January 9th, 2014 at 11:49 PM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^
WIth all the recent early entries, how many starters are they returning on each side? I'm liking our chances of picking up that big road win more and more with each of these guys pulling the chute early.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
Sucks to suck, Notre Dame
January 9th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
Stop Golson and we win the game. They lose a lot of playmakers with Tuitt, Niklas, and their RB all leaving early.
January 9th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 12:01 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 9:18 AM ^
Atkinson, the RB you speak of, was in Kelly's dog house. Folston & MCDaniel will carry the load at RB just fine and Greg Bryant will finally get some playing time. (He is our Derrick Green but had a knee injury last year)
January 10th, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^
But was way too inconsistent. Guy was a mismatch, great athlete, but would lose focus, drop the ball, run a wrong route, not hit a hole, etc. Pure talent was there, and because of that he'll get a chance at the next level, but I'm sure he was also a very frustrating player for ND fans (he certainly helped Michigan enough in that game).
January 10th, 2014 at 12:25 PM ^
I am sure BK is fine with another departure...
January 10th, 2014 at 12:11 AM ^
If Daniels declares, or can't become eligible ... that game looks VERY winnable.
January 10th, 2014 at 12:17 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 8:43 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ^
^ to the tenth power
January 10th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
If we win next season, no one will be saying "Series ends with Michigan getting totally fake win because Notre Dame wasn't as good". The storyline will be "Series ends on sour note for Notre Dame as Michigan wins 7 of the final 9 games"
And 20 years from now, even the Domer-est of Domers will barely remember their conspiracy theories about the 2014 game. You only remember the 'W' or the 'L'
January 10th, 2014 at 12:20 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 12:22 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 12:47 AM ^
He must not be a big Under Armour fan.
January 10th, 2014 at 12:57 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 7:39 AM ^
January 10th, 2014 at 8:33 AM ^
And we needed 6 OL because our depth chart was a crater.
January 10th, 2014 at 7:34 AM ^
I haven't seen/heard anything.
January 10th, 2014 at 7:57 AM ^
Brian VanGorder, until recently the LB coach for the Jets, will be the new defensive coordinator for Notre Dame. I believe he held the position at Georgia and Auburn at various points in his career, and going way back, Kelly and VanGorder were both on the staff at Grand Valley State back in the 1990s. I haven't heard anything about an OC candidate yet though.
January 10th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^
Interestingly enough, Nussmeier reportedly inquired to Kelly about ND OC opening before coming here, but one conversation with Kelly was enough to sour him on the idea.
January 10th, 2014 at 8:33 AM ^
Ben Koyack is sitting right behind him, but this is definitely a blow.
They also lost one of their highest rated DL recruits to UCLA.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:35 AM ^
Why should I fear a guy that only caught 10 passes for 171 yards and 3 TDs last year and 14 total passes in his 3 years playing to date? I think Jake Butt doubled that output as a true freshman. I admit ND has recruited the position well, but there is a big difference between potential prospects and proven players. ND is now losing 2 of their top 3 receivers from last year. I think current redshirting freshmen Mike Heuerman or Durham Smythe are most likely to end up filling this position.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:47 AM ^
leading receiver?
Sitting behind Tyler Eifert and Niklas could have something to do with his lack of production his first 3 years, but that's just a guess. He has talent.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:55 AM ^
Koyack finished 5th in receptions and total yards this year for ND. Niklas didn't have a huge year behind Eifert as a sophomore in 2012, but I don't think Koyack stood out that much when I watched ND this year and Niklas was a younger player at the time. I guess we'll see next year, but I think it is unlikely that a guy who has barely made an impact through his first three years is going to start setting the world on fire.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:57 AM ^
I was saying show me a team who's 2nd string TE has ridiculous production.
January 10th, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^
But that was my original point. No one knows if he will be any good or not. At the same time I can say, show me a TE who has produced little in his first 3 years who went on to be an All-American/NFL first rounder in his senior year. Of course there will be a couple exceptions, just like I could name Zack Ertz and Coby Fleener at Stanford in 2011. But there are 2 things that don't project well for Koyack:
1. Koyack hasn't shown much through 3 years at the position.
2. Koyack played TE in 2011. Niklas played defense in 2011. Niklas switched to offense in 2012 (with Eifert still on the team) and passed Koyack on the depth chart. That doesn't really support Koyack being an impact player or bode well for his future.
January 10th, 2014 at 10:39 AM ^
Gone this long, but I'll bite. My point was simply don't sleep on Koyack, and lack of production is understandable with the NFL players that were in front of him. My original point was that ND has recruited TEs well, they got three impressive TE prospects last year, and 2 this year.
Stanford ran 2 TE sets with Andrew Luck throwing to both of those guys. In 2011 ND had Michael Floyd and Tyler Eifert. My guess is with a couple seconds to throw, the QB is going to look at those 2 guys first, Floyd had 100 receptions, Eifert had 63. They were also running Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray hard that year. There's only 1 football to go around.
Ok, I'm done thinking about Notre Dame's 2nd string TE, NUSSMEIER!!!
January 10th, 2014 at 10:19 AM ^
notre dame recruits TE very well, every time a TE graduates a new TE steps up
First there was zach rudolph, then tyler eifert, then niklas, and now koyak
I dont remember how many years that has been now, but before that there was john carlson, then will yeatman (who was looking to be great for ND before getting kicked off the team), and anthony fasano was before john carlson. I dont remember how far this goes back, but regardless, they have been utilizing their TEs well and getting the good recruits because of it.
January 10th, 2014 at 8:42 AM ^
for a successful season rise considerably. Last time we play 'em for a while, too--right?
January 10th, 2014 at 11:03 AM ^
If Brandon had any sack, he would have voided this year's game during the "Chicken Dance" after UTL2.
No, this is not hypocritical after the disgrazie of Swarbuck's white-gloved dismissal of our itinerant, yet national, rivalry. They can now save the drama for Wake Forest or whatever.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:02 AM ^
that they have more guys leaving early than surprising by staying (like Lewan, for example). Perhaps they get the sense that Kelly is only around until something better comes along, so why not take THEIR money when it presents itself.
If a guy is going first round, or maybe even top half of the second, it does not strike me as a crazy move to jump. Plenty of examples of guys who came back for another year (thinking Leinert, Quinn here) who do not seem to have improved their draft position.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:20 AM ^
Niklas just days previous said he was staying. He graded out at a 2-4th round prospect. Being a heavy part of the offense this year would have raised his draft prospects tremendously (a la Eifert).
Both Nix & Tuitt were not surprises. Atkinson was somewhat because he certainly could use another year of development. He was suspended for the bowl game because he was twittering during a team dinner or something.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^
I think he bounced because young guys like Folston were starting to take carries away from him. He probably saw his stock going nowhere but down next year.
January 10th, 2014 at 9:25 AM ^
This is a relatively stacked TE class. With Jace Amaro, Eric Ebron, and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins. All late 1st rounders. The lions will maybe get him?
January 10th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
But, fuck yeah. Deplete! Deplete!
January 10th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^
Glad he's gone, guy was a monster