Manti T'eo better destroy people this year. I'm talking deathly blows only a vicious Hawaiian Mormon could deliver.

The depth chart for fall camp:
QB - DAYNE CRIST (RS So.), Nate Montana
HB - ARMANDO ALLEN (Sr.), Robert Hughes
WR - DUVAL KAMARA (Sr.), John Goodman
WR - MICHAEL FLOYD (Jr.), Shaq Evans
WR - THEO RIDDICK (So.), TJ Jones
TE - KYLE RUDOLPH (Jr.), Bobby Burger
LT - ZACK MARTIN (So.), Matt Romine
LG - CHRIS STEWART (Sr.), Mike Golic Jr.
C - DAN WENGER (Sr.), Braxston Cave
RG - TREVOR ROBINSON (Jr.), Chris Watt
RT - TAYLOR DEVER (Sr.), Andrew Nuss

I'm surprised to see Theo Riddick ahead of Shaq Evans, but I assume it's an W, X, Y deal and the website didn't list true positions. Any other surprises? Are my grades correct?

DE - Ethan Johnson (Jr.), Hafis Williams (Jr.)
NG - Ian Williams (Sr.), Sean Cwynar (Jr.)
DE - Kapron Lewis-Moore (Jr.), Emeka Nwankwo (Sr.)
OLB - Darius Fleming (Jr.), Kerry Neal (Sr.)
ILB - Anthony McDonald (Jr.), Carlo Calabrese (So.)
ILB - Manti Te'o (So.),Steve Poskorz (Sr.)
OLB - Brian Smith (Sr.), Steve Filer (JR.)
CB - Darrin Walls (Sr.), E.J. Banks (So.)
S - Harrison Smith (Sr.), Dan McCarthy (Jr.)
S - Jamoris Slaughter (Jr.), Zeke Motta (So.)
CB - Gary Gray (Sr.), Robert Blanton (Jr.)

sjmvsfscs08;444346 wrote:Manti T'eo better destroy people this year. I'm talking deathly blows only a vicious Hawaiian Mormon could deliver.

you're weird

One thing to keep in mind is Kelly said the two deep is just a starting point. He said there will be a good deal of movement and expects there to be some big battles for playing time.



I'm interested in the center spot and the OLine overall. Everything I had heard/read was pointing to Braxston Cave earning the starting spot.

Where's Cierre Wood on that depth chart? Kelly specifically move Riddick to WR so Wood would see the field. One would think in Kelly's spread offense that Wood would be rated ahead of a slower Robert Hughes. Wood also tore it up in spring practice and the Blue/Gold game, got to get that kid on the field this year!

Its only a two deep, obviously someone will be left off. Kelly said in the presser yesterday he expects 4 running backs to see the field and all bring something different to the table.

I understand it's a two deep chart but I'm just shocked that Wood isn't rated ahead of Hughes from the get go. IMO, Wood has shown more in spring ball than Hughes has shown in three years at ND.

rock_knutne;444833 wrote:I understand it's a two deep chart but I'm just shocked that Wood isn't rated ahead of Hughes from the get go. IMO, Wood has shown more in spring ball than Hughes has shown in three years at ND.

I was wondering the same thing. From the little we've seen of Wood, he has looked much better than Hughes, and even Allen for that matter. I could see him earning the starting job by mid season, and Allen being a 3rd down back. Wood is the complete package RB.

Hamp89;445267 wrote:I was wondering the same thing. From the little we've seen of Wood, he has looked much better than Hughes, and even Allen for that matter. I could see him earning the starting job by mid season, and Allen being a 3rd down back. Wood is the complete package RB.

In all fairness and to add to what Karen posted above, I finally watched a replay of Kelly's presser and he labelled the depth at RB as 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. I get it with Allen, Wood and Gray but Hughes has shown me nothing, not even on short yardage situations. Maybe he will drastically improve under Kelly, who knows. The one thing I do know is Cierre Wodd has to see a lot of the field this year, the kid has mad skills and speed.

The best thing that ND could do to help their program is to lower there Academic standers. They can't continue to lose players to other schools because the athletes don't have the scores to get in. It's sad but true. Kelly may be able to help the program some but unless some other changes are made at ND they're still going to be middle-of-the-pack most seasons. I hope they get things turned around.

If Notre Dame lowers their academic standards, I for one will no longer be a fan. That's why I like the Fighting Irish more than my Buckeyes, at Notre Dame you get tutors and stuff but the workload is still legitimate and you have to be smarter than the average bear to keep your head above water. At Ohio State, players are held to such low academic standards it's laughable. So many of the players are dumber than a box of rocks; mere dancing ponies there to dance for the Ohio faithful who could really care less about how smart they are. (not to mention the Notre Dame players are still just everyday students in the dorms with the regular students and the Ohio State players are only seen in packs at parties while/or smashing sluts).

The best thing Notre Dame can do to help the program...is fucking win. This "lower of the academic standards" is the most overrated piece-of-shit argument currently out there about Notre Dame. Recruiting is simply not an issue, kids are smart enough to get into Notre Dame and if they aren't then fuck 'em. If you look at their recruiting classes (ccrunner take a deep breath) they are very highly rated. Coaching has been the issue for the last fifteen years and I think they finally got their man in Brian Kelly. Now, he was a smooth-talking political arena workhorse before football, but his successes at every stop prior to Notre Dame should give the Irish faithful as much reason to hope as when Holtz was hired.

Kids haven't gotten dumber since Notre Dame won their National Championships in 1988, 1977, 1973, etc. Their coaching decisions were just incorrect and they paid for it. Fucking win and it'll all take care of itself. But to say Notre Dame is out-manned by anyone on their schedule other than Southern Cal is a huge statement and ultimately an incorrect one.

http://www.und.com/allaccess/?media=184410


First look at ND's fall camp. The amount of energy they are flying around with is awesome to see. Looks just a little different than previous camps. Teo looks like an absolute tank.

Okay taking it week by week, how do you guys think we match up with Purdue?

I think the offense should be able to put up points as long as they take care of the ball. The game will be won by the defense stopping or slowing down Purdue and Mavre. Breaking in two new safeties against a passing team will be a challenge. The defensive front can help out a lot by pressuring Mavre into some INT's.

Lou Holtz's first pep ralyy speech at ND:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4lD0VOiguA&NR=1

I'm finding a lot of similarities in when Lou Holtz took over at ND to Brian Kelly's arrival. No one before Kelly and since Lou was has talked in this fashion before they took over. IMO, it's a much needed reinforcement of who ND is, what it stands for and the ultimate goal of the football team. I think Kelly is heading down this path, let's hope he can win some football games.

For me, I am amazed at how bad Brian Kelly's staff makes Charlie Weis' look. I mean I was a Weis supporter until the very end, believing his staff needed adjustments but he was fine, and I still believe that to a certain extent. But in reading some articles (read: drinking the koolaid), I'm almost blown away. You hear how DEs squatted 400 pounds?! How DTs squatted 490 pounds? That's not amateur, that's pathetic. I'm starting to paint the picture in my head that Charlie Weis' NFL philosophy was clearly the opposite way to go. Maintaining strength, focusing on being fresh for games, etc. got in the way of physical progress and toughness in my opinion; it also exacerbated depth issues.

I would not be surprised at all to see Brian Kelly have an absolutely remarkable first season. Notre Dame is rather loaded at WR, TE, RB, and LB. Coach Longo this off-season has totally transformed the OL and DL. Lots of articles say the OL will be a strength, which would have been crazy to say in December. The only real flaw I see with this team is the DBs, cross your fingers.

I haven't been this excited for Notre Dame football since....well, last season.

I just have a sneaking suspicion Notre Dame has found their man. I just think right now that all of that talent Weis stacked up will in essence be released.

sjmvsfscs08;447967 wrote:For me, I am amazed at how bad Brian Kelly's staff makes Charlie Weis' look. I mean I was a Weis supporter until the very end, believing his staff needed adjustments but he was fine, and I still believe that to a certain extent. But in reading some articles (read: drinking the koolaid), I'm almost blown away. You hear how DEs squatted 400 pounds?! How DTs squatted 490 pounds? That's not amateur, that's pathetic. I'm starting to paint the picture in my head that Charlie Weis' NFL philosophy was clearly the opposite way to go. Maintaining strength, focusing on being fresh for games, etc. got in the way of physical progress and toughness in my opinion; it also exacerbated depth issues.

I would not be surprised at all to see Brian Kelly have an absolutely remarkable first season. Notre Dame is rather loaded at WR, TE, RB, and LB. Coach Longo this off-season has totally transformed the OL and DL. Lots of articles say the OL will be a strength, which would have been crazy to say in December. The only real flaw I see with this team is the DBs, cross your fingers.

I haven't been this excited for Notre Dame football since....well, last season.

I just have a sneaking suspicion Notre Dame has found their man. I just think right now that all of that talent Weis stacked up will in essence be released.

Chris Stewart could only do 4 pull-ups before he embarked on Longo's fitness program......he can now do 23 of them in a row. Pretty impressive for a 360lb + man.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100808/SPORTS13/100809539/1021/Sports

sjmvsfscs08;447967 wrote:For me, I am amazed at how bad Brian Kelly's staff makes Charlie Weis' look. I mean I was a Weis supporter until the very end, believing his staff needed adjustments but he was fine, and I still believe that to a certain extent. But in reading some articles (read: drinking the koolaid), I'm almost blown away. You hear how DEs squatted 400 pounds?! How DTs squatted 490 pounds? That's not amateur, that's pathetic. I'm starting to paint the picture in my head that Charlie Weis' NFL philosophy was clearly the opposite way to go. Maintaining strength, focusing on being fresh for games, etc. got in the way of physical progress and toughness in my opinion; it also exacerbated depth issues.

I would not be surprised at all to see Brian Kelly have an absolutely remarkable first season. Notre Dame is rather loaded at WR, TE, RB, and LB. Coach Longo this off-season has totally transformed the OL and DL. Lots of articles say the OL will be a strength, which would have been crazy to say in December. The only real flaw I see with this team is the DBs, cross your fingers.

I haven't been this excited for Notre Dame football since....well, last season.

I just have a sneaking suspicion Notre Dame has found their man. I just think right now that all of that talent Weis stacked up will in essence be released.

Good post. Cautious optimism is the way to go. I have a good feeling about Kelly too......but we've been here before. Let's hope it's real deal this time.

sjmvsfscs08;447967 wrote:For me, I am amazed at how bad Brian Kelly's staff makes Charlie Weis' look. I mean I was a Weis supporter until the very end, believing his staff needed adjustments but he was fine, and I still believe that to a certain extent. But in reading some articles (read: drinking the koolaid), I'm almost blown away. You hear how DEs squatted 400 pounds?! How DTs squatted 490 pounds? That's not amateur, that's pathetic. I'm starting to paint the picture in my head that Charlie Weis' NFL philosophy was clearly the opposite way to go. Maintaining strength, focusing on being fresh for games, etc. got in the way of physical progress and toughness in my opinion; it also exacerbated depth issues.

I would not be surprised at all to see Brian Kelly have an absolutely remarkable first season. Notre Dame is rather loaded at WR, TE, RB, and LB. Coach Longo this off-season has totally transformed the OL and DL. Lots of articles say the OL will be a strength, which would have been crazy to say in December. The only real flaw I see with this team is the DBs, cross your fingers.

I haven't been this excited for Notre Dame football since....well, last season.

I just have a sneaking suspicion Notre Dame has found their man. I just think right now that all of that talent Weis stacked up will in essence be released.

Completely agree. I haven't been this excited for the start of a coaches term ever. With Ty and Charlie it was cautious optimism. Kelley is a proven winner at the collegiate level, something we've been lacking for quite some time. Plus we are loaded with talent on offense so they should be very fun to watch this season.

sjmvsfscs08;447967 wrote:For me, I am amazed at how bad Brian Kelly's staff makes Charlie Weis' look. I mean I was a Weis supporter until the very end, believing his staff needed adjustments but he was fine, and I still believe that to a certain extent. But in reading some articles (read: drinking the koolaid), I'm almost blown away. You hear how DEs squatted 400 pounds?! How DTs squatted 490 pounds? That's not amateur, that's pathetic. I'm starting to paint the picture in my head that Charlie Weis' NFL philosophy was clearly the opposite way to go. Maintaining strength, focusing on being fresh for games, etc. got in the way of physical progress and toughness in my opinion; it also exacerbated depth issues.

I would not be surprised at all to see Brian Kelly have an absolutely remarkable first season. Notre Dame is rather loaded at WR, TE, RB, and LB. Coach Longo this off-season has totally transformed the OL and DL. Lots of articles say the OL will be a strength, which would have been crazy to say in December. The only real flaw I see with this team is the DBs, cross your fingers.

I haven't been this excited for Notre Dame football since....well, last season.

I just have a sneaking suspicion Notre Dame has found their man. I just think right now that all of that talent Weis stacked up will in essence be released.

Nice post, this is about exactly how I'm feeling too. The biggest surprise for me has been Kelly's ability to recruit in his first full year, as this class has the potential to be top 10. It appears that he is already "getting it", and is selling ND well. A good coach and a good recruiter is something ND has not had in a LONG time.

http://www.und.com/allaccess/?media=184648

Floyd appears to have been in the weight room quite a bit. There were reports that he lost 15 pounds from the first of the year through spring ball and then reported back after the summer 10 pounds heavier but with less body fat.

Here's a drinking game, watch that video and every time Michael Floyd says "you know," take a shot.

You'll be obliterated in no time.

sjmvsfscs08;448680 wrote:Here's a drinking game, watch that video and every time Michael Floyd says "you know," take a shot.

You'll be obliterated in no time.

Yeah either he isn't the sharpest pencil in the drawer or he just has trouble speaking in front of people/cameras.

A buddy tonight at golf league who is a huge ND fan said he bet $1000 that Notre Dame doesn't win 8 games this year. He said it was the biggest lock of a bet he'd ever seen. I don't expect them to win 10 or more games but I'm damn sure I wouldn't be betting a grand on them going 7-5 or worse.

haha yeah that fellow is an idiot, or very wealthy.