Blue and Gold Visitors

[jiggafini19]

"I'm still definitely wide open, but I can say Notre Dame is a favorite."

-Miles Stroter to Mike Farrell on Rivals

"I can say with certainty that I really like Notre Dame,"

-Steve Paskorz to Mike Farrell on Rivals

It was another good visit to Notre Dame on Saturday

-Robert Hughes to Edgy Tim O'Halloran

The thing I liked about him was that he said he wouldn't press me ever on a decision. He'll give me as much time as I need and I respect that because a lot of other schools are starting to press me already and that just pushes me away.

-Marvin Austin to Mike Farrell on Rivals, in regards to Charlie Weis

"I had a great time."

- Marvin Austin to Steve Hare at II

I had a great time, it's a good fit," Trattou. It's going to be tough to have what Notre Dame has for me."

-Justin Trattou to Steve Hare on Irish Illustrated

"It was crazy. I've never been somewhere like that; it was crazy.

-Kyle Jackson to Steve Hare on Irish Illustrated

“My original goal was to have a decision made before the season, but I discussed some things over with my family and that has changed,”

-Josh Brent to Jason Sapp at BGI

"I'm real fired up about Notre Dame and I think it's a good place for a football player to be."

-Joseph Barksdale to Steve Hare at II

 

[SillyIrish]

Was that Austin and Benn on ESPN when they did the story on Clausen. It was at the end of the story when the band was playing while JC walking in the endzone. If that was Austin in the yellow it appeared that he was having a good time, and he also yelled something in the beginning, when coming out of the tunnel, something to the effect of JC is the man or something like that.

 

[St.Kittsnd]

After reading the quotes that you gave us and the headlines on Rivals re Barksdale, I guess we now know why we haven't offered Myles Wade. It looks like Austin, Barksdale and Brent at DT.

Love the comments from Brent and Austin. Go Irish!!!

 

[mwinely]

Great Quotes

Great Quotes

Thanks Jigga for summarizing these for us all. It definitely appears as though the recruits who were in attendance were all very impressed with Notre Dame. Thanks to CW for bringing back the excitement to the Spring Game and the program in general. It would appear that a number of recruits had ND move up a rung after this weekend and now are the favorites in a lot of people's minds.

 

[jiggafini19]

I added Barksdale and another Austin quote in there.

It appears that Josh Brent was Illini all the way but will now wait for an ND offer. Their interest picked up as of late and I think Mr. Brent is going to weigh is options a bit more closely. He is a mammoth young man, by the way.

Brent told BGI the coaches said they want to take at LEAST three DT. I still say they should take four. One RB, one S and 3 WR should be enough so that there is room for 5 OL, 4 LB and a fourth DT.

We'll see how it plays out. I still think Austin is a toss up.

 

[Irish Envy]

Nice, nice, nice. Charlie Tuna... you are a Mooooonnnnsta!

 

[scooper]

I added Barksdale and another Austin quote in there.

It appears that Josh Brent was Illini all the way but will now wait for an ND offer. Their interest picked up as of late and I think Mr. Brent is going to weigh is options a bit more closely. He is a mammoth young man, by the way.

Brent told BGI the coaches said they want to take at LEAST three DT. I still say they should take four. One RB, one S and 3 WR should be enough so that there is room for 5 OL, 4 LB and a fourth DT.

We'll see how it plays out. I still think Austin is a toss up.

These quotes are great, thanks. Ron Zook is going to hate Charlie. He's still going to get better talent than Illinois has gotten as of late. But when ND wants a guy out of Illinois, you have to feel good about our chances.

 

[jiggafini19]

These quotes are great, thanks. Ron Zook is going to hate Charlie. He's still going to get better talent than Illinois has gotten as of late. But when ND wants a guy out of Illinois, you have to feel good about our chances.

No doubt. I think Brent is thinking harder about ND than he was before. Hughes, Stroter and Martez Wilson will all be strong ND leans when they get offers.

Aaron Nagel, of course, is in.

Zook will get his share, but Weis should have an edge until Illinois starts winning a bit.

 

[jiggafini19]

"I had a lovely time in South Bend on Saturday. It was quite an experience the whole day there and I'm very happy that I decided to go to the Notre Dame spring game on Saturday."

-Martez Wilson, to Edgy Tim

 

[jiggafini19]

"Notre Dame was great. I got to talk to coach Rick Minter and Rob Ianello for a short time, and I hung out with the other big time recruits like Jimmy Clausen and Major Wright."

- Brian Smith, Overland Park, KS LB/FB to Jeremy Crabtree of Rivals

 

[jiggafini19]

"I had never been anywhere at a school where I had to sign autographs. The fans at Notre Dame are awesome. I was amazed how the fan base knew who I was."

- Arrelious Benn to Irish Illustrated's Pete Sampson.

Easily my favorite quote thus far.

 

[irishnd31]

- Arrelious Benn to Irish Illustrated's Pete Sampson.

Easily my favorite quote thus far.

Fantastic quote. Sounds like all of the recruits and commits got top-notch treatment at the Bend. Had to be cool for the recruits as well as the kids getting the autographs. Funny that we get all fired up about these potential recruits and they get wowed about signing a few autographs.

 

[jiggafini19]

"That went pretty well," he said. "I enjoyed myself."

-Major Wright to Matt Schodell on Cane Sport

From the Miami Rivals site, so I'm sure they understated anything else he had to say.

I could not get over the size of Major Wright. He's carved out of rock.

 

[mwinely]

Was Gallippo there?

Was Gallippo there?

There were some rumors prior to the BG game that Gallippo was coming. Was that confirmed - that would really put Pete Carroll in a tizzy. Clausen, Tyler, Reuland last year, and now maybe a decommit out of his backyard.

 

[loweND]

There were some rumors prior to the BG game that Gallippo was coming. Was that confirmed ?

I was just going to ask the same thing.

 

[Irishkid23]

Sam Young

Sam Young

I could not get over the size of Major Wright. He's carved out of rock.[/QUOTE]


Did you see Sam Young? He's a man-mountain! He looks like he can add another 25 to 30 pounds and still look good. He was with his little brother a freshman in HS. He's about 6'5 and 200+ pounds

By the way, he signed autograph's for everyone for at least 40 minutes. A great kid.

 

[jiggafini19]

Did you see Sam Young? He's a man-mountain! He looks like he can add another 25 to 30 pounds and still look good. He was with his little brother a freshman in HS. He's about 6'5 and 200+ pounds

By the way, he signed autograph's for everyone for at least 40 minutes. A great kid.

And that is the scary thing about it irishkid. He can still add muscle to his frame.

He was head and shoulders taller than everyone but Konrad Reuland.

I look at Sam Young and see NFL dollars.

 

[jiggafini19]

"In general, I'd say the visit really does put them up a little bit higher for me now,"

- Duval Kumara to Mike Farrell on Rivals

"Coach Weis met with about 13 of us in a meeting room," he said. "He told us that he's going out to get the best in the nation and we were them...."I'm very high on them right now,"

-Matt Romine to Steve Hare on II

 

[LuckoftheIrish86]

I added Barksdale and another Austin quote in there.

It appears that Josh Brent was Illini all the way but will now wait for an ND offer. Their interest picked up as of late and I think Mr. Brent is going to weigh is options a bit more closely. He is a mammoth young man, by the way.

Brent told BGI the coaches said they want to take at LEAST three DT. I still say they should take four. One RB, one S and 3 WR should be enough so that there is room for 5 OL, 4 LB and a fourth DT.

We'll see how it plays out. I still think Austin is a toss up.

Austin only a toss-up? I thought we looked real good with him?
Brent doesn't have an offer?
I'm confused which Dts actually have offers?
Jigga, What are your thoughts regarding Steve Paskorz?

 

[jiggafini19]

Austin only a toss-up? I thought we looked real good with him?
Brent doesn't have an offer?
I'm confused which Dts actually have offers?
Jigga, What are your thoughts regarding Steve Paskorz?

They're holding on Paskorz for some reason. I think he reminds me a lot of Aaron Nagel and I believe ND wants him at LB.

The DT with offers are on the offer list sticky: Austin, Barksdale, Blackwell and Davis.

I am more confident in the first two than the latter. Brent does not currently have an offer, so as of now I consider him an Illinois lead. Based on his comments to Rivals yesterday, I think he is going to wait to see if ND offers before he does anything.

I'm not sure about Austin anymore. I'm not holding my breath on him because he's too highly sought after. The key is that in 2007 he could probably start next to Trevor Laws on his raw ability alone. The kid is a freak and is better than Hand and Kuntz bar none. We'll have to see how Paddy Mullen does.

Hopefully the lack of depth and Arrelious Benn draw him to The Dome.

 

[loweND]

Austin only a toss-up? I thought we looked real good with him?

There seems to be a pretty good feeling that Austin is taking a very long look at USC. In a recent interview he seemed to get really excited when he started talking about them. Also - I think it was in this thread - he said his visit this past weekend was "okay." Guys on other sites who claim to have inside sources say he's a toss-up at best.

That being said, things weren't looking good with Tyler until yesterday when Claussen's commit turned things around. If Benn were to commit, it could have a big effect on Austin.

Either way, I'm starting to get nervous about our DT recruiting.

 

[Subway Alum - MA]

Jigga, are you basing your opinion re:Austin on weekend scuttlebutt or on his responses to the post-game/weekend interviews? As you well know from past experience, its hard to get a handle on 17- or 18-year-olds and their level of maturity. Sometimes we put too much emphasis on their words, voice inflections, demeanor, etc. May don't feel as comfortable in this venue as they do on the playing field. So simply do not express themselves well or with polish.
I hope Washington, DC is one Coach Weis's stops and a visit to Coolidge HS is on his itinerary. Perhaps we'll learn more about Marvin Austin when he is in a more familiar, friendly environment - away from the spotlight of that was directed at Jimmy Clausen this past weekend.
From the accounts I have read from previous recruits - whether they ultimately committed to Notre Dame or not - they were extremely impressed by his [Coach Weis's] honesty, interest [in their well-being; education], attitude and confidence. If they aren't already impressed by his football knowledge (Chris Mortensen, ESPN NFL Analyst called him "the best offensive mind in the NFL" and Sean Salisbury chimed in that "I'd rather have Weis than Shanahan as a college Head Coach.") I am not aware of another college coach who relates as well to young men as Coach Weis (I remember David Givens, Notre Dame graduate and former Patriots receiver saying that "There's no doubt in my mind he [Coach Weis] would be an outstanding recruiter because he relates so well to young people. I can say this because I've played for Charlie and I've played for Notre Dame.").
I believe that if Coach Weis really wants a player, and it appears that he wants Marvin Austin; I wouldn't bet against him ultimately being Irish - unless there are other issues that we are not aware of.
Upon conclusion of this "May Magical Mystery Tour," I think we'll have a clearer idea of who Notre Dame will be zeroing in on to fill the remaining 22 spots.



Troy Brown, New England Patriots: "If you want to win, go to Notre Dame."

 

[jiggafini19]

Pete Sampson over at II thinks Benn is going to wait a little while and Austin could be last minute, as in Army AA Game or National LOI Day late.

If we want Austin, we're going to have to wait to get him.

I want ND to get the first 3 or 4 DT they like whenever they're ready. No holding spots for people this time. I'm not keen on reliving the Gerald McCoy situation again.

They need DTs very badly. Gotta get 'em.

 

[scooper]

I'd say get three and hold a spot for Austin. If they end up with 24 guys and three DT's, fine. But he's worth the wait.

 

[LuckoftheIrish86]

I'd say get three and hold a spot for Austin. If they end up with 24 guys and three DT's, fine. But he's worth the wait.

Couldn't agree more...lock up 3 DTs but leave an offer for Austin waiting. Which it sounds like what Weis is exactly doing from the previous quotes.