Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs on winning the 2021 National Championship. I took the Caesar’s Sportsbook free $300 bet for registering now that sports gambling is legal in New York and put it all on Alabama.
The Tide lost wide receiver Jameson Williams to a brutal knee injury during the title game and it’s been confirmed he tore his ACL. Imagine back in the day if Notre Dame lost Golden Tate to a knee injury in the biggest game of the season then Michael Floyd tore up his knee in the National Championship?
According to multiple reports, Notre Dame is set to hire Chansi Stuckey as wide receivers coach. Stuckey is a former Clemson player who had a cup of coffee in the NFL before heading back to Clemson as grad assistant prior to his one year in Waco.
College Football Playoff leaders met on Monday to iron out something for expansion and couldn’t come to a consensus. As expected with these fools, they’re going to make this as painful of a process as possible. There’s plenty of talk that the ACC are trying to use some leverage over Notre Dame and that’ll probably go poorly for them.
Andrew Luck highlights the newest announced class for the College Football Hall of Fame. Former Notre Dame defensive tackle Bryant Young was a finalist but didn’t get the call this year.
Uniform of the Week
Kansas hasn’t had much going for it for years upon years. In order to compensate they’ve gone through some uniform changes and debuted plenty of alternates, especially helmets. This year during their homecoming they absolutely nailed things.
These colors are amazing. The royal blue mixed with the powder blue is among my favorite looks, and the subtle red trim adds a nice touch. Red is my least favorite color but I’d even admit even a little more on this uniform would work well. We can’t forget that “K” bowtie logo on the helmet from 1929, nice!
Recruiting
Deion Sanders did it again by signing Missouri receiver Kevin Coleman (0.9787) to Jackson State.
Edge rusher Cyrus Moss (0.9742) committed to Miami.
Once an Irish target, defensive tackle Hero Kanu (0.9562) signed with Ohio State.
As expected, C.J. Williams (0.9679) signed with USC.
Georgia picked up interior offensive lineman Earnest Greene (0.9805).
Check out Clark Lea pulling linebacker Daniel Martin (0.9164) out of Georgia.
Former UCF receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala has transferred to UCLA.
USC quarterback Jaxson Dart is leaving the Trojans with Caleb Williams coming off recent visits to USC and UCLA.
Penn State running back Noah Cain is in the Portal.
YouTube Channel
This past summer I went into an art deep dive with a focus on many of the classics. At first, I lined up some of the more famous books full of colorful pages only to spend a ton of time going through various YouTube channels (and there’s an overwhelming amount of terrific art content to consume) before landing on Great Art Explained, a channel started in the summer of 2020 during the pandemic by art historian James Payne.
This video of the Arnolfini Portrait from 1434 by Jan van Eyck is maybe my favorite of the bunch. I came in with low expectations (I always thought this painting looked silly) and came away believing this could be the greatest painting of all-time. If you’re even modestly into art please check out some of Payne’s videos, he drops 1 or 2 per month and there’s about 25 so far. They are extremely well done.
Tunes
I wanted to feature Ed Sheeran this week for a couple reasons. One, my oldest daughter (4.5 years old) absolutely loves the song “Bad Habits” and is in the process of working with me on her own playlist on Apple Music. I’ve been waiting so long to be able to do this with my kids, it’s adorable.
The other reason was to point out that Sheeran’s previous album ÷ and its associated tour saw 8.7 million people buy tickets. This dude toured for 29 months and saw nearly 1.6 million more people attend his shows than the next biggest tour ever, U2’s 360° Tour. Thanks to their outdoor venues, that U2 tour has the highest-ever inflation adjusted gross of $847.2 million while Sheeran’s is 2nd with $785.6 million. That’s a lot of money.
Trivia (answers at the bottom of the article)
Which college football program is the last to win the National Championship for the first time in their history?
The Other Football
In the transfer window, fullback Kieran Trippier is back in England following a $16.5 million transfer from Atleti to Newcastle. The Magpies desperation to not get relegated (19th place currently) following their recent totally-not-the-Saudi-Arabian-Wealth-Fund (wink, wink) takeover meant they paid a shocking $33 million release clause for Burnley striker Chris Wood who is 30 years old.
Coutinho’s post-Liverpool career continues to amaze as he’s also back in England following a loan deal to Aston Villa from Barcelona.
The Africa Cup of Nations kicked off this past Sunday, and as per usual, it has been full of craziness including a rogue referee whistling full-time twice before it was actually time.
The Big 5 Check-In:
EPL – The magic of the FA Cup knocked Arsenal, Newcastle, and Burnley out of the tournament this past weekend. Meanwhile, Spurs were swiftly dropped out of the EFL Cup by Chelsea and Liverpool/Arsenal square off in the other semi-final tonight.
La Liga – Barcelona dropped points yet again with a 1-1 draw versus Granada.
Serie A – Juventus overcame a 3-1 deficit to Roma with goals in the 70th, 72nd, and 77th minute to take the win. Roma manager Jose Mourinho was not happy afterward as that tire fire continues.
Bundesliga – Borussia Monchengladbach upset Bayern Munich 1-0 and the lead atop the table shrinks to 6 points.
Ligue 1 – Marseille (3rd place) and Nice (2nd) each won while PSG (1st) only drew Lyon 1-1.
Streaming
Has anyone watched this Joe Montana documentary on Peacock yet? I’ve yet to dive in and I’m curious to hear from anyone who has watched it already. This is an absolutely terrible promo video!
I feel bad for Montana. When I was small he was in his prime and by the time he retired he was the unquestioned GOAT at quarterback. Now, Tom Brady has blown that status out of the water and the proliferation of passing records in the last 20 years have further demoted Montana’s iconic status. Am I wrong in perceiving Montana to be far less of a big deal these days than in say, 1997?
Maybe my perception is colored by the fact that Montana has never really been much of a presence on Notre Dame’s campus? The school has spent decades with a National Championship winning alum quarterback who many people still consider the greatest and he’s seemingly never in South Bend.
It makes me feel like they should take the $60 million or however much they’re raising to expand the Gug and instead build a stand-alone Notre Dame Football Hall of Fame so we can bathe in the glory of people like Montana to give them somewhere to reign supreme on visits.
A Look Back
Yes, it’s the only ranked victory of the Charlie Weis era! I don’t have a lot to say about this game other than it’s up there as some of the best memories of the era. There was all the excitement for playing Penn State for the first time since 1992 and to make it even better it was an absolutely gorgeous day. So beautiful in fact, that it kind of makes me miss the way the natural grass looked.*
We were all a little uneasy after that tough opener in Atlanta against Georgia Tech and when the Irish offense came out firing on all cylinders back home it was a super fun time. It didn’t last long because the following week was utterly terrible.
*Pretty much only in these early season games with good weather, though. Any other time, nah I’m good.
18S Paddock Club
2022 Regulation Changes (Part 1 of 4, Overview & Power Units) – F1 prepares for its biggest ever regulation changes as they enter the 73rd season of competition this March. The cost cap falls by $5 million to $140 million covering car design, development, component manufacture, testing, and race operations. Not covered by the cap includes engine deals, marketing, hospitality, travel, driver wages, and the top 3 team personnel salaries. The token system–meant to slow down development for 2020-21 during the pandemic in anticipation of 2022’s massive changes–has now been removed.
Wind tunnel (40 runs/week) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (30 teraflops/week) testing rules have been altered for 2022. Testing has been increased for the 10th place team, remained the same for 9th place, and reduced for all other 8 teams from the 2021 rules:
#1 Mercedes 70%
#2 Red Bull 75%
#3 Ferrari 80%
#4 McLaren 85%
#5 Alpine 90%
#6 AlphaTauri 95%
#7 Aston Martin 100%
#8 Williams 105%
#9 Alfa Romeo 110%
#10 Haas 115%
Wind tunnel and CFD testing rules will re-set on June 30th (following the 9th race in Montreal) based on the constructor championship standings and remain in place through the rest of 2022.
The 2021 grid staring at 1 of 2 concept cars for 2022 built by F1.
All new car designs for 2022 will take more advantage of ground effect, with less reliance on wings, as testing shows the improved aerodynamics make the cars less turbulent with more up-wash of air over following cars to allow for more close driving and overtakes. The 2,000mm car width remains (since 2017) while a new 3,600mm wheelbase maximum means several teams (including Mercedes) will need to make adjustments. Weight is increasing by nearly 6% to 796kg, mainly due to larger wheel rims and increased safety measures. The bargeboards and their associated elaborate aero bits–which dominated car design in recent years–are now banned. Select car parts will be covered in a thin rubber membrane to limit shattering and reduce track debris.
Power units are frozen until 2026 (when more big regulation changes are anticipated) as the 1.6 liter V6 turbo engines remain in place. However, the ethanol fuel mix has been increased from 5.75% to 10% for 2022 and is rumored to be forcing teams to redesign their combustion chambers to overcome the loss of 20 or more horsepower. With a record 23 races in just 35 weeks, power unit reliability will be more important than ever with the engine part allotment remaining the same. Each team is allowed the following: Internal Combustion Engine (3), Turbo Charger (3), Motor Generating Unit-Heat (3), Motor Generating Unit-Kinetic (3), Energy Store (2), Control Electronics (2), and Exhaust (6).
Scuderia Ferrari (3rd place, 323.5 points)
Ferrari bounced back from a dreadful 2020 by signing Carlos Sainz and further developing Charles Leclerc but still experienced some rough up and down moments in 2021. For his part, Leclerc edged out Sainz in qualifying 12 to 10 and generally was faster with a higher ceiling. However, Leclerc had the infamous DNS at Monaco and an unlucky DNF at Hungary with just 1 podium all season. Sainz, meanwhile, remained consistent coming into 4 podiums and overachieving all the way to 5th in the driver’s standings ahead of Leclerc’s disappointing 7th place finish.
People are expecting Ferrari to surprise this year. Again. It’s important to point out they haven’t won a race with a legal engine since Spa 2018 and were still miles away from Red Bull for 2nd place in 2021. Some expect rising tensions for the No. 1 driver role at Maranello but I doubt it. Maybe in 2023 or beyond. This year, it’s a really high-ceiling duo with good vibes. Ferrari deployed their new ERS upgrade to the engine late last year in an attempt to get ahead with their 2022 engine and it allowed them an extra boost to sail past McLaren for 3rd place. Now, the pressure builds for Ferrari to nail the new aero regulations.
Ferrari is dropping Mission Winnow as their main sponsor and we’ll await to see if they ditch the gradient car livery colors and/or bring back a shinier red for 2022.
Trivia Answers:
Florida, 1996
Breaking right after publish:
https://twitter.com/TomLoy247/status/1481711150387671042?s=20
Mike Elston leaving to become the DL coach at Michigan.
this is terrible for the economy
Crap.
I guess one can only be passed over for DC so many times
How does going to be a DL coach elsewhere help that?
Also, he talked a lot about family and having a home in south bend is why he didn’t leave. Odd to go pick up and move now.
Is it possible Freeman was overly enthused about having him back? Or was it really that he thought he had a shot at DC and is ticked that he’s likely not getting it? (I mean it’s not exactly like his “interview” of a bowl game went well so how could he blame the head coach for that.)
Very strange. A “fuck you” lateral move isn’t exactly in the spirit of what he said a month ago when he was retained about being an ND lifer.
Maybe that whole media blitz was a bit misleading.
HARBAUGH STAYS AT MICHIGAN RYAN DAY TO CHICAGO MUST CREDIT KG
well anyways the bears are proud to introduce the cheapest position coach nobody that money could buy
I just don’t get why anyone would want to go work with Harbaugh.
i will trade you a lightly used matt rhule
At this point, simply the act of leaving ND for somewhere else probably gets him closer to the goal of being a DC. In hindsight now, after more or less a DC audition in Fiesta Bowl ended up with 600+ yards and a ton of points against resulted in what little chance he may have had to ever be the Notre Dame DC pretty much disappear for good.
Does being Michigan’s DL coach get him closer to being a DC? A lateral move by definition isn’t a step forward, but he needed to step somewhere at some point.
This part is very true. Football coaches are strange, strange creatures and wired not like regular people, so it could be about anything. It would have made perfect sense if he left with Polian, since as a “Kelly guy”, Elston didn’t have much tying him to ND. It seemed like he went out of his way to show he did have something keeping him (family, benefit of kids being settled when most coaches kids don’t get that) but in the end, professionally it kinda makes sense, especially after it didn’t work for him to really ever have a path to advance at Notre Dame post-Fiesta Bowl. (And maybe even pre-Fiesta, since it didn’t seem like Freeman made promoting Elson much of a priority).
He probably said all that stuff about staying at ND and being a lifer when he still had a shot at being DC. Then, he didn’t, so he started looking for a new job.
Yep, pretty sure most of the quotes used are from mid-December when he was working up to calling the defense for the bowl game and kinda a response to why he didn’t take the Polian path and drop out in the Kelly to Freeman transition.
Many are shocked he left at this point, which is understandable, but I think we do have to put those quotes into context of the timing in which they were said. The Fiesta performance and result changed a lot of Elston’s future prospects at Notre Dame, which I guess everyone kinda grasped but didn’t really think he would pivot away so suddenly.
But now I think it’s easier to see that there was little point in him staying after that.
We also don’t know what kind of dominoes had to fall to get to this point, and when. A lot happens after the playoff (and I think there’s a big coaching convention that happens at the same time as the championship game?). Also, NFL just ended. So a lot of things just hang out there until right now, and then there’s a flurry of phone calls. When did Harbaugh decide he needed a new DL coach? The Athletic says that the Michigan DL coach left to go to USC, but doesn’t say when.
#continuity
I get it, but yikes.
Jamie U was a bit down on Elston’s recruiting for the DL – noting that he recruited a lot of projects and we can’t have that. While some of the top recruits at that position were from Gilmore (I haven’t checked on any of this.) He’s obviously done a great job developing players. Just trying to look at the move in a positive light for us.
He’s sent a bunch of guys to the NFL and he has two studs lined up for 2023. Can’t let him take either to UM.
Yeah, I feel like his recent recruiting was on the uptick. He did take some projects, but probably would have gotten more bluechippers with better DC+HC involvement over the years. Takes higher than position coaches to get elite, elite players.
Keon Keeley, our sole 5-star commitment, is apparently a big Elston guy. Hopefully not so big that he’d go to Ann Arbor…
Yikes that would be a huge loss. Hopefully the new DL coach + DC + Freeman is enough to keep him. It’s hard to think a recruit would necessarily just follow a DL coach (but I’m sure it’s happened before).
Elston is just a Ferrari hater.
Surprising, but not too much. If the tea leaves about a DC are true, at some point you have to want a promotion or leave.
My guess is that Freeman told him he wasn’t going to be DC, and probably wouldn’t be. He may have felt a one game audition wasn’t fair.
Well, OK, but then why would he leave to be not a DC?
Pride. Maybe he threw down to be DC. Maybe money. Maybe he decided being a DL lifer at his alma mater was the better choice. I would bet on the firt two.
Or any of a 100 things.
People are complex, and minds change when things change. Now that the season is over-over, maybe he got a better deal at UM. Maybe the way the DC search is going, it felt best to bring in a new DL guy. Maybe he saw Freeman double-dip in the salsa at the staff NCG watch party.
I tend to not think anything he said at the press conference on signing day was insincere, because I’ve never heard anything bad about Elston before. Things change. It just sucks for ND because now we have to find a new DL coach and haven’t been looking.
Anyone have any idea who might be candidates? Or do we get the new DC in and maybe he brings someone? No way we’d pull Larry Johnson from tOSU, so not sure what else is out there.
You’d have to bet that the new DL coach would be connected with the new DC in some way. It seems most of the time a new coordinator brings at least one assistant with him.
Yea that’s my question too. I guess thinking about it more the only possibility is that he thinks he may be able to work himself up to DC somewhere else?
You would think at this point he should realize he’s probably just not DC material.
Not everyone wants to give up on their dream.
Well, here’s what he said about that a month ago:
BK said he wouldn’t leave Notre Dame of his own volition six days before he…left ND. Coach talk doesn’t mean a lot.
And Elston has significant Michigan ties, he didn’t leave for a random place, the destination (unfortunately) makes sense for him personally as well.
yea I think a lot people think they wouldn’t do X because at the moment they see no plausible way that it would be worth it for them to leave. Then a new situation arises and they see things in a new light and it seems better for them to leave. It’s normal and fine and not necessarily a knock on their honest or integrity.
You’re right, and I wouldn’t say Elston lied. But I do think this is another example of the media blitz supporting the staff hiring process not being totally honest.
Perhaps best for a change on both sides. The new DC can pick his own guy. Elston has done a great job at ND. If he were going anywhere else, I’d wish him great success.
I think that’s a good way to look at it. Also second wishing him well.
Agreed. He was a great guy, did a good job for us. DL was his high level. Even his buddy Kelly didn’t make him DC. I hope the only strength on the Michigan football team is DL. The rest of them can be awful.
It’s all good and I have nothing but appreciation for his era as d-line coach… unless he takes recruits (or any of our starters!) with him. In that case: dead to me.
Just wanted to jump in and say that I appreciate the sane and sensible discussion happening here. I really appreciate it.
I recently joined II and while I love the insider news the staff provides, those boards are horrendous and are filled with whiners. It’s so difficult to scan through those boards and to read the crap while looking for any Loy/Sinclair/Prister et al updates
They really need to figure out a way to have a mods/reporters only view on that site. It’s unmanageable. 337 posts on the Elston thread right now! To which I say:
This is my take, as well. I like to think that Elston was a lot like BK with a very high floor as a positional coach. I’m interested and excited to see new blood come in now.
Are you saying that Elston was like BK with a very high floor but also with a lower ceiling (lower than elite)?
I think Elston had a high floor and ceiling. Freeman has unlocked his recruiting ceiling in 2023. 2 absolute stud DL. And he showed he could develop all levels of recruits into very good players. I’d call him an elite DL coach. The problem is, elite coaches don’t want to stay as a position coach. I don’t blame him for leaving, and am very disappointed we are losing him.
But, que sera sera, bring on the next guy!
The big question is, does Elston go full Greg Mattison heel turn and pull those kids to Michigan? That’s my concern.
Big concern. Especially with the transfer portal. I certainly would have shot Foskey and the twins a last minute text.
Oh lord, I hadn’t even considered that angle.
I’m going to go dry heave now.
Foskey tweeted something positive sounding. I don’t think any of the major current players are following Elston, if any current players at all.
As far as recruits, that’s kinda Elston’s job now to recruit them too, no? I don’t have a problem with that, all a part of the game. It should be expected he is going to try to flip his recruits, just as I’m sure if ND had somehow got Hartline or a big time WR coach, ND fans would surely be wanting him to try and bring the relationships he’s built to his new job.
All things considered, I don’t think Elston is going to be a seismic change on a Lincoln Riley scale where this move causes a ton of big player changes to go along with it. Elston’s a good position coach but he’s still just a position coach.
Yes, Elston should be expected to recruit them, that’s fair. What isn’t–and what Mattison did, allegedly–is then turn around and trash ND to try to get recruits to flip, just a 180 from what he’d been telling them just a bit earlier when he was on ND’s payroll. It’s one thing to do your job for your new team and try to recruit players you have a relationship with. I don’t know anything that suggests Elston would do anything more than that. But my first thought was to remember back to Mattison and that fiasco.
Playing devil’s advocate here.
Freeman’s relentless approach to recruiting forced Elston to work X harder on that front and it wasn’t something he wanted to continue to do especially in the same job the last 12 years.
I know in my job I get passed over 4x for a promotion and the new boss wants me to work X times harder than I have been and been pretty successful at, I’m probably open to hearing about other jobs. Especially after getting passed over again after working X times harder for the past year.
Pretty much, yes.
That Kansas jersey (and especially helmet) looks like if the car brand Kia was a football team. Which given Kansas and Kia’s shared prestige, about right!
I was sort of thinking that the Bowtie K doesn’t look that much different that the Big 12 logo. With Texas and OK leaving, the amount of prestige In the big 12, Kia, and Kansas is all about the same.
Agree to disagree on the bowtie. Agree that the old Kia logo was zzzzzz and the new Kia logo clearly says K – backwards N and is awful and based in some kind of nu-marketing “all tweets are good tweets” type approach. But that Kansas logo comes from their logo history, right? And the rest of the uniform is beautiful. That red trim. But regarding the helmet logo, I’m personally psyched every time some old school felt-based ND logo reappears and I feel this is the same approach and we should encourage it.
Which one?
Looks like the graphic designers got into the communion wine by the time they got to that second row.
There will be no KIA Telluride joke on this blog, however!
As a Range Rover lover, it’s kind of funny to see so many SUV’s copy their look these days.
I would agree about Montana. I read in a book about his and Steve Young’s same-team rivalry that he had spinal stenosis. Between that and the fact that he played in an era where you were allowed to crush the QB, it’s all the more incredible he had the career he did.
It’s just bad luck for him that some ultra-pliable cyborg came along and was able to last not least because no one is allowed to injure him (and the one time somebody did the NFL practically tripped over itself to ban how it happened).
There have long been rumors that he disliked Brian Kelly (probably didn’t care for how he coached, or possibly how he ignored, his son Nate when he was playing here) and that was why he didn’t turn up on campus much. Maybe that will change now.
True. I think some of that is time passing on. I’d agree with Eric’s point that Montana today in general public perception isn’t what he was in 1997. But probably like Johnny Unitas and even Terry Bradshaw weren’t what they were in 1997 compared with where they were when their careers were fresh in everyone’s mind and before Montana, Elway, Marino, etc knocked them down a rung.
Montana also doesn’t really come across as the jovial, likable ex-QB, and didn’t go into broadcasting/analysis. Don’t know the first thing about him as a personality, but seems like that matters a lot in how guys are perceived when their playing career ends.
That could have something to do with it too. If you look at Aikman’s career stats they are….not very great overall, and probably not as good as you might guess (I know I looked at them recently and, woof). Yet, he’s in the spotlight and all and people who never really saw him probably think more about him just because they think of him more.
May have hurt that his “rival” (Steve Young) not only came in and won a Super Bowl after he took over, but then went on to be on ESPN as a talking head.
Kerry Coombs is available for Defensive Coordinator. I jest of course.
Ooh I just saw Isaac Rochell on Twitter do a little public campaigning for Tyler Stockton to get the DL job. He’s risen up to Ball State DC and I believe is considered a real rising star in the coaching world. Not sure if it’s a fit for team or Stockton but that would be pretty cool.
Have seen his name come up a few places.
I mean, great story but our average coach age is going to be 32 and only over 30 because of Hiestand.
Did you miss McNulty (54 before next season starts)? I got an average staff age of 40 with O’Leary, Rees, Freeman, Mickens, Stuckey, Taylor, McNulty and Hiestand. Not an old staff by any means, but not close to 30 or 32 either. The DC is also likely to bring up the age as well.
Stockton has six years coaching experience, 2x Broyles nominee the last two years and has been a DC for three years, albeit at a small school. He’s young in age but seems qualified to me for a position coach, especially with 4 years ND experience as a player as a bonus.
Overall, the staff might be trending too young, but does that mean hire a veteran DL coach just for experience? Not sure that’s wise either, but perhaps worth weighing.
I mean, I didn’t actually do the math, man. It was just a joke.
It was so low I had to do the math, ha
Alma mater or no, it seems hard to believe Stockton would make that move given his current trajectory. He’s well-regarded and likely to get a shot as a Power 5 DC soon if he wants one. He’s also four seasons removed from the last time he coached DL (at Western Illinois, before he was elevated to DC there).
P5 DC job? Well we got one of those too, hah. (In jest, kinda). Does kinda suck that Stockton is probably overqualified for DL job but a bit short to be the DC right now.
Good news: NEW scholarship receiver in 2022!!!
We laugh so we don’t cry
The Less Slippery Fox, as I like to call him. Hell of a fair catch, though
Well, apparently Heacock is staying at Iowa State.
So. Uh.
hmm seems like a bummer. Hard to know though whether Freeman wasn’t impressed or if Heacock didn’t want to come for some reason.
Who else is being considered now?
The rumor is that Heacock wanted to bring his staff with him but wouldn’t have been allowed to, and that was the sticking point.
I hope that’s not true, because any worthwhile current DC is probably going to want that.
I mean it’s not normal to bring your whole defensive staff with you. 1 or 2 guys might be normal. Obviously at this point for us – bringing the DL coach would have probably been welcomed but bringing 3 or 4 coaches in addition isn’t going to happen anywhere.
Surprised not to see more discussion of this this morning. Seems embarrassing, if nothing else, to have a name floated out there and then not close on him.
It is.
I wonder if Freeman is going to have trouble hiring someone who is already a DC given that he himself was just promoted from DC. We may end up getting a defensive position coach.
That is just an awesome summary of F1, it must have been so hard to keep this concise. So many moving pieces (metaphorically and literally). My favorite bit was this (news to me):
“Ferrari is dropping Mission Winnow as their main sponsor”
We can be fans of Ferrari again! Man, that feels good. It’s freaking FERRARI. That Mission Winnow sponsorship has been such a huge turnoff. LeClerc is a great driver that’s been held back by mediocre race day management.
Amazon has been rumored to be the new main sponsor, but nothing has been announced yet.
The Mission Winnow deal was terrible not only because of the insane green on the livery but at the tracks where the sponsorship was banned their cars and driver gear were all left blank. So dumb.
Is Great Art Explained going to do that Kansas jersey? Because they should. Is it a renaissance for Adidas or just a flash in the pan?
A bit of a renaissance for Adidas, we’ll be upgrading if we move back to them when the UA deal is done.
How much longer we got?
The current Under Armour deal expires in June 2024 so we have just 2 more football seasons.
(but sadly that’s not actually very soon)
Does ND have a chance with either of theses 2022 kids? Caleb Douglas WR TX. or Andrew Paul RB TX. I’ve seen them both mentioned elsewhere. Paul might be the most underrated RB I’ve seen. He’s no 3 star IMO. Douglas looks like a Miles Boykin type with great Red Zone potential. ND could certainly use another body at either position.
The Athletic did a story on Paul, he does look really intriguing. They did say ND is meeting with him and mentioned he has an offer. But they also said his officials are Colorado, Mizzou in the past, Michigan and Clemson in the future. Might try for one more. Doesn’t seem like ND is super high on his radar at the moment, probably a lot of work to do in a short amount of time and plenty of others hot on his trail.
I think Douglas has a relationship with our new WR coach. His film looks very good.
I think Paul could be special. 5’11” 210ish with excellent moves.
Thanks for bringing up the James Payne videos. I’m surprised he didn’t do a video on Velazquez’s Las Meninas. It took all the Arnolfini details and ramped them up even more. I’ll have to check out the site, regardless.
The Nerdwriter episode on Las Meninas was really good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKRKrpz09Fk
His channel will be featured at some point.
That is a great interpretation of the piece. Surprised he didn’t bring up the Goya Charles IV piece and its ties, but still thorough.
You really have taken a deep dive into the classics. It makes me want to pull out the old Janson from my Art History classes at ND. Although it’s funny how different art historians have such different takes from each other. You’d think (especially from how confident the videos seem to be) that there’s one main way to look at the works…but they can be SO discordant.
And I guess that’s why the pieces still have so much current meaning; they leave quite a bit open to the viewer.
Mid-offseason coaching departures continue. Happy for Taylor to advance but sucks to lose him too. A little more turnover than probably expected a week ago from the staff..
Congrats to Taylor. Happier he’s doing this than going to be RB coach at Bama, which was the worry last year.
I think what we may be finding is less that coaches were so excited to work for Freeman and more that they didn’t have any desire to follow Brian Kelly.
So, who are the hot but unlikely names we’ll all get upset about when Freeman doesn’t do the impossible and hire them away?
Who is your third paragraph referring to? Heacock?
Freeman himself was an “impossible hire” at DC.
I meant who are the candidates to replace Taylor that are pie in the sky but we’re not likely to get since they’re already at comparable or better places, since there are people mad online that we didn’t somehow get Hartline or the Bama WR coach who for some reason I can never remember his name and I’m too lazy to google it.
Heacock doesn’t fit. And Freeman doesn’t really either, since we hired him from Cinci. Sure, we beat LSU for him and that was a big deal, but considering his Midwestern-ness there were some other factors there.
I don’t really think there’s such a thing as “pie in the sky” assistants at ND. Head coaches, sure. But position coaches, no.
Freeman needs really good, experienced position coaches or he will fail because he is not otherwise qualified for this job.
It wasn’t entirely a serious comment, man. But you know someone is going to say “well we should go hire (RB coach at Bama, tOSU, UGA, etc)” regardless of if they’d have any interest, if they’d be a fit, or anything else. And then when they don’t magically say yes, of course, those people will harrumph.
I guess I just don’t know who you’re talking about in any direction.
It doesn’t matter what the internet yells about.
If you haven’t paid attention to the pearl-clutching over the Stuckey hire, then you might not. Plenty of comments in many places expressing dismay that we didn’t get either Hartline or the Bama guy, as if prying one of them away should have been simple.
I don’t read NDNation if that’s what you mean. I prefer alcohol to kill my brain cells.
not to mention watching alex reyes walk people
whoa shots fired, but fair
this is hurtful
toxic gatekeeping of the strike zone imo imvho
I don’t either. But their attitudes have broken contain and are showing up in surprising places, and it concerns me.
Eh. The internet isn’t hiring anyone.
I am much more concerned about the slick marketing campaign that the athletic department ran a month ago which already appears to not really be true.
What would you have had them say instead?
“Well, we’re not all actually onboard, and actually a few of the coaches are going to leave in a month when they get different offers.”
Or just say less. Don’t bombard social media with videos with music scored by John Williams talking about how on board everyone is and how everyone wants to die at ND when you know — or should know — that isn’t true.
Or, better yet, conduct an actual search for a coach.
Perhaps.
Not sure, but can’t wait for the hot takes and overreactions. Speaking of Kelly, I saw LSU just hired the Georgia WR coach who had recruited really well in the last few years. Maybe staying in SEC was always his preference but I wonder if Notre Dame had any interest in him. Guess not too much, oh well, just found that story this morning and thought it interesting.
I mean, sure. But I can’t be bothered to be upset that ND didn’t call every P5 or NFL WR coach. UGA’s WR recruiting has been good. Production was less so, and I don’t follow UGA well enough to know if it’s all injuries (Pickens), Stetson Bennet being a very average QB, or lack of development/experience.
#continuity
Frankly I’d rather have promoted him to OC.
i think we should all just settle down drink some nice hot chocolate and prepare ourselves for the imminent start of Notre Dame’s true sport
that’s right
baseball
Al Washington has been hired to be the DL Coach
if keon keeley likes it i like it
Seems good.
His Wikipedia bio is already updated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Washington_(coach)
How and why did we hire a DL coach before a DC?
Freeman mustn’t have read the manual.
Maybe Freeman is just going to be the DC, I don’t know. But hiring a subordinate before his boss, in this context, is pretty odd.
Like hiring Rees before Freeman.
Other programs do not hire backwards like this.
Whatever you say. Perhaps Freeman felt Washington was who he wanted and wouldn’t be available for long?? Or, perhaps he knows who the next DC is??
What ever the reason, if you can, try being happy that they hired a guy who seems to be a good coach.
Is he a good coach? Ohio State’s LBs haven’t been great lately. Ohio State fired him.
Would you rather have Heacock as DC or Al Washington as a position coach?
I will be happy when Notre Dame football’s hiring moves start making some sense.
They all make sense.
There’s no question he’s a good coach. tOSU new coach coaches LBs, no ? Certainly tOSU isn’t firing Larry Johnson, so there’s no place for Washington. Washington was offered the Tenn. DC position last year. That’s how highly regarded he is.
Yes, I believe he was let go because the new DC is bringing his own guy.
Wrong. The new DC coaches LBs and Johnson is the DL coach. There’s no other guy he’s bringing in. Our new DC whomever it is will probably coach the LBs too.
Ahh got it. Washington was coaching LBs there so the new DC is replacing him as LB coach.
And regarding trying to be happy, here’s a quick recap of the last month of Notre Dame football:
-Brian Kelly left for LSU in the middle of the night with no warning. ND responded by hiring a 35-year-old DC who has been at ND for one year and who has never been a head coach at any level. Duke was considering hiring him as a head coach. His resume looks nothing like any head coach who has been successful at ND in the last 100+ years. And before doing that, ND doubled down on a 29-year-old OC and made him “head coach of the offense.”
-Head Coach of the Offense Rees and Head Coach of the Defense Freeman blew a three-score lead in a bowl game because they had no adjustments, at all, for what the opponent did after halftime. That was a John L. Smith-level collapse.
-ND’s two best players sat out that bowl game despite a huge media campaign about how much the players love the coaching staff. Speaking of which….
-Concerns about lack of experience among the staff were assuaged with said huge media campaign talking about culture and continuity and how much the staff loves ND and wants to be here for life. But…
-A month later, Elston took a lateral move to ND’s worst enemy, Michigan, despite very publicly saying how much he wanted to be at ND.
-ND’s pick for DC decided to stay at Iowa State, of all places. Now we are hiring defensive position coaches without a DC.
-Our next game is on the road against one of the most talented teams in the country. They just hired the DC whose defense nearly skunked us in the second half of the bowl game.
So I am not super happy right now, and it’s not for lack of trying.
Are you?
Nice slant on things.
🙂 – me
I don’t agree lockstep there, namely I’m still less pessimistic, but yes I think that’s a decent take on it. Now that we’re a bit removed I’m more worried than before that we didn’t go after Fickell first.
Other than the bowl game, little of the rest matters. Coaches come and go. There’s no right order of doing the hiring.
Not slanted, please,
Swarbrick made a mistake wanting Rees’ input? No, that was wise…. Tommy Rees is not a “head coach” of anything, Freeman is the head coach…. We knew Hamilton was out in October…. Only Balis said he wanted to stay at ND forever…Celebrating your new coach doesn’t happen everywhere ? Yes, it does… Elston didn’t leave for ND’s enemy, he left for his Alma Mater. Most likely he and Taylor are gone even if Kelly was still here.
Where’s the mention of all the players that are sticking around for another year? Or the players that have committed for 2023 in the last month? Heistand hire ?…Hardly all the news has been bad.
Dang, I’m often the pessimist around here but this is a little too bleak even for me.
I think the ND Twitter and beat writer love for Tommy Rees is a little ridiculous – he is a B/B- coach right now, and a C/C+ recruiter so far – but getting him was necessary to get Freeman.
Freeman is our chance of swinging for the fences. Odds are pretty good – 70% or more I’d say – that he is not as good of a coach as Brian Kelly, and the odds that he is fired within 3-5 years are probably better than the odds that he ever wins a playoff game at ND. But! He also is probably our best chance of winning playoff games in the foreseeable future. Yes, even over Luke Fickell.
So there will be some growing pains. If it’s two straight years of growing pains, he’ll be on the hot seat and might be fired Y3. If it’s a little bit of screwups but the recruiting stays good, just remember this: Kirby Smart went 8-5 in his first season too.
I definitely lean toward the pessimistic, no question about that. I really, really hope I’m wrong about this.
What separates you from the people I fear in dark corners of the internet is that I have faith you’ll go “well, okay, this worked out” if it does, rather than wish to be right and harp on how Freeman didn’t do it this way or that and therefore that doesn’t count.
Funny, most beat writers think the fans criticisms of Rees are a “little ridiculous”…..Go figure.
They probably are. He’s just OK — like nd09hls12 said, he’s a B coach. Replacement-level.
I don’t really understand why he’s considered some sort of offensive wunderkind, and I definitely don’t understand why he’s considered absolutely fundamental to the existence of Notre Dame football.
I’d say his level is “acceptable”. He is an acceptable offensive coordinator right now. If he has a good year with Buchner, that’s great and he’ll probably start to get some low-level head coaching consideration. If it goes badly – and particularly if we don’t pull one of the top-100 QBs in recruiting too – considering firing him after this season wouldn’t be unreasonable. It could go a lot of ways for him, is what I’m saying.
To your point, he is not some clearly great OC yet, and it’s weird when the beat folks treat him as such (and give him the Head Coach of the Offense treatment, as you say).
Acceptable is fine, but to me, I think people either like Rees too much or swing the other way and discount him and are harsher on him than deservedly accurate. Always has seemed like two different camps with very different view points, with the truth IMO somewhere in the middle.
For instance, on the latest Inside the Garage, Connor Ratigan mentioned how the Chris Tyree long TD in the bowl game was a direct result of the offense audibling to that play due to a specific check that the defense made. And it worked. So I don’t really feel it fair to label him “replacement level” from a fan perspective, where we probably don’t or can’t understand a lot of what he is installing and capable of. I think Rees has done some good things and at times shown he is a solid OC that belongs.
That said, I don’t consider Rees as any A+ innovator, but overall I think “acceptable” is a good word, maybe even a slight notch better. He’s better than most his detractors give him credit for, but also not as great as some of his biggest cheerleaders think, too.
I think 95% of fans and 90% of media don’t know what makes a good coordinator (either side of the ball) other than “it works” or “it doesn’t.” Sometimes that’s enough to judge, sometimes it isn’t.
I don’t know if Rees is a C or an A or a B or whatever. I think he’s done reasonably well with some decent but not great CFB talent, and managed to overcome the lack of WRs last year and the crappy line this year. What I don’t know is how much the OC is responsible for either of those, and in what ways.
I think specific to Rees, a lot of fans still think of him as “Tommy NO” from his QB days, and think of him as only getting the job as OC because he was “Kelly’s Boy.” Thus they immediately zoom in on things that don’t work and blame Rees when it could be right play call, wrong execution, or choosing to pass because your offensive line is down to a pair of freshman and a turnstile with eligibility. Again, I don’t know–I asked Sampson in a mailbag midway through the season how much responsibility Rees has for how the O-line failed and got a convoluted answer about how it isn’t as simple as the OC is in charge of the O-line coach like it’s a military hierarchy. I think who you blame–Rees, Quinn, or bad luck–has a lot to do with who you come into the conversation disliking. I was never a Quinn fan, and so I tend to see it as Tommy having to call plays from a limited deck.
Maybe Tommy is just meh, and we’ll see that now that he’s got full authority. Maybe it goes well. As with everything, the truth is probably some things will improve, some won’t.
Correction: in some cases anyone with eyes can see a coordinator is no good.
Brian Ferentz.
Brian VanGorder…
FWIW, I think he absolutely did the right thing throwing as much as he did in the Okie State game. May have even run too much there.
Haha I remember you in the game chat. Nah, just seeing it elsewhere because of course if you don’t establish the run harrumph harrumph.
I think separate from the bowl game, there’s a good debate to be had of how much the OC is the CEO of the offense and therefore responsible for how bad the O-line and rushing game is, vs. the OC is the playcaller and we should cut slack for gameplans built around the reality we have rather than the ideal we want.
Which was Tommy under Kelly? Probably more the playcaller than the actual offensive CEO. Now? He’s the man. So I think moving forward it’s fair to include everything on offense–recruiting, development, execution, etc.–when we look at him as an OC.
Yikes, man!
I was as upset about the bowl loss as anybody but this level of vitriol about this continuity thing (which it seems like you’ve really built up into the only thing that could save Freeman and ND) is kind of bizarre? Here’s a thread from me today on the search, etc:
https://twitter.com/EMMurtaugh/status/1482760503009198082
You gotta breath! Let the process play out and see what the coaching staff can do. You’ll drive yourself nuts worrying about which choices are turning us down, who is or isn’t interviewing, etc.
Well, to be fair to that point of view, the two things that really were part of the Freeman package for him vs. somebody who had some track record of success were (1) recruiting ability and (2) continuity, and maybe not in that order depending on the person.
The continuity piece doesn’t hold up quite as well without Elston sticking around, so I suppose the value there relies on how important you think Rees and Balis are. Per above, I’m kind of [insert shoulder shrug emoji] on Rees, but Balis appears to be great… but also it seems like Balis would not have left ND regardless of who was the coach. To that point, then, I think one could reasonably view the last week’s worth of news as to some degree undermining the continuity aspect of the Freeman hire.
But: IMO the recruiting thing is way more important, and there’s enough continuity – and, very importantly, enough players sticking around for an extra season who could have left – that there’s still plenty of reason to be excited for Freeman.
yea it seems the continuity is more important at the top (which would be as you say Freeman, Rees, and Balis), so to speak because they are the ones in charge of keeping “the culture” going.
And then secondarily there’s still enough continuity below – at least on defense with Mickens and O’Leary staying around. Not sure Elston leaving impacts the offensive culture which has more turnover among coaches. Del needed to go, and Quinn was very unlikely to stay – so those two parts were never part of the original continuity package anyway. Having an assistant leave to go be an OC is good for ND and the normal process of things.
I have a hard time wrapping my head around believing continuity was going to be a pillar of the Marcus Freeman era. It isn’t mentioned at all in his introductory press conference.
Culture was brought up quite a bit and Freeman was pretty clear that was largely about the players. Even in that section of his presser where he’s talking about culture, Freeman mentions 2 coaches only: Rees and Balis.
Has continuity been talked about a ton on other sites?
I guess at first, once it looked like many on the staff were going to stay, that people were excited in the sense of them being loyal to ND and/or believing in Freeman.
I don’t see that the same as continuity as a huge selling point, though. In fact, Freeman is a lot different than Kelly in many ways and I’d think a ton of continuity would be a negative thing.
I guess I don’t really distinguish much between continuity and culture. Who sets the culture? Matt Balis? Freeman’s only been there for a year.
The point is implicitly the culture comes from the continuity… which there is now less of than anticipated.
But, to your latter point: part of the culture (or continuity, to the extent those are different things?) under Kelly is he didn’t fire assistants who were bad recruiters until it was too late. That’s a cultural problem! Hopefully that changes.
Like Freeman said, the players!
3 out of the 5 assistants who left virtually no one wanted here anyway. Were Elston and Taylor some massive “continuity” tipping point?
I think “continuity” was a narrative built in some corners of the media when there wasn’t a mass exodus following Kelly to LSU. It was then held up as a positive for Freeman as a first-time coach, that he would be moving into the role with mostly assistants he’d worked with for a year and so they’d help him get into the groove, so to speak.
If you have concerns about Freeman as an inexperienced coach, that might be something that helped you go “well, okay, we’ll see how it goes.” And now, with assistants we expected would stay leaving instead, it’s “oh it’s all off the rails”
Anyone who thought Taylor was going to be here long, doesn’t understand how things work. I’ll admit to temporally forgetting how they work, though I do understand it.
Perhaps Elston thought BK leaving was his best chance to grab the DC job and he was disappointed when he realized he wasn’t getting it. That would explain his abrupt change of heart.
Taylor allegedly was going to leave for Bama last year. As far as Elston goes, I can’t blame him, but perhaps don’t say you’re never leaving and your kids will go to ND and so on and so forth.
yea ACS has kinda gone off the deep one on this one.
Read your twitter thread and totally agree that fans have no clue about assistants.
alternate possibility
Kelly stays
1. Freeman gets head coaching job (or goes back to OSU as DC)
2. Foskey, Patterson go pro, no brandon joseph transfer
3. Assume all recruits stuck except jaylen sneed
4. elston either gone or promoted to DC
5. Taylor still takes OC job at louisville
6. Alexander fired but quinn retained
7. No justin rhytt or peyton bowen commitment
8. probably same fiesta bowl result
Obviously kelly today is a much better and more safe coach but frankly think things would be far less optimistic with kelly still at helm
Good points with a lot of positive dominoes have fallen as a result of Freeman being hired. Notre Dame couldn’t really control Kelly leaving, and once that decision was made there was always going to be a huge fallout and, quite frankly, negative results for the ND football program in the immediate future in terms of coaching turnover and probably not replacing them with as good as Kelly 2.0 was clicking along.
Freeman has five top-100 recruits for 2023, all not coincidentally are defensive players. If he can get a top 100 QB+WR[s] (and he probably will) then it’s already fair to say that naming him HC has paid off and plants seeds for the future.
Thought it was great that nd09 pointed out Smart was 8-5 in year one. Wouldn’t be too shocking if Freeman is close to that initially. For once we are going to have some patience and let a coach grow on the job and see if he can figure it out. Not a 100% certainty it happens, but it is a good bet to make given the proven results of 2022/2023 defense recruiting. (I really hate that the tOSU game is week 1. Taking up way too much oxygen as an instant measuring stick game where ND doesn’t measure up right now, and wouldn’t regardless of coach..)
But if ND is ever going to win in the modern era, this is pretty much the perfect blueprint for how it will be done: with a young, charismatic, engaging and strong leader. I don’t really see why there’s reason to be overly negative about position coaches moving around, that happens literally all the time.
Proposal: We never play teams with the acronym “OSU” ever again.
OSU series and A&M series looking like mistakes in retrospect
Actually I think tOSU is fine. I don’t think we’ll win this coming September, but I think the matchup the next year at ND gives us a nice measuring stick to see what improved (or didn’t) in Freeman’s first full year.
Plus the following year Stroud will be gone likely right? I know they’ll have talent of course but breaking in a new QB usually is not the easiest thing in the world even with 5 stars.
For me it depends on what we mean by “optimistic.”
If all the above happened, I’d be more optimistic that we’d somehow put together 9-11 wins next season.
I’d also be way way way less optimistic we’d ever do better than “playoff participant who loses by 3 scores.”
which is a great place to be that many programs would kill for!
I don’t think Freeman wins 11 games next year. He might not hit 10 in either of his first 2 years. But if he continues to bring the talent in (and learns a few lessons) he MIGHT–emphasis important–be able to assemble a roster and compete with the biggest boys in 3-4 years.
Or he could get fired and the NEXT coach uses that roster to compete with the biggest boys.
I’m more worried about the QB next year than I am about the coaches.
You and me both, brother.
good point.
Wait wait wait–Jay Bramblett is going to LSU?!?!
I thought he was going to Bama because he’s from Tuscaloosa and all that nonsense.
@Add it to the laundry list of bad things to happen in the last month, can’t even keep a punter away from Kelly@
Also Sampson’s list of candidates in the Athletic tells me I know literally nothing about the DC/assistant coach market other than DEAR GOD NO, NOT AL GOLDEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!?!
The rest of them? Eh….maybe?
Also seems really weird that the reason Heacock isn’t working out is because Freeman wants a HC to take responsibility for a position (so that they can have a designated special teams coordinator and be within the 10 on-field coaching limit) and Heacock refuses. I thought it was pretty standard for a DC to have a specific field position and the OC to double as the QB coach.
Related: that’s such a dumb rule.
If nothing else, Freeman could get Al Golden some shirts that actually fit!
I’m not so sure.
I tend to believe Al Golden has a body type that simply defies clothing fit.