Brad Caricco becomes the first Notre Dame verbal for the class of 2011. He's listed as a DE, but many think he could also play OL. He is from Brady Quinns old HS, Dublin Coffman. Coach D over on Irish Sports Daily gives him good marks, rates him a 4 on a scale of 5.
Terry.......... <t>This is great news as this is where a top recruit is needed the most as we stand today looking at the Irish roster. Nice size and speed on his tape.</t>
Not that this really means a lot, but FWIW Tom Lemming thinks the Irish are off to a great start. Lemming Article in South Bend Trib
recruiting <t>Terry,<br/> <br/> Excuse me if I don't get so excited this season about recruiting. I just find it hard to believe any of these kids verbal commitments until they fax in signed LOI on signing day. Been burnt to many times.</t>
I'm sort of with you Tim, naturally I hope we have a coach that will get the job done both in recruiting and on the field. But after the last few guys, I'm trying to contain myself and not get overly excited about anything till we see how next season looks and who actually follows through on their verbals by signing a LOI.
Interesting article on Joe Montana and his sons Nick (Washington) and Nate (Notre Dame). Joe Montana and Sons
Irish Football back on the field today!!! The Kelly Era begins! I do believe that Kelly inherits a much better program than Weis got from Willingham. There are problems no doubt, but Weis was a better recruiter and Kelly will have a better balenced squad in terms of talent depth. Charlie did get Quinn, Jeff Samarzdja, Tommy Z, and a few other guys who were the core of his 9 win BCS teams. At QB Kelly gets Dayne Crist who is taylormade for his offense and ran a similar offense in HS. If Dayne is 100% to start the season he should be to Kelly's offense what Quinn was to Weis. Michael Floyd is more talented than Jeff Samarzdja, and the rest of the WR corps is deeper and more talented than what Charlie had to work with. Duval Kamara probably can duplicate the year that Stovall had in 2005, and young guys like Goodman, Walker, Evans, Riddick should do very well in the Kelly spread. At RB Weis only had Darius Walker, Kelly has Armando Allen, Robt Hughes, Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood a 5* player in HS. Our TE's in Rudolph and Mike Ragone are outstanding. The OL is of course the unknown. There is talent there, and hopefully the new staff will get it to perform. The defense is where all the questions are, new staff, new scheme (3-4). A lot of young guys who haven't proved themselves. One big time stud in Manti Te'o at LB, but a lot of guys who were thought would be great but haven't been so far. Harrison Smith was said to be too talented to not play, but he's not been a good player on the field. RJ Blanton so far has been all hat no cattle. Guys like Filer, Fleming, Neal, Smith were all welcomed as big time players when they arrived on campus so far haven't really done all that much. Really the defense has a lot of players more was expected. Maybe the new staff and new scheme will be what these guys need. If we'd had a good defense last year Charlie would have won 8 or 9 games and he'd still be the head coach. I don't know why but my favorite player on defense after Te'o is Zeke Motta, maybe it's just his name but I hope he has a great year. Go Irish!
nd <t>Terry,<br/> I'm starting to get a little excited <br/> About spring ball myself with Kelley at the helm. Hell I just love finally seeing the dude with an ND monogram on his shirt. Its gonna be the toughest spring most if these players have been through. <br/> You're right about having plenty of good talent on offense and I'm sure Crist will handle the new offense fine. Gotta worry about the D though.<br/> Regardless, ND starts this season with a true College football coach for the first time any many years. I'm betting we'll see a much better product on the field.</t>
I'm giving Kelly the full benefit of the doubt in that he can coach up talent to its full potential. With that said, the thought of Harrison Smith at S this year gives me the dry heaves.
Terry, After Te'o...Start chanting Carlos, Carlos, Carlos....Well I hope so. With his speed and strength I hope he gets a chance this year at LB. Him with Te'o can knock people out.
About ten days ago Carlo called me from his car.... he was on his way to South Bend with Carlo Jr and Theo Riddick in the car for an unscheduled meeting with Kelly. He called me on his way home a couple of days later.... I wasn't around to take the call but he was very excited to tell me about something. I'll try to reach him over the weekend and get the details.
I never read much about Carlo, I see that Kelly has moved Paskorz to MLB and mentions McDonald but nothing yet about Carlo. I read the transcript of Kelly's press conference and I liked what I was reading. I'm encouraged that the man knows what he's doing.
That simple comment should provide a mountain of motivation for the kid. In retrospect, it seems to me that motivation - individual and group - was the most critical ingredient lacking in Weis' approach to coaching. It's an elusive factor. Sometimes you may think you are motivating because the players look you in the eye and yell when you speak, but it's really an illusion compared to true motivation. Because Weis had never been a head coach, he had not dealt with this factor on a team basis until he came to ND. Same with Jerry Faust (who had numerous other issues). Same with Bob Davie. If this guy can motivate along the lines of an Ara or a Lou, we'll be back very soon.
Kelly is not messing around. In Harrison Smith's case, he reported with a man's haircut this time. That may be an indication of his renewed emphasis on staying on the field. Kelly's biggest surprise was the conditioning of the players. Too heavy with too much bodyfat. To that end he has combined the new strength coach's regimen with a new training table diet. Another thing that shocked him was the casual nature of the typical Weis practice whcih featured too much Bon Jovi and way too much standing around. More later.
ND <t>Even after only a couple of spring practices you can feel this is a lot different from any spring football in SB in a long time. The comments you hear from the players and the video show a much more intense camp than CW ever had. I think the players are finding out Kelly may be a nice guy but when it coming to practice he is all business. Hopefully the boys can pick up the new offense cause it's coming at them hard and fast. Fall behind and you're gonna be left behind by this staff.<br/> <br/> One thing I'm pleasantly surprised by but guess I hadn't really thought that much about is the lack of any players leaving/transferring. I know it still may happen this spring but so far so good.</t>
Tim should like this! Clips of Matt Mauk (Bens Bro). He'll be a Jr this fall and is expected to be one of the top 2 or 3 QB's in his class (2012). Supposedly Kelly is very tight with the whole family and it would be a suprise if this young man does not come to ND to play for Kelly. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r6_NaNx6_O8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r6_NaNx6_O8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
ND <t>Terry,<br/> <br/> The Mauk kid looks real good and a nice fit for the new offense. Nice arm and good movement with the ball! Be nice to have this one for sure! If the Irish can come up with a descent season this year he'll probably be in SB in 2 years. <br/> <br/> From the reports at Spring ball it looks like if we are going to see any defectors from the Irish team it will be in the next month. Kelly is really putting them through some tough workouts and isn't taking any excuses for substandard performance. Looks like a lot of them seem to like his style of coaching though.</t>
Tim, Jordan Prestwood, OT who has a blue chip offer list that includes USC and Fla...will announce today. Irish were his leader after his Jr. Day visit. I'm hoping nothing has changed and he will announce for ND.