver at 6'2" 200 pounds. Rounding out the starting receivers is junior Aaron Bain. He's been getting Greg Alexander's attention as of late as he has led the team in receptions over the past four games. Depth: Redshirt junior Jon Medeiros provides a bit more depth off the bench. He only has nine receptions on the season, but caught two of them, one good for a touchdown, in the final regular season game against Cincinnati.

Tight End

Hawaii doesn't list a tight end on their roster, preferring to use multiple receivers instead.

Offensive Line

LT - Aaron Kia. RS Junior.
LG - Keith AhSoon. RS Senior.
C - John Estes. RS Junior.
RG - Lafu Tuioti-Mariner. RS Senior.
RT - Keoni Steinhoff. RS Senior.

John Estes is a solid presence in an otherwise leaky offensive line. Estes was named 1st Team All-WAC for the second straight season and has started 40 games in his college career. However, as a whole the Hawaii line has allowed an NCAA leading 49 sacks on the season. In the past two games alone, Hawaii has allowed 10 sacks. Part of the reason for the high sack numbers has been the injuries that have forced some shuffling along the line all season long. Estes and the right side of the line have started every game this season, but the left side has seen some changes. Keith AhSoon, who started at left tackle last seaosn, missed six weeks before returning to the starting lineup at left guard. Aaron Kia didn't begin the year as a starter, but came on as an injury replacement and has started the last 10 games. Depth: Laupepa Letuli started the season as the team's left tackle but was lost to injury. He's able to play now and provides depth off the bench at both tackle and guard.

Defensive Line

DE - David Veikune. RS Senior.
2008 stats: 71 tackles, 16.0 TFL, 9.0 sacks, 4 FF.
DT - Keala Watson. RS Sophomore.
2008 stats: 28 tackles, 6.0 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 2 blocked kicks.
DT - Joshua Leonard. Senior.
2008 stats: 36 tackles, 8.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 1 FR.
DE - John Fonoti. RS Junior.
2008 stats: 55 tackles, 7.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 3 FR.

In addition to being named 2nd Team All-WAC, defensive end David Veikune led the Hawaii defense in sacks and tackles for loss. He's also been on a roll lately as all nine of his sacks have come in the past six games after failing to get a single sack in the first seven games. Likewise, 11 of his 15 TFL have come in the second half of the season. 6'2" 300 pound defensive tackle Keala Watson joined Veikune on the 2nd Team All-WAC honor roll and teams with 6'3" 305 pound Joshua Leonard to give Hawaii plenty of size along the interior of the defensive line. 6'2" 255 pound John Fonoti is listed on the roster as a linebacker, but has started at defensive end all season long. He's second on the team in sacks for a defense that is currently ranked 11th in the nation in total sacks.

Linebacker

WLB - Adam Leonard. Senior.
2008 stats: 81 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 2.0 sacks.
MLB - Solomon Elimimian. Senior.
2008 stats: 112 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 1 FR, 1 FF.
SLB - Brashton Satele. RS Junior.
2008 stats: 50 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 INT, 1 FF.

Hawaii uses slighly different nomenclature for their linebacker corp. For the Warriors, Adam Leonard is the Stub linebacker while Brashton Satele is the Buck 'backer. Soloman Elimimian is the lightest of the three starting linebackers at a listed 225 pounds, which is somewhat unusual considering he is the middle linebacker. But he been more that effective at that spot. For the second straight year he has led the team in tackles and the senior with 48 career starts under his belt was also recently named Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the WAC. Adam Leonard received 1st team All-WAC honors as well after finishing the regular season as Hawaii's second leading tackler. Satele moved around a bit during the season, finally emerging as the starting Buck linebacker three games ago. He's the team's biggest starting linebacker at 6'1" 255 pounds, which will definitely help Hawaii's rush defense. Depth: R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane started three games during the year, but was far below the other starters on defense as he finished the regular season with 22 tackles, good for 14th on the team.

Defensive Back

CB - Jameel Dowling. RS Senior.
2008 stats: 66 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 INT, 1 FR.
FS - Ryan Mouton. Senior.
2008 stats: 36 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 INT, 1 FR. 2 FF.
SS - Keao Monteilh. RS Senior.
2008 stats: 41 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.0 sacks, 5 INTs.
CB - Calvin Roberts. RS Senior.
2008 stats: 55 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 0.0 sacks, 1 INT, 1 FR.

One of the best athletes on the team, free safety Ryan Mouton was the third Hawaii defender named 1st Team All-WAC. Normally a safety, Mouton moves to the nickel back spot when Hawaii brings on an extra defensive back. Highlighting his importance to the team, Mouton also started 2 games at receiver, catching 8 passes for 71 yards. While Mouton led the team in passes broken up, his fellow safety Keao Monteilh led the team in interceptions with five. At cornerback, Jameel Dowling was 4th on the team in tackles, which usually means he was the corner that opposing teams picked on the most. Calvin Roberts was right next to Dowling as the team's fifth leading tackler so teams weren't exactly scared to throw his way either. Depth: 5th year senior Erik Robinson started most of the season at strong safety before getting injured. He is back now and will rotate in with Monteilh. When Hawaii goes to a nickel, Robinson usually will come in as the extra defensive back. 5th year senior Desmond Thomas started when Ryan Mouton missed time with an ankle injury and will see some snaps if Mouton needs a break.

Hawaii Game Analysis

The thing that jumps out at me after writing this is just how old the Hawaii team is. Of the 22 starters, only 1 (running back Pilares) isn't at least a junior. 18 of the 22 starters are at least seniors if you go by when they graduated high school. There are no true freshmen on the entire 2-deep. Contrast that with 8 freshmen on ND's 2-deep, 5 of which have started a game.

Hawaii's team is full of junior college transfers and transfers from other colleges, which explains why there are so many college veterans on the team. However, that experience hasn't translated into discipline as Hawaii leads the nation in penalties and is only second to TCU in penalties per game. It's hard to say if the penalties are more of the personal foul or false start variety, but Hawaii lately has had a reputation of hitting through the echo of the whistle. A lot of electronic ink has been used writing about ND's passion and willingness to fight back this season. How they handle an (overly) aggressive Hawaii team from the start will give us an early clue as to how the game might unfold.

I mentioned a few times how the second half improvement was noticeable in a few players like QB Greg Alexander and DE David Veikune. They certainly have stepped up their production, but it's only fair to point out that their competition over those games was hardly impressive. The first 7 opponents that Hawaii faced went a collective 62-26 on the season while the last 6 only went 28-46, including 4 teams that won 3 or fewer games. How much of that late season improvement was due to Hawaii improving and how much was due to the much lower level of competition?

Looking at the talent levels, ND has the edge at just about every position. But what has made this season so maddening is that despite the edge in talent, Notre Dame has still struggled and looked awful at times. Getting Micheal Floyd and Brian Smith back from injury will definitely help as they not only are two of the more talented players on their side of the ball, but also the two likely to fire up teammates through their play. It's easy to relax when the days leading up to the game are filled with beach parties and trips to water parks. If ND can focus and not treat thet entire bowl game trip like a vacation, ND should win, perhaps even easily. But nothing has come easy this season. Assuming ND starts out slow, they will need to avoid the 4th quarter collapses that have plagued them the latter half of the season. Both teams have been rather generous to their opponents with turnovers (ND is 85th in turnover margin, Hawaii is 90th), so it's very likely that the game could come down to which team is able to hold on the ball more. Much has been made about Hawaii's nation worst sack numbers, so if the Irish defense are ever going to have that breakout sack-filled game we've all been waiting for, now's as good a time as any.

Stocking Stuffer | by Jay

What says Christmas more than June Jones and Bob Davie breaking down the Hawaii run-and-shoot offense?



If you're questioning the appropriateness of the Bullet in any conversation about effective offense, you should know that Bob Davie -- yes, that Bob Davie -- is partially credited with helping to kill the run-and-shoot as a widespread phenomenon. This post at Smart Football (one of the best Xs and Os blogs out there) delineates the rise and eventual fall of the 4-wide choice route offense.

It becomes a study in game theory and reading and reacting. So defenses responded to this tactic. They had to keep at least one safety or another defender back to spy the RB. Why does this mean no blitzing? If the RB is able to block the end man on the line of scrimmage while another player must sit back and not blitz, simply to see whether or not the RB releases on a screen. The net result was that R&S teams rarely, if ever, saw Cover 0 blitzing man defenses. They could always release four receivers, block with six (assuming their six could block the other teams' six) and not face any overload blitzes.

Enter the zone blitz. Back in his days with Texas A&M, Bob Davie was an innovator. Against run and shoot teams like the University of Houston, he would run his 3-4 defense, blitz his outside LBs (thus forcing the RB to stay in and block), and drop off defensive linemen and interior linebackers so he could still play zone with six to eight defenders. As a result the R&S's protection and formation scheme broke down. They blocked with six, had the running back on a bad matchup with a good OLB, faced an unblocked rusher, but the defense still had 6-8 guys in coverage, so the R&S's "hot reads" and breakoffs did not work either. The run and shoot finally had to adapt. Sure they could do things like certain quick breakoffs and other gadgets, but free rushers and seven guys in coverage was a losing battle for the QB.

So it was not merely "disguising coverages," (as Run and Shoot QBs and receivers were well coached and could still find the voids or the single man), or the blitzing (as shown above, Run and Shoot teams could defeat the blitz), it was the defensive combination of always being able to always get an unblocked rusher, eat the RB, and run a disguised zone that eventually rattled and slowed down the "pure" Run and Shoot.

I like our matchups on defense in this game, both from a personnel standpoint (a pretty solid defensive backfield) and scheme-wise (plenty of experience in zone blitzing).