Bittersweet weekend for the Irish

[GoshenGipper]

After this weekend's disastrous game aginst USC many Notre Dame fans were left with mixed feelings of anger, disappointment, and embarrassment. It just basically put everyone in an apathetic or surly mood. But don't get too down Irish fans, and for those that want to fire Charlie Weis you better think again because the Irish spirits were uplifted this evening when they learned that Notre Dame had picked up a verbal commitment from one of their most important recruiting targets of the year. It came from Michael Floyd, a 6'3" 195lbs game breaking, big play reciever from St. Paul, Minnesota. Michael attends Cretin-Derham Hall, which has usually proved of late to be a pipeline school for Notre Dame, but this one looked as if it was going to be a battle to the end with Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, and Florida as the main competition. With his verbal commitment Michael becomes the 20th member of the Irish's number one recruiting class, and he adds big play ability to a much needed position of need. Michael mentioned that one of the reason's he went ahead and commited is because he was able to get to know more of the guys in this year's class, and from I've heard RJ Blanton and his mom were working on him pretty hard this weekend as well as many other recuits.

 

[notredomer23]

Robinson and Baldwin, maybe Williams

 

[Epitome]

Wow! I must say that Mike is already a legend to this die hard ND fan. I was starting to feel that nothing was going to go right with this program. I posted earlier today that if Evan would start out the season I would boycott the rest of the 2007 season. This season has been hard on all of us and I have criticized CW's play calling and decision making for the past couple of weeks. I don't know if that criticism was warranted or not, but I do know that CW cares deeply about this program and is working his ass off to restore the glory of Notre Dame Football.

Mike thanks for coming to the rescue and reminding me how great it is to be a Notre Dame football fan.

CW thanks for the long thankless hours at work when people like myself a second guessing you.
I'M READY TO WAKE UP THE ECHOES

 

[GoshenGipper]

I think they'll land some combination of 1RB, 1WR, and 1OL ; 1RB, and 2OL; or 1WR, and 2OL.

 

[Epitome]

Weis won the quote of the week from Rivals.com.
I love this!

Quotes of the weekend

"I'm going to answer that very cautiously, because I don't want to be called sarcastic using New Jersey rhetoric. So let me just say people better enjoy it now, have their fun now." - Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, when asked if he believes the Irish have hit rock bottom.

 

[GoshenGipper]

Weis won the quote of the week from Rivals.com.
I love this!

Quotes of the weekend

"I'm going to answer that very cautiously, because I don't want to be called sarcastic using New Jersey rhetoric. So let me just say people better enjoy it now, have their fun now." - Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, when asked if he believes the Irish have hit rock bottom.

I've been saying the same thing all year. You better get your shots in now because pretty soon ND will be at or near the top again.

 

[Junkhead]

This definitely takes some of the sting out of the game. If CW can't coach this upcoming class to a BCS bowl, something is majorly wrong!

 

[Epitome]

Junkhead congrats on 1000

 

[GoshenGipper]

I think they'll land some combination of 1RB, 1WR, and 1OL ; 1RB, and 2OL; or 1WR, and 2OL.

After the reports I've seen the past few days I think I'm starting to lean more toward ND landing 1RB, 2OL, and 1WR which would give them 24 rather than 23 which was my original guess.

 

[KamaraPolice]

I've been saying the same thing all year. You better get your shots in now because pretty soon ND will be at or near the top again.

Charlie Weis is a plagiarizer too?

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

I'm hoping for 4 more, which would put it in the last category.

 

[JeremyND07]

So who do we still have a realistic shot at? I think CW should be visiting every recruit that has already commited and making sure they are solid!

 

[GoshenGipper]

So who do we still have a realistic shot at? I think CW should be visiting every recruit that has already commited and making sure they are solid!

Check this story, it should get you up to date.

http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/fighting-irish-recruiting/27271-real-gauge-recruiting-success.html

 

[domerfor life]

I've been saying the same thing all year. You better get your shots in now because pretty soon ND will be at or near the top again.

I remember saying this at some point this year. I am a Tarheel basketball fan. I have been since the day I was in my mom's womb. She's a Heels fan and so is my dad. Back in 2001-2002 I saw the Heels lose to teams I thought they would never lose to. I watch them lose by margins that before that year were unfathomable (ie- +40 to Maryland). They set all kind of bad records and shattered every streak that had been built over the past 30yrs. They also looked horrible. Why did it happen? Bad recruiting or lack thereof during the whole Dean Smith/Bill Guthridge/Matt Doherty coaching change. By the time Matt came in, recruiting had taken a serious downward spiral. Of course, he looked good his first yr using the players who were already there. The next yr? Not so much. Carolina went through the same situation that ND is going through now in football where there were/are serious holes in the junior and senior classes. There was not enough depth, talent, and experience to compete against the tough schedule. It didn't change overnight. It took a couple of yrs. What changed it? RECRUITING. Carolina struggled the next yr as well. We all know what happened w/ the coaching situation, but two yrs after going 8-20 they won the NC with a team dominated by juniors and seniors. That's why I think next yr will be more of a building block for '09 when ND will be loaded with experienced juniors and seniors(and sophomores for that matter) and the competition at each position will be fierce. Charlie is the guy that will turn it around. He has shown a willingness to adapt his approach and he and his coaching staff are burning up the recruiting trail. It doesn't look good now, but 2-3 yrs from now this yr will be an afterthought just like '01-'02 is an afterthought for Heels fans.

 

[SoCalDomer]

I've been saying the same thing all year. You better get your shots in now because pretty soon ND will be at or near the top again.

Charlie Weis is a plagiarizer too?

Ut oh, here come the O'Leary comparisons as to why he should be fired.

 

[SoCalDomer]

I'm not sure who of the remaining offerees we will land, but it seems we need at least one RB, one or two OL, and one more WR. You can get a good idea of what we need by simply looking at the offers out there. I assume that if we needed a position but all our offerees already committed elsewhere, we would have sent out new offers at a given position.

 

[kjones]

I remember saying this at some point this year. I am a Tarheel basketball fan. I have been since the day I was in my mom's womb. She's a Heels fan and so is my dad. Back in 2001-2002 I saw the Heels lose to teams I thought they would never lose to. I watch them lose by margins that before that year were unfathomable (ie- +40 to Maryland). They set all kind of bad records and shattered every streak that had been built over the past 30yrs. They also looked horrible. Why did it happen? Bad recruiting or lack thereof during the whole Dean Smith/Bill Guthridge/Matt Doherty coaching change. By the time Matt came in, recruiting had taken a serious downward spiral. Of course, he looked good his first yr using the players who were already there. The next yr? Not so much. Carolina went through the same situation that ND is going through now in football where there were/are serious holes in the junior and senior classes. There was not enough depth, talent, and experience to compete against the tough schedule. It didn't change overnight. It took a couple of yrs. What changed it? RECRUITING. Carolina struggled the next yr as well. We all know what happened w/ the coaching situation, but two yrs after going 8-20 they won the NC with a team dominated by juniors and seniors. That's why I think next yr will be more of a building block for '09 when ND will be loaded with experienced juniors and seniors(and sophomores for that matter) and the competition at each position will be fierce. Charlie is the guy that will turn it around. He has shown a willingness to adapt his approach and he and his coaching staff are burning up the recruiting trail. It doesn't look good now, but 2-3 yrs from now this yr will be an afterthought just like '01-'02 is an afterthought for Heels fans.

Could we emphasis this comparison a little more? Thanks. I think we'll all feel better after reading it a few times.

 

[GoshenGipper]

After the reports I've seen the past few days I think I'm starting to lean more toward ND landing 1RB, 2OL, and 1WR which would give them 24 rather than 23 which was my original guess.

FYI, I went ahead and change my vote, although it'll still show me listed uner the 2nd group.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

Great article on Floyd and how much determination he has to get better.

SI.com - More Sports - Notre Dame recruit willing to put in time for practice - Friday October 26, 2007 4:53PM

 

[jonesman]

Guys,
I am hopeful that we can keep the recruits we have verballed. If this is the case, ND will have a full cupboard again. I am gonna hold my breath until February.

 

[GoshenGipper]

This was brought up on the post game radio show. Jack Nolan and Reggie Brooks made a good point. They thought if they were going to wavier they probably would have already started to do so. In their thoughts is possibly losing the last few games really any worse than getting crushed by USC or losing to Navy? Reggie thought that we had the right kind of guys for ND and they wanted to be here for the right reasons and that's why we haven't seen them waver. Jack and Mirko both agreed.

 

[mbooch]

Got a question, then an opinion. How many scholarship athletes do we have right now? Less than 20 seniors and fifth years will graduate, and it looks llike 21 incoming frosh are committed, for now. I'm just wondering what the comparable pay=offs would be seeking out 4 more "marginal" freshmen versus keeping 4 more experienced men.

 

[johnnd05]

Got a question, then an opinion. How many scholarship athletes do we have right now? Less than 20 seniors and fifth years will graduate, and it looks llike 21 incoming frosh are committed, for now. I'm just wondering what the comparable pay=offs would be seeking out 4 more "marginal" freshmen versus keeping 4 more experienced men.

This topic has been talked to death, but as I understand it, right now there are 70 players on scholarship. I think there will be a maximum of 26 scholarships to hand out after the players with no more remaining eligibility graduate. One factor in determining how many freshmen to take for '08 is whether you want to bring back some fifth-year seniors. Another is whether you want to have some balance down the line, and have enough spots to take 18-21 players in '09 as well. Obviously these are complicated questions and we're not privy to how they're being answered. But I certainly don't think the staff will offer scholarships to anyone who's in any way "marginal".

 

[mbooch]

This topic has been talked to death, but as I understand it, right now there are 70 players on scholarship. I think there will be a maximum of 26 scholarships to hand out after the players with no more remaining eligibility graduate. One factor in determining how many freshmen to take for '08 is whether you want to bring back some fifth-year seniors. Another is whether you want to have some balance down the line, and have enough spots to take 18-21 players in '09 as well. Obviously these are complicated questions and we're not privy to how they're being answered. But I certainly don't think the staff will offer scholarships to anyone who's in any way "marginal".

Sorry. Just asking.

70 leaves ND 15 short of a full load, as I understand it. In that case, it seems like we might as well get all the "meat" players we can (linemen and linebackers).

 

[johnnd05]

Sorry. Just asking.

No need to apologize; I didn't mean anything by it. It was a perfectly good question.

 

[mbooch]

No need to apologize; I didn't mean anything by it. It was a perfectly good question.

Thanks. So we ARE 15 scholarships short of a full complement? Wow! I hope TW's short game improved enough to make it worth THAT!

 

[johnnd05]

Thanks. So we ARE 15 scholarships short of a full complement? Wow! I hope TW's short game improved enough to make it worth THAT!

Haha ... remember, though, that part of the reason for that is that at least a dozen or so of Willingham's players left during or shortly after the transition. But yeah, Ty's classes were wicked small: 18, 21, and 16 players respectively (though that last year was the one where he was fired).

 

[SoCalDomer]

Haha ... remember, though, that part of the reason for that is that at least a dozen or so of Willingham's players left during or shortly after the transition. But yeah, Ty's classes were wicked small: 18, 21, and 16 players respectively (though that last year was the one where he was fired).

Rivals has him with 21 (2003), 16 (2004), 15 (2005). Is that incorrect?

 

[johnnd05]

Rivals has him with 21 (2003), 16 (2004), 15 (2005). Is that incorrect?

No, you're right. For some reason I was looking at 02-04. Dumbass.

 

[SoCalDomer]

No problem. The recruiting class versus seasons of coaching always throws me off. (i.e. Ty coached in 2002, but the 2002 class wasn't really his, didn't coach in 2005 but that class was mostly his; CW first season was 2005, but didn't have much chance to work on that recruiting class.) The fact that recruiting for a class starts so early throws me off.