Is it likely that Kelly will promote someone in-house as the next defensive coordinator and who would that person be?

Lou and I discuss the news of the day.

any of you folks been watching "Your Honor"? Sunday nights. two episodes in, pretty good. Stars Bryan Cranston [Breaking Bad]

Bull in the ring drill....

Bet the Blue and Gold Staff is already putting together a list of prospective Defensive Coordinators.

Early thoughts on whether ND promotes internally or will hire outside?

How about Don Brown? With J Harbaraugh seemingly jumping ship soon, it might be a great opportunity for us to poach Michigan. At BC, he always seem to have a great D.

Go Irish, beat Clemson!!

2022 QB target Steve Angeli tells me he will be visiting ND this weekend. More details to follow

Login to view embedded media

Story from Lou Somogyi. He posted it in another thread but wanted to make sure everyone saw the article.

The only commit who is still active this season is Nolan Ziegler, but who know when Michigan will resume its playoffs, if it even will. It's quite a mess.

As we enter signing week, I thought I would throw this out there. Good shots taken at both ND and Michigan (in fun, of course) and worth a quick minute for a laugh.

Login to view embedded media
Go Irish!

A couple of interesting notes by Stewart Mandel today in The Athletic in his weekly college football roundup column.

Alabama’s in a league of its own: Mandel’s Final Thoughts is the headline:

Alabama for the first time played 10 games against SEC teams and not only won them all, they won them by an average score of 50-17. The Tide’s last five victories have come by scores of 41-0 (Mississippi State), 63-3 (Kentucky), 42-13 (Auburn), 55-17 (LSU) and 52-3 (Arkansas).

But of special interest to ND fans were his thoughts on who will be the four playoff teams:

......the committee does still need to invite three other teams to the Playoff, and Florida’s loss likely leaves us with just two scenarios. One, Clemson beats Notre Dame and it’s Alabama-Clemson-Notre Dame-Ohio State. Or, Notre Dame beats Clemson a second time and it’s Alabama-Notre Dame-Ohio State-Texas A&M. I include the Buckeyes in both because I’m under no delusion 6-1 Northwestern, with its limited offense, can outscore a team with Justin Fields.

I agree with Mandel that Notre Dame will be one of the four playoff teams. The only way that they are not is if Clemson somehow puts at 52-10 type beatdown on the Irish this Saturday. I don't see that happening. I think that the Clemson game is going to be another close hard fought nail-biter with the Irish once again coming out on top.

I am hoping and praying for an Irish win as that would likely eliminate the possibility of any 3rd time matchup with Clemson, and ND would probably face Texas A&M in the first playoff round. Even if ND were to then lose to what I think is a great Alabama team, no one could argue that finishing 12-1 with two wins against Clemson and a first round playoff win was not a fabulous season. Perhaps the greatest non-national champion season in ND history.

Plus who knows - maybe ND could then pull off a monumental upset of Alabama for their 14th NCAA recognized National Championship.

One positive test from the last week
Login to view embedded media

I'm working on the Gold Standard and may post it today but also may have to wait until tomorrow morning to throw it up. Talking to various sources throughout the day and don't want to publish the article just to have it outdated because something changes.

But the cliff notes are that the Donovan Edwards saga is continuing, the battle for Logan Diggs is raging on and he may wait until Feb to sign, and contact with Audric Estime continues to be very good. I'm also not ruling out Ceyair Wright signing this week and waiting until Jan. 2 to announce his decision (like Isaiah Foskey did in 2019 class).

Took a dive into the different M.O.'s of both stout defenses, with input from Dabo Swinney and Brian Kelly:

Sure this could come back to haunt me. @UserND83 hold me accountable. But this team is good enough to beat Clemson Saturday. Sometimes we are too conditioned to think we need all the breaks to fall our way. I don’t feel that way about this team.

@scartiger
Appreciate your perspective. What were your thoughts on where Clemson was just before things took off in 2015-16?

Go Irish!

Thanks in advance.

This is year 7 of the playoffs;

There have been 28 slots available through the years, they have been filled by only 11 teams (mayyybe a 12th this year)
Four teams (Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma) will account for 20 of those 28 slots... there are 130 FBS teams, that's 3% of teams accounting for 71% of the playoff spots!
Of the CFB Champions, 6 of 7 years it came from those Four Teams (I mean OU never won so really just those 3 teams... out of 130.
Of the 12 CFP CG spots during the first 6 years, 8 have been filled by just two teams (Alabama and Clemson)... that's 1.5% of teams!
If Alabama wasn't paired against Clemson in 17-18 season's playoff it would could have been 9 of 12 (75%)

I realize things go in cycles. Don't know what really to make of these numbers. Except this cycle seems to be a long one. Hope ND breaks into the party again, and this time dances and celebrates to the end!

Did anyone hear his comment during the North Carolina game about Notre Dame needing to beat Clemson again to prove that they aren't overrated?

At what point does the Notre Dame program move past this garbage? They are 43-6 in their last 49 games with two bowl wins and (soon to be) two playoff appearances. Now they have to beat #1 Clemson twice in one season or they're overrated?

No matter what happens in the rematch, anyone still claiming that Notre Dame is overrated is a biased, agenda driven moron and has an opinion that isn't worth taking seriously.

ND got a good win over a P5 opponent who may not be at the top of their game but imo by the end of the year could look like a good win if Kentucky is able to develop their talented underclassmen. The first half ND looked like a legit contender in the ACC with their offense and ability to attack you at that end from all angles. The second half their lack of depth showed. I think its important to seperate the two to analyze the team to fully understand the offensive potential of this team and the weakness that is preventing them from being a great team. I think its very clear: starters are getting worn down and I dont think its a matter of them being too dependent on the 3 as much as they are getting exhausted to the point you cant expect them to get open off the dribble or off ball against fresher more athletic players that you see on the Kentucky's of the world. ND will see a better team that has much of the same in Duke. Im of the opinion that if you see the same team that you saw against Kentucky last saturday they will lose vs Duke this Wednesday by a margin of around 10-15 points.

Now if Wertz is eligble then I believe this is a much different story and it appears likely that he is ruled eligble. Im higher on Wertz than most but that is because I see him as a slightly less athletic version of Jerian Grant but arguably a better shooter (shot 40% from 3 last year) and I thought that before Wertz himself said as much when he said why he chose ND. He can do it all in my opinion. He can hunt his own shot, he can play off ball, he can take people off the dribble, he can be the primary ball handler, and he (like Jerian Grant excelled at) is great at passing to the open man off the drive and is going to be extremely tough to stop on pick and rolls due to his versatility and basketball IQ. He is going to be absolutely key to have off the bench and absolutely lethal when ND downshifts to a 4 guard offense and will create huge matchup problems. My reasoning is when you have Hubb, Ryan, and Wertz on the court, you can run your offense through any of those 3 guys and all 3 of them can be just as efficient off ball. Who are you going to put your ball stoppers on? (Some teams have one, good defensive teams have two, and very rare that you see a team with 3 legitmate ones). Which means Ryan and Wertz are going to get great matchups assuming Hubb draws the tougher ones and we saw Ryan have some good success off the drive against Kentucky which is a great sign. Then you add on the fact that you have 5 guys that can all shoot the 3 exceptionally well and spread the court (heck even Durham has shown he has the ability to extend the court a bit with his jump shot). Which means that driving lanes are going to be open for guys like Hubb, Ryan, Wertz, Goodwin, Laz, Sanders (when Carmody is healthy he could help here as well) to take it to the basket, which will eventually start forcing help defense which will eventually cause other people to be left wide open (Durham and Laz underneath or people spotting up for 3). Typically we are concerned about lack of size when ND downshifts that effects rebounding and defense but with Goodwin, Wertz, and Ryan all being about 6-5 these problems are alleiviated. I'm of the opinion that this team has the potential to have the best 4-1 offense Brey has ever put on the court at ND. Versatile guys like Wertz, Ryan, and Laz are going to make this lineup nearly impossible to guard when you add in how good Hubb is playing right now. I'm very excited to see it on the court. I know alot of people think he needs time to develop and adjust to the higher level of play in the ACC but outside of Hubb, he is the most experienced starter (granted I will say Goodwin was basically a starter with how many minutes he has played ) after 2 full years running a similar offense at Santa Clara and I believe he will be more ready than people expect.

Here is his highlight tape from his freshman year if you havent seen him play:

Login to view embedded media
As for Duke, they are a better team but similar to Kentucky in a few ways that allows ND to matchup:

1. They are young and play alot of inexperienced freshmen.
2. They turn the ball over at a high rate with an average of 16 turnovers per game.
3. They have a lot of size across the board but no one they play consistently is taller than 6-9. This should allow ND to compete on the boards.

I would like to see what Brey did to mess with Kentucky on Saturday where you keep switching up the defensive looks to keep a young Duke team from getting too comfortable and cause them to make mistakes. However, I think Duke could get hot from 3 and make it hard for Brey to sit in a zone too much. Rebounding will also be interesting as Durham and Laz will need to use their height advantages and Hubb, Goodwin, Ryan, Wertz, etc... are going to do whatever they can to clean up the rest. At the end of the day though I think ND will win for 3 reasons:

1. The addition of Wertz for depth that will assist in additional offensive output and consistency.
2. Experience of Notre Dame and their hunger to get a huge ACC win over the youth of Duke.
3. Turnover differential making it hard for Duke to keep up.

Our Three-Point Play includes Irish defensive woes, finding right combinations in the next month and what is sure to be a hot-button topic of kneeling for the national anthem.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-women-lose-acc-opener-82-67

Stanford from 2009-16 Had Notre Dame's number for the most part, but now the 2020 Irish are an even better version.
https://notredame.rivals.com/news/l...-dame-s-identity-on-offense-has-familiar-look

Good for Notre Dame, too, as Phillips, who served as an associate for Kevin White at Notre Dame in 2000-04 and has bee at Northwestern since 2008, also is familiar with former University provost Nathan Hatch and current school president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.


“Jim is one of the most talented athletic administrators in the country and uniquely qualified to successfully and seamlessly take over the helm of the ACC,” says ACC Board Chair Kent Syverud (Syracuse University). “Over the course of nearly 13 years, Jim has elevated and cemented Northwestern’s position as an outstanding Power 5 athletics program. Northwestern’s ascension in the world of intercollegiate athletics is a testament to Jim’s vision, leadership and foundational dedication to the success of student-athletes. The ACC is fortunate to have someone of Jim’s caliber and integrity lead the conference at this pivotal moment in intercollegiate athletics.”

Phillips, who assumes the role of ACC Commissioner in February 2021, was named Northwestern's 21st director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation in April 2008.

Phillips is known as one of the leading voices across the college sports landscape. He was elected as the inaugural chair of the NCAA Division I Council in February 2015 and served as the first-ever sitting athletic director on the NCAA Board of Directors and Board of Governors. In March of 2017, he was appointed to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Committee, a group he is slated to chair in 2021-22.

Before arriving at Northwestern, Phillips held several leadership positions in major athletics programs, including director of athletics at Northern Illinois University (NIU) from 2004-2008. Prior to NIU, Phillips served as associate director of athletics, then senior associate director of athletics for external affairs at the University of Notre Dame from 2000-2004.

Phillips earned a Ph.D. in education administration from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree in education from Arizona State University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois.

Seriously WTF..... This dude is NUTS. First he actually instigates then is involved in a scuffle. Says Bama QB is good game manager. And now this

Login to view embedded media

These are well done.
Login to view embedded media

Scroll through and click on the team you want to see. Has past designs and next to it future concepts. Kinda cool to waste some time.

Here is ND's

Here is the full site