I'm glad to hear that Kiffin was praising Sullivan, I was working and listening, but not watching, the game and I thought he was blaming Sullivan for the failed attempt. I was cringing and muttering to myself.
jaisn | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 10:41 am | #

He was more just kidding around with the reporter than praising Sullivan. The reporter joked around that the play call left a slight crack open for the South team and that's exactly how things ended. Not a good week for Lane.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 10:52 am | #

Training for the combine tryouts has become the norm. What does it cost? Who provides the training? Do you have to be invited to the premier draft prep camps? This is something that flies below the radar screen for me. Thanks.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 11:02 am | #

Subway, I finished reading The NFL Draft, a book going through the process, and often the agent fronts the bill for players training before the combine. Then it just comes out of the signing bonuses, usually, if they get drafted. If I remember correctly it was about 10,000.

Now there are several different specialty centers with the most famous one being in the Arizona, and theres others like the Chris Carter sponsored camp in Minnesota. Any player with a good agent should get them properly prepared for the Combine.
Matt Sherry | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 11:09 am | #

Does anyone know if only graduating seniors are invited, or is it 4th/5th year players who have exhausted their eligibility?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

Dave
ditb | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 11:36 am | #

dtib - The game is for invited collegiate seniors. In other words, players who have just recently exhausted their college eligibility.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 12:09 pm | #

Great summary of the Senior Bowl, Pat. (There was only a one-paragraph report buried in the LA Times, so I had no idea of our guys' performances.) I'll be sure to watch next year's bowl based on your commentary.
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 12:19 pm | #

I must be losing my mind...the way I saw it Kiffin was blaming Sullivan for convincing him to go for it instead of taking the 3 and likely icing the game. I'll have to see if NFL Network is replaying the telecast this week, because I could swear he said something like "I should've never listened to a Notre Dame guy" rather than "Now I know better than to not listen to Notre Dame guys" as you tell it. Obviously no big deal at all, but I'd be interested to see it again.
Tony Spilotro | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 12:38 pm | #

It's enteresting that Sullie had a good game (Senior Bowl) against premier talent. Is this indicative of the lack of schemes he played under or his lack of effort throughout the year? Just wondering.
Laws is proving he was over looked as an AA. He will show them at the next level.
TBone 1966 | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 1:49 pm | #

Zibby's in Siberia, just west of Milwaukee...
yago | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 2:16 pm | #

Sullivan kicking a--? Zbikowski taking "great angles to the ball?" If not for Laws' performance, I would be convinced this game was played in Bizarro World.
Lujack City | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 2:16 pm | #

Thank you for the information, Pat. I am hoping the NFL Network will replay the game, as I totally missed it. Ack!

Dave
Dave in the Basement | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 2:42 pm | #

For what it's worth, I just read this in a Q&A on an NFL draft site:

Chris Horwedel: Let's say your were starting an NFL expansion team and held the first pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Who would you take to build your team around?

Trevor Laws: John Sullivan, Notre Dame center

If Trevor Laws says so, it must be true.

http://www.nfldraftblitz.com/ tre...wsinterview.htm
Jade | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 2:56 pm | #

Actually, I just looked that over again and it was from last year. Maybe his opinion has changed since then...

In all honesty, though, it was nice to hear that Sullivan had a good game. I would hate for one horrible year to completely ruin his chances, because he was pretty solid his other three.
Jade | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 2:58 pm | #

I think Laws will be a steal if he's not picked until the 4th round.

I sure hope the ND guys stay healthy and test well.
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 3:19 pm | #

Here's hoping that Laws gets picked up by the Cleveland Browns with their second-round pick. Cleveland definitely needs some DL, and without a doubt, Laws is the best D-lineman in the draft that WON'T go in the first round. Its pretty much a guarantee will most likely be available in the second round, and I think it would be bad for Cleveland to pass on him.

Plus, being a Browns fan, that would make it even better.
chrisnd | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 4:00 pm | #

chrisnd...plus he would be teamed with Brady Quinn...not on the field at the same time but on the same team. That couldn't be too bad.
Ted Eberle | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 4:07 pm | #

That Trevor Laws interview mentions the '05 SC game as the one thing he'd like to do over. I'm starting to think that that's going to be the defining game of my 4 years here (I've got one more, so we'll see), and man that would've been one for the ages to win.
Matt '09 | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 5:34 pm | #

Unless something goes wrong, I've got one more season to go as well, and USC '05 is the defining win of my time at ND. Too bad we didn't actually win.

Oh well, at least I got to rush the field once in '04.
Mr. Wednesday | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 6:17 pm | #

So it looks like this is going to be our worst draft (in terms of amount drafted and highest position drafted) in quite some time. I don't know whether that is reassuring, considering our very down year, or downright depressing based upon the amount of people we had drafted last year.

What is the rationale for the drop off of talent for the recruiting class of '06 (BQ, et al) and this year's recruiting class? I know that TW was behind both. Charlie has been consistent with his recruiting , if not gotten better. Why did TW get worse?

If you check this link out

http://www.uhnd.com/history/notr...-draft-history/

you will see that this is probably our worst draft class since 1981. Note: We only had one person drafted in 2000, but I think that's an exception due to the Holtz/Davie transition (don't know for sure though).
NavyJoe | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 6:49 pm | #

NavyJoe,

Shouldnt Eddy and Duranko have been included in the '67 draft. I know you didnt write the article, but Eddy and Duranko both played for ND in '66.
Doug | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 7:39 pm | #

I think Sully's performance this year says a lot about the players surrounding him. I believe Morton was quoted earlier in the year saying the reason Young looked so good was because he had seniors telling him where to go. I wonder how much of Sully's performance this year had to do with the lack of experience on all sides. Voice could probably give a little more insight on the importance of having great players along side the newbies on the O line.

I also found it interesting, after so many days of listening to people complain about the crappy coaching this year, the comments about Zibby having great fundamentals. Maybe the coaches actually do know how to coach the players.

I still think the problems this year were a perfect storm of upside-down scheduling (scheduling all our tough games early), true freshman at QB, RB, and WR, and the overall lack of depth we have had for the past 15 years.

I think this is the area where ND is falling behind the big boys. I think we can still get enough premier players (4th most players in the NFL), but we haven't been able to fill the roster with good quality players who may not play in the NFL but are great college players. I know Weis spoke to this two years ago when he said something to the effect that our first team can play with anybody (BQ, Smasdfawelrkjza, Zibby, etc.). But once someone goes down, there is nobody to give them rest. I believe he may have been speaking specifically about the O-line or D-line, but the point holds true. If we had any depth at all, we wouldn't have had true freshman leading in playing time at any position, let alone RB or WR. We certainly wouldn't have seen two years in a row with true freshman starting on the line. I feel confident that in Voice's day, nothing but Seniors started with Juniors and the occasional all-american Soph. giving them breathers. Not sure, but I bet you could go back to the Joe Moore days and see pretty much the same thing.
Michael | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 8:06 pm | #

"Few misguided shotgun snaps"?! We led the NCAA in that play this year. Charlie had to remove the shotgun from the playbook half-way through the year and it was still too late.

I think Sully struggled with the o-line responsibilities Charlie gave him this year. It's good to see his and Zibby's physical skills shine in the simplified environment of an all-star game. They've got the tools to play in the league, I hope the mental aspect develops for them. High-class guys, I wish them both success at the next level.
Sam | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 9:00 pm | #

Doug,

That's a smidge before my time. I got the information from UHND's website, so I can't vouch for total accuracy. Though, from what I can remember from the recent drafts, it seemed about right.

In my humble opinion, the numbers for the Irish over the past 10 years or so just don't add up. Right now, there are currently 40 ND guys in the NFL. That's fourth most, behind Tennessee, Miami, and Florida State, and ahead of OSU, UF, UM, PSU, UGA, and LSU. Every one of those teams has either won or challenged for a NC in the past 10 years...except for us. We haven't even come close.
NavyJoe | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 9:40 pm | #

Michael, having seasoned, confident veterans lined up beside you on the OL is invaluable. Recognizing fronts and making calls is important because tackles need to know who to block, and having a wily guard to tell you who to block can greatly reduce the "pucker factor". Knowing the correct guy to block allows the tackle to play agressively (as opposed to tentatively). Tentative offensive linemen get beat! The guard informs the tackle who to block based on who he, the guard, is set to block. Thus they won't both block the same guy and/or leave a defender unblocked while both figuring the other guy has it. Even when 2 guys have to block 3, identifying the defender who is the least dangerous to any given play is quite important, and a savvy, quick thinking interior man can greatly assist a young, inexperienced tackle. Morton, evidently, kept Sam Young apprised of who to block, and this year's younsters, predictably, were less adept. We can expect significant improvement in '08.
You are right about the best lines being comprised primarily of veteran, lettered upperclassmen. But sophomores can be great, not necessarily because they played as freshmen, but rather because they got toughened up as freshmen on the scout team, then blossomed in the weight room and on the field during their first Spring ball. Freshmen starting on the OL is probably the worst thing that can happen to a football team because, imo, that is the absolute hardest position for a kid fresh out of high school.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 10:43 pm | #

This is totally off topic, but Peter King on SI.com referenced this article (at least I think it was him) about some of the shenanigans that went on at UW over the last 10 years. I would rather Notre Dame never win another national championship than to have a program that has these kind of kids.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com...ictoryandruins/
Andrew | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 11:29 pm | #

correction, it was Andy Staples with the article.
Andrew | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 11:30 pm | #

Could not believe your interpretation of the Kiffin comments regarding the failed 4th down play versus kicking the field goal. Fortunately, I Tivo'd the game and replayed the Kiffin comments on Sully. He was not praising Sully, he was chiding/teasing Sully for talking him into going for it on that 4th down play. However, Kiffin was not passing the buck, he seemed like he was just having fun with it. Just a Trojan having a little fun at the expense of the Irish. The audio on this is very clear. Could it be that you intentionally misled the readers?
ND4ME2006 | Email | Homepage | 01.29.08 - 2:35 am | #

ND4ME2006 - I TIVO'd the game as well and that is what I thought he said. At first I thought he was teasing him too but when I listened to it again, it sounded like he said he "should have listened" to Sully instead of "shouldn't have". I just took another listen and you're right.

My mistake.

I've been writing this blog for 3 years and I've made plenty of mistakes. But I've never intentionally tried to mislead anyone. If you see something wrong, point it out and I'll gladly correct it. I'm not in the business of lying to make all things ND look better.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 01.29.08 - 7:52 am | #

NavyJoe,

I can't speak to ND's inability to win an NC in the past 10 years while having so many NFL-bound players, but it would seem that part of the problem this year is simply a lack of numbers. Isn't this one of the smallest senior classes of all time at ND? Something like 9 seniors? If we had more seniors, maybe we'd have more in the draft?
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.29.08 - 1:47 pm | #

I was commenting more on the entire ten year span as opposed to just this past year. In fact, I think this past year is one of the few that should get a pass, seeing as we're only going to have two or three guys drafted.
NavyJoe | Email | Homepage | 01.29.08 - 2:14 pm | #

I've been keeping score, Pat, and by my account, you and Jay are correct 99% of the time. Keep up the great work. BTW, I did not mean to imply that you were trying to pull a fast one on us; just thought you were having a little fun at Kiffin's expense.
ND4ME2006 | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 12:17 am | #

http:// seattletimes.nwsource.com...bkelley300.html

Every time I get discouraged about the state of ND football, I remember why I went to the school, and why I hope most athletes do.

To hear about the experiences of athletes at other schools who are "isolated" from their peers and are "football majors", I smile and thank Our Lady for her standards.
yak | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 11:16 pm | #

Zibby's 38-yard return was on a kickoff, not a punt. Still the longest runback in the game, but not quite so impressive.
Irish4ever | Email | Homepage | 01.31.08 - 9:00 am | #