A Warrior Returns...

After a hiatus, to get married, travel, watch Notre Dame both fall and then begin to rise again, I have returned.

Bedraggled, forlorn, wrapped in sweaty wet armor, the Irish Legion made it through the season and sees the lights of home. Signing day is just around the corner and pretty soon, we can all take a deep breath until the spring game.

Before we ride of into the extra large sunny sunset, I have an opinion on recruiting.

Recruiting sucks.

It is what it is. No more, and no less. Grown men cry over where a 17-18 kid chooses to play college football. They take personal affront when a recruit spurns their beloved home team to go play elsewhere. How dare they indeed.

The reality is that one recruit rarely, if ever, decides the course of a program. You will always have "the great ones", your Newtons, Tebows, Bushes, and on and on and on. But more often than that you'll just have a bunch of good players, getting the job done. If you don't get that five star defensive lineman you have been dreaming about at night I have two things to say.

1.) Doesn't anyone else find it a bit weird to be dreaming about a kid anyway....

2.) Your program will be just fine come kick-off

They might not have as good as a pass rush, or maybe someone surprises but when its all said and done, if you don't have the right coaches and a solid team, no "great one" can carry everyone.

Imagine if Tebow didn't play a Florida but rather played at, say Vanderbilt, or Wake Forest? Chances are he doesn't win two NC's and a Heisman. He would still be a good player, but give Percy Harvin some credit here.

For Notre Dame, the infatuation with stars, rankings, ratings, and Aaron Lynch is borderline insanity.

News Flash: Aaron Lynch is a great player, but there is a "great player" every year. There will be another great defensive linemen to be had next season as well. Give the kid a break, its a tough choice and a big decision.

Certainly, to Notre Dame fans we are sure in the education and tutoring he will receive and be part of a 99% graduating rate which is FAR superior to Florida State's. But to kids these days, they see a degree as a degree, alumni networks be darned.

For the record Aaron, you have the ability to play any defensive end position in any scheme, don't let Florida State keep lying to you saying that it is speed versus power and your more of a speed player. It is the fact that your the combination of speed AND power that will allow you to be a good defensive end in any scheme. Lots of players are fast and fail, many players are powerful and also fail. Ethan Johnson is going to put up some really nice numbers next season and he is more of a first step then power guy, like Mr. Lynch. But, without a doubt Florida State is selling him that in the 3-4 he wouldn't get sacks, would just be asked to set the edge and not rush the passer, etc etc. That in the 4-3 he could be a monster getting after the passer and putting up huge sack numbers, etc etc.

Bologna. But its to be expected. Kids like to see themselves a certain way and Lynch isn't sure if he could really do what everyone thinks he could do in the 3-4. Misinformation wins again.

So he wants to party, be the big star in town, have nice weather, then he should (and likely will) go to Florida State. He could be the next Justin Tuck at Notre Dame, but at Florida State, he becomes nothing more than a 4* toy just like all the other toys Florida State has in their chest. There are a long list of good to great linemen who played at Florida State in the 90s. Some have had great careers, some have went pro. But when it comes down to it, he will be just one of a long line.

But he's probably ok with that. He's a good kid according to people who talk to him regularly, who actually KNOW him. I wish him well in his decision, I would love to see him bookend the other side with Tuitt, but as soon as I hit "Publish Post", I'm going to sleep.

Kelly has managed to get the team playing at a high level. Notre Dame ended on a good note, something that hasn't happened for a long time. Lots of talent coming in, and lots of talent still there. I have no worries. People still sit around and wonder "What if Justin Tuck had come back for the 2005 season?"

I walk away from those people. Looking to the future and living in the now is all that really matters, so who cares about the rest? Whats past is past and after signing day, this all becomes the past. I barely care now, I will care even less then.

But for now, in closing. Go Irish, a Legionnaire has returned.

Burn It Down

As seen on Sergio Brown's Facebook. In case you can't read the words, it says "Settin This Stage on Fire"

The Legion- Unvanquished

Just in case any of those fleeting people who stumbled across this humble attempt at a budding blog and saw that I haven't posted for a while and moaned that another blog was started and left to die....worry not my child.

The Legion Remains Unvanquished, simply overwhelmed at the pressures of work, finals, and planning a wedding. Those three combined have been more than enough to keep me busy enough to lose sleep. But fear not, another well adjusted and impeccibly precise post is in the works for the next few days so stay tuned. Seriously, you didn't miss much if I was by some weird and alien reason your only news source for Notre Dame information. But in case you just HAVE to know all the little nitty gritty nothings that Coach Weis and staff have been whispering into the ears of recruits, sit tight, and we'll get around to it. Until then I sign off.

Blantonize Me Baby!

Robert Blanton, Darrin Walls, Reashon McNeil, Gary Gray, and Jamoris Slaughter all have something they want to say to the receivers they will face next season....good luck catching the ball.

I'm all in. I've even wagered my dog on this most recent bet. I have all my chips on Notre Dame's secondary this season. That said, I feel like I have pretty good cause to believe that this is as talented a group as has been at ND for a long time.

Notre Dame returns all but one DB/CB starter, Terrail Lambert, for the 2009 season. As I write this I am smiling. Last season Notre Dame started out slow, the dink-and-dunk games of Notre Dame's first few really hurt their raw pass defense numbers and led to a fairly low pass defensive rating. This steady inclined until it was all the way to the 22nd pass defense in the country, just before USC. After, it was given the rating of 30th best in the country. That's pretty respectable, not true BCS top ten last season, but respectable. That's all good and well, it really means nothing on the surface, but lets look at some other numbers , shall we? USC had the number 1 rated pass defense, ( go figure right), that allowed roughly 122 yards per game. Notre Dame allowed roughly 184. Thats a 62 yard per game difference. Thats a big number, however, don't be discouraged.
Notre Dame at the end of the regular season after the USC game had a pass efficiency defense rating of 18th in the nation. Thats right, you read that number right, 18th in the nation. Pass efficiency is argued by some to be a much better determiner of a secondary's strength because it takes more into account. Pass efficiency defense takes not only their yardage, but pass completion percentages, both INT total and percentage of INTs thrown, TD total and rate, yards per attempt and yards per completion into account to then give an overall rating. So while several teams, USC, in particular, were able to throw on Notre Dame with some success, when everything else is figured in, Notre Dame's secondary is sitting pretty.
Notre Dame lost David Bruton to the NFL Draft, which is a blow as he was the leader of interceptions made. However, the rest of the crew was right behind him here is how the stats crumbled:

Name	Interceptions	Yardage	TD
Bruton,David	4	57	0
McCarthy,Kyle	2	18
Blanton,Robert	2	47	1
Gray,Gary	2	65	0
McNeil,Raeshon	2	47	0
Neal,Kerry	1	2	0
Kuntz,Patrick	1	0	0
Team Totals	14	236	1

The good news? Well I've already told you that. Blanton comes back and has gotten faster and more confident in learning the defense. In the spring game he made a perfect read and returned one for a TD. Raeshon really started to shine in the Pittsburgh game when he had two picks and played solid the rest of the season having an absurd 11 passes defended and 28 solo tackles.
Gary Gray showed his skills as he picked off two, and was a solid tackler throughout the season having 15 solo tackles. Darrin Walls is back who had a break out season in 2007 with 32 tackles and and INT returned for a touchdown against Penn State. Walls missed last season due to personal reasons but has returned possibly in better shape than he left and has already made his way into the starting rotation. Jamoris Slaughter has yet to play at Notre Dame, but from the coverage skills he showed during the spring and the spring game, fans will surely see him on the field this season.

No one knows what the starting rotation will be, there is just to much talent, but it is going to be great to watch. Throw in Harrison Smith back a FS and he will make his share of interceptions this season as well. Kyle McCarthy will have to fight with a ton of talent to make picks, but he will surely get his tackles.

So to wrap up, a total pass efficiency defense ranked at 18. Not bad, I think that is something Notre Dame can build on. Corwin Brown has brought something special to ND. Look for teams to run often on Notre Dame because their throws will be few and the completions fewer.

Ready, Set, Wrap!

.....And Were Done Here.....Almost.....

This is the last bit on the Blue Gold Game last weekend. I already have the stats below so if you want those, get your wrist and finger some exercise and scroll down.

Up until late Sunday you could watch the entire Blue Gold Game at http://www.und.com/ If you go there now however, you'll only get the highlights. Why you ask? Its rather simple actually, Notre Dame most likely didn't want teams to be able to download that and use it for film breakdown. Notre Dame did run 59 running plays and they might want to use some of those again, like say against Nevada. So to ensure that their secrets were not stolen the video have been removed, unfortunately. I would head over to youtube though as there are a few clips that come from a full vid that has yet to make its way on the tube yet.

So, lets address something that you all really want to know about.

The Run Game:
Some people are not convinced that Notre Dame's run game will be improved by what they saw on Saturday. Those people are the blind who did not see anything at all. That said, critics cite a weak front 4, a suspect front 7 as the major factors in the Irish back's ability to run in the Blue Gold Game. I say, nay nay.

Those people missed obvious signs of things that were happening in the game that have not happened on Notre Dame soil for two years-if not more. Here is the short list.

On The Line:

1. The lineman didn't stay at the line of scrimmage. I point this out because last season, Notre Dame's offensive linemen stay at the line, waiting for the defense to come to them as if they were a net going to catch them. That's great for pass coverage, but that spells doom for a run game as there is a wall of defenders waiting for the back, or heaven forbid, a defensive linemen who didn't get caught in the net and is getting first contact behind the line of scrimmage. This season it looked as if Verducci has Notre Dame actually firing off the line to get to the second level. If the back is right behind the lineman heading to the second level he can get blocks to spring him for great gains. If you look at the highlights, it always seems as if the ND line on run plays is down the field several yards, often still blocking when the backs go down. That's huge and will really show come kick off. Now if only the wide receivers will get the hand of blocking.





2. The leverage has improved. Sam Young is a perfect example of this. Last season when Jimmy hiked the ball, Sam would stand almost straight up and look for a defender. Said defender would fire off the line, go low, and end up standing Young straight up, then just go around him. This season against a defensive line who has focused on winning battles against the OL and attacking, almost exclusively, we saw much greater push and offensive linemen keeping defensive guys out of their grill so to speak.





3. Timing is better. Last season it seemed as if guys didn't know their own count-almost as if they were as surprised as the defensive line that the ball was hiked. This led to stalemates at the line of scrimmage as defensive linemen got off the ball as fast or faster than the OL and kept them from getting a push to open holes for the running backs.

On The Running Backs:

1. The backs look faster. Whether this due to health or excellent coaching and conditioning, I can't tell you. However, I suspect that it is D. All of the Above. When watching an unedited film on youtube I was shocked at how fast Armando Allen covered those 26 yards he ran. I had saw and broken down the full game previously available online, however, this view was from the sideline and man, I can tell you that the overhead angle doesn't do him justice.





2. Robert Hughes is a deceptively quick back for his size. He is still about 10-15 lbs shy of being Bettis sized, but he has similarly good feet for his size. He rarely goes down on the first contact as well, which is something you look for on short yards. He can still cover some ground pretty quick for a big guy. I look for Hughes to be very productive this season in the scoring department.





3. Jonas Gray is a whole 'nother ball game. He is shifty, but not as shifty as Allen, he is big, but not as big as Hughes (weight wise), and he runs like a little bit of both. Gray has a ton of potential as a back who can gain tough yards or take a hole and run. The good news? He didn't fumble, which seems to be a problem for him. If he gets rid of that one issue Jonas will see lots of PT this season.





4. James Aldridge didn't play, but I want to talk about him for a special reason. Allen is said to be the top back, but we don't know where Aldridge falls. Don't count him out at all for one reason. Weis said that he would start at FB in the Nevada game, but in that game he could see more action at tail back than at full back. That tells me that either Aldridge has a package built around him that Weis thinks will be effective against Nevada, or, Aldridge has had a really good spring and is competing for solid PT at tailback. Some people scoff at the notion of Aldridge coming in over any of the previously listed backs, but remember, Aldridge had the big rating, the big numbers, and the out of sight potential. Injuries have been his bane however. This spring though, in the one scrimmage open to public, Aldridge was the hardest running back on the field and the one who gained lots of meaningful yards.

So basically, yes the run game is improved. You can tell for another reason as well. In that early scrimmage, the Notre Dame offense couldn't run all that well, they did ok, but not really good. So those who say that it was against a weak front, it was the same front that kept the offensive run game at bay before. Fast forward and Notre Dame ran all over itself. Even missing a few key DL players, they would not have kept ND backed up that much more and the offensive linemen who sat out where ones who were supposed to contribute heavily to Notre Dame this season.

Defensive Coverage:

I wanted to take a minute and just mention the secondary of Notre Dame. In case you haven't noticed, this group of kids are very very good. Some say the best unit in over 20 years. I know several individuals have been since then, but as a whole I am inclined to agree. Blanton had Floyd covered like a second jersey on more than a few passes, and that as Notre Dame fans have seen is no easy feat. Then Jamoris Slaughter and Darrin Walls were all over Golden Tate and Walker, and Goodman. The passing game was abysmal partially because there was no where to throw the ball too. Remember that stat thrown out during the Hawaii game? In the first half of the season, teams killed Notre Dame with those short dump off passes. However, in the second half of the season, Co-Coordinators Tenuta and Brown moved the corners up tighter to the wide receivers. The result? In the second half of the season Notre Dame was something in like the top 5 in defense against the pass. Thats with the USC, 'Cuse, Pitt games all factored in. That's impressive to me that ND had the talent to do that last season. Darrin Walls was out then, and Blanton was playing as a starter, and Jamoris Slaughter wasn't seeing PT at all. Now walls IS back, Gary Gray is coming back who had a stellar season last season, as well as Raeshon McNeil who is a very solid corner, Slaughter and Blanton will both either compete for starts, or serious PT. That is some serious talent stacked up there. Not to mention Harrison Smith at Free Safety has proven to be a huge success as well as McCarthy at Strong Safety who is one of the teams leading tacklers, one of the hardest hitters, and is good at not being fooled by the offense. All in all, this should be a very fun secondary to watch and will end up being one of the best in the nation by part way through the season. If the defensive line is just slightly better than average, Notre Dame will have a pretty tough defense on the field this season. Who will blitz 80% of the time and if Saturday was any indication, get pressure on the quarterbacks, often. Expect Ethan Johnson to be called alot in every game.

All in all, I think Notre Dame is setting itself up for a good season. Weis acknowledge that there is a long way to go yet and they have several things they can improve on. Something to think about though. They improved as much as they did in 15 spring practices. In the first week of two a days, they will have more practices in. There is plenty of time to improve with great strides in several areas and I look forward to seeing what the coaches can do with the time.

Golden Dome Magic Recruiting Pt. 2

Aaaaaaaaand, we're back. Or rather, I'm back. Anyway lets wrap this weekend up and get rolling with the future. Lots of interesting things to look forward too even though this is historically the most boring part of the "off season". Not this season though. Stay tuned to find out why!!! Ok, so that wasn't exactly a great cliffhanger- but work with me here.

Men, to the recruits!!

Lets finish up the defensive side first:

Two defensive players remain that made visits over the last week or made it to the Blue Gold Game on Saturday.

One is Khairi Fortt, a 4* linebacker prospect from Stamford Connecticut. Is he a stud you ask? Yes, he had 118 tackles and two interceptions, one was ran back for a TD. This is what Notre Dame needs most from its linebacker core, more tackles from them and less from their safeties. Fortt can do this and he absolutely loved that Tenuta told him that ND was going to be blitzing 80% of the time. Fortt wants in on that. Time will tell if Florida, or Ohio State can take top honors before it's all said and done, but for now Notre Dame has made a really good impression.






The last, and surely not the least is Dakota Royer Outside Linebacker from Manheim Pa. At 6'3 220lbs and room to grow he could possibly grow into a DE, however if he retains that size he will be as productive in the backfield in college as he is in high school. His production numbers are sick. At OLB he had 86 tackles last season, why so sick you ask? They seem like barely above average right? Wrong. 32 of those bad boys behind the line of scrimmage. That's right. 32. He also nabbed 13 sacks, four pass deflections, and four blocked punts. You say, "so he can run ahead pretty good and be physical and make big hits, is he athletic enough to play OLD at the college level, is he fast enough?" Your answer is yes. Royer also played on the offensive side of the ball as a slot receiver and caught 56 passes for 1,099 yards and 7 touchdowns. In short. This kid is a monster you want on your side. Does anyone else hear Tenuta drooling with the possibility of having Royer join the fold with the already staggering talent that Notre Dame is recruiting?

On to the Offense!

We didn't talk about 5 offensive guys last time around. 2 Quarter Backs, 1 Offensive Tackle, and 1 receiver/safety recruit. Lets do the QBs first.


Possibly the most intriguing scenario in Notre Dame recruiting in recent memory is the one Nick Montana is currently in. Yep, the "other" son of Joe Montana. And you know, nothing would make Daddy happier than being able to watch both of his sons throw towards Touchdown Jesus on home games. Aye, but there's the rub. It may not happen. Nick is out looking around and with good reason. Notre Dame fans are often unrealistic and will undoubtedly look for Nick to be the second coming of Joe- The Comeback Kid. So the question is, does he go to somewhere like Ohio State who would take him in a heart beat and after this Pryor Project wraps up start him like a Ferrari, or does he care about the pressure or relish it and go to Notre Dame? He has been several times (obviously) unofficially, usually with Joe. This time was the first time as a true recruit. He is definitely a skilled QB and has showed some interest, but he isn't letting his hand show other than to say Notre Dame is a possibility. No shoot Sherlock.


The next quarterback is Luke Massa, one of the top quarter back prospects from Ohio. He doesn't have a ton of big time offers, yet, but this is to be expected at this part of the game. He isn't one of the big names that people are throwing around, such as Heaps, etc, but he has a solid game and the Irish offered him because they thought they really wanted him on the roster. He can make throws, is accurate, and has that "something" of a leader. Notre Dame has also offered his team mate Matt James a 4* Ot prospect.




Another offensive prospect that is also intriguing, but for different reasons, is Cory Cooper. He showed his stuff at a Notre Dame camp and literally wowed them. I image that after you watch Floyd and Golden and the rest of the talent work out, if your "wowed" by a kid he has got some ball skills. He is a 4* prospect at wide receiver, where Notre Dame is recruiting him, however he could also play safety and this is where most other schools like him. Notre Dame wants him at WR but if it came down it to, his talent could be used at Safety. Either way ND used the weekend to wow the recruit and as such Notre Dame has moved up to be tied with Illinios for first. Cooper is currently a soft verbal to the Fighting Illini. That's great news as Notre Dame could always use more quality wide receivers.

As I mention before, Notre Dame has also offered Matt James, Luke Massa's teammate. Matt James is a stud 4* Offensive Tackle. Notre Dame really needs to land a few quality OTs in this recruiting class to shore up what could be a thinning out of the position in the next few years. This kids size would be a great asset to shore up Notre Dame. He stands 6'7 and weighs in at 285. That's big, and he is still lean with room to grow. That's even better news. Notre Dame would love to add this kid as he has serious skills on the field and has been offered by schools like Ohio State, Florida, Stanford, Tennessee, and Cincinnati. Notre Dame has done a great job and James has said that Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Cincy lead for his services. He won't decide until he feels ready, most likely around the beginning of his senior season.


Our last recruit has no real flashy stats, except for his size that is. James Stone is a big man at 6'5 295 and still growing. At offensive tackle he is a stud and a dominant force of the field at keeping great defensive linemen from the quarter back. Notre Dame needs this dominance to anchor the offensive line for the Irish and protect their future QB. He is from Nashville, Tenn, and has already made friendships with Golden Tate and Alex Bullard , both also from Tennessee. This bodes well as he has said that Notre Dame will be in it to the end. Notre Dame needs to keep recruiting these big athletic guys to keep the talent level high and deep on the offensive line.

Golden Dome Magic Recruiting Pt. 1

In this write up I want to give out my thoughts on the Blue Gold Game both in terms of play of the team as a whole, and of course, how that game may have impacted the future of Notre Dame Football. Also on a side note about 31,000 fans showed up to the Blue Gold Game. Thats more than Stanford gets in 2-3 actually games-combined I think.

Lets do recruiting first. Of the list below of all the recruits that attended had only glowing remarks about Notre Dame and the weekend firmly placed Notre Dame in at least the top 3 for every one of the recruits there. At least for the moment.

Spencer Boyd a standout corner back said he almost committed on the spot because the experience was so great, but he decided to wait and let it set. He wants to commit after the spring-which is a good sign for Notre Dame as that's not to far away and there will be fresh memories of a gorgeous Saturday across from Touchdown Jesus and the Golden Dome.







Also excited was Cody Riggs and as such he moved Notre Dame up to his favorite, a big jump considering he is being recruited by the likes of Florida, Florida State, Wake Forest, and many more. He did caution however that he hasn't made all of his visits and that a commitment wouldn't happen any time soon. However, you have to love the position that Notre Dame is in here as every experience for him here on out will have to top Saturday which will prove to be very difficult.





Of the three corner backs that visited, Boyd, Riggs, the last, Lo Wood, has also moved ND deep into his favorite territory. So deep they are tied for first with Michigan. That could be an interesting battle to the end, seeing as how Michigan desperately needs Wood's talent and he could surely almost play right away, but at Notre Dame, he may have to sit a year, or at least see limited PT his freshman year. Time will tell with Wood.






Justin McCay is a 5 star standout receiver who is sought by everyone at this point. He is ranked #3 the Top 100 and said he had a very "Tight" time. He said that Notre Dame would definitely make it into the finalist group of colleges when he did decide to commit. Again, that a plus, if ND can stay in the mix. It certainly didn't hurt that he sat directly behind Joe Monatana and had a discussion about football with him. He also called Tim Grunhard, ex Notre Dame star player, and allowed Joe Montana to use his cell phone to talk to him. That's alot of Notre Dame Alumni star power being thrown his way.



Kyle Prater is the #1 receiver prospect in the country. His cousin is Carlyle Holiday so there are some ties there. He is seriously considering Notre Dame as he has visited 3 times so far and said only good things. Notre Dame getting Prater would be an incredible grab for the Irish as the position is so deep as is, Prater is an amazing talent, some say better than any of the A.J. Green, Julio Jones, or Micheal Floyd group of almost two years ago. That's impressive to say the least. No promises that ND makes his top teams when he decides to start narrowing it down, but there is reason to have hope.

End part 1.........part 2 on its way.