Great article on Drue Tranquil on Irish Illustrated. He was one of my favorite players in the Kelly era. It started as a quest to be the best special teams performer on the Los Angeles Chargers’ roster. It ended with Charger brass challenging Drue Tranquill to return as a starting linebacker for the 2020 season. That’s Tranquill. That’s what Tranquill does. He finds a niche, owns the niche, and then continues to elevate his game as a leader, whether it’s as a freshman at Notre Dame or a fourth-round rookie in Los Angeles. Drue Tranquill’s Rapid Rise To Prominence In The NFL
everything else is aesthetic, the only thing that sticks in my craw in the fact that his best teams get their ass kicked on the big stage.
Many? Come on, Terry. The appropriate word is "some" or "a few". What is it about those changes that's negative, other than not keeping things the way they were in the past? Tradition? Excuse me. Perhaps I should re-phrase and consider what the "many" seem to want. Grass field that can be used only for football in the fall? Synthetic turf enables year-round use of the playing surface, which clearly is a good thing. Can you say, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, George Strait, NHL Hockey, graduation, etc.? Jumbotron? I've been to one game in the "new" stadium, and I loved the replays from 4 different angles, something that we never could see in the years before the Jumbotron. Mass? I've walked with the team many times over the years from the Basilica to the stadium. If they choose to have Mass in the Gug, I'm OK with it. All I really care about is that the team is attending pre-game Mass. Stadium construction? To blame Kelly for a university decision that never involved him is just plain stupid. Complaints about about what happens on the field are legitimate. I'm on board with every one of them. The other stuff? Not so much. Bottom line for me: He's won enough games to restore ND to relevance on the national scene, but he's no Parseghian or Holtz and never will be. Our teams finally are winning games we're supposed to win, but every season we seem to lay a great big rotten egg, even during the recent run. That's worth complaining about IMO.
I don't disagree with you Sid, and maybe I could have phrased it better but their is clearly a subset of ND fans who dislike everything that has changed and blame it on Kelly and Jack Swarbrick. In the new practice facility there is a jumbotron, and they complained about that, when Kelly intimated that ND coaches needed to have access to private air travel like they do at Clemson they didn't like that either.
Irish Baseball Coach sounds like a guy that is going to be successful...nice write up on him here. Big test coming this weekend when they go to Louisville. There was a moment in Notre Dame’s 14-8 win Sunday at North Carolina that captured some of the impact Link Jarrett has made on the Fighting Irish in his first season as head coach. With Notre Dame leading 10-8 in the seventh inning, the Irish loaded the bases with two outs, and UNC summoned Max Alba out of the bullpen. As Alba went into his full over-the-head windup on the first pitch, Notre Dame freshman Jack Brannigan broke from third base and raced to the plate, arriving even before the pitch for a straight steal of home at the front end of a triple steal, igniting the Irish dugout. “Man, that’s just great coaching,” a scout observed behind me in the Boshamer Stadium stands. Relentless Offense Fuels Hot Start For Rejuvenated Notre Dame • D1Baseball
I see the ND QB recruit, Tyler Buchner, is transferring schools. He's transferring from small school power The Bishops to major school power Helix. It's the same school that produced Reggie Bush. I guess his coach or OC left the school he was at and is transferring to play in San Diego's top level to prepare for college.
That could be a good thing or maybe not. The jump up in competition might prove that he is in fact the real deal or not.
The level at Helix plays at will certainly show if he's the goods or not. I wouldn't look for those same video game numbers he was putting up, but he could still have a fantastic year. That's good football they play there.
Irish baseball 11-2 after a midweek 9-8 win over Radford. They'll be tested big-time this weekend at #2 Louisville.
So Spring Practice is toast and I'll bet it's going to be canceled at a lot of places. I wonder if the NCAA will allow the schools to do something different in the summer. Not sure I'd be for making fall practice two weeks longer, but maybe allow coaches to work with the players for 2 weeks in June, then give them time off.
Irish picked up the younger brother of Tyler Eifert, as a preferred walk-on. I think one of Tylers other brothers plays basketball at Purdue. 2020 Bishop Dwenger (Ind.) receiver Griffen Eifert has committed to Notre Dame as preferred walk-on. The Fort Wayne native is the younger brother of Tyler Eifert. In 2019, Eifert recorded 30 catches for 478 yards and seven touchdowns. He also had 42 tackles and five interceptions.
Runn'n Rebs are on the ND schedule, 1st time. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) announced on Tuesday it will play Notre Dame for the first time ever when the Mountain West Conference school travels to Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 22, 2022.
One of the biggest questions surrounding Irish Men's Basketball is will Mike Brey return for next season. The other is of course what about grad transfers, Irish definitely need a couple or they will only have 10 players next season. Tom Noie has a basketball chat that talks about everything ND Basketball. Here is a clip from what was said about Mike Brey Rest of the chat is at the link. Chat Transcript: Talk Notre Dame men's basketball with Tom Noie
Personally I like Mike Brey, he seems to be a really good person and has run a nice program. Some good teams and 2 elite 8 squads that are among my favorite all time ND teams. But he needs to be 100% fully committed to the program not just as the coach but as a recruiter, if not I hope he decides to call it a day and retire. I do think that at 61 he could easily end up taking a year or 2 off and end up taking another job with recharged batteries.
Terry, I agree with you, and I believe he is 100% committed. He's shown too much high character during his tenure to try to fool himself and others when he didn't feel fully committed. I believe he deserves to see this sophomore class through to finality. I predict he will do that and retire after the next two seasons.