Kyle Brindza / Kicking
I sit in Section 43 and three Plymouth players wandered down from higher seats and spent about 10 minutes in front of me before kickoff last week. One looked like Kyle Brindza. He is committed to ND and everything I have read is it is a solid verbal, but Brennan Beyer (his teammate who is committed to UM) was at the game hanging out with the other recruits and I started wondering if there is ANY chance we can steal Brindza from ND. I almost hit him up to find out if it really was him, but I stopped myself because it seemed too creepy.
ND's season has been a disaster (maybe even worse than our kicking game) and it is possible that BK is a dead man walking depending how the very sad Declan Sullivan situation plays out. Does anyone (e.g., TomVH) have any insight into Kyle Brindza's decision other than he is committed to ND?
November 12th, 2010 at 12:31 PM ^
There were rumors in the summer that he was going to be able to skip his senior year of high school(!) and enroll at Notre Dame immediately. That didn't come to fruition, obviously.
There have been no rumblings that he's likely to decommit from Notre Dame, despite the presence of many fluff articles of the "Beyer is going to Michigan, Brindza is going to Notre Dame" variety.
If the Irish's hold on him is loosening lately, I wouldn't be surprised, but I've seen no indication from credible sources (yet) that it's the case.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
Hey, thanks. I just couldn't help but wonder.
Edit: Tim -- do you know if he was at the game last weekend?
November 12th, 2010 at 2:52 PM ^
It was not him, he was at CC watching the game with some of his team.
He is committed to ND going in Jan from what the full page article states in the Free Press today.
November 12th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
I know a guy who knows a guy, but he's pretty solid to ND.
Before anyone gets upset about kicker prospects though, realize we are a wasteland for kickers. Even before RR how many top rated kickers have come here and been mediocre or just flat not performed.
It feels like there is so much pressure on the job the players never excel. It reminds me of a Red Wings goalie.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:04 PM ^
so I don't think a kicker would come here thinking he can improve himself and get to the next level
November 12th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^
I think for the most part nobody has kicking coaches in college. They just did a few articles on it a few weeks ago.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^
ND's kicker is 13/13 this year including 3 from 40-49 yards, and 1/1 from 50. Their kicking game is in the stratosphere compared to ours.
Were you saying that their season is worse than our kicking game? If so, then I retract my statement, even though I still think our kicking game is worse in that comparison.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:17 PM ^
And despite all that BK went for the endzone against Tulsa when they were within FG range. That cracks me up, even Les Miles thinks that was a bad idea.
November 12th, 2010 at 2:11 PM ^
Les would have lined up for the field goal on secon down and had the holder throw for the touch down, instead of Tommy Rees.
November 12th, 2010 at 2:56 PM ^
Question for anyone who knows. Could our kicking woes have anything to do with the wind currents in the Big House? We have had a few good kickers, but more often bad then good.
November 12th, 2010 at 4:52 PM ^
A FG try vs. Connecticut I thought was spot on, but the wind just drove it into the ground. That was a 25 mph day though. With an additional botched extra point from a bad hold, the kicking game was well chastised early in the season. I think had both gone through, more confidence and less scrutiny would have helped in later games.
Besides that, I don't think any changing wind currents (assumably from the rennovation) are affecting us much personally, but I'm sure there's some scientific difference.
November 12th, 2010 at 3:15 PM ^
I don't think it is creepy to do that. I was at the airport the day after the Michigan State game and recognized James Elliott (2010 O Line Prospect) next to me in line, can't really miss him because he is 6'3" 290 Lbs. or so. I asked him if he was James Elliott and he said "yes, sir". FYI - I am not that old, he is just super polite, gracious young man. We had a nice short conversation and I asked him how his visit went, he "loved it". I told him good luck with his recruiting and that Michigan would be a great place for him to come.
Kalamazoo Blue 87 posted a similar experience with 2012 Kicking prospect Ross Martin. http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/kicker-ross-martin. Not sure if the link works, it is the first time I am trying it
If you are tracking a kid down at his house or school that is creepy, but asking a kid who is attending a UM game from Plymouth sounds fine to me.
November 12th, 2010 at 3:30 PM ^
November 13th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^
Brindza kicked a 45 yard field goal a few weeks ago that was disallowed because it went above the goal posts instead of through them. He has a great leg. He also had the strongest bench on his football team before the season started.
Brindza was going to originally commit to UM and forego his senior year in the spring. ND found out about him and offered him the same opportunity and he committed a few days later. I think the coaches were really trying to add him to the last class which didn't get filled all that well with the coaching change. He eventually decided he wanted to play his senior year of football and was going to be an EE. Last I saw he changed his mind as ND was running out of EE slots and a kicker doesn't really get much out of being on campus a few months early.
If he wanted he could be on campus now at ND.