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GreenRooney Posts: 1624 Joined: my 25 of 25
14-2-0 |
So the season is finally here. There are many uncertainties for the Irish and many so called analysists who still somehow are able to upset Irish fans. When will Notre Dame fans learn to ignore these so called analysts.
Like all of you I have read all the articles on the progress of the Irish and who is projected to play and how they are projected to do. Offense After losing all of his key players from last season, Coach Weis needs to start running the ball which was a concern to me and something I complained about last fall. With the group in the backfield it is time to start getting those horses rolling. In addition to having more than one running back play, Coach Weis needs to go old school and learn from Lou that utilizing the fullback is an outstanding idea. But to have all of those ponies in the barn run wild, Coach Latina hopefully has found a way to teach run blocking to our offensive line. The poor technique that was on display that two years is something that throws lots of cause and concern. I know we have great players coming in and guys who have gotten their feet wet, but run blocking is not something that is overly complicated. If the Irish cannot run the ball they will be in deep trouble. Coach Weis needs to use more than the one back set. it has become too predictable and too vanilla. With the passing, it will be interesting to see what happens at the QB situation. My personal choice in D. Jones. The man can run and pass and has the mental capacity to run the offense from what Coach Weis and his teammates have mentioned. A dual threat is what wins. I'm not going to come out and predict that Duval and Horde will start or be awesome this season because I'm only watching them do simple passing routes in practice and one is coming back from a major injury and the other needs to learn a lot of the offense. But Duval sure is huge and looks fluid. So my keys for the Irish on offense: Run blocking Wide variety of running back sets Utilize the fullback (run with the ball more) Completing third down conversions Less deep balls Defense Coach Minter is gone. I read somewhere that he has not been offered any job opportunities anywhere. How shocking. Im not knocking the man personally, but his lack of defensive coaching and being able to adapt and change. Coach Weis took the blame for not getting involved more on defense and rightly so. Lack of experience by Coach Weis. Coach Brown has come in and done an excellent job in recruiting so far. That only a portion of his job. The real deal is on the football field. I will separate recruiting and coaching and not give him the benefit of the doubt because some guys can sell and some guys can teach. Now do not get me wrong, I am rooting for him to be successful. Im a huge NY Jets fan and witnesses what Coach Brown can do as a coach. I hope this carries over to ND. My huge problems for years with Notre Dame's defense is their lack of fundamentals. We cannot tackle and have no clue where the ball is going. The lack of a pass rush and pressure on the QB has gone on forever. Notre Dame has had speed and talent all along. It is the coaching that has killed them. The lack of improving players on defense is obvious. Wooden, Lambert, Zibby, etc, etc, etc, are all fast. Let's not kid ourselves. When you play bend and dont break 24/7/365 and overload your players, they will look sloppy and slow. Playing football should not be this complicated and this tough. So far Coach Brown has complained that players have no clue when to look for the ball. So far so good. The mark of good coaching is improvement as the season goes on. Let us hope this in the cards for Coach Brown and the D. So my keys for the Irish on defense: wrap up! Cleaner tackling No biting on play action man to man coverage and go for the interceptions blitzing Dont bend and dont break please! Utilize speed and attack This season Im thinking 4-6 losses. it all depends on how the players progress and how Coach Weis and Coach Brown adapt and change and do not become stubborn. We have talent but also have players who have to gel together and learn what Weis and Brown are looking for. Lots of inexperience could be costly and hard to overcome against teams on the schedule that have been able to gel over the past few seasons. There are not many reasons for me to believe that Coach Weis will not be stubborn as we have seen no improvement on run blocking, vanilla running attack, and lack of improvement on defense. I will give more as the month goes on and give you my take on the schedule so anyone who would like to discuss or rip me apart. (Rslevin) Go Irish prove us wrong! |
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Granger Irish Posts: 455 Joined: 07/31/2007
11-4-0 |
Rooney:
Who do you see as potential surprises on the team? I say Pat Kuntz, Dwight Stephenson, James Aldridge, Robert Hughes, Raeshon McNeil and Darrin Walls. |
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GreenRooney Posts: 1624 Joined: my 25 of 25
14-2-0 |
Granger,
Nice to see you on board. Everyone talks glowly of you. It's a tough question. As of right now, it is too early to tell. Who I would like to see play this season (either frosh or players who have limited time) Offense: Reuland, Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, Junior Jabbie, Duval K. (Jersey Pride), Golden Tate, and D. Jones. Defense: Smith and Richardson, Walls, and McNeil. I maybe asking too much if I want to see all of those guys this season. I will be able to give you a better answer as the weeks go on this month. |
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BBert Posts: 140 Joined: 06/01/2006
N/A |
I totally agree that players to watch on D are Smith and Richardson. And pretty much our secondary in general.
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21irish06 Posts: 848 Joined: 01/09/2006
N/A |
I also want to see some of Kerry Neal in passing situations.
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OCirish Posts: 864 Joined: 09/26/2006
2-0-0 |
Wathcing clips, Neal and Paskorz, physically look like they're ready to play. Are they? We shall see. I'm really looking for Frosh, to step up and fill in this year, so guys can get a breather. I was really counting on D. Hand to spell guys along the D-line, but that's not going to happen. I fully expect Ian Williams to see some signifacant playing time with the loss of Hand. One key, I feel, will be getting Nuss, and Nwankwo ready to play and be able to spell guys along the D-line, as we're very thin in this area. We're very set in the secondary, not only with talent, but with depth as well. Walls and McNiel will begin to push for PT, and we have S's who can come and spell our starters. I know that's usually not necassary, but if we have an injury, we have a stable to choose from. I feel the same way about or LB corps, if we have an injury, we have someone talented to step in and not miss a beat. I'm very excited about the potential that these kids posses, it's going to be very interesting!!
As for the O, I feel better about how things will take shape, the closer to Sep. 1st we get. I read a quote from CW yesterday. It might have been from the front page here. After a team BBQ a few days ago, Maura told CW that she felt better, when asked why, she responded, "these boys are big". I fully expect us to be able to run the ball this year. I don't see us with the same vanilla running attack we've been witness to the last few years. We have talented O-lineman across the board for the first time, in what seems like years. Sam Young will start to show why he was the best lineman in his class last year. I fully expect Eric Olsen to push for starting at one OG spot. He plays nasty, and out of the O-line class that year, with the exception of Sam, was the only one to crack the 2 deep roster. Not overly interesitng, but he was also the only commit from that class who didn't participate in the Army AA game. I'm not very concerned with our WR's, at least not at this point. CW won in NE, and the one year, he didn't have much to work with in terms of a WR corps. Sure he had WR's, but they weren't exactly All-Pro's. Whoever starts at QB will be fine. If it's one area I'm not at all concerned with, this is the area. CW knows what he's doing, so status quo, in Weis we trust. Also, I do expect some of the Frosh to come in and make plays and an impact on this side of the ball as well. Allen, Tate, Kamara, and Hughes, I think will all see PT as the season goes on. I have to admit, I'm sick of hearing all the naysayers out there who can't put a coherent thought together without reading it off of a cue card. I don't typically give a $hit what most of them say, and I haven't much cared what they've said about our Irish. We have a ton of talent, a Yugo worth of experiance, and a coaching staff for all intent and purpose, looks to be on the same page. I've been overly optimistic, but I can't help it. I really think we can win a lot of games this year. Should be fun to watch. Go Irish!!! Here come the Irish!!!!! |
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Irish Pats Posts: 1834 Joined: 10/14/2005
21-10-1 |
Roons,
I have a feeling you are finally going to see a heavy dose of fundamentals this fall! A real lunch pail approach. Pressure D, solid running game, nothing flashy. Win the turnover battle, keep field position and minimize mistakes. With the first half schedule, it's just going to depend on how these kids step up and execute. 21, I'm looking forward to a lot of third and longs and some opportunities for Kerry Neal to pin back his ears and go after the QB. I think this kid is gonna be special! |
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GreenRooney Posts: 1624 Joined: my 25 of 25
14-2-0 |
Ted,
Great to see you and bloggers like #1Domer. Your post was excellent and I enjoyed it very much. |
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OCirish Posts: 864 Joined: 09/26/2006
2-0-0 |
Nothing to rip apart Teddy, good post!!
Here come the Irish!!!!! |
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reggieho Posts: 787 Joined: 01/04/2006 my 25 of 25
27-12-2 |
quote: I realize you were never a Minter fan, but this statement sums it up: Reggie - Ho my main man....read my posts. I never say I'm a Minter fan, in fact I always say that I'm not his biggest fan. The only point I make is that no coordinator would do good with these players. I read an interesting article in the SB Tribune recently. The columnist was breaking down why ND is not a "great" team. His reason, and I agree with him, was that for every stud playmaker ND has there is a position player that is not adequate. For every BQ and JS there is a back up running back playing linebacker and a bunch of safteies that bite on every play-action pass thrown. Do you think Minter never goes over this in practice, of course he did. ND just has average players on defense. Fire Minter, I could really care less. My point is and always was, nobody could do great things with this defense, nobody. The "D" does not have good football speed, lacks size and frankly are not a "nasty" group of players. When we start recruiting the next Stonebreaker's and Zorich's and the D is still like this, them you have a point. Until then, you can't polish a turd.... So you felt that no one could really do anything with ND's defense...garbage. Weis fired him because he realized the guy sucked, and can't coach. No other school has picked him up. Basically, Minter was the problem, and hopefully, Brown will show what these kids can do. I'm not making any predictions because I haven't seen one down yet, but if this new DC plays aggressive D with a pass rush, bring a fork, and I'll slice up your humble pie. I'm sick of hearing that we don't have athletes. Do we have the best in the Top 10 in the country - no. But should we compete with the Stanfords, Purdues, and god for saken Air Forces - hell yes. Our defense should shine in those games - aka shutouts, but Minter couldn't coach, and these players looked worse than they are. Think of Quinn before Weis took over - you would have never predicted this kind of outcome for him - it's coaching, man, and your dead wrong on the Irish. Your stache will serve as a tribute to our mediocre play. Thank you. 
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GreenRooney Posts: 1624 Joined: my 25 of 25
14-2-0 |
Reggie Ho,
Nice post! It is true. The Irish have had the athletes all along. Minter could not teach basics to the players, like looking for the ball in the air and not biting on play action. These are not complicated techniques. The Irish have lots of speed. People who say they do not have speed on defense point to that because they cannot properly assest the situation. It is humorous and ridiculous when people say that the Irish have no speed on defense. So they are basically saying that Lambert, Wooden, Zibby are slow?? Yeah they sure are slow when they have told by Minter to check off on 4 things before they can make a move. I would be slow too. It's funny the players on defense that returned even complained that there was too much analyzing during a play which caused mental meltdowns and by the time they were able to figure out what needed to be done according to Minter is was too late. D Jarrett from USC beat the Irish not because of speed but because of poor coaching by Minter. Reggie Ho thank you! |
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psap123 Posts: 322 Joined: 10/26/2005
N/A |
So you felt that no one could really do anything with ND's defense...garbage. Weis fired him because he realized the guy sucked, and can't coach. No other school has picked him up. Basically, Minter was the problem, and hopefully, Brown will show what these kids can do.
I'm not making any predictions because I haven't seen one down yet, but if this new DC plays aggressive D with a pass rush, bring a fork, and I'll slice up your humble pie. I'm sick of hearing that we don't have athletes. Do we have the best in the Top 10 in the country - no. But should we compete with the Stanfords, Purdues, and god for saken Air Forces - hell yes. Our defense should shine in those games - aka shutouts, but Minter couldn't coach, and these players looked worse than they are. Think of Quinn before Weis took over - you would have never predicted this kind of outcome for him - it's coaching, man, and your dead wrong on the Irish. >>>>>>>>> i am not going to get into a great big argument about this, but I think one of the chief reasons that notre dame was unable to overwhelm and really dominate a few of the teams you referred to above is because they were never really able to dominate with (i.e. generate a consistent pass rush with) their defensive line. i also find it surprising that you name purdue as a team that notre dame should shut out, as purdue seems to consistently place in the top 15-20 in offensive production / scoring on a yearly basis. is there some really good / fast athletes on this notre dame defense? yes, i think there is. will the defense as a whole play better / more aggressively this year? yes, i expect them to. however, the jury is still out as to how this defensive line will be able to hold up against the run and generate pressure against the pass. when solid division I quarterback has time to throw the football it is difficult for even the best cornerbacks and safeties to shut down and close out on receivers. i think a defense that brings more pressure is the right plan this year. i really think a good blue print would be the way the irish played against usc in '05. but, as i have said on here a million times before, when you cannot generate a pass rush and you have to bring more guys, you better have a lot of confidence in your cover guys because if you do not get to the quarterback you significantly increase the odds of giving up a big play. everyone on this board is a knowledgable enough fan to know that one of weis' main goals last year was to limit the amount of big plays given up on defense. |
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psap123 Posts: 322 Joined: 10/26/2005
N/A |
Nice to see you on board. Everyone talks glowly of you.
It's a tough question. As of right now, it is too early to tell. Who I would like to see play this season (either frosh or players who have limited time) Offense: Reuland, Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, Junior Jabbie, Duval K. (Jersey Pride), Golden Tate, and D. Jones. Defense: Smith and Richardson, Walls, and McNeil. I maybe asking too much if I want to see all of those guys this season. I will be able to give you a better answer as the weeks go on this month. I think you are right on the money here. specifically with reuland, allen, kamara, smith, walls, and mcneil. also, i notice that you listed several running backs on here. as i was watching a clip of weis' press conference today it seemed like he shunned the idea of having a 'running back by committee' approach to his offense. with the amount of talent and depth in the backfield, i was a little bit disappointed by this. in recent years it has seemed that a running back such as walker, was used so exclusively that he seemed to wear down significantly as the year went on. the irish have an opportunity to turn some big plays this year if they can work armando allen into the offense. i also think aldridge is too talented a back to warrant only 4-6 carries a game behind thomas. i'm concerned, will weis rotate guys to maintain freshness and the variety of talent?? |
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rslevin28us Posts: 1404 Joined: 08/23/2005 my 25 of 25
N/A |
Ya, those were my comments and I stand by them. The D-line was horrible at getting to the QB and the secondary got beat all the time. CW himself said that TZ wieght too much last year, which is code word for his lack of speed compared to "05. We'll see this year. I have a feeling Wooden will get replaced at some point early in the season. After looking at the video today, he still has coverage problems. Hopefully the new faces combined with CB will improve the defense.
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reggieho Posts: 787 Joined: 01/04/2006 my 25 of 25
27-12-2 |
quote: First, it's "weighed", Slevin, not "wieght". From now on, please don't point out other people's errors. Second, that's CW's code word for "Minter didn't do his job as a DC by impressing upon his players the importance of showing up in-shape for the season." Zibby was out of shape. That falls on Minter and then Weis. Weis made his move - he fired Minter. And now, look what happened - Zibby is pissed, he's in shape, and I'm sure we'll see him play very well. I attribute that to Zibby's attitude, but also good coaching to kick a player in the a$$ when he needs it. Zibby was too worried about his mohawk, and boxing stories then showing up ready to go. That will not happen this year. Again, this point goes out to the majority of posters on here: I'm not expecting ND's defense to have the caliber of speed and athletic ability of the Top 10 schools. But, I am expecting us to dominate the rest of the field, especially the damn service academies. When you are playing Stanford and getting burned, it's a not a speed problem, that's straight-up coaching. Someone mentioned Purdue is a top 15-20 - you're right, but I still think if we are on our "A" game, the defense should be able to shut down a top 15-20. Someone also mentioned that Weis would talk about not giving up the big play on D - that's a classy coach basically sticking up for his coaching staff. Minter's style of coaching is all about not giving up the big play. Weis isn't going to knock that during the season, but his actions speak louder than words - Minter's gone, hopefully, Corwin Brown will turn'em loose! Your stache will serve as a tribute to our mediocre play. Thank you.
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OCirish Posts: 864 Joined: 09/26/2006
2-0-0 |
Not a problem, it's been great to have eveyone back to talk with, but someone has to show up that has some serious angst with others. I am excited about the upcoming season, moreso than last and I have really missed talking football during the dead period. Now it's down to business and somebody has to whine about stupid crap. Get busy living or get busy dying. Or, talk football or stay out of our conversations. Roons, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Go Irish!!!!!!! Here come the Irish!!!!! |
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John Haynsworth BGI Staff Posts: 12929 Joined: 10/06/2005 my 25 of 25
N/A |
This thread has been cleaned up a little bit. The next time a thread gets out of hand, it will just get nuked. You all are better than provoking one another and putting childish, classless things in your sigs.
The sigs have been cleaned up as well, and if that also becomes a problem, those posters will be banned. Just be better than that, guys. That's all we ask. I'll let you all get back to discussing football. Enjoy. |
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stever27 Posts: 294 Joined: 06/27/2006
N/A |
Thank you John.
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ad4747 Posts: 6913 Joined: 04/26/2007 my 25 of 25
3-1-0 |
My biggest thing with not having a "NASTY" identity on defense starts with linebackers and d-lineman! I think Pat Kuntz and Torryan Smith are two guys that embody that attitude. I think that Joe Brockington is a very serviceable MLB but if I see a 4 and 1 and Brockington is in there instead of Torryan Smith, that will let me know that CB isn't truly interested in bringing "NASTY" back. I mean this kid is same height as Brandon Hoyte with an extra 10lbs. Guys, we need to get a front 7 that consistently can shut down the run and can bring enough pressure that our dbs don't have to cover for 4 seconds. We could have DeAngelo Hall from the Atlanta Falcons, and Charles Woodson from the Packers and still get torched if they have to cover for more than 4 seconds! Period, end of story. We have to get pressure within 3.5 seconds or this will be another long year of BIG Plays! We have good speed, anyone remember Tommy Z running down world class sprinter Ted Ginn in the Fiesta Bowl? Granted he had an angle but Gin was rarely caught from behind in college! I think ND has top 25 tallent but we need a top 25 caliber DC and I think coach Brown is now that guy! We will sneak up on a lot of teams this year and I am boldly predicting 9 wins this year if the offense establishes an identity this year!
GO IRISH! CMC-Coordinator of Basketball Operations |
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