Ask Merckxe525 aka Dear Abby

[Pennick44]

Can you imagine how much of a crapshow ANY program would be with Rees as a HC? Especially then. I truly cannot believe the guy thought he should be the HC of Notre Dame

Rees is a very good football coach. He is going to be a head coach somewhere. Sorry to disappoint you.

 

[BuaConstrictor]

and he needed to retreat into the "grand system creator and administrator" that he could still do at highest levels.

Somewhere around the end of the 2016 season, the offseason player interviews, and meetings with Swarbrick. This was also coming off a year earlier after 2015 when he got passed over for NFL jobs and turned down interest from USC(and a few others). I think it's (partly) why you saw a shift to some younger assistants and support staff heading into that 2017 season. Hire great people who can connect with players, coach up the coaches, "mentor" the players, control the culture, and it paid off.

 

[BuaConstrictor]

Rees is a very good football coach. He is going to be a head coach somewhere. Sorry to disappoint you.

May even be at ND someday...

 

[Dale]

Rees is a very good football coach. He is going to be a head coach somewhere. Sorry to disappoint you.

Almost definitely unless he’s a NFL HC first. He was almost the UNC HC this year.

ND OC, Alabama OC, NFL OC before age 40.

 

[KPENN]

Almost definitely unless he’s a NFL HC first. He was almost the UNC HC this year.

Tbh they should have gone with him over Belichick

 

[IrishSpartan]

I’m guessing the Caleb Davis thing wasn’t out of left field

 

[Irish#1]

He was in the Top 5 of Heisman contenders up until the ASU game. He was really good vs FSU and against Navy I think he accounted for 6 total TDs.

Wheels fell off after that

Fumblitis against ASU. That’s when Kelly began ruining him.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

If I’ve missed any questions, remind me.

Not a missed question
But what have you been hearing about the future of the TE position at ND?
Seems like Denbrock may be moving away for using it as much as ND has in the past?

 

[IrishSpartan]

If I’ve missed any questions, remind me.

Whose a quiet star if any in the analyst/recruiting/grad assistant rooms

 

[irishknight35]

It's of course super early in the off-season and Spring ball just around the corner for guys to prove themselves but anyone sticking out as filling the leadership void left by the Watts, Leonard, Kaiser etc departures?

 

[PANDFAN]

I'll always remember in the Syracuse game (I think) he threw for like 25 consecutive completions. My dad and I were convinced he should have been in the Heisman consideration. Then November happened lol

Yep, I was there..

 

[Irish5Saint]

Merck do you know how the $20 million CFP money is getting used?

 

[dublinirish]

Tell us how bad del Alexander really was at recruiting lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ozzman]

Are there any potential big names that are expected to be in the post spring portal that ND is looking to bring in?

 

[BuaConstrictor]

That’s when Kelly began ruining him.

Kelly and Ev had issues starting long before that

 

[zelezo vlk]

Speaking of 2014, did anyone see LaFleur becoming a good NFL HC?

 

[Irish4life]

When BK was on his game playcalling wise I always enjoyed his ability to call plays involving vertical route combinations that forced DB's into near impossible decisions on when to gamble coming downhill to jump the mesh concepts under them or respect the vertical concepts up top.

It was his own mad scientist version of the smash concept and when he would overload sides of the field with it, few could stop it.

Aside from QB's that may not have been tailormade for it, ND also rarely had the raw material at WR to run it. Credit to BK for evolving by being willing to "devolve" his offense, but aside from flashes (14,15, &19) I don't really feel like we ever saw what BK really wanted the offense to look like

Del

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

He sucked at recruiting, and had the personality of a worn out sponge.

I get this aura with del. Pretty sus. No skibidi

 

[Kingbish01]

Merck--Is their anymore insight you can share on situations like Deuce Knight, P Bowen or Keeley. Was it really just all about money, or was there more to it? How do players like this seem to just fall apart at the finish line? Some guys just seem to be all in and I have a hard time believing it's just money or Freeman not being able to close.

 

[IAIrish]

Merck--Is their anymore insight you can share on situations like Deuce Knight, P Bowen or Keeley. Was it really just all about money, or was there more to it? How do players like this seem to just fall apart at the finish line? Some guys just seem to be all in and I have a hard time believing it's just money or Freeman not being able to close.

Ooh, excellent question KB. Q Paul Harvey, "And now,..... the rest of the story."😉

 

[IrishSpartan]

In the case of Knight, and Bowen, neither truly fit the typical profile of recruit that works well at ND.

Going further:

- Knight was very fond of ND, but he was more fond of attention, and an easier road. Also, his family was looking to benefit from his recruitment as well, above simply the up front NIL he was going to receive.

- Bowen ran hot, and cold, and was easily manipulated. He loves attention. He was also a bit blinded by a girl, and other personal relationships at Oklahoma.

Of course, there was also Oregon, and that was entirely related to them throwing an offer his way at the last minute that was truly absurd.

As far as his family is concerned, his father was looking for the largest NIL deal possible, while his mother was primarily interested in his education. His mother preferred ND from start to finish.

- Keeley loved ND then, and still loves them now. Even when he signed with Alabama, that's not what he truly wanted. He was being pushed by his family to maximize NIL as well. (By family, I mean his entire family)

Ah the uncles

 

[rtrn2glory]

Feel bad for Keeley if that's the case.

 

[PolishDomer]

Mercke, is Irish Football Koon? Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[IAIrish]

In the case of Knight, and Bowen, neither truly fit the typical profile of recruit that works well at ND.

Going further:

- Knight was very fond of ND, but he was more fond of attention, and an easier road. Also, his family was looking to benefit from his recruitment as well, above simply the up front NIL he was going to receive.

- Bowen ran hot, and cold, and was easily manipulated. He loves attention. He was also a bit blinded by a girl, and other personal relationships at Oklahoma.

Of course, there was also Oregon, and that was entirely related to them throwing an offer his way at the last minute that was truly absurd.

As far as his family is concerned, his father was looking for the largest NIL deal possible, while his mother was primarily interested in his education. His mother preferred ND from start to finish.

- Keeley loved ND then, and still loves them now. Even when he signed with Alabama, that's not what he truly wanted. He was being pushed by his family to maximize NIL as well. (By family, I mean his entire family)

Thanks Merckx. When you mentioned questionable fit, I think we all thought that even if they signed and enrolled, the odds were low that they finish their college careers at ND.

 

[Irish5Saint]

Merck, you’ve mentioned on 247 that admissions has made tweaks for undergrad transfers to be more reasonable. I know it was in the football context, but will this also be available for sports like baseball, soccer, and softball that have to deal with portal movement?

 

[TorontoGold]

If ND didn't get Minchey what would have happened in 2023? @Merckxe525

 

[StPaul_Irish]

They would have circled back, and asked Carr again if he'd be willing to reclassify.

Merckxe, Speaking of Carr and Minchey, and for the sake of this question, Steve A.

In what order do you think/know the staff has them rated (as of now, going into spring) ? Who is the way to early

QB1,2,3 ?

 

[Katzenboyer]

The back half of 2014 was an absolute disaster. IIRC they blew a huge lead against navy.

In fairness to the 2014 team, they were a goddamn MASH unit by the end of that season.

Off the top of my head, on defense and down the stretch we were playing without Sheldon Day, Jarron Jones, Joe Schmidt, Max Redfield, Cody Riggs, and a few other guys who had made impacts to start the season. Wasn't that also the year that Ishaq and Kei Russell were suspended before the season?

 

[Katzenboyer]

Merck, thanks again for answering these questions for us.

The one I had relates to Freeman and the NFL. I know he just signed the extension, but if ND continues to perform at this level, he's almost certainly going to get extensive looks from NFL teams. Is there a concern that he's only with us another few years, and that we should enjoy what we have now because he'll inevitably want to try and make the jump to the NFL? Or does the ND Admin feel confident that he's a college coach and we'll have him for 7-10+ years?

 

[Katzenboyer]

There's always the chance that any coach may leave. However, everyone would be very surprised if Marcus leaves any time soon. ND would have to absolutely burn bridges with him, and Joanna for him to want to leave. It's damn sure not going to ever come down to money because ND will match anyone to keep Marcus.

That's great to know. When the Bears murmurs started happening, I kept thinking "man, we might only have this guy another 1-2 years." Hope that's not the case.