Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Cam Hart and JD Bertrand had impressive weeks at the Senior Bowl.
Nick Saban is joining ESPN GameDay as an analyst.
Former USC defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is joining Wisconsin in that same role.
Bengals safeties coach Robert Livingston is set to become the defensive coordinator at Colorado.
Michigan has promoted quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell to offensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Mike Elston is headed to the Los Angeles Chargers with Jim Harbaugh.
Steve Belichick has been hired as the defensive coordinator at Washington.
LSU cornerback Denver Harris is transferring to UTSA.
ESPN, Fox, and Warner Brothers are teaming up to create a streaming sports subscription service to be launched later in 2024.
The All-American Bowl will now allow high school juniors to be invited to their all-star game starting next season.
Uniform of the Week
Recruiting visits aren’t always a perfect indicator of pending uniform choices. Plenty of teams like to break out the black (especially) for recruiting photos but then not use them in games. Recently, we had some visits to South Bend including Jerome Bettis, Jr. pictured down below on the right. We saw the Irish break out new green jerseys last year paired with green pants. Behold, recruiting photos with the jerseys and the white pants:
We love to see it. Since I’ve been watching the Netflix series on the Six Nations this looks just like the sharp Irish rugby uniforms. Now, Notre Dame would just have to wear green socks to complete the look. With the gold helmet on top, I think this would look awfully good. Dressing recruits in blue and gold cleats for this photoshoot bothers me though, let’s get it looking right.
Recruiting
The nation’s top cornerback Na’eem Offord (0.9980) committed to Ohio State.
A big pickup for UCF as the Knights gained a verbal from athlete Kendarius Reddick (0.9687).
Wide receiver Quintin Simmons (0.9119) committed to Kentucky.
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier (0.9297) has committed to Stanford.
Tight end Thomas Meyer (0.9102) stays in-state after a verbal to Iowa.
Another local product is staying home as defensive lineman Carius Curne (0.9257) committed to Arkansas.
Back in the 2024 class, former Boise State commit and receiver Gatlin Bair (0.9800) committed to Oregon.
YouTube Channel
No one is really sure what the ceiling will be for French rookie NBA player Victor Wembanyama. He’s a modest 45th in VORP right now on a dreadful San Antonio team (3rd fewest wins in the league through this week) and a more impressive 23rd in PER just behind the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum. Even in the freak show world of the NBA, witnessing an even taller and more muscular version of Kevin Durant is wild to see in 2024.
Wemby is also leading the league in blocks, and why shouldn’t he? He can go grab some popcorn and a pop from the concessions inside the Frost Bank Center and still have the length to turn around and block shots at the rim. He just turned 20, too. He’s like 5 years younger than Sam Hartman. It’s frightening for his opponents to think of what he’ll be in 2030.
Tunes
In the late spring of 1975 Elton John released Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and it would mark the end of an incredible run of albums in what I’d describe as the prime of his career. After this album, he’d fire a few members of his studio/concert band and entered into a very different point of his musical career. Still, John was coming off the wild success of the single “Philadelphia Freedom” earlier in 1975 and then dropped another awesome single from this new album at the time “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” a haunting biographical song about his past life.
Have you ever noticed how this song’s intro sounds almost the exact same as Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” from a year earlier? Pay attention to the drumming from Nigel Olsson on today’s track. He only dabbles on the cymbals until 2:20 when he then comes in hard. He unleashes some of the most thunderous tom-tom fills in pop music history, starting first at 2:52. It’s my favorite part of this song. When I was a kid, I thought they sounded like cannon fire from a ship.
Trivia
Which 2 NHL teams played in the 2019 Winter Classic inside Notre Dame Stadium?
The Other Football
Arsenal defeated Liverpool 3-1 this past weekend and moves back into EPL title contention. Manchester City beat Brentford 3-1 and are tied with Arsenal on 49 points, although City has a game in hand.
Jordan stunned South Korea 2-0 to reach their first Asian Cup Final. Host-country Qatar beat Iran 3-2 in the other semifinal.
Nigeria beat South Africa 1-1 on penalties in the Africa Cup of Nations while Ivory Coast (who fired their manager mid-tournament!) will play for the championship following a 1-0 win over Congo.
Bayer Leverkusen added a 90th minute winner to beat Stuttgart 3-2 in the DFB Pokal quarterfinals. Leverkusen now have 30 games unbeaten under manager Xabi Alonso. Will he take the Liverpool job at the end of the year?
The venues have been announced for the 2026 World Cup in North America. The tournament’s first match will take place in Mexico City, the United States will open up their first match in Los Angeles, and the World Cup Final will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The New York metro area won the final game over Dallas and Los Angeles.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup host cities 🏟️
Which city/stadium are looking forward to visiting the most in 2026? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/FlYBF968hJ
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 4, 2024
Le Parisien and ESPN among others are reporting that PSG star winger Kylian Mbappe is joining Real Madrid as rumored for years as his contract ends this summer. PSG were offering nearly $80 million per year and instead Mbappe will make around half that with Madrid.
The Chicago Fire have paid a club-record $12 million for Gent forward Hugo Cuypers.
TV & Movies
I watched an Instagram reel from a Double Dare episode and host Marc Summers was just throwing these little kids around the obstacle course trying to get them to finish. It has waned recently but “I’d like to take the physical challenge” was in the American lexicon for a long time because of this great TV show. Sponge Bob came much later and I missed it, but this was what Nickelodeon was all about for me as a kid. I even owned a black Double Dare t-shirt, and desperately wanted to be on this show.
This was the first game show to air on Nickelodeon, too. Eventually, the show became extremely popular and helped legitimize Nickelodeon in the cable channel world. I was also on the ground floor watching You Can’t Do That on Television, another Nickelodeon staple coming via Canada. The now iconic green slime came from YCDTOT, made its way to Double Dare, then invaded so many other aspects of Nickelodeon. Who knew back then, the green slime would be used on NFL broadcasts over 30 years later!
A Look Back
Isn’t the 2012 Stanford goal line stand the greatest play of the Brian Kelly era? Is it the greatest play for Notre Dame since the final snap against Florida State in 1993? This was such a fun time. Wins over both Michigan schools were in the bag and Miami were just trounced in Chicago the week prior. There were only 2 full possessions in the 4th quarter and the Irish got the back with just over 6 minutes remaining, down 3 points.
Then we saw among the highlights: Option play to Woods for 17 yards, Golson to Jones for 14 on 3rd down, an illegal block by Watt, the personal foul hit that knocked Golson out of the game (and he maybe lost the fumble!?), a false start by Golic, a chucked prayer to Eifert on 3rd down that resulted in pass interference, then a Brindza field goal to force overtime. The 3rd & 8 prayer rainbow throw to Riddick in overtime remains so absurd. Jones scored what would be the game-winning touchdown on the next play.
Louis Nix (RIP) missed a huge sack on 2nd down on Stanford’s overtime possession that would’ve made it about 3rd & 23 for the Cardinal. My goodness, he was so athletic during this period of his career. Instead, Nunes scrambled for 13 yards. The Irish uncharacteristically were poor on the ensuing 3rd & 2 that saw Taylor rush for 13 yards which then set up the glorious goal line stand starting at 1st & goal from the 4-yard line.
18S Paddock Club
Reviewing the 2023 season for each team on the F1 grid…
Red Bull
Place: 1st/10
Points: 860
Max Verstappen: 575 points
Sergio Perez: 285 points
The champs are here. Up until a few days ago it appeared Red Bull were going to have an awfully quiet off-season. No more! It’s been an incredible run for the team and especially Max Verstappen who heads into 2024 as the 3-time defending world champion.
However, news broke this week that team principal Christian Horner is under investigation for misconduct with an employee. Details are sparse but there’s apparently a legal team meeting this Friday which could provide some clarity. Or not.
Losing Horner would be a big blow to the team, although there’s been plenty of intra-team power brokering reported in the press as Red Bull (the parent company in Austria) has been much more involved in the racing team’s activities recently.
On track, as long as Max Verstappen is in one of the seats all should be well. He’s won an astonishing 44 of the last 66 races in F1 since the beginning of 2021. He probably should’ve been Time Athlete of the Year.
In the other seat, Sergio Perez is heading into the final year of his contract–and despite a 2nd place finish in 2023–the numbers above also show he was utterly destroyed by his teammate in all facets of driving. It’s not a super fun place for Perez to be, knowing 2nd place is the best he can do and depending on how that plays out it might not be good enough for a new contract with Red Bull.
Trivia Answer:
Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks.
That Stanford goal-line stand was great, but the one that stands out to me was the one at USC
I laugh when I think about that one, to be honest. Maybe I never felt like we were going to lose? It was a 9-point lead with a few minutes remaining in the game.
They were both great, Stanford for the sheer grittiness of stopping them short, USC for Kiffin having some of the worst time management I’ve ever seen.
I was at that game, sitting right at the goal line with my two brothers. This was one of the most horrifying, gut wrenching, anxious moments in my life. All that was running through my head – even after the stop, the relief and joy almost immediately morphed back into dread – was that USC would get a safety and then drive back down to score and send it to overtime. I loved that season so much in retrospect. At the time it was taking years off my life. But it’s still my favorite season that I can remember.
lol, yeah i remember you saying that…but toward the end i had no doubt at all. But you did rightly tell me to STFU when i tried to start a “Bring on Bama” chant
Humblebrag, I knew the trivia answer because I was at the game. My brother-in-law’s wife is a Blackhawks fan and she got tickets for Christmas. Since my brother-in-law is a ND Stadium usher and couldn’t go to the game, she took my wife and me because I am the only other person she knows who cares even slightly about hockey.
What an amazing game and a legendary defense – the fourth straight game they did not give up a touchdown. Any thought of staying somewhat dry was quickly abandoned. A fumble by Golson gave Stanford seven points. An interception by Jackson on the ND one and a blocked FG at the ND eight kept points off the board. A botched FG attempt from the Stanford 10 cost us three. Rees came in for Golson, who went out with a concussion, and led us to the tying FG on fourth down on the Stanford five with twenty seconds left. Overtime was right in front of the student section area and the noise seemed deafening. The Rees to TJ TD was a great catch and the noise got louder. Stanford drove to our 4. First down. Behind that Oline you knew they would run. They bullied people. Three yards in two plays took them to our one. Those two stops on the one yard line, followed by the tension waiting for the replay that was not overturned, then unleashed bedlam.
There are other great plays of the Kelly era, but the hindsight of saving the 2012 regular season, after the sun had set on an overtime game on a rainy day I don’t have a problem with the goal line stand taking the top spot.
Also from 2012
Golson to Brown for 50 yards at Oklahoma two plays after OU had tied the game for the first time since zero-zero.Five play stand against USC from the one yard line after USC was moved to the one on consecutive suspicious PI calls.Four straight rushes to punch in the game winning 3OT TD at Pitt.TFR touchdown rush against Michigan.Other year honorable mentions
2010 Harrison Smith interception at the ND one yard line to seal the win over USC for the first time in nine years while up four.2013 TFR throws back shoulder twice to draw PIs against MSU to move ND down the field to score the game winning TD.2013 USC turnover on downs at the ND 41 to seal the four point game2014 Golson 23 yard game winning TD pass on 4th and 11 to Ben Koyack against Stanford in the rain.2014 Golson 12 yard pass on 3rd and 10 to Ben Koyack against LSU to set up the game winning FG as time expired.2015 Kizer to Fuller game winning TD pass at Virginia.2016 <— There’s a 2016 play on the list. Trent Domingue extra point block, returned for a conversion by Shaun Crawford against Texas to tie the game at 37 with 3 minutes left in the game when ND was set, with a made PAT, to go down 3. Just an awesome play from a horrible season.
Apparently I had a lot to say on the topic of great ND plays from 2010 through 2021
Seems like forever ago, an impossibility
Beating Stanford was awesome there for a while.
Which makes you respect Harbaugh’s coaching ability, to take Stanford and Michigan to at or near the top.
It’s interesting to me how long David Shaw held it together until he very much didn’t. But it was more than a full roster cycle, not a classic two years of the other guys’ recruits then a tank.
Stanford collapsed precisely when NIL and the transfer portal came into play. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Heres a wholesome comment thread I adore 🙂
More fuel on this fire:
-2011 aaron lynch strip sack against MSU, maybe the hardest hit I’ve ever seen
-2011 george Atkinson kick return TD against MSU. Pretty stellar game.
-2015 kevari russell game sealing INT against the peskiest ranked temple team of all time.
-2017 second half offense against boston college. Coming off the UGA loss before we knew they’d be the death star, lots of questions lingered about ND, then they rushed for like 6790 yards.
-2022 Brandon joseph pick 6 on the first play against syracuse. That was the start of their global season collapse, but ND I think was reeling from the stanford loss, so what a huge spark in a road game against a ranked opponent.
“HE. IS. SACKED!” One of my favorite Tirico calls from his sadly brief time covering ND
Which game/play was this?
It’s this play right here. https://youtu.be/JQff-434kyM?si=ZuKEdF6wA3XljhtZ&t=11379
Also, mea culpa, on crediting both sacks in OT to Ogundeji, I was looking at game data for memory refresh/name spelling and that’s how it was listed there, but it was definitely Hayes on the second one.
Thank you!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, IRISH! What a great play, game, and day. Beating LSU in the Citrus Bowl right as Michigan finished collapsing against South Carolina was spectacular.
Bit of a tangent, but in retrospect, I think that Citrus Bowl win was as important to Kelly 2.0 as Utah 2010 was to Kelly 1.0.
Sadly it killed my formatting. Godspeed trying to read through that.
Editorializing – there was nothing suspicious whatsoever about those PI calls in the USC game. It was quite clear the plan was to basically attack Marqise Lee if the ball was thrown to him and dare USC to score on the ground, and Russell executed that plan.
Elton John is fantastic. It’s not from the same album, but Love Lies Bleeding shreds harder than anything Guns n Roses ever did.
Love Lies Bleeding kicks ass. I have never listened to Captain Fantastic, but the run of albums from his debut to Yellow Brick Road is amazing. I especially love Tumbleweed Junction
“Love Lies Bleeding” top 5 cardio workout song of all-time.
Good grief, I forgot about Grinch heading to Wisconsin. Barely 2 years ago I was in favor of Fickell over Freeman. It would seem there’s a reason I’m not an AD
The coaching carousel seems to be lasting longer and having more impact from NFL changes. Bill O’Brien, who was hired as Ohio State’s OC last month, has taken the Boston College HC job. Ryan Grubb, who was rumored to be a candidate for the Seahawks OC job returning to Seattle, has confirmed he will stay with Bama. No contract has been announced. Not only was Steve Belichlick hired by Washington as DC, but also Brennan Carroll, son of Pete, was hired as their OC. Their new HC, Jedd Fisch, coached with the Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Ravens, Broncos, Jaguars, and Rams.
Chip Kelly has been looking for an OC gig returning to the NFL and was a candidate for OC with the Raiders and Commanders. He has interviewed for the open Seahawks job. Chip is rumored to be a candidate for the Buckeyes OC opening. He would take a cut in pay as an OC and had signed an extension through 2027 after their 9-4 record in 2022. Chip does not like the current college coaching demands, will have long-distance travel for BIG games, and has heard that some wanted him replaced. Kelly’s buyout is $3 million.
UCLA has seen players transfer or commit to other schools based on his interviewing for NFL jobs. That would, of course, open the thirty day transfer window for them. Rico Flores, Michael Carmody and Ramon Henderson all transferred to UCLA.
As far as windows, Alabama’s thirty day window closes on February 12th and Washington’s closes a couple of days later. These late coaching changes are getting closer to spring practice dates, especially if Kelly leaves UCLA and players leave within the window. Bama fans are waiting for the announcement that Grubb has signed a contract. Shaky ground. Would Tommy Rees return to college coaching for an HC job or the Ohio State or BC OC job? If Kelly leaves, UCLA not only would have an opening but so would any college whose HC was poached by the Bruins.
Chip Kelly has been hired for the Ohio State OC job. That was fast. Probably in the works while O’Brien waited to announce. UCLA is on the clock. This too could be a quick announcement.
This is hilarious to me. What a dumpster fire UCLA football is
UCLA could have fired Chip and pay him $8.5 million if it was before December 2023. That figure dropped to $4.27 million after that time. With Kelly leaving for another job, he owes them $1.5 million – a $6.77 million difference but HC candidate options are now more limited.
Hah! Ryan Grubb is returning to Seattle as OC for the Seahawks. Maybe he has not sold his home there yet. The Bama search for a new OC is on.
Austin Mack, the #8 QB in the ’23 class, transferred from UDub to Alabama to follow Grubb and DeBoer to Tuscaloosa.
Last offseason we saw recruits donning the white jerseys white pants look so maybe this can actually happen as a uni combo? Although I’d like to see Gold/Green/Gold first
That 2012 Stanford game is such a founding moment in my life as a sports fan
I was 9 years old watching it with my dad and during the review he went “I can’t take this” and went outside and sat in the driveway and when I ran outside to tell him the call stood we freaked out and rode around the neighborhood blaring the victory march lol
I love this story.
I was at the Stanford game in 2012 and have two comments.
1) What the YouTube video doesn’t show you is what the ref said before he said “The ruling on the field, in fact, stands.” I still think it was one of the lousiest things I’ve seen a ref do before he made a call. What he said before was something about not assessing a penalty against ND for running on the field because the team thought the game was over. He said that no penalty would be assessed because “The ruling on the field, in fact, stands.” Why the hell did he do all that, rather than just say “The ruling on the field stands”? Instead, when he started talking about not assessing a penalty, the crowd went totally silent thinking the only reason he’d bring that up was if they were overturning the call. So, he gave everyone a heart attack for nothing. What an a__hole!
2) After the game, David Shaw complained about a big play that occurred during the 4th quarter, when Stanford had the ball inside Notre Dame’s 10 yard line. The play resulted in a sack because it appeared to me that Stanford messed up the snap count and snapped the ball with only a few offensive players reacting. An ND linebacker blitzed and got to the QB for the sack. It forced Stanford to settle for a FG which led to the tie at the end of regulation (the FG made the score 13-10, Stanford).
The play occurred on the south side of the field, and I was literally sitting about 10 feet away from the back goal line, where they used to have a small set of bleachers. So I had a better view of the play than Shaw did, and only those sitting around me and the players themselves had as good a view. Shaw said someone in the stands blew a whistle (his players said the same), which was his explanation for why so many Stanford players didn’t move at the snap (he said they thought the play was blown dead). I HEARD NO WHISTLE. Neither did the refs (I believe this to be the case since they didn’t react to any whistle from the stands and treated the play as having occurred normally). I would have heard it if it had happened since I was so close to the play.
Shaw was, for lack of a better term, a complete bitch about playing in South Bend. Phantom whistle in 2012, whining to the refs about the band in 2014, “bye bye” in 2016, getting his ass kicked as a top 10 team in 2018.
Good riddance.
I was watching that Stanford game from a bar in Blacksburg, Virginia! My undergrad roommate was at V Tech’s PhD program and I traveled for their game against… Boston College? (Nope, just looked and it was Duke. BC must’ve been a different visit). It was a noon game so we went into town to watch the Irish play. No one else had a dog in the game but we were entertaining so they were pulling for ND for us. Place went nuts when they ruled (CORRECTLY) that they had blown the play dead, no TD.
Skyler Diggins-Smith, a six-time All-WNBA guard, signed to play for WNBA’s Seattle Storm at the Max contract money level, joining former Notre Dame and USA Basketball teammate, Jewell Loyd, a five-time All-WNBA guard.
Diggins-Smith signed a two-year deal worth just over $422,000. Loyd, who has been a member of three WNBA championship teams with the Storm, signed a two year SuperMax contract extension last September for just under $500,00.
Eight-time All-WNBA forward Nneka Ogwumike also signed with Seattle on a one year Max contract for $204,500. Sue Bird retired and Breanna Stewart had left the Storm in free agency.
2024 WNBA Free Agency: How high can the Seattle Storm surge with Skylar Diggins-Smith and Nneka Ogwumike?