Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Right before last week’s Rambler dropped we had news of Tommy Rees in talks with Alabama to become their next offensive coordinator. He gone.
Freshmen safety Adon Shuler is out for spring practice after having shoulder surgery.
The Tide are expected to hire Kevin Steele as their next defensive coordinator.
Reports are that the Big 12 has come to an agreement with Texas and Oklahoma about departing the conference after the 2023 season but that ESPN and Fox are unhappy with the situation and holding up a potential exit deal.
Also in the conference rumors, there are reports that the Pac-12 are in talks with San Diego State, SMU, and Fresno State as the league looks to add more television markets as they finalize their new television deal.
Florida State has boosted head coach Mike Norvell’s contract up from $3.75 million to $8.05 million per year through the 2029 season.
Defensive coordinator Lance Guidry coached a strong Marshall defense in 2022, jumped to Tulane this off-season, but is now headed to run the Miami defense for 2023. The Hurricanes will have to pay Tulane $500,000 for a contract buyout.
Boston College recently fired offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo which begs the question what took so long?
In the aftermath of Ed Reed leaving the program, Bethune-Cookman is set to hire alum Raymond Woodie who was the outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at FAU.
Uniform of the Week
I’m surprised Rice still plays football the the FBS level. They are the 5th smallest school in FBS and the 2nd smallest non-academy behind Tulsa. They’re the most difficult school to gain admission into in Texas and specialize heavily in science and engineering research. Not set up real well for football success! They have also been killing me with some of the most bland uniforms (see header photo) in college football in recent years. Someone at the university thought it would be cool to have blue jerseys with no TV numbers or nothing on the shoulders. Something needs to change.
Back in 2006, Rice was rocking this outfit from the folks at Adidas. If you can mentally remove the gray USC-like shoulder stripe and the wide piping down the flanks this is a really nice uniform. Even the helmet logo is a step up for them. I’m a big fan of programs who have so little history and tradition mixing things up with fresh uniforms. Rice going with boring blue and white in the modern era is the worst example of adding insult to injury. Give those engineers a little something extra to play for and get excited about!
Recruiting
Notre Dame got a verbal from Texan cornerback Leonard Moore (0.8826) last weekend. You can read the commit post HERE.
Quarterback Walker White (0.9382) committed to Auburn.
Coach Prime got a verbal from Louisiana athlete Ju’Juan Johnson (0.9172).
A big recruiting win for SMU as they get a verbal from wide receiver Jamyri Cauley (0.9327).
Athlete Jacob Oden (0.9344) committed to Michigan.
In-state receiver Mazeo Bennett (0.9187) committed to South Carolina. The Gamecocks are off to a hot start in 2024 and currently have the #5 class in the nation.
YouTube Channel
My older brother got a Nintendo in the late 1980’s and I don’t remember him having many games outside of Super Mario Bros. and Duckhunt which came with the console, if I remember correctly. He must’ve rented games a lot and returned them, often not letting me play. So perhaps I’ve blacked out all of that pain. What I do remember is going to my dad’s cousins (who were much younger than him so closer to a cousin to me) and playing Tecmo Bowl in the basement of their parents house.
I don’t ever remember Tecmo Bowl being a massive arcade game prior to its release on console. That thing looks like a beast. What really changed the game was Tecmo Super Bowl which released in late 1991. Adding the actual teams and more players while being able to play an entire season was groundbreaking. Kids these days will never understand the overwhelming joy in the early 1990’s when all these sports games were coming out and you could play (and save!) full seasons with real players and teams.
Tunes
Greta Van Fleet is a good example of how rock is dead. I mean that in the sense of it really seems like GVF are cosplaying as rock stars. I know that’s unfair because musically this band does have the chops. They are just so damn weird. First, the singer, guitar, and bass player are all brothers. Look mom, we’re on stage together! And then Josh Kiszka’s voice is a mixture between Robert Plant and Geddy Lee on steroids. Their somewhat limited sound (most of their work has been as if they are trying to copy Led Zeppelin’s Physical Grafitti) plus that shrieking voice is why I can only listen to a couple of their songs and then I’m done.
Recently, Kiszka’s weirdness went a viral when a clip from their 2019 Saturday Night Live performance of “You’re the One” was widely mocked and imitated on TikTok. Just watch this guy’s mannerisms, faces, and the way he moves his mouth when performing. The TikTok part specifically is from 2:52 until 3:05 and is hilarious to repeat over and over. Stop being so weird!
Trivia
Who was the last Big Ten team that Notre Dame defeated who would go on to finish the season ranked in the AP Poll?
The Other Football
Once again, Manchester City is embroiled in Financial Fair Play accusations. The Premier League have filed more than 100 breaches from the 2009-10 through 2017-18 seasons following a 4-year(!) investigation. The matter will go to an independent commission and City could be facing fines, points reductions, or relegation from the EPL. The defending English champions had their previous 2-year ban from UEFA competition overturned and will be appealing this pending decision, as well.
American manager Jesse March has been fired by Leeds and they’ve yet to appoints a new boss. They sit squarely in the relegation zone and are clearly panicking. The team blew a 2-0 lead on Wednesday night and allowed Man United to draw 2-2 at Old Trafford.
The Sean Dyche era got off to a splendid start this past weekend as Everton beat top-of-the-table Arsenal 1-0. Way to go, Sean!
The embroiled City couldn’t gain ground on Arsenal for 1st place after Harry Kane’s club-record 267th goal saw Tottenham win 1-0.
The Mexican national team is hiring Tigres head coach Diego Cocca. He had just recently signed with Tigres after managing Atlas for 3 seasons.
The chief executive of A22 Sports Management says a future European Super League (ESL) could include 80 teams and not have clubs grandfathered in to the tournament like the first controversial proposal.
Streaming
I was looking through the filmography of Bill Murray and the one thing that jumped out to me was how long ago Kingpin came out. I had remembered this movie being more in the early 2000’s era of comedy but Kingpin came at the tail end of Murray’s 2nd wave of hit movies in 1996 preceded by Groundhog Day and What About Bob? in the early 1990’s. Murray also was featured in Space Jam in 1996, too. He’s put together like 3 separate elite runs on film.
No doubt, if Kingpin gets made today it’s on Netflix. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing and probably opens the door to a potentially even better spin-off series featuring further exploits of Ernie McCracken and his rise through the underbelly of the bowling world. Matter of fact, can we get this show greenlit even if we have to cast the 72-year old Murray in some way?
A Look Back
We know with hindsight that the 2005 Michigan team wouldn’t be that good. Still, you could argue the Charlie Weis era peaked in his second game with the Irish. This is still the only win in Michigan Stadium since the first year of the Clinton Presidency, and that makes me want to throw up and never talk about football ever again. Michigan would go on to finish 2005, after this 1-1 start, on a 6-4 run. They got as high as No. 3 in the nation (for this game against Notre Dame) and finished unranked.
However, there were only good vibes about this game at the time. The weather always stands out and is a great memory from this “upset.” As much as we hate Michigan, these day games under the sun in this rivalry have been a huge fabric of college football. Let me stop myself before I log in to Rock’s House and bemoan the chance to arrive back in Chicago for dinner because Notre Dame-Michigan games are almost always night games now in modern times.
18S Paddock Club
Previewing each team on the grid for the 2023 season…
Team: Red Bull
Founded: 2005
2022 Result: 1st
Base: Milton Keynes, UK
Owners: Red Bull GmbH
Power Unit: Red Bull Powertrains Honda
Team Principal: Christian Horner
Drivers: Max Verstappen (9th season) & Sergio Perez (13th season)
The Good: I mean, just about everything? Red Bull pulled a double championship for the first time since 2013 and Max Verstappen won back-to-back titles while smashing dozens of racing records. After some brief reliability problems to open the season, Red Bull cruised in 2022 and absolutely nailed the new aero downforce regulations with their car floor. Even Sergio Perez did good things winning in Monaco and Singapore.
The Bad: Depending on whose side you take, either Perez got a little too big for his britches or Verstappen wasn’t enough of a team player which led to some friction culminating in Brazil this past year. Red Bull have done well squashing things and promoting tranquility, but you never know. Some people think the relationship between the drivers is severed enough that Perez could have a quick hook on his job if he doesn’t perform up to expectations in 2023.
2023 Hope: Red Bull and Verstappen are favorites to win both titles again, so that’s a good place to start. There are some new regulations tweaks (coming in next week’s Rambler) that may bring the likes of Mercedes or Ferrari a bit closer to Red Bull, which should bring a challenge. Otherwise, Verstappen & Co. are in a good spot as they are well placed to finish this 2023-25 set of years with their Honda engines before embarking on their recently announced partnership with Ford in 2026.
Trivia Answer:
Northwestern, 2018, no. 21 overall
Those Rice unis are just the early 2000’s Patriots uniforms, aren’t they?
Same silver shoulder stripe.
Sources: Texas, Oklahoma Reach Agreement With Big 12 to Join SEC in 2024
Boise’s market is much less than Dallas/Fort Worth, Fresno, and San Diego and then there’s the buyout to the Mountain West – $16 million if more than a year’s notice, $33 million if less – through 2025-26.
Wow, I would not have guessed that trivia answer, though I did have the season correct.
2005 was my freshman year, and we’d watched the Week 1 game (against Dave Wannstedt’s Pitt!) outside on the quad, so that Michigan game was the first I watched in my dorm. It definitely had a Notre Dame Is BACK! vibe to it. Also, Rhema McKnight! Was that the game he got injured in?
Also also, Chad Henne is still in the league somehow and has now played a small but vital role in 2 separate Chief playoff runs. What the hell
Henne has been in the NFL so long I kind of forgot about his college career.
I don’t even think of him as a Michigan Man anymore thanks to this
I’ll say it: ND night games are way better in theory than in practice. The 2005 USC game was perfectly timed and would have been (more of a) bummer if it ended at 12:30am. Also, I’ve been to a number of October night games: cold!
IMO they should switch between one or zero night games a year depending on the schedule, but it should never be against one of the consistently scheduled rivals.
You know what, fair.
I’m on board with this. Big ND games are better during the day (as much fun as the Clemson games were). I’m Team Old Guy on this one.
I’m ok with the non-rival big games being at night: Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, etc. Ideally if the game is in September. So, maybe one game a year, maybe zero games, depending on any particular home schedule.
Just no USC or Stanford or Michigan, much less UNC.
I’m moving more and more this direction every year, which I guess is getting old. Seeing clips of the old SC and Michigan games during the afternoon is some major nostalgia.
Wharblgarbl everything should be how I remember college being. Kids these days and their tick tocks.
Man FSU has gotten A LOT of traction for going 9-3 in the acc. We still all agree the acc stinks right?!? Norvell doubled his salary, granted this is unrelated but they have highest returning production and are a huge offseason winner. Man losing 3 times in that conference is kind of indefensible.
Be prepared for them to be ranked top 5 pre-season, too.
as long as they win week 1….
Pretty weird BK story this week too…
Yeah, that one happened late last night what the heck is going on…
what happened?
I don’t think I know the full story, or want to. From what I picked up I think some local TV station was saying BK was about to get divorced and all three of his kids fired back and said it wasn’t true. Bizarre but I guess typical SEC off-season fodder, unless I’m missing something.
Very strange. Did he bring gfs to practice or something?
I’m honestly surprised any D1 HC can maintain a marriage. It has to be one of the single most time consuming jobs on the planet.
I think for some head coaches, the less time around their SO, the better for their marriages. I’d probably put CBK in that category.
I had to google it but apparently there was actually a filing for the divorce then they said they reconciled. Very odd
I was checking the google machine about the OC vacancy… colin Klein of Kansas state was on campus, and some convo with the kent state OC.
Does anyone watch k-state football? I think that would be neat, the have spread option run game stuff that could be solid with the irish. I’m not sure the Kent state guys resume, but if I remember from a previous rambler, havent they averaged 600yards/game since like 2020?
I got a little antsy when I looked at K State’s running-play rate (they were #22 in the country last year), but somebody on the II message board pointed out that they were 60/40 run when Adrian Martinez was their QB because he cannot pass but they were more like 52/48 when Martinez got hurt. Considering he got the #21 F+ offense with Adrian Martinez and a backup QB, I’m feeling like Klein would be a solid risk. I don’t think there’s basically any quasi-home-run hire out there other than Moorhead, who apparently said thanks but no thanks to coordinating to both us and Alabama, so somebody relatively inexperienced but with good results so far like Klein seems like as good a shot as anything.
And just like that it sounds like Klein turned ND down… the intrigue builds.
ouch. that’s rough if we can’t pull a coach from KSU
Well, I mean Klein is kinda like Rees++. Other than one season as QB coach at Northern Iowa, Klein has been at K-State every year since 2008 as a player or coach, it looked like to me. Might be in retrospect, but not terribly shocking that he isn’t looking to go anywhere besides the place he’s been at.
Yeah I don’t blame him, particularly if he got a raise out of it. He’s a legend there, can probably live like a king on $1M+ in Manhattan, KS, and if he keeps it up would be the presumptive next head coach there.
I see some big 12/ k state fans doing victory laps but was he actually offered the job?!? that wasn’t reported anywhere and heather dinich specifically did not state that. Feels like with bama where lots of guys said they weren’t going there but none were reported to have been offered the job
Not sure what counts as posting premium content but if they didn’t offer him it was only in the most formal of senses. As of last night it sounded like the job was his and it sounds like he changed his mind.
Yeah I just saw the post on II. Really curious how this all shakes out
Man that Northwestern game was really kinda *weird*
remember Fitzgerald grabbing Tillery and yelling at him
People point to the USC loss as the best win of early Weis, but that Michigan game felt up there at the time. Lasting memories are:
A) the bullet TD which was thrown too hard for the defender to handle
B) the goal line fumble (had family at the game right in that end zone, apparently the ball was just lying on the ground for seemingly forever before it was just casually picked up
C) the announcers being absolutely incapable of pronouncing V Abiamiri’s name (not included in the highlights!?)
Also, Kingpin was a treasure. I’m sure it holds up to this day and is definitely not problematic
White on Rice
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At first glance, I sure thought there was a zippered fly on the pants
You’re thinking of Akron’s unis
These are good!
Greta Van Fleet is indeed bizarre. They’re not a cover band, but they blatantly imitate Zeppelin in every single aspect, down to how they dress, which in this day and age looks like high schoolers who just discovered weed and Zeppelin.
I’m sort of surprised no one else has tried this. Imagine a Pink Floyd version of GVF or something like that. Roger Waters would probably sue their asses off.
So what are our thoughts on Utah’s offense? My first opinion is that they were punching above their recruiting level, even pro-rated for pac 12 defenses so should bode well.
I’d prefer less a philosophy less based around tight ends and more about wide receivers in the year of our Lord 2023, but what can ya do?
Ludwig does sound almost perfect for what Freeman aspires to be as far as his comments on offense go, with OL strength and power-run type of offense to lean on. He’s also everything they prefer for experience with calling plays. Seems like it could be a very good fit, especially with the personnel that is on hand.
At this point, I doubt they do much better. But can Ludwig recruit or move the needle there when he now has to level up? Assuming they keep Stuckey and McCollugh in place that might not be a huge deal, but I doubt that’s a plus from the OC.
Good points, Hooks — but how will he do as QB coach, I wonder?
That could be the make or break issue, especially since no one on staff is a QB expert. Looks like the past couple seasons Cam Rising has been a pretty good college QB, but I don’t see much in Ludwig’s history to show he’s an exceptional developer of talent (looks like he just missed coaching Joey Harrington at Oregon by one year!) Like most his resume, it’s not bad by any means, but he’s going to have to level up a bit.
Probably would be a “high floor” type of hire where he won’t be poor, but to me it’s debatable just how high the ceiling is too.
I wonder if they could find a QB whisperer among “grad assistants”
Completely agree. I’m excited — assuming Ludwig gets hired, I think the offense this fall could be pretty darn fun to watch. All the strengths of the past few years with few if any of the weaknesses.
Greta van fleet. Haven’t decided if I liked them all that much. Maybe because i think LZ was a little overrated.
But here, I see a talented band having fun, probably 22 years old tops enjoying SNL. Let them be weird and have fun