Houston Griffith still not in portal

[FightingIrishLover7]

Forget which Pod said it, but upon taking the job Freeman's first new follow on Twitter was Houston - he's 100% recruiting him.

[IrishLion]

Originally Posted by stpeteirish

doesn't matter, being in the portal just means other schools can contact you. You can still remove your name and stay with the mothership.

I'd argue of the two I'd rather keep Ovie, but their both guys who would be expected to play.

Hard disagree.

Even if Griffith stays, there is still a lack of proven safety talent that can make Freeman's scheme work as intended, which ideally sees Hamilton playing as the 'Sniper' at least part-time. But you need at least three guys you can count on BESIDES Hamilton to make that a reality.

It would be great to have Ovie as a third rush end behind Foskey and Botelho, but having bodies to develop at safety is more important, IMO.

[fightingirish26]

Originally Posted by Luckylucci

I'd be really interested is seeing how he does under Freeman. Houston seems to struggle in space. Maybe if he's moved closer to the LOS, he'd be a more efficient defender.

Jarell White is 5'10 205 and considered a LB. 77 tackles, 8 TFL's, and 3 sacks. Not asked to play deep much.

Problem is Griffith has also shown to be a very poor tackler. The rovers for next season (which I guess will be closer to safeties than linebackers under freeman?) are pryor, moala and kollie. Would assume all of them have their own issues in space (we know pryor does) but they aren't afraid of contact

[Luckylucci]

Originally Posted by fightingirish26

Problem is Griffith has also shown to be a very poor tackler. The rovers for next season (which I guess will be closer to safeties than linebackers under freeman?) are pryor, moala and kollie. Would assume all of them have their own issues in space (we know pryor does) but they aren't afraid of contact

He’s a poor tackler in space. Close down/limit that space and maybe he improves. I’m not going to pretend it’s automatic that he’d be an impact defender as a Sniper or overhang defender but I think it’s only beneficial to the roster to have more guys, like this, for Freeman to work with

[Irishize]

Originally Posted by Luckylucci

He’s a poor tackler in space. Close down/limit that space and maybe he improves. I’m not going to pretend it’s automatic that he’d be an impact defender as a Sniper or overhang defender but I think it’s only beneficial to the roster to have more guys, like this, for Freeman to work with

Plus he wouldn’t count against ND’s 85. The way I understand it is that transfers from outside the program like Coan do count against the 85. Of course, he’s only here for one year so that should take care of itself.

[irishandy]

Is this something we are happy about or do we want Houston gone? It didn't surprise me that intended to transfer, but sounds like ND wants him to stay.

[NDCrusader]

I hope he stays. I hope ND has 200 guys next year to choose from.

The bottom line is, the first thing Freeman did as an ND coach was to follow Houston Griffith on Twitter.