'08 MN WR Michael Floyd (Signed LOI to ND)

[IrishRamMan10]

the chicken fucker one is better

[Irishknight1023]

You know what this week has shown me so far? That our staff is the real deal when it comes to evaluating talent. Who are having arguably the best weeks as WR's? Buckner and Floyd. Both were the first 2 offered and were told if they both committed it'd be the only WR's we'd take. Now word is that the staff had to debate who was the #2 WR on their board, Goodman or Buckner and they went with Buckner. Goodman is now tearing it up out there as well. I think we're in good hands here. People also freak out about Golic and Clelland getting manhandled this week. Well they are both 6'5 260 and were always considered to be "projects" that would be great down the line. I don't think either of them should've been selected, but with the ESPN game stealing many top offensive lineman they became a viable option. Have no fear Weis can evaluate talent.

[IrishRamMan10]

Originally Posted by Irishknight1023

You know what this week has shown me so far? That our staff is the real deal when it comes to evaluating talent. Who are having arguably the best weeks as WR's? Buckner and Floyd. Both were the first 2 offered and were told if they both committed it'd be the only WR's we'd take. Now word is that the staff had to debate who was the #2 WR on their board, Goodman or Buckner and they went with Buckner. Goodman is now tearing it up out there as well. I think we're in good hands here. People also freak out about Golic and Clelland getting manhandled this week. Well they are both 6'5 260 and were always considered to be "projects" that would be great down the line. I don't think either of them should've been selected, but with the ESPN game stealing many top offensive lineman they became a viable option. Have no fear Weis can evaluate talent.

good summary

[stonebreakerwasgod]

Dammit IK, you had to go there and put all this into perspective. Thanx.

Golic Sr. said that the kid will show up at ND weighing about 280. Not too shabby.

[NeoDymium]

Originally Posted by Irishknight1023 View Post
Have no fear Weis can evaluate talent.

Maybe he can, but can he actually develop the talent that he gets ?? Next season will be interesting.

[GoshenGipper]

South Bend Tribune: Irish recruit Floyd saw home amid the boos

Irish recruit Floyd saw home amid the boos
ERIC HANSEN
Tribune Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- Michael Floyd saw the Irish football fans draining out the exit tunnels from Notre Dame Stadium long before USC had finished its 38-0 scarring of ND coach Charlie Weis' resume.

The nation's arguable premier wide receiver prospect soaked in the mass disgust of the Oct. 20 afternoon in South Bend, the smattering of boos, the stream of ugly headlines and the statistical carnage of the second-most lopsided home loss in ND football history -- then promptly verbally committed to the Irish.

In a college football season in which weirdness and the Appalachian States of the world ruled, it still stuck out as a shocking juxtaposition of events.


"Sitting there and looking at stuff, I just got the feeling that this is the place for me," the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Minnesotan said recently during preparations for Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl at the Alamodome.

"I didn't get a feeling like that from anywhere else as much as Notre Dame. 'This is the spot for me. This is a place I can have a career and keep going.' It was just a good school for me to go to."

Interestingly, two of the other three elite prospects who made recruiting visits to ND that turbulent weekend in which the Irish fell to 1-7 -- offensive lineman Trevor Robinson and running back Jonas Gray -- also eventually ended up committing to Notre Dame. The third, South Carolina lineman Kenny Page, is uncommitted but still considering the Irish.

"I like to be pushed," Floyd said of his attraction to Notre Dame. "I know Charlie Weis is big on academics and stuff like that. Being pushed really makes me perform better both in the classroom and on the football field. I mean, that's what I kind of like.

"Then there's the players. They're going through this tough season and yet they make you feel like you're home. I hadn't known that. You're coming in as a freshman, you already have friends there that want to be your friend. They're easy to communicate with, easy to talk to and stuff like that. It makes you feel like you're supposed to be there."

Even talks with his former St. Paul Cretin-Derham Hall high school teammate, Matt Carufel, couldn't shake that feeling. Carufel, a sophomore offensive lineman, truncated his Notre Dame career exactly a week before Floyd committed. He eventually landed at the University of Minnesota.

"He told me I should change my options and stuff like that," Floyd said, "but I mean, I told him, 'Notre Dame is the spot for me and I know it's a spot for me.' I also know not everybody has a good experience everywhere. I don't think I'm going to have a bad experience, like he did. It's just some people have bad experiences where they are and some people don't, so that's how it is."

Perspective teaches Floyd to look deeper into situations. As the youngest of five children in a single-parent home, Floyd is used to deferring the flashy things in life but not his dreams.

Football is a small slice of those. His 59 catches for 1,247 yards and 17 TDs last season at Cretin-Derham Hall High, 497 rushing yards on 43 carries and his 23.3-yard average on punt returns suggest why CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming has him ranked as the No. 12 prospect at any position nationally, but they don't define him. Nor does his 24.5 points-per-game average for the unbeaten Raiders basketball team.

Floyd won't let them.

"What makes me strong, what make me who I am are things like a service trip I went on over spring break last year to Venezuela," he said. "The part we went to, those people didn't have anything, but they smile all the time. I mean, looking at that made me not want to take anything for granted. It made me feel blessed with what I've got."

So did the talks with his mom, Theresa Romero, about how her lack of appreciation for education at her son's age came back to bite her later in life. Like when Floyd wanted to attend Cretin-Derham Hall, but the tuition fees were so daunting she initially was reduced to tears.

Together, though, they pulled it off. Floyd did his part, funneling his wages from a part-time job into his tuition bill.

And he took full advantage academically and athletically -- the latter quite evident in some breathtaking performances during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl practices this week.

"He's an unbelievable athlete," marveled West quarterback and teammate Dayne Crist, a future Irish teammate of Floyd's. "He's very gifted, very complete, runs great routes. He does all the little things that really separate him from the rest of the pack. Truthfully, I see a lot of Jerry Rice in him. They have similar body types. They catch everything. He's the one guy here who really sticks out to me."

And Floyd is comfortable sticking out. He loves the spotlight, plays big in big games. But he also relishes his time learning, growing, evolving away from the bright lights.

"I'm going on a Civil Rights trip pretty soon with a couple of people to all the southern states to look at different things," he said. "I think that'll be a real mind-opening trip for everybody who goes. I can't wait."

Rudolph honored

Notre Dame recruit Kyle Rudolph, a 6-7, 235-pound tight end from Cincinnati, was named Thursday as one of the 11 Maxwell Award winners. The Maxwell Award Club honored one high school player at each position. Rudolph is a member of the East team in Saturday's U.S. Army All-American Bowl and one of 14 ND recruits who will play in the game.

Future teammate Dayne Crist, meanwhile, is one of six finalists for the U.S. Army Player of the Year Award, which will be given out tonight in San Antonio. Crist is a 6-5, 228-pound quarterback from Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Grrr...

[Get Nasty]

If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen............ How can you bad mouth notre dame. Yeah, weis was probably at times being hard as hell to the team. Can you blame him. Weis busts his ass every day, and the team was playing soft and stupid.

Floyd if healthy and living up to his potential could break every ND WR record. He'll be the first Weis #1 WR prospect ND has landed.