ND <r>I swore after I read a post about Darby decommitting I was going to stay away from all ND sites and boards until after signing day. I just can't take this stuff anymore. I stayed away but last night couldn't take it anymore and went over to a ND site and what do I see?.......<br/> <br/> <URL url="http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/sports/irish-football/gunner-kiel-to-officially-attend-notre-dame-1.2742424#.TxWAsYEuszA"><LINK_TEXT text="http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/sports/iri ... xWAsYEuszA">http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/sports/irish-football/gunner-kiel-to-officially-attend-notre-dame-1.2742424#.TxWAsYEuszA</LINK_TEXT></URL><br/> <br/> This stuff its nuts, nuts I tell you. No, I'm the one who's nuts for following all this every year!!!!! I'm too old for this stuff. Somebody take my computer away! I'll have a heart attack before national signing day.</r>
Yeah I was completely shocked by Kiel deciding to flip to ND. I wonder what happened to him and LSU? Sort of softens the losses of Darby and Decker. I've also read that the key CAL recruiter, a guy named Tosh, has left for Washington and several CAL kids are now re-thinking their commits to CAL. Maybe we'll get lucky with the Armsteads, although classes started Monday at ND so while even ND might give a few days but they aren't going to be able to enroll 2 weeks late like they could at some schools. They will have to be there sometime this week.
I'm burdened by having seen Kiel's last high school game. As a result, I'm not convinced he's the second coming, but people more informed than I seem to think so. Time will tell. On another subject, John Goodman has been granted a 5th year. Hooray! We'll have our punt returner back. :lol: Seriously, Goodman is a talented kid. I hope he can break through in his 5th year.
I hope Goodman finally steps up and shows us that talent. Some have said he's just too low key a guy and doesn't "lust" for the NFL. Happy to be John Goodman. Maybe the fire will go on this year.
From what I've heard over the years from folks in Ft. Wayne who know him, that would be a reasonable assessment. I don't know about "too" low key, but he is not portrayed as intense. Perhaps he needs to find within himself a sense of urgency in his fifth year.
Sid nails it. BTW the Twitter world is afire with Gunner Kiels Mom being the reason he's at ND. Also rumors that Gary Darnell will be returning to ND as the LB coach. Still no final on an OL coach, everybody assumes it's former Tenn OL coach. Heimstrader or something like that. Taylor Decker after rumors that he was still considering ND....said umm no I'm a Buckeye and that's it.
With Kiel and Sheldon Day Irish, we kept two of the top players in Indiana in state!! Kiel was Mr. Indiana Football and Day was the runner up!! Quite a sweep.
rumors are Sean Cwynar will not be coming back, by his own choice. Evidently got his ND degree in 3 years, and now has a ND MBA. Not interested in the NFL and ready to move on into the business world. I'm impressed! Good luck to the young man.
ND <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Not funny Sid, not funny. But I get it. God, we need someone who can return punts to step up next year. Maybe one of the incoming freshmen. <E>:?</E><br/> <br/> PS: Terry, how do I re-size the Kelly Avatar?</r>
Joe Schad Twitter on Kiel <t>Joe Schad on Kiel very interesting<br/> <br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> Kiel today talked about how it occurred to him he should be a Midwest player<br/> 3 minutes ago<br/> Joe Schad<br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> When Kiel was packing for LSU this weekend, it hit him how far Baton Rouge was in comparison to South Bend, a three-hour drive<br/> 4 minutes ago<br/> Joe Schad<br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> Kiel believed Notre Dame would be an institution that could open doors for him in the future if even outside of football<br/> <br/> Kiel said today that Kelly and Notre Dame appealed to his "Midwest values."<br/> 3 minutes ago<br/> Joe Schad<br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> Kelly stressed to Kiel that he could help develop Kiel and that he was a good fit for the Notre Dame offense<br/> 3 minutes ago<br/> Joe Schad<br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> Kiel had a longstanding relationship with Kelly since recruitment of brothers Drew to CMU and Dusty to Cincinnati<br/> 4 minutes ago<br/> Joe Schad<br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> Kiel reached out to Brian Kelly this weekend after having second thoughts about LSU<br/> 5 minutes ago<br/> Joe Schad<br/> schadjoe Joe Schad<br/> Gunner Kiel enrolled at Notre Dame and signed scholarship form, school confirm</t>
I did not know about the longstanding relationship based on Kelly's recruitment of his two older brothers. Interesting. Tim, nice avatar! You inspired me to change mine. You and I seem to be the contrarians in some respects among the ND folks here relating to Kelly and Rees. I posted Rees' picture not because I think he should be the starting QB next season, but simply because he deserves respect for his season-long performance. On a semi-related matter, of little or no interest to ND fans, Dusty Kiel and another QB named Wright-Baker, who started several games this past season, have left the IU program. The poor get poorer.
Very nice story about Sean Cwynar and why he is choosing not to come back for a 5th year. He certainly represents the "right kind of guy" student-athlete at ND. Sean Cwynar Will Not Be Back
re: Sean Cwynar Wow. This is what college football is all about. He stays in one piece, despite playing nose guard, and picks up two degrees at one of the great business schools in the country. Wowza... re: Tony Robbins For over ten years, I once worked with a guy who had been Tony Robbins best friend at Glendora High School in Glendora, California. He told me a funny story, about how the two of them were ditching school and smoking dope. They thought they were so clever and so cool, as only a pair of 16 year-old punks can do. Then they were caught red-handed by a pair of cruising Glendora police officers who made them eat the marijuana, which made them both sick. I guess even Tony Robbins couldn't talk his way out of that one... http://www.biography.com/people/tony-robbins-16717567 re: ND recruiting I don't really worry about recruiting with this guy Kelly. He has more wabbits in his hat than Houdini...
All kidding and teeth-gnashing aside, a first-person assessment of the Rees and Coach Kelly situations is significant IMO. In my mind, it completely supercedes the media-driven portrayals of Kelly and the downright disrespectful fan attitudes - on the part of some - toward Rees. Someone on the other side of the issue might say that it's only one person's opinion, and I agree. What makes it credible for me is that it comes from a veteran guy who has earned credibility - as the ISD poster says - the hard way.
Yeah I thought it was interesting, esp given the ire of many ND fans about Kelly and Tommy Rees. Of course I also thought how sad that you can't have a dinner conversation without it ending up on the Internet within 24 hours. It also brings up the question as to what do football players know about evaluating their coaches and fellow players. How many times have we seen teams solidly behind their coaches who are going to be fired for losing. ND players walked out of the tunnel for Charlies last game arm 'n arm with him to show their love and respect for him, even though they were to lose yet again in their last home game under him. It happens all over the place, A&M players were solidly behind Franchione when he was fired even came to a press conference (whole team) to show their support. They would have taken Scott88 out behind the Dixie Chicken and beat hell out of him if he'd told them Fran sucked as a coach and deserved to be fired sooner!!!
Terry, you make an excellent point about players supporting their coaches even if the axe is about to fall or has fallen. For me, the Eifert comments are important because he is one of the de facto team leaders going into next season. If, in fact, he speaks for the majority of the team, or even for the seniors, who by the way are Weis recruits, then the potential for solid team chemistry is there, and whoever is named the starting QB will have the full support of his teammates.