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Optimal would have been getting Marvin Austin, Will Blackwell, and Joe Barksdale. I'll take acceptable at this point. |
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Oh to be one of those schools who doesn't have to run a play-action pass to the tight end on 3rd (4th) and 1 because we don't have an o-line or power RB. Nor might we have to run three QB sneaks in one game for similar reasons. So nice. |
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Where did Prince & Morton originally commit to? I know Gray was originally a Gamecock. Morton's recruitment came before I really followed recruiting all that close, but Prince as I recall was one of the (if not the) first commitments of Charlie's first full class. I'm surprised he was actually commited somewhere else before then. |
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I'll tell you what, the idea of Stewart and Little both at the guard position makes me incredibly excited. I would love to see two big men shoving guys down the field to open up a power running game. With the incredible effectiveness we have seen from Charlie's play-action passes, can you even imagine how effective it would be with two road-graters giving us 5 yard runs from the I? I think it could add a whole new dimension to our offense. |
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Oh yeah... |
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We've heard from several sources that Nuss is going to DT...haven't heard much about Nwankwo. Would make since, since he also played both ways in HS, same as Nuss, and has a similar build. Plus, almost all of our recruits have talked about how the want a chance to play early...D-Line is certainly going to have plenty of opportunities for playing time for new blood. |
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'sense' not 'since'. Sorry. |
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I just read a recent article in BGI about Ara's teams back in the 60's, specifically the NC in '66, and the author, Tom Pagna, who I assume from his writing was an assitant at the time, recalled how Ara always put the best recruits and athletes on defense, no matter what position they were recruited at, because a fast, physical defense is what wins the tough games and NCs. I think we all saw what a fast aggressive D can do, not only in the LSU game but UF-tOSU. He made a good point when he said that a team can't beat you if they can't score on you. If we want to improve our defense, we should put our best athletes on that side of the ball, regardless of where they were recruited at. Some players will probably have a problem with being switched around, ala Talley, but if they want to see the field and make an impact, they are much more likely to see it rotating in and out of the D to keep everyone fresh than waiting on the sidelines to play offense. |
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Nwankwo has said a couple of times that he will be playing DT at Notre Dame. Now whether Charlie agrees or not is another thing. |
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How about a kudo to CW for being smart enough to recruit kids that have experience playing both sides of the ball? |
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I think there is a vast difference between the way football is coached now and when Ara was prowling the sidelines and winning games. Athleticism can cover up a problem because a top-notch athlete can catch up to a blown assignment, but it doesn't stop the blown assignment from happening in the first place. With the vast variety of offensive schemes in football now, you need to get kids on the defensive side that are already versed in the mechanics of their position so that you can focus more time on scheme. Look at the number of highly athletic guys who have tried to go from DB to WR or WR to DB. Some work out ok, but generally they are significantly better at their "natural" position. It's not that they are more athletic at one position or another, just that they have so much more experience in one position. Personally, I'm looking forward to the day when ND's defense isn't manned by former wideouts and running backs but rather kids who have four years of experience in their collegiate position, or at least four years of playing on the same side of the ball. |
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the move to D-line for nuss makes sense given the fact that there aren't really any more undecided blue-chip DTs or DEs out there. We've got one real-deal blue-chipper in Trattou and a decent pickup in Ian Williams. I don't really think we have a chance at coming out of the blue to pick up Jason Peters, so finding athletic bodies in this recruiting class to round out the depth around those two is the most important thing. |
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Morton originally committed to Texas A&M, Prince I think committed to Illinois or Missouri. Another poster who thinks we are going to get every 5-star recruit out there. Marvin Austin might still be on the board, Blackwell, how many have we ever wrenched away from LSU, especially now that Bo Pelini is the DC, do you think hiring Pelini may have helped there? Weis quit recruiting Barksdale for some reason, it wasnt Barksdale's choice to not go to ND, ND dropped him. We are going to get all the top recruits, if we did, we would be investigated. Some kids just dont want to go to ND, as much as we want them, and we cant understand why they would rather go to another school than our school, but I guarantee you other schools are thinking the same thing about Clausen, Allen, Ragone and the like. We get the players that will help us and I believe Charlie and Co. are doing just that. |
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In Charlie We Trust. |
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Austin and barksdale are thugs. Optimal? Hardly. They don't belong at ND. |
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Hillbilly, what would you know about being sophisticated? |
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Prince had originally committed to Iowa as a junior in high school. |
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Prince was going to Iowa. I remember CW saying that Prince was his #1 target and that every time he touched the ball TD. I was suprised that he didn't get more PT this year. Something was wrong though when he didn't make the Navy trip. I think he was in the dog house a while this year. I also believe that Prince was his first commitment! |
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Prince looked shell shocked when he got into the game. hopefully he can put on a bit of weight while retaining that "swoosh" factor that we heard about but never saw. Maybe a spot on special teams would help the young man early next year. |
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Sorry, I can't let this go... atepesm, you do realize that most elite level high school players do play on both sides of the ball, right (including the ones who don't end up going to ND)? I don't think you can give any special kudos to Weis for that. If a high school coach has a Division 1 level talent on his team, he'll be on the field as much as possible. RBs and WRs play CB and Safety, FBs play LB, and OL play on the DL. |
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UM96...go back to your Michigan board. Weis is pretty much a genius as his 1600 on his SAT will prove. Jamar Adams didnt play both sides of the ball in high school and I know of quite a few D1 prospects who only play one side of the ball. Besides if they do play both sides they dont play them equally well. Lineman make a tougher switch than any other position. Remember too, that Derek Landri was recruited as OL. Many have been recruited as OL and switched to DL. Lou did it quite often to get his best players on the field. I imagine Llyod is a genius to you. |
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ND quit recruiting Barksdale, so dont feel so bad about losing him. There was some character or academic problem there so ND dropped him. We need to quit worrying about who we didnt get and start rejoicing in who we did get. As far as Major Wright being one of the hardest hitters that Cris Carter ever saw that is great, Brandy Wells was one of the hardest hitters anyone ever saw when he signed with ND. How many remember him? Stan Smagala not many heard of, but he was a key factor in the secondary in '88. Mike Koveleski was not that highly recruited as a LB, ended up being a four year starter and captain. Chris Zorich wasnt that highly recruited, in fact came to ND as a LB, we all know about him. You cant rate what is in a kids heart. That is why you have 5stars who flop and 3 stars who are outstanding. So quit worrying about who we didnt get, because the last that I saw everyone who we didnt get didnt go to the same team and we dont play them. |
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I agree with Doug. It isn't so much who we DIDN'T get, as much as it is who we DID get. |
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hillbilly, |
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Maybe I am mixing up my memories, but did we not stop recruiting Austin and Barksdale near the same time that most other schools also stopped recruiting them. Seemed more like they just started letting the coaches know where their interest was, maybe a silent? |
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I thought this was about Chris Little. Little is a stud, when he gets to South Bend, where he will be subject to NFL caliber physical training, he will lose the baby fat. Even at 342 lbs, he ran a 5.0 40, so whatever his present weight, this guy is an impressive athlete. The best move he could have possibly made for his future was to switch to ND and CW. |
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Sorry to come off sounding upset that we didn't land a ton of blue chipper's on D-Line. I was merely pointing out that these apparent moves from OL to DL are a good idea in the short term to make up for the slight shortfall in recruiting for D-Line. Yes, 5 stars don't make a kid a phenom in college; that takes time...I mentioned these guys because having seen their scout videos, they had the raw talent coming in and were natural D-Linemem, which would have meant less effort in developing them to play the position, i.e. they could contribute quicker to our depleted ranks. As it is, the HS game can never truly prep any recruit coming into a D. I program, so I think switching guys from the get-go to a different position won't adversely affect their development timeline. |
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I hardly think Lloyd Carr is a genius, I think it's been pretty well demonstrated that he has some serious weaknesses in his game philosophy when matched up with opponents that can equal his own teams' athleticism. |
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UM '96 |
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Touche, and thanks Kevin. |
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don't mention it. And should I change handles to avoid confusion, Kevin? |
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