(Broken into a few posts due to character limits.)
Five captains
I really had a hard time. I actually went back through the record books in the media guide to check what the most captains were because I had it whittled down to seven. I was trying to make a case for seven. I didn't think I could make the case for seven. Then I had it at six and then I said, 'Well, I seem to have been the guy that's always had one more of everything here.' I was trying to get to five. That's how I got to five.
I'd like to just comment on each one of them real quick. Nick Martin last year was named a captain and had to fight through a very difficult injury he had the year before. It was difficult for him most of the season just to get healthy. You can see this year being fully healthy that he's been able to lead, not only on the offensive line but the entire offense. It's great to watch him lead and be such an integral part of what we're doing offensively and he's a great representative on and off the field.
Sheldon Day as an underclassmen, I don't know that he truly knew how to lead as an underclassmen. He was afraid at times to step on the seniors' toes and was hesitant at times to speak up. That's not the case this year. He truly has control over his room and the defensive line room. What's impressed me the most about him is the way he's practiced: every single day with energy and a desire to want to get better every day. I've been very, very impressed with him and the way he's competed.
Joe Schmidt I think speaks for himself in the sense that, boy, what a representative for our program and in the community, in the classroom, class, distinction, on the field a great communicator and a galvanizer as a leader.
Matthias Farley as well brings together all segments of our football team. He probably has as many relationships with our true freshmen as any upperclassmen. He's got that kind of personality that he just really gets along with so many players on our team and is a guy that is going to be very important to us at a number of different positions.
Jaylon is just such a force on the field. He makes such an impact. He's so impactful that you can't help but notice him every single down that he's out there. He's our best player on defense, by far. It's not even close. He's that good of a player. Sheldon Day's a really fine player. KeiVarae Russell's a very, very fine player. [Smith] is a dominating football player. We just felt like it was important that he be in a leadership position.
Another announcement: We heard back from the NCAA on Ishaq Williams. His appeal was denied. He will not compete for Notre Dame. We knew and I think Ishaq knew it was going to be an uphill fight, but where he never wavered was coming back to school and getting his degree. The silver lining here was he is in school and we're very optimistic that he'll be able to finish his degree here in the short term.
No injuries to report, knock on wood. We got guys back. C.J. Prosise was in full gear and part of our goal-line drill today. He looks good. He's had really good practices Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, today. We feel really good about where he is coming back into the mix of things. Durham Smythe as well. Those two are the guys that were out a little bit.
Any concern with one offensive captain vs. four on defense. Was it ever in play to have more balance?
It was. It certainly was. We certainly had a number of discussions about it and in the end we felt like this was best for the 2015 football team.
Is Ishaq going to follow through with maybe being a scout team player and work out with the team?
He's not going to be allowed to practice either. He has a locker. We'll provide him the opportunity to work out. I know our assistant athletic director Chad Klunder has had a conversation with him and we'll provide him with a facility here to do that. I think he's going to get himself organized academically now that he has finality with this and I think he's still interested in maybe pursuing the NFL, but he's still kind of figuring out what he wants to do.
Any other avenue for him to go to another school at another level?
This was his last chance at eligibility and that was it.
Value in having Prosise out to get freshmen some other work
I think when you have the injury at first, you don't think in terms of value for the other guys. But that's certainly how it ended out playing. Josh and Dexter in particular were really able to get some valuable work. We feel going into the Texas game that Josh could even hold up in protections. That's hard to do as a true freshmen going into the first game of the year. I would say, yes, it's valuable to get those guys the work necessary and still not overwork Folston. Anderson was able to take a lot of the reps off the load for him as well, so it worked out pretty good and now C.J.'s feeling really good with the legs and he's moving in the right direction.
Five captains
I really had a hard time. I actually went back through the record books in the media guide to check what the most captains were because I had it whittled down to seven. I was trying to make a case for seven. I didn't think I could make the case for seven. Then I had it at six and then I said, 'Well, I seem to have been the guy that's always had one more of everything here.' I was trying to get to five. That's how I got to five.
I'd like to just comment on each one of them real quick. Nick Martin last year was named a captain and had to fight through a very difficult injury he had the year before. It was difficult for him most of the season just to get healthy. You can see this year being fully healthy that he's been able to lead, not only on the offensive line but the entire offense. It's great to watch him lead and be such an integral part of what we're doing offensively and he's a great representative on and off the field.
Sheldon Day as an underclassmen, I don't know that he truly knew how to lead as an underclassmen. He was afraid at times to step on the seniors' toes and was hesitant at times to speak up. That's not the case this year. He truly has control over his room and the defensive line room. What's impressed me the most about him is the way he's practiced: every single day with energy and a desire to want to get better every day. I've been very, very impressed with him and the way he's competed.
Joe Schmidt I think speaks for himself in the sense that, boy, what a representative for our program and in the community, in the classroom, class, distinction, on the field a great communicator and a galvanizer as a leader.
Matthias Farley as well brings together all segments of our football team. He probably has as many relationships with our true freshmen as any upperclassmen. He's got that kind of personality that he just really gets along with so many players on our team and is a guy that is going to be very important to us at a number of different positions.
Jaylon is just such a force on the field. He makes such an impact. He's so impactful that you can't help but notice him every single down that he's out there. He's our best player on defense, by far. It's not even close. He's that good of a player. Sheldon Day's a really fine player. KeiVarae Russell's a very, very fine player. [Smith] is a dominating football player. We just felt like it was important that he be in a leadership position.
Another announcement: We heard back from the NCAA on Ishaq Williams. His appeal was denied. He will not compete for Notre Dame. We knew and I think Ishaq knew it was going to be an uphill fight, but where he never wavered was coming back to school and getting his degree. The silver lining here was he is in school and we're very optimistic that he'll be able to finish his degree here in the short term.
No injuries to report, knock on wood. We got guys back. C.J. Prosise was in full gear and part of our goal-line drill today. He looks good. He's had really good practices Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, today. We feel really good about where he is coming back into the mix of things. Durham Smythe as well. Those two are the guys that were out a little bit.
Any concern with one offensive captain vs. four on defense. Was it ever in play to have more balance?
It was. It certainly was. We certainly had a number of discussions about it and in the end we felt like this was best for the 2015 football team.
Is Ishaq going to follow through with maybe being a scout team player and work out with the team?
He's not going to be allowed to practice either. He has a locker. We'll provide him the opportunity to work out. I know our assistant athletic director Chad Klunder has had a conversation with him and we'll provide him with a facility here to do that. I think he's going to get himself organized academically now that he has finality with this and I think he's still interested in maybe pursuing the NFL, but he's still kind of figuring out what he wants to do.
Any other avenue for him to go to another school at another level?
This was his last chance at eligibility and that was it.
Value in having Prosise out to get freshmen some other work
I think when you have the injury at first, you don't think in terms of value for the other guys. But that's certainly how it ended out playing. Josh and Dexter in particular were really able to get some valuable work. We feel going into the Texas game that Josh could even hold up in protections. That's hard to do as a true freshmen going into the first game of the year. I would say, yes, it's valuable to get those guys the work necessary and still not overwork Folston. Anderson was able to take a lot of the reps off the load for him as well, so it worked out pretty good and now C.J.'s feeling really good with the legs and he's moving in the right direction.
