Video Preview & More Interviews

Bye Week Update 8/27

Corwin Brown likes what he sees @ Rivals Video

Lewis-Moore from scout team to starter @ Rivals Video

Smith on the depth of the defense @ Rivals Video

Filer off the edge @ Rivals Video

Blanton competing everyday @ Rivals Video

The brothers McCarthy @ Rivals Video

More Succulent Video

Coach Weis

Weis looks big picture, big back @ Rivals Video

Coach Brown

Brown on his roll as Associate HC @ Rivals Video

Coach Hart

Hart sees passion on the defensive line @ Rivals Video

Coach Verducci

For Verducci consistency is the key @ Rivals Video

Practice video, with focus on the WR's.

Wide receivers get back to work @ Rivals Video

Bagpipe Monday Is On Delay... I Give You More Interviews

Bagpipe Monday will be out later today. Until then...
Corwin Brown

Defense brings the energy @ Rivals Video

Raeshon McNeil

McNeil playing on the edge @ Rivals Video

Robert Blanton

Learning process continues Blanton @ Rivals Video

Harrison Smith

Weis Presser Tidbits

Charlie Weis spoke to the media today and laid out some new things for program this year. Here is a short rundown of what was said...

• Corwin Brown has been promoted to Associate Head Coach/Co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach.
• Jon TAH-NOO-TAH has been promoted to Assistant Head Coach for Defense/ Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach.
• TAH-NOO-TAH!!! will be calling the defensive plays.
• Bryant Young was officially announced as the Defensive Graduate Assistant.
• Romeo Crennel will not be the new Defensive Line Coach.
• Weis said he should have a decision on the Defensive Line coach soon.
• Weis is making himself the Offensive Coordinator and will be calling the plays.
• Weis would not rule out coaching from the press box next year and labeled the situation as "50-50," but on the lower end.
• Frank Verducci was officially named Offensive Line Coach and Running Game Coordinator.
• Tony Alford was officially named Running Backs Coach.
• Weis mentioned that several players will have to have their tonsils removed (no shit) and may not be ready for Spring Ball, but will be ready for the Summer/Fall.
• There is no official word from the University on which players will be returning for a 5th year in 2009.
• Weis mentioned that the 2010 recruiting class should be about 24-25 players to get the team up to the 85 allotted amount of players.
• Weis is feeling good after surgery on his right knee, and has postponed the surgery to his left knee that was scheduled for this month, "indefinitely."
• Darrin Walls is back in school and with the team, and will be ready to go in the Spring.
• Luke Schmidt's football career is over because of concussions.
• Jashaad Gaines is still on a leave of absence from the University due to personal issues. Weis said the "door is open" for a return, but nothing has been decided yet.

I'll have some commentary on these events in a day or so. I'm still waiting for my wife to give birth to our first child. She (daughter), is already not listening to us and refuses to leave the womb. So... you never know.

UPDATE: Videos from today...

Charlie

Weis makes changes @ Rivals Video

Alford

Alford ready to run @ Rivals Video

Verducci

Verducci: OL problems are correctible @ Rivals Video

Video Bombs

Practice...

TAH-NOO-TAH

The "Legend" Corwin Brown

Harrison Smith... Linebacker?

Crum and Corwin...

Mo Crum

Corwin Brown

The Legend of Corwin Brown Continues

Coach Brown speaks...

Bizarro And Commitment #13

Brandon Newman is Irish. The 6'1" 305 pound nose tackle informed Coach Weis this weekend that he was coming to ND in 2008. This was during a scheduled visit to ND and a sleepover at Braxton Cave's home. Captain Caveman has been as involved in recruiting other top talent as the Irish staff.

The Pleasure Ridge Park High (Louisville, Kentucky) standout chose ND over a host of other schools, including in-state rivals Louisville and Kentucky. There is no doubt he will be receiving even more offers now that he has committed to Notre Dame.

What makes this a truly extraordinary commit, besides being a top talent, is the fact that this is the 3rd DT committed to the Irish. O.K., the other two project more as defensive ends, but none the less this is HUGE for ND which has struggled in the past to attract top talent on the d-line, despite offering early playing time.

What world are we living in? Is this Bizarro World. Things are changing for the Irish and the hiring of Corwin Brown seems to be the catalyst. Of the 13 commits, 6 of them are on the defensive side of the ball. This is a long ways away from Ty's days of losing out on these guys, and not filling out the depth chart. Another bizarre point; Our 13th commit last year was Taylor Dever...on December 16th. Next someone will be telling me that at the end of the season, ND will have a top 10 defense and, despite their youth and a EXCRUCIATINGLY tough schedule, the Fighting Irsh will make back to a BCS game... and win. I think I might like this world, which is looking like the glory days of old.

I need a Beer. I'm Irish.
Welcome To ND Brandon!!!

Link-O-Rama...I Just Got Off Of Work Edition.

Here is a list of some good links to check out.

• Corwin Brown impresses Gator Nation. (BTW- If you haven't checked out EDSBS, you are either a tool or uninformed).
• Blue-Gray Sky stalks Charlie Weis, and proves once again that Weis is the Emperor.
• OC Domer professes his love of Our Lady and of the Grotto as an ode to Mothers Day.
• The "men" of BC bring us a story about Tom O'Brian. We knew he was a douche for a long time...what took you so long?
• This is an excerpt from a real moron. Look at the date...now read the article...WOW. This guy is an idiot.I truly hope this was an error by Blogger. In any case however, I will be removing him from my blogroll and replace him with a Spartan that is worthy to be called an enemy. (If the guys at BGS don't know about this let them know. They are being dealt with 7 months later and somehow the game hasn't happened yet in "Spartan Bobs" head.BTW- The spelling errors in his piece are his not, mine. I noe ware my spelchek butun is at.

Saturday, April 28, 2007
"A nice long look..."

Michigan State is no stranger to weird phobias and hard shit to put behind them. So it is with great amusement that I have followed the development of the image at right into a Leprechaun Lodestar for the game this Saturday. Blue-Gray Sky is a typical example. They dedicate a medium-sized column (by their standards) to warding off all of the counter-motivationals that Michigan State is allegedly imagining so as to mitigate the supposed talismanic power of "The Flag" to wake the echoes and restore some balance to the 2-7 slide against Michigan State. The Flag, you see, was a crime! No act of bad form on the Irish side may be cited to detract from the power of Flag. BGS did exhaustive research and found all the evidence wanting: No dissing about missing megaphones and certainly no pouting about pillowtalk between Charlie and Mrs. Charlie about never again surrending to Spartans. Lost in it all is an interesting question: What if Michigan State wins?If, after making such a big deal of this flag matter (which few Spartans ever cared about anyway), the Irish fail get the job done, then the flag becomes a self-inflicted monkey on the back of Notre Dame and Charlie Weis. A symbol of failure that will resurface year after year until they beat Michigan State. When and if the "Fire Charlie" websites spring up, that picture becomes worth a thousand words of evidence.BGS tries some rally-round-the-flag moments in the posting:
"I would certainly hope that each player on the Irish roster takes a nice long look at this before heading out onto the field Saturday night." Indeed, take that look. You created this mountain out of a molehill in your own minds. You earned that look. You've worked hard for that look. And if you don't get the job done, you'll get a whole lot better view of it in the year to come.
¶ 10:41 PM 0 comments

11th Heaven

Hafis Williams becomes the 11th verbal commit for the 2008 incoming freshman class at Notre Dame. He is a defensive tackle, but projects more as a defensive end in college. The 6' 4" prospect is a beast. His profile has him listed as 260 lbs., but word is that he has hit the weight room hard and is up to 285-290 lbs. ND is raking in the defensive talent, thanks in part to new defensive coordinator Darth Brown. To put this into context, we had 4 commits at this time last year.

Welcome to Notre Dame Hafis!!!

Trick Dogs, Carbonite, and Fish Frenzy

The NFL Draft has come and gone. Four and a half months of pure hype, and now the ramifications of what the draft will bring football fans is still a long ways away. The only certainties that we know are where these players have all gone and speculations on why they went where they did. Also, there seems to have been a resurrection of sorts...but more on that later.

Here is the list of Fighting Irish Players that were drafted, where they went, and the free agent signings for the guys not picked in the draft. By the way if any of you out there are an undersized, 4.6 + 40 yard dash running back... stay a 4th year in school. "Flipping Idiot!!!"- Napoleon Dynamite.

1. Brady Quinn Cleavland Browns 22nd Pick. Unless you live on Uranus, you know all about the freefall of Quinn. How in the hell did he slip to 22? Miami fans are enraged and Cam Cameron does his best to pacify the horde of saltwater spewing Fin Fanatics as depicted in this video. This was not planned by the Browns, but there has been reports of Cleavland trying to trade up with Buffalo to take Quinn at #12. Completely contrary to what the Brown are used to, they got lucky and got a trade with Dallas to nab Quinn before K.C. Good luck to Brady in the Dawg Pound.


2. Victor Abiamiri Philadelphia Eagles 57nd Pick. Round 2 for this domer. He fits in nicely with a good defense and can learn a lot while he is there. He was the 6th DE took and could of ended up in Chicago at pick number 62. Hopefully Philly doesn't keep drafting DEs every year ala the Giants . (A Justin Tuck reference).


3. Ryan Harris Denver Broncos 70th Pick. Ryan got the call while he was walking to Dairy Queen. He won't need the extra weight in Denver. They plan on using his athleticism in their zone blocking scheme. If he can ever develop a pissed of mentality, he could do well as a Bronco. How nasty can you be with a Banana Split?


4. Derek Landri Jacksonville Jaguars 166th Pick. I heard he could have gone earlier. Only 3 DT were taken after him, so good luck to you #66 at pick 166.


5. Mike Richardson New England Patriots 202nd Pick. WOW. Mike has come a long way. He went from 1 star prospect out of high school, to horrible, to starter, to one of the reasons any school could throw for 300+ yards on ND, to decent, to arguably the best DB ND had in 2006, to drafted in the NFL. Good Luck Mike. Try covering Moss in practice. OUCH.


6. Dan Santucci Cincinnati Bengals 230th Pick. I really didn't think he would get picked... so kudos to you Dan.


7. Nedu Ndukwe Cincinnati Begals 253rd Pick. Only 2 picks away from being Mr Irrelevant! Damn, so close. It all makes sense now. Cincy needs character guys in the late rounds. That is why Nedu and Santucci landed here. Nedu will be a special teams guy, because he does tackle very well and hits with some pop.

Seven is a step in the right direction, but it could have been nine. The other 2... oh yea just a starting RB and WR on a deadly offense. It seems they were undraftable, but they are signed.

Darius Walker Chicago Bears. Darius just became the poster child for anyone considering leaving school early despite the advice from EVERYONE not to do it. He should make the roster and be 3rd on the depth chart after Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson. Not a bad situation, but it may get worse in a year. Good Luck Darius.

Rhema McKnight New Orleans Saints. Rhema is in a tighter spot. I am really surprised he did not get picked, but if you can't catch a 4th and 5 pas that hit you dead in the hands...you don't get drafted. He has a lot of competition ahead of him as the Saints were loaded at WR and took another with their first pick in Robert Meachum. If he makes the roster, he will be lucky.

Chris Frome Chicago Bears. In an unexpected turn of events, Frome was signed to a contract with Chicago after going undrafted and unsigned. Word on the street is that Chris had been frozen in Carbonite and was quite safe as he survived the freezing process. No word yet if Emperor Weis or Darth Brown had any connection to Frome's hibernation. I did pick up a few transmissions that he was sent to the Bears to protect the Princess. A.K.A. Darius Walker as he is already being called that by Urlacher.

The State of Recruiting

If you have followed recruiting at all in the last 20 years or so, I'm sure you have heard the phrase "Pipeline State". This is the word commonly used as a way to describe a particular state the sends good talent to a school. College coaches establish relationships with certain high schools and their coaches in the hopes of landing their star players. These areas then become known as a "pipeline", to a certain University or College.

In the case of Notre Dame this "pipeline" theory is of extreme importance. ND is nestled in northern Indiana and is not considered to have an overwhelming amount of talent in the area, or the entire state for that matter. ND is a National University, and recruits in a manner to reflect that image.

The Fighting Irish have scholarship players from 25 of the 50 states. This is a huge difference from other elite programs such as Texas and Florida, who have a vast majority of players from their own state. Texas, for example, has only 3 players from outside the state. 3. This is the type of school that has cornered the market for their top prospects in their own backyard. Schools such as these are very difficult to compete against for players in their own state.

I believe ND to be doing a fantastic job in scouring the country for top talent. They have had a few down years, but that was mainly due to incompetent coaches who couldn't recruit...or wouldn't (Ty). ND has some work to do to gain back territory lost during the Davieham era, but Coach Weis and his assistants are working very hard to do just that.

Here is a map of where ND players come from. (Not exact in location within states)

As you can see, although the number of states is great, particular states and areas are more represented than others. The following is a breakdown of the top states for sheer numbers and their average star rating for the players according to Scout.com's rankings.

1. Florida

• 9 players.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.44
• Most Notable.......... Sam Young(5*), Armando Allen(4*), Maurice Crum(3*)
• It seems as if this state is a cornucopia of talent for the gridiron. Even the 3 star players are excellent and may have been at least a 4 star if they were in another state. This fertile ground is quickly becoming a heated rivalry meeting place for dozens of programs across the country. The big 3 of Miami, F$U, and Florida still seem to lockdown most of the states elite talent, but there are those who venture out of the Sunshine State. These are the kids Charlie and the boys MUST sign and play for the Irish.

2. Pennsylvania

• 8 players.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.5
• Most Notable.......... Travis Thomas(4*), Darrin Walls(4*), Zach Frazer(4*)
• Pennsylvania, especially western PA., has always been a good source of talent for ND. The Irish have had to fend off in-state power Penn State for most if not all of their PA. guys throughout the years. Now however, Pitt is making a comeback in recruiting and is landing some very good state talent. Can Weis hold ND's ground in this state? Let's hope so, because some of Notre Dames greatest players are from PA. and the state might hold a lot more in store for the future.

3. California

• 7 players.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.85
• Most Notable.......... Jimmy Clausen(5*), Terrail Lambert(4*), Konrad Reuland(5*)
• This state, like Florida, is loaded with elite talent. The problem is keeping them away from Pete Carroll's grubby hands. ND does do, and has done, a very good job of taking away top tier kids from Cali. In fact, if you take Darrin Bragg out of the equation, the average star rating would be 4.16. Not a bad number. The Irish must continue to hammer this state and battle not only U$C, but Cal, UCLA, and pretty much every PAC-10 school. If Weis can get them to put aside the distance factor, we will continue to do very well in California for years to come.

4. Illinois

• 6 players.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.5
• Most Notable.......... Tom Zbikowski(4*), Demetrius Jones(3*), Robert Hughes(4*)
• This state should be home turf. The Irish are finding out however, that Zook and the Fighting No Mascots are in war mode. ND has had some very good commits in the past from Chicago, but they lost a couple this year to a 2-9 team. I won't speculate as to why, I'm just stating the facts. There is a lot of hope that the kids from Illinois high schools, and in particular Chicago, are going to keep marching for Our Lady because of Corwin Brown and his connections there. Here's hoping for early commits from Filer and Flemming.

5. Ohio

• 6 players
• Average Star Rating..........3
• Most Notable.......... David Bruton(3*), Kallen Wade(4*), John Ryan(3*)
• Although the numbers are decent with 6 players, the quality is still a question mark. Most of the kids are too young to properly access the talent stream. Two of our starters last year hailed from Ohio,and the same school for that matter, in Quinn and Nedu. Tressel is really fighting to keep his talent in his state, but ND has a long history of getting elite prospects from Ohio. If Charlie and crew can keep pounding on the doors, they will open.

6. Indiana

• 4 players.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.5
• Most Notable.......... James Aldridge(5*), Luke Schmidt(4*), Pat Kuntz(3*)
• This is actually a sweet surprise. Although we are now scraping the the barrel with numbers for each state, Indiana is either tied or beating the average star ratings of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, FLORIDA, New Jersey, and a host of 3 players states. What does this say about the home state? Well it says that despite the slim pickings, ND has pulled out some quality kids from their own backyard. ND is on the right track this year with 2 in-state recruits already committing in Walter and Braxton Cave. These may be the only two , but they are the guys we can not let slip away to Purdue, Michigan, etc.

7. New Jersey

• 4 players.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.5
• Most Notable.......... Mike Ragone(4*), Leo Ferrine(4*), Duval Kamara(4*)
• Weis is in love with N.J. And why not? He's from there and makes no denial that he wants to plug in a "pipeline" from the Garden State straight on to Our Lady of the Lake. A lot of excellent high school ball is played in this state and a lot of elite talent. In the past poaching of these stars has been relatively easy, due to no major football power in the state. N.D., USC, Florida State, and a host of other schools had their pick of the lot. Rutgers and Greg Schiano are changing all of that. Weis is a leg up on other schools for talent with the connections he has there, but he must keep Schiano and Rutgers in their place...bottom feeding.

8. Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, Georgia

• 3 players each.
• Average Star Rating.......... 3.41
• Most Notable.......... Chris Stewart(4*), John Carlson(3*), Trevor Laws(4*), Toryan Smith(3*), D.J. Hord(4*)
• Theses 4 states have been very good providers for the Irish. Texas has developed into a problem and will always be as long as Mack Brown hovers over all of the elite talent there. Minnesota has given us great players, and they all seem to come from one school. Georgia is like Florida. A 3* there is a 4* somewhere else. Missouri is a real eye catcher though. A lot of talent filters its way to the Big 12, but Weis in particular has had excellent results in that state. With the exception of Texas ND should continue to nab top talent in these states.

What does this all mean? National recruiting is exactly that...national. Good talent is everywhere. ND just has to keep going hard at it (and with Brown it looks great) and they will have no problem getting top 5 classes. And that means Championships. It is only a matter of time.

1992 - Michigan vs. Notre Dame (Reggie Brooks)

Corwin Brown was announced to be the new Defenive Coordinator for Notre Dame despite the fact Reggie Brooks still roams the campus.

Rumors and Sightings

The Legend Has Begun...




These are a few of the legendary moments new ND Defensive Coordinator, Corwin Brown, has produced in his lifetime.

• Only a toddler, Corwin was hit by a diesel truck. While Corwin was bruised, the truck was totaled. Bo and Woody had a pissing match to talk to the 3 year old.
• At age 5 Corwin was suspended from school for instigating a fight between 2 classmates. As it turned out, he was at no fault at all except for the fact that the 2 classmates were Penny and Jill and he promised both of the girls a spot next to him during nap time. Bishop Don Magic Juan proclaimed him a P-I-M-P, and Brown was reinstated into Kindergarten with full privileges.
• On his 10th birthday Corwin ate 20 boxes of Cornflakes and then regurgitated them into the mouths of hungry homeless people. Hence the name Cornflake. What a humanitarian.
• Punched a puma in the mouth and ripped its tongue out. WOW!
• Arm Wrestling Champion of Guam.
• Named #1 on a list by Mike Tyson. Tyson would not disclose the subject matter of the list.
• Told John Cooper to go to hell...and Cooper did.
• Beat out the Archangel Michael in a highly competitive Cherry Pit Spittin' contest.
• Was almost thrown out of Pop Warner for testing positive for steroids. It was later determined that the high level of testosterone was a natural occurrence for a man-beast.
• Beat up Chuck Norris. What else is there to say?

Coaching Changes...Or So We Are Told

Ever since the Sugar Bowl there has been rampant discussion about changes to the ND coaching staff. One could not look anywhere on message boards and blogs without sorting through a wide array of rumors on what those changes might entail. The Subway Domer was going to defer any talk of a change until an official word was released by the University of Notre Dame. That however does not seem to have happened as fast as we would of all liked. So in light of the situation, I will now concede to the rumors and take into consideration that the new recruits are even talking about the change openly, and state that Corwin Brown is going to be the new Defensive Coordinator and Ron Powlus will become the new QB coach.



Corwin Brown, come on down! Welcome to the Notre Dame family. You are next in line for what seems to be the toughest job in DI-A.



Here are a few tidbits about Mr. Brown

• Played for Michigan. This alone is cause for concern when you look no farther... a Skunkbear- what the hell. Read further.


• He was a hard hitting player in NFL and was named in the top 5 for toughest players to play for Bill Parcells by Parcells himself. Go on my son.


• Hates USC. He has got to hate them, right? Right! The reasons for this is simple: First he was cut by then Patriots HC Pete da poodle Carroll, Next he destroyed Keyshon Johnson and was close to decapitating him, and finally he just watched his Alma Mata get crushed by the poodle and SC.


• Has the most familiarity as a coach with using a 3-4 defense. He might need Trevor Laws to beef up some more for this to work this year and do the same with our other DTs.


• He has some college coaching experience with Virgina as a special teams coach.


• He was the DB coach for the Jets through 2 administrations. Edwards and Mangini.

Notice that Brown has never been a DC in college or the pros. There have been a few rumblings around the net about that fact. Now notice that Weis was never was a HC in college or the pros. I think that is working out. By the way, do not worry about the Michigan factor. Once you are a Parcells/Belicheck/Weis guy, that is where your loyalty stays...for LIFE. ( Except for Mangini who might think of Bill B. as a dick and vica versa)

Yes he can! And now it will be in more ways than just playing quarterback and setting school records.

Ron Powlus looks to be the next Quarterback Coach, taking over for Peter Vass. This in essence may be just as critical a move as canning Rick Minter. There are 4 QBs in the stable now that All Universe high school stud Jimmy Clausen enrolled this week. Ron is a true Son of ND. Weis will need his help in evaluating the foursome (Sharpley, Jones, Frazer, and Clausen) and his tutelage will be vital in the progression of any of them. Plus is goes without saying really that Powlus will play a vital role with Clausen and the way in which Jimmy deals with the pressure of the hype that surrounds himself. Also it can not be understated that Ron will play a key part in recruiting. This is a great guy who undeservedly got hammered by the media AND fans alike. He could have a very long coaching career ahead of him with our beloved Irish.