Five Wide Fullbacks returns with thoughts on a top 5 recruiting class, a stock report on Notre Dame players this spring, rating the swag of Marcus Freeman, going back to church, and the big news about a historic streak ending for the Irish football schedule.
1) Marcus Freeman struck a chord with traditionalist by reportedly bringing back the pre-game Mass at the Basilica before the walk to the stadium. Is this a big deal?
No, not really.
Deep down, what fans care about more is the player walk itself, whether it comes from the Gug across the street or from the Basilica. If a coach wants to get rid of the walk (I don’t know why they would?) then I’d have a problem with it.
Preparation-wise I’d like being in the Gug as a coach or player. Although, it’s probably easy to concede that there isn’t a ton of preparing going on at that point in the day prior to home games. I can envision a lot of players messing around on their phones, for example.
The walk from the Basilica is 100% better coming from the interior of campus and starting near the Dome, though. That part of the player walk always felt kind of special and it will be nice to have it back.
2) Notre Dame recently announced FCS Tennessee State as a 2023 opponent thus ending the program’s decades-long streak of only playing FBS teams. Is this a sacrilegious misstep by the young Freeman and veteran Swarbrick? Or, a band-aid that needed to be ripped off?
I don’t like it, but I also don’t hate it.
The FCS streak was one of those things that Notre Dame fans get inundated with at a young age. For a lot of people it’s been a point of pride for the school, especially back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when many other programs across the nation were putting in massive work to dilute their schedules. However, it also makes me think of those days when it was sometimes the only thing Notre Dame fans could brag about, and that’s not a positive memory.
We also have to admit that no one outside of Notre Dame cares about this streak, and there are enough within the Irish fan base that couldn’t care less, either. Moreover, in the playoff era the bottom of everyone’s schedules matters not even a little bit so the strength concerns shouldn’t bother anyone. There are some who turn their nose up at strong Notre Dame schedules as actually weak, and it makes no sense placating that type of madness, either.
The Ohio State connection with Tennessee State head coach Eddie Georgie to Marcus Freeman makes sense but I do question, why now? Was this (scheduling a FCS team) something that’s been in the works for a while and Notre Dame was just waiting for the right opportunity to pull the trigger?
Initially, I was like many who were a little put off by Notre Dame almost hiding behind the HBCU nature of the matchup while sneaking in the FCS opponent through the back door. Now that I have time to think about it, I get it.
Just randomly scheduling Stony Brook on a random Tuesday in April would’ve been a truly bizarre way to end this streak. Now that the band-aid is ripped off, why not schedule a HBCU program every year? I’m presuming this opens the door to a FCS team most of the time in future schedules, so why not? The program is always looking to schedule cupcakes as the last slot(s) in the annual schedules and this would at least be a cool way of taking that off the plate for many years.
That might be something worth considering, especially if it comes with Notre Dame visiting some HBCU campuses. As cynical as someone may suggest this is watering down Notre Dame’s schedule it’s also a pretty good idea for recruiting to have a young black coach from Notre Dame leading a historic annual agreement with HBCU schools. I could get on board with that.
3) Marcus Freeman has been embracing the look of some heavier hoodies and tops during practices this spring. Rank the best of these looks:
First of all, I love how much green Freeman has been wearing. Hopefully that means good things are to come for gear both on and off the field.
The gray sweatshirt is my clear least favorite. The ND logo looks photoshopped on like you see in the Hammes catalog while the Under Armour logo in a small blue square looks really odd.
I would buy the green hoodie with “Irish” across the chest before the blue “Fighting Irish Football” hoodie, although the latter fits the practice field better. The green hoodie reminds me of the basketball program.
The green hoodie with the leprechaun inside the football is fantastic. It feels modern but has throwback vibes. It’s better than anything Homefield Apparel has released for Notre Dame.
That half-zip hoodie with the monogram inside the football, though?? I NEED IT.
4) If Notre Dame ends up gaining the commitment from quarterback Dante Moore, can we finally start talking about signing a top 5 class after so many false starts through the years?
It would definitely be within reach. I haven’t been paying super close attention (it may be time for a new scholarship update article!) but I get the sense in Freeman’s first full cycle they aren’t going to get too concerned about the numbers game. So, I doubt this will be a class that falls out of the top 5 primarily because there are only 18 recruits in the end.
There are 9 players in the class so far and the Irish haven’t started their traditional stronghold of adding blue-chip offensive linemen yet. Thus far, there are no 3-stars in the class which is fun. I think they can add a couple more players around that low 4-star or high 3-star area and still come through with a top 5 class.
This time around, the early signing period will probably help Notre Dame. Even if we see a 8-4/9-3 type of season on the field so many of these recruits are dialed into enrolling early that one “bad” season isn’t likely to affect things too much when juxtaposed with the hype and positive energy of a new coaching staff.
We’ll see, I’m cautiously optimistic. But every Notre Dame staff at some point will deal with difficult decisions and feel like they may have to “settle” on someone later in the summer or into the fall just to meet the numbers. Especially in the defensive backfield.
5) Although there’s been little information coming out of spring practice, who are your best and worst stock reports for Notre Dame players? Can you pick a veteran and underclassman for each?
For the stock up younger player I’ll go with safety Ramon Henderson who seems like he’s moving into position to be a 1st-string defender. Granted, it seems like there’s still a decent amount of rotation at the entire position. However, Henderson’s frame and skillset taking another step in 2022 could be big news and I’m here for it.
For the stock down younger player I’ll pick receiver Deion Colzie. He suffered a concussion earlier this spring and whether it’s been a slow return coming back from that injury, or other issues, this hasn’t been a spring where he’s evidently improved to the point where expectations are growing for a strong season in the fall.
Looking towards the older players you have to love the praise being heaped upon corner Tariq Bracy. He’s potentially a massive piece to the puzzle this season and someone who has the type of game to save the day if the Irish were to pull a win out in Columbus.
My stock down for an older player is safety Houston Griffith. The recent estimates have him sitting either 4th or 5th in the safety pecking order. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t understand from his perspective why he returned to Notre Dame for 2022.
I was neutral in the FCS addition until discovering that a certain dark corner of the ND internet was losing its mind over this change; now I love it and extremely entertained.
I do get why some people might not like it, but at the end of the day, it just really isn’t a big deal. Nobody is going to look at ND’s schedule and move them in or out of the playoff based on whether we played an FCS school or UMASS. In the end, it’s going to come down to the OSU/USC/Clemson games in 2023, just like it would have before this announcement.
(And if we were going to do it, I’m glad we went with an HBCU. The ND basketball game at Howard in the middle of the ACC season this year was a huge success, and I hope this will end up as a similarly positive event.)
Totally admit, when I read the headline last night, was like 15% miffed, “notre dame playing an FCS school, for shame!!”
But this post, and your comment gave better perspective. With only a few circled in red games on the schedule, easy games are an inevitability. In that regard, what’s more memorable, playing a 2 time Heisman winning head coach led HBCU, or UMass, hell even like 75% of the pseudo ACC slate we pull most years… what’s with playing wake forest more than Michigan or MSU????
And maybe this gives some of the players at Tennessee state a chance to see some really neat historical things on NDs campus, gives their program television exposure, all those good things. So long as the irish dont go TOO feel food and we get 2011 USF, easy day.
Schedule interesting matchups, make them fun, this one seems to try and meet that intent.
I gave up twitter for lent and I have a feeling yesterday was probably a good day to be off that app with the FCS announcement.
Honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I bought a hoodie. obviously a staple of college but living in AZ not a huge demand. Have to say those look pretty sharp and so much better fitting than all the hoodies for the longest time. Then again freeman is handsome with an athletic build so maybe he just makes them slim fit.
Giving up twitter and cancelling other subscriptions I only get ND news from here and podcasts. Is the moore thing inevitable or more like ND is the leader? II made it seem like that recruitment could really drag out
Just realized Eddie George is wearing the same half-zip hoodie with the marsupial pouch zipper pocket as Freeman in the header photo.
It feels like Moore is trending pretty well towards inevitable (no jinx). Some thought (not necessarily the recruiting staff at the sites) he’d commit during his recent 2-day visit to Notre Dame. However, it came out he may take a little longer and/or possibly take some official visits, too.
BUT…for a long time this has looked like a ND-Michigan-Ohio State battle. He visited OSU right after the ND visit, but it was really short. Also, his rumored official visit programs may not include Ohio State. Lots of people on the Michigan side have conceded they’re at best way behind ND and at worst moving on to other targets.
It feels like it’s either going to be ND, or it’ll be a really painful switch to UM, or some completely random late winner from someone like A&M.
If it’s the hope that kills you then here’s another dose of Dante Moore poison from Rivals (free). Their national recruiting guys both agree ND is way out in the lead.
Speaking of the gear…with Cincinnati in the past, Wisconsin last year and this coming up next year, does Under Armour possibly have some influence on the schedule? Do they somehow give a bonus to CMF or the university in response to scheduling other UA teams? As few schools as there are that use UA, it seems odd that we’ve scheduled so many (with such a limited number of programs we can schedule per year).
It’s a damn conspiracy.
The insiders I’ve seen are all very confident that ND is in a really good spot with Moore, and it seems like the more they know the more confident they are.
But he is taking official visits, which worries me about what $ome other $school$ might be able to put on the table for him.
I don’t think Detroit kids generally end up going that far away from home, I think it will be Michigan or Notre Dame for him. Likely ND at this point, but we’ll see.
I agree with most of your points. The insiders seem very confident, but the longer this drags out the odds increase that $ome factor pops up to sway him away from ND. It would also be nice if he committed sooner rather than later as a way to lure other top recruits (WR, cough cough) to join the class.
I never cared at all that Notre Dame has never played an FCS school. I know some wear it as a badge of honor and like to wave in the SEC team’s faces, but I mean if you’re going to be playing some random FBS poverty team like New Mexico, UMass or a various MAC team what’s really the difference? Filler is filler, schedule padding gets to the same result by any level of where the team plays.
And besides, some FCS teams (let’s use App State as a totally random example wink wink) can be more competitive then the low-end FBS teams anyways. ND almost always has that one very bottom barrel FBS cupcake on the schedule for an easy home win. Doesn’t really bother me at all to swap that easy game out for an FCS team.
It does, very low level, bother me that now there is a worse case or perception problem to try and make the playoffs with weaker schedule, but overall I don’t really think it makes a difference either. ND either wins the big games and gets in because of that, or they don’t and they won’t get in.
Yeah, I had the exact same concern on the perception problem at first; would we be able to make the Playoff with 1 loss now? But then I went back and looked at that 2020 schedule. As long as we are replacing the 1-8 USF’s with an FCS school and not the 6-5 Pitts, I don’t think anybody is going to care. Hell, every other fanbase already laughs at our pride over never playing an FCS school, and I’ve never heard the playoff committee spend more than a passing moment discussing the bottom of a team’s schedule. It always comes down to who are the 4 or 5 best teams you’ve beaten, and how many games have you lost.
At the end of the day, the perception of our 2023 strength of schedule is going to come down to whether or not Lincoln Riley has returned USC to prominence, whether OSU has found a guy ready to step right in to replace CJ Stroud, and whether Dabo Swinney has had enough time to bounce back from the loss of his 2 coordinators.
Here’s the concern, I have though: it’s not UMass or Tenn St, it’s UMass plus Tenn St. Or, in our case, an opening three game slate of Navy, Tenn St, and Central Michigan. With “conference games” against Wake Forest and Duke. I think Swarbrick will take this as an opportunity to add FCS teams into the scheduling mix, but will not see a need to remove some of the lower level FBS teams like New Mexico, UMass, Temple, Toledo, etc.
This is a good point. We’re edging toward Ole Miss/Bama/Clemson/A&M style scheduling where something like a third of the schedule is just noncompetitive, meaningless garbage games. College football has the shortest season of any major sport and that just sucks.
Meanwhile, ADs are puzzled as to why college football attendance is dropping dramatically.
SEC is much more likely than ACC to provide a medium-difficulty schedule outside of the top teams. So the more bottom feeders we have, the more likely we are to have a 1,2,or maybe 3 game schedule, for all intents and purposes.
I want Jackson State! Bring Coach Prime to ND. Granted, they are actually a good team, and would have the highest rated recruit on the field, so that might be a decent game (not what you want out of an FCS foe). Either way, it would be pretty fun.
I absolutely HAAAATED team mass before games in HS. I was very happy for the kids when they didn’t have to do that anymore. I hope MF consulted with the players.
I’m still pretty against it. FCS programs have 63 scholarship limits. They regularly have people on the field who either have no scholarship or a small fractional scholarship. There is no scenario where an FCS program should compete with a competent FBS program, and it borders on dangerous for the student athletes on the FCS team.
A huge number of talking-head sportcasters passively don’t even consider it the same sport when they say that there’s no way FBS could have a significant playoff because the games are too hard and the players on the 12th best team in FBS should never be made to face off against the players of the 5th best team, all the while the FCS runs out a 24 team bracket every year.
FBS teams should never play FCS teams to begin with. FBS teams that only play a 12 game max schedule should definitely never play FCS teams. FBS should have a 24 team playoff also, so that good teams can schedule mediocre+ games each week and there’s less scheduling pressure on getting enough bottom feeders on the schedule to focus on big games.
A couple issues with the Tennessee State game:
-FBS/FCS games shouldn’t be played at all, for the reasons that gambit1077 states. They’re inherently unfair and borderline dangerous. Tennessee State, by the way, is not a good FCS team like App State was. They went 5-6 last year and were in the 200s in Sagarin. Scheduling an opponent for the express purpose of them being your tackling dummy is embarrassing.
-The first three games of 2023 will now be Navy in Ireland, Tennessee State, and Central Michigan. That’s terrible for fans. 25% of the season and 33% of the home schedule wasted on cupcakes, one of which is on a different continent for no reason. Yes, I know we have Ohio State, Clemson, and SC. Playing a handful of good games and a majority of garbage is not good for the sport. I don’t care if that’s what Bama does.
-We all know that ND will be very self-congratulatory about “supporting” an HBCU. There are far better ways to support HBCUs than playing one noncompetitive football game in South Bend. ND could donate some of its enormous wealth to HBCUs or play them in sports that would be competitive, like we did in basketball recently.
-Most importantly, if ND is going to pat itself on the back for helping the Black community, then ND’s leadership needs to stop associating with people who actively work against the rights of Black Americans, like Donald Trump and Bill Barr. ND is being hypocritical. Sorry for getting political, but given who ND’s leaders have been cozying up to lately, this is gross.
In regards to the last point you’re making. I agree with the sentiment, but within the athletic department, the priorities seem to be a bit more progressive that those of the university as a whole. When I claim my ND fandom, I’m associating with the football team specifically, not the dogma of the Catholic Church. My fairly liberal, atheist views don’t line up with many of what Father Jenkins would propose.
There’s three scenarios this could fall into, in my mind:
I’m more inclined to think that 2 and 3 are at play here, more than 1
I think it’s mostly scenario 1, but agree to disagree. In any event, I think ND can do a hell of a lot better for African-Americans than beating Tennessee State 63-0 one time in football.
There’s no way #3 is accurate, completely the opposite is true and I suspect they will be happy to promote that fact in the upcoming press conference. Tennessee St. is team with a Freeman tie (Eddie George) and a way for Notre Dame to promote the racial inclusivity movement by giving an HBCU some spotlight and whatever boost/payday comes with being a Notre Dame opponent.
ND is stealing (borrowing?) this idea from UCLA who recently scheduled a HBCU for the same purpose.
(Which to be clear, I’m not saying is necessarily a bad or negative idea at its core like some angry twitter boomer…But this certainly was a meaningful consideration that Notre Dame had. This was not a coincidence or happenstance occurrence).
Completely agree. ND will claim that they ended the practice of not playing FCS teams in order to play a HBCU, but the truth is that they’re playing a HBCU to start playing FCS teams.
So looks like we just got a grad transfer commitment from an interior DL from Harvard. I know we lost a big body with Keanaaina’s ACL, but can this guy play WR? Would be tough for a CB to tackle a bubble screen to a 6’2″ 293lb dude.
I thought it was kinda weird that Keanaaina went down and the II guys were acting like Notre Dame lost Vince Wilfork or Casey “Big Snack” Hampton or All-Pro level nose guard…Not a guy through two years that barely got on the field and was again going to be depth. I get you need a 300 pound body for the point of attack, but I figured him to be like the 7th or 8th most important DL.
Worth considering that Jayson Ademilola is also out for the spring, so without him or Keanaaina you’re really only working with four interior defensive linemen, two of them redshirt freshman (Cross, Lacey, Rubio, Onye).
I guess you could also assume Mills stays inside, but then you’re getting a little thin at B1G End or whatever we call that position. So I think it’s a really good depth chart move.
Hopefully one of Rubio, Ford, or Gobaira stand out and make you put them in the two deep this fall, because if you assume they all need more seasoning you’re looking at Ehrensberger or Ekwonu getting a lot of second string reps, and I’m not sold that you win any of the big games next year with those guys on the field a lot.
All valid points, but I would point out that this addition wasn’t done for spring (Smith still is going to finish up and graduate Harvard). They wanted a big body for the rotation next season. Which is fine — and possibly/probably a good idea to have a 300+ pounder on the DL.
My point was more minor annoyance that Keanaaina was seen in some places as a big loss. Perhaps that would be true for like 3rd and short packages, but overall I don’t think a guy whose gonna play 10-15 snaps per game at most (and has played much less to this point) merited such hand wringing. It stinks, but between the wealth of DL talent they have, it will and should be a drop in the bucket when the team has much bigger concerns on the roster (WR).
Not sure if there is or will be this year’s version of Benny Skow in the portal, but boy do they reaaaally need that.