That link is to the Athletic ...but here's a paragraph from the article. NCAA penalties against Florida coach Dan Mullen announced Tuesday stem in part from an incident nearly identical to one that landed Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher in NCAA trouble earlier this year. Both coaches were punished for violating NCAA recruiting contact rules during visits to the Seattle high school of the same class of 2020 recruit in 2019. According to NCAA public infractions reports, both coaches made impermissible contact with a recruit at the recruit’s school in January 2019. The Florida NCAA report specified the high school is in Seattle and the date of the violation as January 14, 2019. The report in the Texas A&M case didn’t specify the location of the high school, but it listed the date of the violation as January 22, 2019. Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Athletic that the recruit was current Washington edge rusher Sav’ell Smalls, and that the contact took place at Garfield High.
Watched ND women vs VaTech tonight. The Irish got the road win, but what always makes me cringe is when coaches get a big lead, Irish lead by 21 at one point and by 15 with 5 minutes to go and had to hang on to win by a a few. Reason? They took the air out of the ball, and dribbled around till there was 5 secs left on the shot clock to burn as much time as possible, result they either didn't get a shot off or they got a horrible shot. Va.Tech was then playing fast and loose and got on a run and had shots to take it to OT. I don't know why coaches do that, it's like the prevent defense in football. As Bum Phillips used to say the only thing the Prevent does is prevent you from winning. ND Hockey has Michigan in town this weekend.
It's now pretty much been confirmed that Todd Lyght was the asst coach who violated the contact rules. Also one site is reporting that Lyght was actually fired when he left the program, at the time it was being promoted as Lyght wanting to pursue other opportunities and be closer to his family in California.
I don't think the kid took down the programs. I think the adults involved broke the rules. Also these don't sound like very serious offenses.
Amazing, a school in Seattle Wash has a player that three schools were so hard after that they got NCAA sanctions. I don't know about Notre Dame but I don't believe the Gators need to be that hard after players in the far northwest so far away from our school. In fact we don't need to be that hard after any player to break rules. However I also think it's largely a waste of our time and money to go after players in the far west. 'We have not had that good of luck with any of them. Plenty of good players in our area.
Rules are rules and coaches have to pass a test on the rules, so they really have no excuse, the kids on the other had don't have to take a test and can easily break rules. Now kids and their parents are stupid if they think things like money exchanging hands even if it goes to the uncle is not right.. But that wasn't what happened to the ND, FLA or A&M coaches they just made a conscious decision that the contact rules are flexible and just ignored them probably thinking everybody does it so no big deal.
7 Irish footballers made the ACC All-Academic Team. Congrats to them. Ian Book Michael Mayer Drew White Javon McKinley Robert Hainsey Tommy Kraemer Ben Skowronek Duke had 11 guys Clemson had 9 guys Miami had 9 guys NCState had 7 guys Virginia had 7 guys
The unrest continues with fans and Mike Brey. Irish lost last night to Va.Tech and while I didn't watch the reports are that the game wasn't as close as the final score.
The other thing I see is about Marcus Freeman, people worry/think he's going to get a big Power 5 job next year and will be gone. Of course it could happen, but that's the risk you take when you hire hire profile guys with ambition. What I really wonder is how long of a honeymoon will Freeman have before the sniping from the gallery starts. It's not like he is inheriting a defense that is loaded at all levels. We do have talent, but we also have some big holes in the defensive backfield. That is what teams exploited last year, a lot of teams were able to throw on us. CB play was below par and other than Kyle Hamilton we didn't really have another safety you could count on to step up. Shaun Crawford who wasn't really a safety did his best. So this fall he will still have that problem and when you think about it, they had to talk Houston Griffith back off the ledge and most thought he was medicore at best so far, but they need bodies. They have some young guys though and maybe they'll step up and play great. We have talent in the front 7, will miss JOK but we should be solid. Bottom line is he could coach his ass off and still have a defense that isn't quite as good as 2020 and that's when the honeymoon ends. Fans have a short fuse when it comes to criticizing coaches.
The ACC plans to return to its normal eight-conference-game, divisional format -- with Notre Dame as an independent -- when the 2021 football season kicks off in September, the league announced Thursday. In its release, the league noted that a return to play and the schedule as released are contingent on COVID-19 guidelines. Last season, the ACC made changes to its schedule to play during the coronavirus pandemic, including Notre Dame as a full-time conference member and playing 10 league games. With an expected return to a more normal season, Notre Dame is returning to its five-game scheduling partnership and the league decided to play the 2021 season as originally scheduled. As a result, there are several repeat site games from 2019 and 2020.
Robert Hainesy having a great senior bow Robert Hainsey, OL, Notre Dame. Hainsey was one of the most consistent prospects this week. He played with good hands and a firm base, taking snaps at guard and tackle. The team that picks him will be getting a very polished player. It didn't go unnoticed that the Notre Dame guys worked after practice every single day, and I was told Hainsey's interviews with teams were outstanding.
Irish Men, had one of their good games this weekend vs Pitt and won going away. Can they do it again? Irish Women lost today to Syracuse, they were underdogs though to be fair. As has been their game all year they play really well in spurts but can't finish. They still have way too many possessions that end in shot clock violations or just awful shots that have no chance. Today was the first game for 5 star talented Olivia Miles, she enrolled for the spring since her HS wasn't playing basketball and she had graduated in Dec. She showed some flashes of why she is a 5 star talent. But again this team needs to learn how to play with the lead and finish. Credit to Syracuse though, they have a 6'7" center who is a freshman and is really good and will get better and they have a ton of upper classmen who are great 3 point shooters. As fans are prone to do, Niele Ivey has gone from Hero to Zero with a lot of the online crew now saying she was a mistake to hire because she's never been a HC before and that it's showing. Everybody was so fired up when she was announced, but with some struggles with a young team the critics are coming out of the walls. Mike Brey is still getting hammered a lot, Even Lou Somoygi wrote an article that didn't call for Brey to be fired but compared the situation we have right now to the end of the Digger Phelps era. I think he's fair in his treatment of Brey. I do think Brey seriously needs to think about retiring. Mike Brey And Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men’s Basketball: At The Crossroads
If you have a subscription to the Athletic, Andy Staples has an article up welcoming Jim Phillips former Northwestern AD and new ACC Commissioner to the job. Gives him the task of bringing Notre Dame football into the ACC full time. It's a good read, I don't think it's going to happen though. His case is that the ACC is behind the Big10 and SEC in revenues and needs the Irish to be able to go to ESPN/Disney and renegotiate a better deal, can't do that without Notre Dame. We hired you away from Northwestern to run the conference, and that’s a big job. But to be perfectly honest, we had an even bigger task in mind for you. And frankly, if you don’t accomplish it, your tenure might be pretty boring. The ACC’s TV contract with Disney/ESPN runs through the end of the 2035-36 school year. By the time that thing ends in June 2036, you’re going to be past retirement age. Considering that deal has us fairly far behind the Big Ten and SEC already and considering those leagues are about to cash in on new deals in the next few years, we need you to complete a Hail Mary of sorts to help our programs remain competitive. We need you to talk Notre Dame into joining the conference in football.