The Irish Roundup

In 2006, after Charlie Weis’s first season as Notre Dame’s head coach and a 9-3 record, the Irish pulled in Rivals’s eighth-ranked recruiting class: 28 players, with an average rating of 3.46 stars. Now three of those players - QBs Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones, and TE Konrad Reuland - have all left the team, and another - OL Chris Stewart - is thinking of doing the same. In each case, these have been players low on the depth chart - Frazer was the #4 quarterback and Jones was a backup at best, Reuland was reportedly in a battle with freshman Mike Ragone for the #3 spot, and Stewart hadn’t seen the field at all this year - apparently looking for a place where they’ll have a better chance to play. Following up on a suggestion from domer.mq at Her Loyal Sons, though, it seems worth comparing this rate of attrition with those at other top programs.

Let’s start with Southern Cal, which had the #1-ranked 2006 class according to Rivals, with 25 total players. That class has seen the following players depart (USC’s current roster is here):

• 4* RB Kenny Ashley transferred to Ole Miss.
• 3* DT Walker Ashley transferred to Minnesota.
• 4* WR Jamere Holland was dismissed from the team.
• 4* RB Emmanuel Moody transferred to Florida.
• 4* DB Antwine Perez transferred to Maryland.
• 4* LB Joshua Tatum has left the team and is reportedly considering a transfer to Michigan.

Florida’s second-ranked class is considerably more intact (official roster here), as their only transfer so far out of 27 total players was that of 3* ATH Derrick Robinson, who quit the team to pursue a career in professional baseball. But Florida State’s third-ranked class has lost four players out of their original 31 (official roster here):

• 3* WR Brent Brewer left to play professional baseball.
• 4* OL Matt Hardrick transferred to South Florida.
• 3* LB Tim Rawlinson was declared academically ineligible and is currently at Pearl River Community College.
• 5* WR Brandon Warren left the program, but his request to transfer to Tennessee was denied by the university.

Similarly, Georgia’s fourth-ranked class has lost three players of its original 28 (official roster here):

• 4* LB Akeem Hebron had some, err, “off-the-field troubles,” and is reportedly planning on transferring to Georgia Military College.
• 3* OL John Miller left the team.
• 4* OL Clifton Gethers withdrew his commitment and enrolled at South Carolina.

And the University of Texas (official roster here) has lost five players from their original 25, which ranked fifth:

• 3* DB James Henry was arrested on two felony charges and has been suspended indefinitely.
• 4* DB Robert Joseph was suspended from the team as well and has decided to transfer.
• 4* QB Jevan Snead transferred to Ole Miss.
• 3* OL Roy Watts has transferred from the team.
• 4* OL J’Marcus Webb has also transferred.

In sum, ND’s transfer rate so far is not much to worry about. As I said, all of the players who have left, or are thinking about leaving in Stewart’s case, seem to have done so primarily because of depth chart issues, and when four-star highschoolers don’t manage to get on the playing field, that suggests that the talent level - in ND’s case, among the underclassmen - is very high.

Moreover, note that with an NCAA-imposed limit of 85 total scholarships, having a class of 28 can be a bit problematic. The Irish can get away with it - and indeed, can use all the bodies they can get - right now because of their incredibly small junior, senior, and fifth-year classes, but the size of the ‘06 class could have posed a problem down the line. That said, other schools make up for players who transfer away from their program with others who transfer TO it - whether from junior colleges or other D-I programs - and ND has a policy of not doing this.

Don’t jump, though. At this point there’s every reason to think these transfers have been a product of what’s happened on the practice field and the players’ inabilities to rise to the top, rather than ND’s lack of success this season on Saturday afternoons.

A brief article that appeared online this afternoon in the South Bend Tribune confirmed a rumor that had spent most of the day spreading like wildfire around the ND internet universe:

Notre Dame’s 6-foot 5-inch, 339-pound offensive guard Chris Stewart has left the school with the intent to transfer. … Stewart practiced at both nose tackle and offensive guard, but did not see game action at Notre Dame.

But an hour or so later, another article appeared that suggested that Stewart’s departure might not be for good:

Stewart’s father, George, confirmed that the 6-foot-5, 339-pound offensive guard was flying home to Spring, Texas, Thursday with the intent to transfer, but George Stewart also said Chris left the door ajar back in South Bend.Or at least his family is hoping so.

“I know he’s been a little homesick and he revealed to me he would like to come home and see his family, just visit with us,” George Stewart said via telephone. “Transferring is something he’s thinking about, but, really and truly, my family and I are hoping we can all sit down and talk and possibly iron out a few things and try to get him headed back to South Bend if possible.”

(snip)

Stewart was a second-team USA Today prep All-American coming out of Klein High School and enrolled early with running back James Aldridge and wide receiver George West in January of 2006 to get a head start academically and athletically.

He didn’t play as a true freshman, and then was moved to nose tackle in the offseason. He was moved back to offensive guard this fall and was laboring to move up the depth chart ever since.

Stewart will not accompany the team to Purdue.

“We’re going to visit over the weekend and see what we can do to help him,” George Stewart said. “We don’t want to see him miss out on a golden opportunity, maybe, because of a miscommunication or whatever. Usually there’s a miscommunication involved in incidents like this.

“I don’t quite know everything right now. One thing I do know is my feelings haven’t changed about Notre Dame. That’s why I wanted him to go there all along and I want him to, hopefully, be back up there next week.”

Similarly, Michael Rothstein cites an article from Irish Illustrated in which Stewart’s father is quoted as saying that he’s “not allowing him [Chris] to give up on it just yet.”

On one level, this development is promising, since Stewart was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of high school and has a good chance to perform well for the Irish at some point in the future. On the other hand, if he really doesn’t want to be at ND and he just comes back because his father pushes him, then that isn’t the best thing for anyone. If it’s just a case of homesickness, though, then perhaps a weekend back in Texas really will straighten it out. The fact that Ben Ford describes Stewart as having been “excused for personal reasons,” which is probably the official line that the team is taking at this point, suggests that the Irish may be leaving the door open as well.

According to ND’s official web site, Stewart hasn’t seen the field yet this year, though he moved up to second string at the right guard position on the team’s depth chart when Dan Wenger went down with an injury. Andrew Nuss, who reportedly switched from the defensive line to the offensive line earlier this week, is not listed on the depth chart as of yet.

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Ford and Rothstein also report two other bits of injury news worth pasisng along. The first also pertains to the offensive line:

Freshman left tackle Matt Romine has a very large brace/cast on his left arm, going from well below the elbow to way up his bicep/tricep area. He was requested for freshman media chatting tonight, but was rejected.

Secondly, Ford notes that defensive lineman Justin Brown, who sat out against Michigan State, still looks a bit hobbled:

Justin Brown did not run latterally when the rest of the team did, and still ran pretty gingerly when moving straight ahead. I’m not sure what this means in relation to his availability for Saturday’s game, but if he plays, it won’t be at 100 percent.

There probably won’t be anything revealed about this until game time Saturday, but we’ll keep our ear to the ground.

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Finally, one last bit of news along the transfer front, this time pertaining to Konrad Reuland:

Former Irish tight end Konrad Reuland told the Tribune Thursday he’ll take his time shopping for his new school and instead attend Saddleback Community College in his hometown of Mission Viejo, Calif., for the balance of the academic year.He will not play football for Saddleback, a junior college power in California.

“This will make me eligible at my new school in 2008, although, I’ll have to sit out the first three or four games, as I understand the NCAA rules,” he said. “I just don’t want to rush into anything. Everything is looking up.

With Reuland’s departure, freshman tight end Mike Ragone has officially moved into the third spot on ND’s depth chart. I’ll have a bit more analysis of the depth chart at some point tomorrow.

As noted by BGS, Michael Rothstein reported yesterday that freshman Andrew Nuss has moved from the defensive line, where he started the season, to the offensive line. This may have something to do with the injury to Dan Wenger, who Charlie Weis said will not be playing against Purdue:

“I’d say, optimistically, it looks like maybe UCLA,” Weis said. “He’s not going to be a go this week, but he’s out there running around now. (UCLA is) what he’s shooting for right now.”

In other news on the injury front, defensive end Justin Brown still seems a bit hobbled in practice. Weis admitted that he “still doesn’t look full speed,” but insisted that Brown “looks a heck of a lot better than any time last week.”

[UPDATE: Rumors abound that sophomore offensive lineman Chris Stewart is going to be the latest player to transfer from ND. This could have something to do with Nuss's move to the OL, though I didn't see Ford or Rothstein mention Stewart being absent from practice yesterday. We'll have to see.]

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In other d-line related news, Derrell Hand spoke to the media yesterday for the first time since his arrest for solicitation:

He expressed regret and knew he did a bad thing. And more than anything else, Derrell Hand thanks those who stuck by him as he went through his suspension from the beginning of training camp until last weekend.And in that time, the junior from Philadelphia went from suspended to starter. Hand had been suspended the day before Notre Dame training camp started in August for soliciting a prostitute in South Bend.

“I think I survived it pretty well,” Hand said. “I have a huge supporting cast. What happened was unfortunate. I learned a huge life lesson and I’m just happy I got a second chance to be a part of this Notre Dame family.

“These first four weeks couldn’t have happened any better.”

An injury to starter Justin Brown placed Hand in the lineup in his first game back. He said it was difficult to hear himself associated as someone with bad character but had a bunch of people helping him out.

And he wasn’t surprised with the way Notre Dame chose to handle it, by allowing him to stay in school.

“I feel as though I’m a good kid. I made a lot of close friends, students and faculty, and I just feel like what happened was bad but I feel Notre Dame handled it the way Notre Dame handles these things.”

Best of luck to Derrell as he works to get things back in order. ND can certainly use him on the field, especially if Justin Brown is not 100%.

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According to the Cincinnati Post’s Jeff Katzowitz, former Irish QB Demetrius Jones might end up at the University of Cincinnati - Jones was at the Bearcats’ practice on Wednesday, and UC coach Brian Kelly, who recruited Jones out of high school when he was the head coach at Central Michigan, said that he and Jones had been in contact:

We had a good conversation. We talked about the situation here and what we think our strengths are. He’s in that evaluation process now. He’s looking at his options. We’re one of a few of the options he has. He thinks highly enough of us to drive five hours to come up and visit.

When Katzowitz got Jones on the phone yesterday evening, Jones denied rumors that he’d made a final decision, but said that watching the UC practice was “nice.” More on this story as it comes in.

[UPDATE: It's official. Jones walked into Kelly's office this afternoon and told him he wants to play for the Bearcats. Apparently Notre Dame has given UC the go-ahead. Jones will pay his own way for the coming fall quarter, and then will be on scholarship starting in January once several seniors have graduated.]

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Meanwhile, want another example of the difference between a respectful sports journalist and an inflammatory hack? Compare Al Lesar’s article about the Purdue offense (it’s a “work of art,” the headline tells us) in today’s South Bend Tribune with the latest screed from the Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz, who was recently, and rightfully, named “Asshat of the Week” by KGreen:

Here was Purdue football coach Joe Tiller’s challenge for Tuesday’s media briefing: Find something nice to say about this week’s opponent, Notre Dame. Try to convince the media and, by extension, his players, that Notre Dame is still Notre Dame and not Apalachicola Junior College.

“They have the fourth-ranked pass defense in the nation,” Tiller said flatly.Give the guy credit: He said it with a straight face.

Holding up Notre Dame’s pass defense is like complimenting the movie “Beer League” on its soundtrack.

Are you kidding me?

Of course the Irish have impressive pass defense numbers. It’s because they have the 111th-ranked running defense in the nation. Nobody passes on Notre Dame because nobody needs to pass on Notre Dame. Opponents get huge early leads, then run off tackle the rest of the game.

Next thing, we’ll hear that Notre Dame has a sparkling personality and practices good hygiene.

I’ll let that one speak for itself.

Bob Kravitz: Still an asshat.

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There’s also a bit of recruiting news to report. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Irish DL commit Omar Hunter received an official offer from USC on Tuesday, and expressed some excitement about it:

When Pete Carroll talks, recruits listen. Even ones already committed to Notre Dame. Buford’s Omar Hunter visited with Carroll over the phone Tuesday and received an offer from the coach of top-ranked Southern Cal.

“It was pretty exciting. Southern Cal, that’s pretty big,” said Hunter, who verbally committed to Notre Dame in June.

That doesn’t mean the blue-chip defensive tackle has changed his mind about heading to South Bend.

“I’m sticking with Notre Dame for right now,” Hunter said.

At this point, there’s no reason to worry too much about this, since Hunter has said that his commitment to the Irish is solid, and this sort of thing is really a normal part of the recruiting cycle. But it’s certainly a situation worth keeping an eye on, and I can guarantee you that Weis and the coaching staff will be doing just that.

(Cross-posting from Irish Envy.)

After this week’s free-for-all there were a few changes to ND’s depth chart, but nothing really major. Here’s a rundown, in what I take to be approximate order of significance and/or surprisingness.

• Dan Wenger’s undisclosed injury has him out for at least this week, with Matt Carufel starting in his place at RG and human planet Chris Stewart as the backup.
• Duval Kamara has moved ahead of D.J. Hord for the #2 “X” receiver spot, with George West still the #1. Grimes, Parris, Gallup, and Tate are listed in the “Z” spot, in that order. Sorry Tate fans, looks like you’ll have to wait a bit longer.
• Just like last week, Sam Young will be starting at LT rather than RT, with Taylor Dever as his backup. The Paul Duncan-Matt Romine combination is at RT, with Duncan still the #1, for now anyway. Mike Turkovich is still the starter at LG, with Eric Olsen behind him.
• Derrell Hand is listed behind #1a Justin Brown and #1b Dwight Stephenson Jr. at RDE.
• Kerry Neal is now the #2 LOLB. Morrice Richardson, who had been the #2 there, moves to ROLB, where Neal had been the co-#2, but Richardson is #3 behind #1 Anthony Vernaglia and #2 Brian Smith.
• The depth chart now lists Travis Thomas, James Aldridge, Armando Allen, and Junior Jabbie as all tied for the #1 RB spot, with Robert Hughes behind them. In week one, Thomas was listed as the lone starter.
• And of course, Jimmy Clausen is our #1 QB, with Evan Sharpley listed as his lone backup.

Everything else seems to be the same as it was in week one. Ben Ford has some more thoughts here - they are worth reading, as always.

UPDATE: This exchange from Charlie Weis’s Thursday press conference is worth noting in this connection:

Q. Not a lot of change in the depth chart. Did that mean the starters all showed you something this week?

COACH WEIS: The most important thing for us was not to create sacrificial lambs. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be quick hooks in some cases, okay? But if I all of a sudden start pulling people and say, `”this guy is going to start, this guy is going to start,” the obvious thing that goes with it is, “well, it’s their fault.” I think we’re all part of the problem. I think there’s a lot more bodies that you might see show up in the game this week.

As is this one, which was discussed at UHND:

Q. The physical practices, I would think, would lend themselves for some players to look better than others just based on their style of play being more physical. I would think James Aldridge is a back that this is a week where it would be a chance for him to shine.

COACH WEIS: This is a James Aldridge-type of week. That’s exactly right. I would expect to see James early and often.

Q. How has he relished this opportunity? Do you see him as a guy that knows this is his chance to step up and do something?

COACH WEIS: He knows that he’s going to get plenty of opportunity. That’s what he knows. So I would imagine he’s very excited.

And finally, a couple of questions about our kickoff returns, where Armando Allen has been notably absent the past couple of weeks:

Q. Armando Allen no longer returning kicks?

COACH WEIS: He might be back there some returning kicks. Most of these kickers kick it to one spot, like this guy usually kicks it to one spot. Golden (Tate) will get the brunt of it. And with Junior (Jabbie) back there, Junior is a good returner, but he’s also a very good blocker. So if you’re going to feature one guy, we’d rather not Golden or Armando be the lead blocker. We’d rather them be the guy with the ball in their hands.

Q. Do you always want to have one blocker?

COACH WEIS: No, you want two returners if the guy sprays the ball all over the place because you would like two equally good returners. I think with Armando and Golden, we have two guys that are explosive returners. If a guy is going to hit the ball one spot all the time, that’s when you use a returner back there with better blocking ability.