Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.
Top News
Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman and Oklahoma State safety Thomas Harper both committed to Notre Dame as grad transfers recently. Other transfer targets WR Ardel Anthony (Oklahoma), DE Anthony Lucas (USC), DE Rondell Bothroyd (Oklahoma), and DB Jalen Catalon (Texas) have chosen elsewhere.
Irish safety DJ Brown has announced he will return for a 6th season.
Defensive end Justin Ademilola will not be returning and is off to the NFL.
Long-snapper Alex Peitsch is transferring from Notre Dame.
Notre Dame finished 18th in the final AP Poll of the 2022 season.
Former Notre Dame linebacker Michael Stonebreaker became the 47th Fighting Irish player elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
After losing to Notre Dame, Shane Beamer will receive a new contract more than doubling his yearly salary to $6.5 million.
Tulane head coach Willie Fritz signed a contract extension through 2030.
The NCAA is investigating Michigan for recruiting violations. May I suggest the death penalty?
Bobby Petrino is the new offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
Quarterback Brennan Armstrong is transferring from Virginia to NC State and reuniting with his former OC Robert Anae who left Syracuse this past off-season after 1 season with the Orange.
Utah quarterback Cam Rising is returning to Utah for another season.
Ohio State left tackle Paris Johnson has declared for the NFL.
Pittsburgh top receiver Jared Wayne is headed to the NFL.
Clemson defensive lineman Tyler Davis is returning to Clemson for his 5th season. The Tigers’ wideout Joseph Ngata is off to the NFL.
South Carolina running back MarShawn Lloyd has transferred to USC. The Gamecocks got good news as quarterback Spencer Rattler is returning for 2023.
NBC has signed ESPN color commentator Todd Blackledge for their upcoming Big Ten coverage.
USC is bringing back defensive coordinator Alex Grinch which is certainly a decision.
LSU freshman quarterback Walker Howard has entered the transfer portal.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is calling for an end to the early signing period. The NCAA also voted recently to become more strict on undergraduate players who are asking to transfer for a second time and will rule on them on a case-by-case basis.
Former USC running back and Heisman winner Charles White has died.
Boston College has fired offensive coordinator John McNulty.
California athletics are leaving Under Armour and signed a 3-year deal with Nike.
Uniform of the Week
I’m always impressed with Missouri’s uniforms. They used to have these really terrible Nike template uniforms with the played out piping that looked dated after a couple seasons. They also were using a deeper gold (which as a Notre Dame fan I respect) and most of the time it didn’t pop real well set against their heavy black color scheme.
Since they’ve been in the SEC, things have been much better. In recent years, they’ve brightened the yellow, switched to a more classic set of striping patterns, all while introducing a ton of variation in the helmet and uniform combinations. Today’s look is from their bowl game against Wake Forest. That’s really sharp looking from head to toe.
Recruiting
We’re officially moving things over to the 2024 recruiting cycle unless otherwise noted.
Louisville surprised folks by adding edge rusher TJ Capers (0.9951) out of Miami and I’m sure they won’t be losing him to NIL or other shenanigans later in the cycle.
Notre Dame’s top safety on the board Peyton Woodyard (0.9819) committed to Georgia.
Florida 2023 quarterback commit Jaden Rashada (0.9742) has reportedly refused to sign and report to Gainesville over NIL issues.
YouTube Channel
I was a huge cereal lover as a kid. In the morning I’d eat a bowl while watching Sportscenter (RIP to those pre-internet days) and I’d usually have one immediately after school. I went through a long phase starting in college and lasting about 15 years where I didn’t eat much cereal. At that time, I wasn’t eating breakfast and I started adopting just 1 banana late in the morning (usually around 9:30 AM) as my first food of the day. With kids in the home now, we have 3 to 4 cereals on hand at any given moment and I’m starting to get back into a bowl here or there, more so on the weekends.
I am going to attempt the impossible and rank my top 10 cereals of all-time. Some that I have to include as honorable mentions would be: Honey Nut Cheerios, Froot Loops, Honey Smacks, Kix, Corn Pops, Honey Comb, and Boo Berry.
Here’s my favorites:
#10 Apple Jacks – Among my favorite for when you have a taste for these, they are so, so good.
#9 Waffle Crisp – Perhaps the most underrated cereal in history.
#8 Frosted Flakes – An OG cereal that always delivers.
#7 Cinnamon Toast Crunch – The leftover milk is one of the joys of this world.
#6 Raisin Nut Bran – Sometimes you get a box without enough chewy raisins but when you get a lot, LFG.
#5 Honey Bunches of Oats – This is probably my most eaten cereal as an adult.
#4 Rice Krispies Treat – This debuted sometime in the 1990’s and legit is one of my favorite memories of absolutely crushing boxes of this as a teenager.
#3 Cap’N Crunch’s Crunch Berries – Your teeth and roof of your mouth pay a price that is 100% worth it.
#2 Frosted Mini Wheats – Nearly my champion but comes up just short. Also, try regular Shredded Wheat with peanut butter, some sugar, and eat that with milk.
#1 Golden Grahams – Pound for pound the best to offer. It’s great dry and great soggy. It always delivers.
Tunes
In my time digesting and reading comments about American bands no one seems to be slandered quite as often as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Maybe, Eagles get more derision? I’ve never understood either angle to the degree they receive. Once RHCP blew up in 1989 I’ve been with them every step of the way and even if they aren’t your style, I think it’s undeniable their style and longevity without compromising or morphing into something weird and off the mark has made them American icons.
Three out of the 4 band members are now in their 60’s and they are still making good music! I’d argue RHCP haven’t put out a bad album in any of their last 10 stretching back to Mother’s Milk. This is some truly historic work for a band that many didn’t think was going to make it through the 1990’s. Guitarist John Frusciante re-joined the band in 2019 and they released 2(!) albums just last year. The first single “Tippa My Tongue” from their latest album Return of the Dream Canteen was released in August and became their 15th song to top the alternative rock airplay chart.
Trivia
How many red zone touchdowns did Notre Dame allow in 2022 from 34 attempts?
The Other Football
It’s been a quiet return to club football as the EPL is taking a small break as cup tournaments have been played over the last week or so. Recently, Man City crashed out of the League Cup 2-0 to Southampton. Actually, it’s a smart move to get rid of those games to be more healthy so they can chase down Arsenal at the top of the table. It’s going to happen, RIGHT?
Rumors are swirling that the Qatari ownership group at PSG are interested in buying a Premier League team with Tottenham squarely in the news for a $1 billion or more stake in the club.
PSG and Al-Nassr will be playing an exhibition game on January 19th which feels like an incredible troll job for Messi fans.
The Todd Boehly spending spree at Chelsea continues this transfer window as center back Benoit Badiashile ($38 million), midfielder Andrey Santos ($12 million), and forward David Fofana ($12 million) have been brought in with Joao Felix arriving on loan from Atletico Madrid for $11 million. Chelsea is also close to signing Benfica and Argentina star Enzo Fernandez for $100 million plus. Financial fair play, what is that!??
Streaming
Sean Payton is back in the news again as the Denver Broncos are reportedly interested in his services for their head coaching vacancy. He stepped down from coaching the Saints for 2022 but New Orleans still owns his rights. Payton just turned 59 so you have to think he will come back to a NFL job at some point, but the Broncos seems like a terrible idea right now. Nice play to live though. Today, I wanted to discuss the utter insanity of Payton agreeing to, green lighting, and starring in a cameo of Home Team about his life after the 1-year Bounty Gate suspension from the NFL.
I will never in my life spend time watching this movie. That they cast Kevin James in the role of Payton should’ve shut down production before principal photography even began. The movie is so unbelievably cringe in every respect and so bad that you can barely get any thorough plot of the movie, probably because it’s wafer thin. No doubt, this was one of the worst movies released so far this decade. If anyone has watched it, please let us know.
A Look Back
I was recently reading an article from The Athletic going through the top 50 most memorable college football games of 2022 and things started off with the Nebraska-Northwestern game in Ireland back in week 0. Hey, Notre Dame will be playing in this spot next time the Fighting Irish suit up. I look forward to the morning game in the eastern time zone. That was a great aspect to the 2012 game, taking care of business and sitting back for an entire day of college football without worry.
This game was hilarious for both teams. Northwestern exploded for 528 total yards, their most in 2 seasons against a Power 5 team, then didn’t score over 30 points in any game the rest of the season on their way to a 1-11 record. And as we know well, Scott Frost didn’t end up surviving the season and was ultimately fired. Too bad, it was such a fun opening game to the season and not so much for either of these programs on the whole of 2022.
18S Paddock Club
Previewing each team on the grid for the 2023 season…
Team: McLaren
Founded: 1966
2022 Result: 5th
Base: Woking, Surrey, UK
Owners: The McLaren Group (and other investors)
Power Unit: Mercedes
Team Principal: Andrea Stella
Drivers: Lando Norris (5th season) & Oscar Piastri (1st season)
The Good: Lando Norris continued his ascent in the sport and picked up a bunch of accolades as one of the best drivers on the grid. The team continues to stabilize with its finances and sponsors while pushing forward with an appeal to American fans. Despite being in the midfield, McLaren continue to be among the most popular teams in F1.
The Bad: It was mostly a not fun 2022 season if we’re honest. Serious brake issues completely derailed the first 2 months of the season and it appeared McLaren could never claw back that development time. The team spent most of the season dealing with the decaying skills of Daniel Ricciardo and if they’d get out from underneath his contract that run through 2023. They also lost team principal Andreas Seidel in recent weeks as he left to be the CEO of the new Audi project preparing to take over the Sauber team in the coming years.
2023 Hope: McLaren did end Ricciardo’s contract early and swooped in to sign the best young driver from the junior ranks in Oscar Piastri. The Mercedes power unit proved to be extremely reliable and if Piastri can start putting together some decent results in tandem with Norris then the team has a good chance to move up at least above Alpine in the constructor standings. More so long term, there’s a chance for an extremely bright future at McLaren. When the new regulations arrive in 2026, Norris will still be just 26 while Piastri will be 24 years old. That could be the best tandem in F1 by that point.
Trivia Answer:
27 touchdowns 🙁
CPS call was needed.
I was not blind to this fact as a child. On vacations, we’d usually drive wherever we went. On longer drives, we’d stay overnight on the way and we’d get the little, single-serve boxes of cereal in the wax-paper bags that you could eat out of. I lived for those boxes.
Are you my long lost sibling? The vacation tiny boxes memory hits so hard.
Those were great, but my parents would buy the variety 12 pack for 3 kids on vacation. It was nearly all out war on who got the Frosted Flakes and who would get stuck with the last 2 boxes of straight Raisin Bran.
Yeah, that’s also what I’m referring to. Fuck out of here with regular Cheerios when I can have Lucky Charms or Trix.
Haha, yes those things were life. We would have to have a cereal draft, with all the pomp and circumstance of the NFL draft, and celebrations to boot for the early desirable selections.
Raisin bran was always the undrafted free agent and only thing left on the last day
Love the cereal discussion. I’m surprised you fell off on cereal consumption during college. I probably averaged 2-3 bowls of cereal a day at NDH. My favorite thing was that, if all the hot meal options were garbage, I could always eat cereal for dinner.
Furthermore, I’m here to stand up for grown-up cereals, which here have been slandered as “cardboard”. One of my go-tos that has yet to be mentioned is Quaker Oatmeal Squares. Great dry, great with milk. The secret is the layered construction, so that even when they get a little soggy on the outside, they’ve still got a crunch inside. Another not mentioned is Cracklin’ Oat Bran – also great dry or wet. Honey Bunches of Oats is another every day winner, as well as Raisin Bran Crunch.
When I was a kid I was a big fan of Reese’s and Cocoa Puffs. We ate RKTs as well, but I agree they always tasted off to me. Even when I was little I never liked the marshmallow stuff.
Cracklin’ Oat Bran! I was afraid to mention it because I thought I’d sound crazy. Maybe the most inverted “gross sounding name to flavor” cereal there is. (Perhaps Nut & Honey and Honey Smacks would be in the discussion, but for different reasons)
Cracklin’ Oat Bran was a surprisingly (not to me, because I love it too) popular choice in the writers’ room. I feel like hardly anyone has ever heard of it anymore, but it’s excellent. Also in the category of good cereal the average person might not even know/remember is made anymore: Crispix.
I had many meals in South Dining Hall my sophomore year that were primarily dipping Cracklin’ Oat Bran in slabs of peanut butter.
Relatedly I put on some weight that year.
Went to the grocery store last night and picked up a box of Cracklin’ Oat Bran. It holds up. Although, my wife saw just the cereal in the bowl, pre-milk, and thought I had poured a bowl of dog food for the dogs we no longer have.
Where are the chocolate cereals? I doubt I could stomach more than 2 bites today, but as a kid Cocoa Puffs was a clear #1. Bonus points for the leftover milk too.
Yeah, obviously not a huge lover of chocolate cereals. I do like Cocoa Puffs just fine. Count Chocula, too.
Breakfast was the only meal we ate fairly healthy. Wheaties, Corn Flakes, Oatmeal, Shredded Wheat. That’s what Dad liked. Pop Tarts were the treat.
That makes me want to ask questions about lunch and dinner, were they overly not healthy!?
I guess that would depend on who you ask. Let’s just say relatively speaking they weren’t as healthy. I’ll add my Dad liked spam, canned salmon and “my favorite” liver. He also liked his meats well done. Processed meats were in abundance. It was a different time, granted.
I’ve reached the age where only the grown up cereals on the list (36 and #5) sound good. Everything else just tastes like Calvin and Hobbes Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.
I did pretty much make it through grad school on Raisin Bran Crunch though, 1-2 meals a day. The cheapness helped, but it was just darn tasty and convenient. Still like a box now and then, and to snack on the kids’ Special K with yogurt .
The thing is, if you look at the nutritional facts Honey Bunches of Oats has the same profile as all the “kids” cereals. It’s all still sugar — it’s just dressed up to look adult. I was very disappointed when I discovered this, felt robbed.
Thumbs up for the Calvin & Hobbes reference. It turns the milk purple!
Agree 100% with Honey Bunches of Oats as really the go to adult cereal. It’s just so solid (runner up being Honey Nut Cheerios). I have to give some love to the Pebbles cereals (Fruity and Coco) – both never disappoint. I particularly like my Coco Pebbles with banana slices. My number 1, even though I don’t eat it a lot would be Frosted Flakes. You almost take for granted how great it is.
Never a fan of the RHCP. I’m just not a fan of singers who can’t sing trying to sing. They are much better off staying away from the ballads. Just my opinion.
Pebbles are vastly inferior to Rice Krispies. They get soggy faster. Cocoa Krispies for a chocolate flavored puffed rice cereal.
With Cam Rising’s decision to return to Utah, the top QBs in the Pac 12 next year include: Caleb Williams, Michael Penix, Bo Nix, Cameron Rising, DJ Uiagalelei, Shadeur Sanders, Cameron Ward, and Jayden DeLaura. Jack Plummer is transferring again this time to Louisville for 2023 where he rejoins Jeff Brohm. Five of those eight Pac 12 QBs will move on to the NFL next year.
Tanner McGee and Dorian Thompson-Robinson move on to the NFL this year. .
In case it hasn’t been mentioned before, DJ’s brother, Matayo, committed to Oregon. He’s ranked as a five star LB. The rivalry game could take on an added storyline.
Not even the second best Cap’n Crunch variant (PB baby). Otherwise a good cereal list. Crispix would have made my own top 10
It’s funny, I shared my list with our writers room and there’s something about peanut butter cereals I just don’t enjoy that much. And I love peanut butter.
Crispix was also discussed. Underrated for sure. Do NOT give it to kids if it’s dry. That was one of the first cereals we bought for my oldest and served dry you can’t vacuum enough to catch up with all the tiny pieces on the floor.
Peanut Butter Crunch being left out of my own contribution to that discussion was criminal. It’s elite cereal. And I generally can’t stand peanut butter flavor in anything (though I don’t mind peanut butter itself).
I feel the same way about fruity cereals, and I love fruit! Hard pass on marshmallow cereals, too
Gotta add Sprinkle Spangles to the kid cereal list
I’m looking at the box…..have I tried this cereal!???
I vaguely remember this having a similar fake, chemically taste to that of your beloved Rice Krispies Treats cereal, so you might have enjoyed it.
They pulled the product after like three years because even children said it was too sugary. Kindergarten me remembers it being fantastic though haha.
Did no one else also enjoy Reese’s puffs?
I actually just bought a box this week for the first time in a long time. They were on sale at $1.99 and when is the last time anything has been $1.99?
I eat cereal every morning and I literally will buy almost any cereal that is available for $2, which does happen sometimes.
I do think that Armstrong was in line to go to ND, but once we got Hartman, he had to find another suitor.
Rice Chex and Krispex with honey as a sweetner and milk were some of my favorites. Also I liked LIFE cereal. Could never eat Capt’n crunch, that just tore up the roof of my mouth. Grape Nuts was also a favorite, again with honey. My goto was probably Honey Nut Cheerios. The almonds in Honey Bunches of Oats are supposed to make you feel like you are eating healthier.
Life – Original or Cinnamon? There is a correct answer.
Original
Welp, good effort.
DrIck has some cereal opinions when his parents fed him cardboard sprinkled with pepper as a kid.
Original Life is cardboard, though. You’d be so lucky to have some pepper to zhuzh it up.
Life has a surprising nice little flavor to it, IMO.
If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
I would love to hear the information that will prob never come to light about the backchanneling of grad transfer QB recruiting and how teams and players juggle each other to both end up in the best spots possible.
Could be wrong, but I doubt ND was ever all that in on Armstrong (which is in-line to what was reported). From the sounds of it, it seems like Hartman was the first choice and was keen on them too from the beginning and it was a pretty smooth process.
Again, maybe not accurate, but for once I think something actually went easy and exactly according to plan as far as ND wanting Hartman from the beginning and him basically being totally on board with it too, requiring probably not too much in the way of backup planning with everything going right and working out.
Looks like Clemson is getting Garrett Riley for OC. Like the move for Dabo, they’ve needed some fresh blood and ideas offensively for the longest time. Hopefully it’s not a home run hire.
It can be a home run hire for Clemson, as long as ND has the defense to stop it, for those years we play. I see a lot of prognosticating of FSU being the team to beat in the ACC this next season.
https://twitter.com/mattfreemanISD/status/1613943156638384131?s=20&t=2lM106qmowfaiZso7jURaQ
Just added grad transfer DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste.
I am scratching my head over scholarship numbers.
Are we still going after Vaughns?
Also, reading the ISD article, this guy sounds like he was solidly in the OSU DL rotation. 19 tackles, 4 sacks this year. That seems way better than what I was expecting for a DL grad transfer this year.
Sounds like we are trending away from Vaughns.
And looks like CJ Williams picked Wisconsin.
I can imagine we would take two and this guy has better stats against better competition.
We are 9 over right now. If as Hooks says 10-12 are leaving, we are ok. Given classes start on Tuesday, I can’t imagine we will get any departures from now until May. Anybody here is staying for a degree or see what happens.
At this point, we only have three days to take someone for spring ball too.
Fairly open secret that 10-12 will be transferring out, not a shock at all just a matter of who (even though a lot is predictable) and when. I wonder if any are staying through May to graduate, since the undergrad portal is closing on 1/18.
Transfer Portal recruiting is so much more exciting than regular HS recruiting.
As an adult, I find it preferable. It’s less time consuming and disappointing. No following a kid for 2 years before he eventually commits to Bama. Now, it’s just BAM, look at this guy who I’ve never heard of! Also, my wife can’t say “are you reading fan fiction about high school boys again?”
Saw this comment on Eleven Warriors and thought it was worth sharing:
I am guessing Eleven Warriors is an OSU site? They could surely make such a fundamentally ignorant post about Catholic culture, especially at a school founded by French religious. Ah well.
What do you mean? Catholics notoriously hate John the Baptist
I live in France (Saint Cloud, our church founded in 522 AD) — I and or my sons know like a dozen Jean-Baptistes. All Catholic! OK, some of them go by “J-B” but still…
It is. The comments were generally nice. Most were along the lines of “happy for him getting the opportunity, wish him well, just not when ND plays OSU”.
It is funny.
All Bran Bran Buds. IYKYK.
OK, I’ll bite. (sorry!)
In the search as a dad for “healthy” breakfast cereals — especially crucial in France as their cereal shelves are stocked only with the absolute worst 90% sugar brands a la Calvin & Hobbes — we found that Quaker Oat Squares were a nice compromise. My boys (now men) still consume them in quantity, obliging me when they return for visits to make runs into Belgium to shop at the commissary. QOS can be supplemented with Cheerios with fresh raspberries or blueberries. Yum!
Total other topic, but sort of a Rambler related one: I was turning off my TV at midnight and happened upon the mid 3rd quarter of the 49ers-Seahawks playoff. While looking to see how Mike McG was playing, I happened to note that the 9ers QB was in fact an old opponent of ours, this rookie Purdy. He seemed to be playing remarkably well for a rookie, who as I gathered was drafted dead last. Is this a thing? Is there any significance for any of our QBs, or even for judging QBs in general?
Whatever happened to Ian Book btw? Sorry but I am not so much following pro football but insights welcome.
You mean the Ian Book who helped* lead the Philadelphia Eagles to the best record in the NFL?
*Helped by letting Jalen Hurts play in all the important games and Ian rode the bench as QB3 behind Gardner Minshew.
Thank you both. I now see Drew Tranquill got sad last night. Guess I’ll pull back the covers and start watching some of this..
Brock Purdy was indeed Mr. Irrelevant in his draft. Currently 6-0 as starter and playing well for the Niners.
Book was waived by the Saints right before the 2022 season. The Eagles claimed him and I think he spent all but 2 or 3 games (while Jalen Hurts was injured) on the inactive roster.
Also, you can get your Brock Purdy swag here – https://www.raygunsite.com/collections/t-shirts-1/brock-purdy
Just thought of another cereal that a lot of you probably walk past and don’t give any thought to. Malt-o-Meal’s S’mores cereal. Yes, the ones in the bag. It’s basically Golden Grahams + Lucky Charms marshmallows + Cocoa Puffs. I won’t buy them anymore because I won’t stop eating them. Plus, I think it has trace amounts of Niacin, so it’s healthy!
Apparently the junior recruiting weekend went well, the 247 guys said they have 8 crystal balls to announce today. I guess getting over the finish line and holding for almost a year is a big challenge these days, but seems like a lot of groundwork on the 2024 class was done in the last few days.
That is good — and honestly, to attract and keep athletes who also embrace the entire ND experience — probably good to have a base of them that one can keep working on for a year. They won’t all stick, but looks like a fair amount will.