2013 Spring Practice Thread

STLDomer

STLDomer

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In an interview after practice Martin pretty much said Zaire had a very very very high football IQ and is way ahead of where he should be.

Alford said Carlisle has really good hands and burst, anxious to see how physical he can be

Cooks said Hardy is night and day compared to last year
 
GoIrish41

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STLDomer said:
In an interview after practice Martin pretty much said Zaire had a very very very high football IQ and is way ahead of where he should be.

Alford said Carlisle has really good hands and burst, anxious to see how physical he can be

Cooks said Hardy is night and day compared to last year
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Got a link by chance?
 
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Buster Bluth

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STLDomer said:
In an interview after practice Martin pretty much said Zaire had a very very very high football IQ and is way ahead of where he should be.
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That's surprising, considering his high school offense.
 
Whiskeyjack

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IrishFaninTX said:
The MSU fake and the muffs and fumbles in the USF game are most likely the reason Kelly is playing it safe on ST right now. There were a lot of things that went wrong in the season opener in 2011 but 2 fumbled PR were definitely part of the reason we lost that game. The FG fake is why we lost to MSU. I agree that there needs to be better ST but I can understand Kelly not wanting to ruin a season on a ST disaster. I would rather get zero yards on a PR than a fumble or lost yardage. I think once ND gets to the point where we are blowing most teams out and do not have to worry about games being close every week, then he can focus more on getting positive yardage on PR.
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I don't buy this argument. Poor ST is precisely why so many inferior teams were able to play us close last season; waiting for even larger margins of victory to work on improving them isn't realistic. Significant improvements are easiest to make in areas of weakness.

Few other programs approach ST as a disaster just waiting to happen, which is why the vast majority of them perform much better in that phase of the game than we have. See this article from Football Outsiders:

The Irish won twice in 2012 despite losing the field position, turnover, and special teams battles in a single game: close victories over Purdue and BYU. Over the course of the season, Notre Dame won 10 games in which it had a deficit in at least one of those three factors, and 8 games in which it had a deficit in at least two of those factors. No other team overcame as many combined field position, turnover, and special deficits as Notre Dame. Does that make them lucky?

From the perspective of FEI, these elements are actually a big reason why the Irish are considered one of the best teams in the country, not one of the luckiest. Notre Dame’s opponent-adjusted offense is ranked eighth, and its opponent-adjusted defense is ranked second. It’s the non-offensive and non-defensive stuff like special teams (88th) that are holding back the Irish from passing the eye test in more people’s eyes. These might be the factors that hold the Irish back from winning the BCS title game as well, but it shouldn’t be a reason to knock them for what they have accomplished to date.
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Our ST have been holding back what is otherwise an excellent program.
 
tadman95

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Kelly said in his 1st practice post interview that one thing he learned in the Alabama game was that when their ST's ran on the field they were starters.

He's going to do the same thing now that we have more debth. He expects these guys to want this responsibility. (I'm paraphrasing)

Brian Kelly Spring Post-Practice - March 20 - YouTube
 
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Bogtrotter07

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Buster Bluth said:
That's surprising, considering his high school offense.
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Buster, a chara,

I am telling you, swearing on all that is holy, I have talked to a couple of people, mostly because of happenstance, but Malik is the REAL deal. Marine Officer Recruiters were gaga over him. They just don't lose it like that. His leadership skills are off the chart per them. They also consider him as highly motivated an individual as they have ever dealt with. They call this guy a sure bet, and that is just from their dealings with him at the Semper Fi Bowl.

Two others I know including a coach of a team that plays against him, say that he is an elite athlete that is not an early bloomer like so many kinesthetic geniuses are, bit is maturing nicely and is camouflaged by a rudimentary offense, that has not allowed him to develop and showcase his skills.

I have heard that he came in to do as much for ND Football as he could, and if that means winning the starting job, so be it. He has worked very hard for this opportunity. Finally, if Everett Golson is better than Tony Rice, per Tony; I can't wait for Tony to get a look at Malik!

Boggsey
 
Ironman8

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>DC Bob Diaco said Calabrese will stay exclusive at WIll while Grace will work at Mike LB and Dan Fox will be at both positions.</p>— Lou Somogyi (@BGI_LouSomogyi) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_LouSomogyi/status/315166115749830656">March 22, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
B

Buster Bluth

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Bogtrotter07 said:
Buster, a chara,

I am telling you, swearing on all that is holy, I have talked to a couple of people, mostly because of happenstance, but Malik is the REAL deal. Marine Officer Recruiters were gaga over him. They just don't lose it like that. His leadership skills are off the chart per them. They also consider him as highly motivated an individual as they have ever dealt with. They call this guy a sure bet, and that is just from their dealings with him at the Semper Fi Bowl.

Two others I know including a coach of a team that plays against him, say that he is an elite athlete that is not an early bloomer like so many kinesthetic geniuses are, bit is maturing nicely and is camouflaged by a rudimentary offense, that has not allowed him to develop and showcase his skills.

I have heard that he came in to do as much for ND Football as he could, and if that means winning the starting job, so be it. He has worked very hard for this opportunity. Finally, if Everett Golson is better than Tony Rice, per Tony; I can't wait for Tony to get a look at Malik!

Boggsey
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I watched the interview for the actual quotes. It sounds like Martin really loves how coachable he is. Just knowing from my days coaching, the really good players want to know "why" and not just "what." So when Martin says that he's asking questions "wayyyyy beyond a high school senior," that's a great thing to here.

If he's as coachable as Martin says, I have no doubts in this coaching staff getting him to his fullest potential.
 
STLDomer

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Ironman8 said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>DC Bob Diaco said Calabrese will stay exclusive at WIll while Grace will work at Mike LB and Dan Fox will be at both positions.</p>— Lou Somogyi (@BGI_LouSomogyi) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_LouSomogyi/status/315166115749830656">March 22, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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But Fox isn't participating in Spring practices so that means Grace should have a pretty good grasp of the starting spot come this fall IMO
 
B

Bogtrotter07

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Ironman8 said:
BGI Video: Coaches - Alford, Cooks, Diaco, Martin
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Thanks, Ironman! Aren't these coaches great? You gotta love Alford. Blunt like a sledge hammer! But all these guys are such great communicators! And then there is Diaco, I think things were a little 'exacerbated' with him! LOL!

Buster Bluth said:
I watched the interview for the actual quotes. It sounds like Martin really loves how coachable he is. Just knowing from my days coaching, the really good players want to know "why" and not just "what." So when Martin says that he's asking questions "wayyyyy beyond a high school senior," that's a great thing to here.

If he's as coachable as Martin says, I have no doubts in this coaching staff getting him to his fullest potential.
Click to expand...

I am getting a feeling the real depth chart will be 1) Golson, 2) Zaire, by the end of the season, but I still think that the coaching staff will try to preserve elgibility, if possible.
 
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Emcee77

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STLDomer said:
In an interview after practice Martin pretty much said Zaire had a very very very high football IQ and is way ahead of where he should be.

Cooks said Hardy is night and day compared to last year
Click to expand...

GREAT news about Zaire. He has this year to sit back and learn but he has got to be ready in 2014.

And great news about Hardy too. Knew he was going to pop sooner or later. Seems like he is starting to get it.
 
Irish YJ

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Bogtrotter07 said:
That's what I came here to talk about, Men having diarrhea, together!
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Sorry guys, might have started this whole thing. I had them Tuesday after eating some BBQ'd deer. Good stuff. You know what they say, nothing runs like a deer.
 
UmphreakDomer

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Bogtrotter07 said:
Thanks, Ironman! Aren't these coaches great? You gotta love Alford. Blunt like a sledge hammer! But all these guys are such great communicators! And then there is Diaco, I think things were a little 'exacerbated' with him! LOL!



I am getting a feeling the real depth chart will be 1) Golson, 2) Zaire, by the end of the season, but I still think that the coaching staff will try to preserve elgibility, if possible.
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Bogs--you think Hendrix runs scout team by that time?

i've said this before in another thread, (and i am in now way starting any sort of QB controversy. i love EG) the biggest problem in getting malik on the field is the blind side is flipped for the o-line. do you move ZM over to RT and challenge him with new footwork or do you trust whoever is there? thats my question. can the o-line handle the switch on the fly if something, god forbid, happens to EG? i think thats why you keep tommy at 2 through the season and start working on implementing a lefty next year, at earliest.

maybe i just talking our of my arse. that is possible.
 
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Bogtrotter07

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kuehnja said:
Decent read about Diaco and his thoughts on the NC game:

Notre Dame Irish hope to learn from title-game defeat - ESPN
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Diaco just impressed me. Had them study Dan Gable and Nelson Mandela, (among others).

On the wrestling thread we talked about Dan in detail. From his first grade school match to his senior collegiate NCAA Finals match, Dan never lost a match. Then he bounced around AAU and had some troubles. (People forget that.) Then came his quest for the Olympic Gold. Never in a single match on the way, did he surrender a point; I don't believe this has happened since. He is a great study for the guys, because he was work X 1000. He never quit. The Russians were funny, they not only feared him, but many of them thought he was supernatural!

And the article stated it was fifteen practices; I wasn't sure if it was 15 or 16.
 
Fbolt

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Sitting here and soaking all this info up. Thoughts:

-ND is in a good spot to have Kelly. he's been able to take 2 separate teams to an undefeated regular season. That's rather difficult.
-Stacked on the D at just about every position. This has me hoping that the LBs can get sorted out and once that does-have this D dominate like the 85/86 Bears. I would love a barking, crazy, fly to the ball D.
-ND went undefeated last year despite significant shortcomings. ST lay downs - new QB with limited playbook - lack of depth along the O-line - injuries in the DB ranks. This year has the potential to be something special again (doh!) as it looks like these shortcomings have been addressed through rehabs and recruiting.

Call me Captain Obvious
 
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Bogtrotter07

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Whiskeyjack said:
Heuerman.
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What do you guys think; I know a single video of a play does not a career make, but Mike was going against a vet (now) defender, ran his route well, used his body well and demonstrated wonderful hands, seemed to not break stride to make the catch, and was good for extra yardage on the play. One shot wonder, or since he can play spilit, a tight end that can get us a mismatch this year?

(Maybe all he does is push the upperclassmen, from potential to kinetic. What chu think?)
 
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