2009 Fighting Irish Football

[dre1919]

With the announcement that Weis will be back for a fifth season the discussion about whether it's the right move or not is somewhat irrelevant. For better or worse, the man will be back roaming the sidelines for 2009 so I thought we'd begin posting some positive and constructive comments that focus on the upside for Notre Dame. I hope that Weis manages to pull things together and give us a winning season (bowl included) in 2009, even if it means his staying on. So, what things do you want to see most from the Irish in '09? Personally, here's my list:

1. More offensive creativity. Running up the middle and screen passes have their place, but seriously.

2. More tenaciousness by the defense. I want an aggressive, balls out defense that comes after you. A saying I saw once that I really liked was "You can't always be the strongest or the fastest athlete on the field. But, you can be the toughest." I believe that, and I'd like to see the Irish laying people out like kitchen tile. Just hammering anyone who touches the ball, regardless of talent level.

3. Less gambling on fourth down. It's nice, and it's ballsy, but it's becoming too predictable.

4. Considerably better O-Line play. Doesn't even need an explanation.

5. Tenuta being allowed to put more of his stamp on the defense, including much more blitzing. His GT defenses were hell to play against, I'd like to see the Irish defense become known for that.

Let's see what you all have.

 

[WaveDomer]

I actually think part of ND's problem is that the offense is probably too complicated. I'd like to see the offense have 5 go to plays. Keep it simple and learn how to block for the play and get the yardage. Running up the middle is fine with me, as long as it is a run for yardage.

Where is the breakout kick returner? I'm dying for ND to get back to getting those points on the kickoff. This is such a momentum builder and confidence killer for the other team.

SWARM.THE.BALL. and WRAP.HIM.UP. No more missed tackles.

Play with discipline. No more bad penalties.

I agree with cooling it on the 4th down calls.

 

[irishfan1122]

I am pretty sure you can gurantee 1,2, and 5. I like Corwin Brown more than anyone out there, but let's face it, he's going to be a head coach somewhere. He's a great recruiter, young, fiery, and a minority. He is everything a mid-major wants. Case in point, Turner Gill. Tenuta will have the defense all to himself.

 

[tko]

I actually think part of ND's problem is that the offense is probably too complicated. I'd like to see the offense have 5 go to plays. Keep it simple and learn how to block for the play and get the yardage. Running up the middle is fine with me, as long as it is a run for yardage.

Where is the breakout kick returner? I'm dying for ND to get back to getting those points on the kickoff. This is such a momentum builder and confidence killer for the other team.

SWARM.THE.BALL. and WRAP.HIM.UP. No more missed tackles.

Play with discipline. No more bad penalties.

I agree with cooling it on the 4th down calls.

his name is cierre wood

 

[adsnorri]

I like the fact that we go for it on fourth downs as long as were on the opponents side of the field. As well, predictable runs are not going to get it done unless the o-line can learn to block and the offense mixes in some play action once in a while.
Going for it says to our defense; we trust you to get the ball back so we have the ability to take a little more risk.
When teams go for it on 4th down and convert, it is a backbreaker for defenses.

As for defense, let's blitz like at georgia tech. The only problem with our blitzing ability right now is timing. The players either show the blitz too early or do not react to the snap quick enough to find a whole and creat havoc in the backfield. I would have loved to see Bruton blitz from time to time, Hayseed could disguise the coverage and drop back to play the position. The defense has to look like they have no idea what's going on before the snap, then all of a sudden BHAM!! everyone is in position to 1) sack, 2) fumble, 3) int, or 4) tackle for loss. We need more speedy players like hayseed to blitz. We need 7-8 hayseeds out there. lol Alright ... ramblin now.

 

[tankjeep]

With the announcement that Weis will be back for a fifth season the discussion about whether it's the right move or not is somewhat irrelevant. For better or worse, the man will be back roaming the sidelines for 2009 so I thought we'd begin posting some positive and constructive comments that focus on the upside for Notre Dame. I hope that Weis manages to pull things together and give us a winning season (bowl included) in 2009, even if it means his staying on. So, what things do you want to see most from the Irish in '09? Personally, here's my list:

1. More offensive creativity. Running up the middle and screen passes have their place, but seriously.

2. More tenaciousness by the defense. I want an aggressive, balls out defense that comes after you. A saying I saw once that I really liked was "You can't always be the strongest or the fastest athlete on the field. But, you can be the toughest." I believe that, and I'd like to see the Irish laying people out like kitchen tile. Just hammering anyone who touches the ball, regardless of talent level.

3. Less gambling on fourth down. It's nice, and it's ballsy, but it's becoming too predictable.

4. Considerably better O-Line play. Doesn't even need an explanation.

5. Tenuta being allowed to put more of his stamp on the defense, including much more blitzing. His GT defenses were hell to play against, I'd like to see the Irish defense become known for that.

Let's see what you all have.

that'll happen when he gets a kicker that stops fighting his dual personalities.

 

[The Polish Irishman]

Yes

 

[phork]

Charlie Weis is a lot of things, but the fat comments are out of line and frankly I am sick of it. All I see on these blogs and articles with comments are his comments about his weight and how much he eats. Really, get a life.

 

[leahy's lads]

i think we need to focus on the basics....... not fumbling....... not dropping passes...... not missing blocks...... not forgetting to wrap up....... play with emotion....... and above all play like a champion today!!!!!!! WE ARE ND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BeatSC]

Wish List but achievable

Wish List but achievable

1. More Discipline

2. Less to no turnovers

3. Shovel pass.

4. Less out and fly patterns and more crossing routes.

5. Throw long to Armando Allen (Can a LB keep up with him?)

6. More ball control short passes to the tight end (open up the long ball).

6. Kickoff and punt retunrs that run East West not North South. Enough juking etc. I
say give Harrison a shotat punt returns. He runs like Zib did.

7. If JC is the guy learn to look off the DB's and stop forcing the ball into the first reciever.

8. More power running using JA, JG or CW (not Charlie Weis).

9. Rotate more of the new WR in. I liked Grimes but we showed alot of loayalty to
guys who are not as good as some of the new guys.

10. A kicker who can make a 50 yard FG and put the ball into the end zone. We have
had neither for almost 10 years.

11. Play to win all four quarters no matter how big the lead.

12. Start laying people out on offense and defense. We no longer intimidate anybody.
that can change if Charlie truly wants it to. I think the seniors (minus Kuntz) did
not have a killer instinct. The young guys
(Both Smiths, Brown, Ethan, Blanton) have it.

13. At least 2 new coaches and we know who they are.

14. Arms on the lineman that don't look like my Mother in-laws.

15. Pep rallys and inspiration like the week Charlie shot his emotional wad leading up
to the USC BUSH FRICK'n Push game.

16. There's more but I thought this was manageable. I wil laminate for Charlie to
carry around iwth him. Look for it on the sidelines when he holds it up to cover
his mouth.

 

[goldandblue]

1. A lot of 3rd and shorts.

2. Robert Hughes at the Fullback position

3. A mean ass tenacious Defense

4. A mean ass Tenacious Offensive Line.

5. Pressure on the qb from the front 3.

6. A freaking running game that can average a hundred yards a game.

7. Play with heart and toughness.

8. Beat USC. I've said for the past 3 years the day we beat USC is the day it turns around for ND.

 

[BeatSC]

1. A lot of 3rd and shorts.

2. Robert Hughes at the Fullback position

3. A mean ass tenacious Defense

4. A mean ass Tenacious Offensive Line.

5. Pressure on the qb from the front 3.

6. A freaking running game that can average a hundred yards a game.

7. Play with heart and toughness.

8. Beat USC. I've said for the past 3 years the day we beat USC is the day it turns around for ND.

Totally agree especially with 2 & 8. Hughes can put on another 15 pounds but can he block?

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I want to see our offensive linemen coming out with the muscles bulging, snarling and snorting like rank bulls, gnashing their teeth and knocking some people clear out of their jocks!!! I want to think our linemen eat nails and crap thunder! Kill some people out there!!! And then I want to see Cierre Wood emerging from the smoke of the line of scrimmage, touched by nothing but blood splatter and severed body parts of fallen defensive foes!!! Is that too much to ask?!?

 

[jfjkd01]

This is what we got to do, RUN the ball 100% better than we have the last 2 years. The kicking game must have Consistentency.

 

[Irish 83]

Wow... Sweet post GO IRISH!!!
I could not have said it better myself.

 

[jboxer562]

get an offensive line and a defensive line and limit those cushons/gaps in between the corners and safeties

 

[tankjeep]

I want to see our offensive linemen coming out with the muscles bulging, snarling and snorting like rank bulls, gnashing their teeth and knocking some people clear out of their jocks!!! I want to think our linemen eat nails and crap thunder! Kill some people out there!!! And then I want to see Cierre Wood emerging from the smoke of the line of scrimmage, touched by nothing but blood splatter and severed body parts of fallen defensive foes!!! Is that too much to ask?!?

i want texas tech's offensive line.

 

[goldandblue]

Totally agree especially with 2 & 8. Hughes can put on another 15 pounds but can he block?

I don't think Hughes would have any problem blocking. Especially with the added 15 pounds. Hughes is an athlete. He can be used on the field very effectively from the fullback position much like Jerome Bettis. I realize that Lou and Charlie run completely different offenses and Charlie does not use the fullback like Lou did but I think Hughes would excel at this position.

i want texas tech's offensive line.

How about just their offensive line coach??

 

[dre1919]

Moving Hughes to fullback is a good idea. I'm going to try that on my NCAA College Football '09 dynasty and see how that pans out in year two. Well, either him or Aldridge.

 

[ACamp1900]

With the announcement that Weis will be back for a fifth season the discussion about whether it's the right move or not is somewhat irrelevant. For better or worse, the man will be back roaming the sidelines for 2009 so I thought we'd begin posting some positive and constructive comments that focus on the upside for Notre Dame. I hope that Weis manages to pull things together and give us a winning season (bowl included) in 2009, even if it means his staying on. So, what things do you want to see most from the Irish in '09? Personally, here's my list:

1. More offensive creativity. Running up the middle and screen passes have their place, but seriously.

2. More tenaciousness by the defense. I want an aggressive, balls out defense that comes after you. A saying I saw once that I really liked was "You can't always be the strongest or the fastest athlete on the field. But, you can be the toughest." I believe that, and I'd like to see the Irish laying people out like kitchen tile. Just hammering anyone who touches the ball, regardless of talent level.

3. Less gambling on fourth down. It's nice, and it's ballsy, but it's becoming too predictable.

4. Considerably better O-Line play. Doesn't even need an explanation.

5. Tenuta being allowed to put more of his stamp on the defense, including much more blitzing. His GT defenses were hell to play against, I'd like to see the Irish defense become known for that.

Let's see what you all have.

Big agreement with the first four but totally disagree with part five... I was one of the few posters here that I can remember who didn't jump for joy when Tenuta was hired... I thought his blitz happy scheme would create some big plays and give some big plays up... instead it created ZERO big plays all year and we still gave up a ton of yardage from the D line to the safties where those backers should have been...

and GT??? they gave US problems with Tenuta, everyone else with decent talent seemed to light GT up from what I saw... wide open plays... in fact wasn't GT among the nations leaders in giving up 20+ yard plays on D during Tenutas tenure there??I believe they were... I still say it should be ALL Corwin Brown and Tenuta should never have been allowed in... just my two cents

 

[Catsudon]

i'd like to see someone else try out the qb position.

 

[Nothingman]

More Kyle Rudolph. He had two productive games in a row against Purdue and Stanford and then became almost an afterthought. One of the things I remember most about the 05 and 06 seasons was how involved Fasano and Carlson were in the offense. Rudolph definitely has the ability and should be better utilized.

 

[ACamp1900]

More Kyle Rudolph. He had two productive games in a row against Purdue and Stanford and then became almost an afterthought. One of the things I remember most about the 05 and 06 seasons was how involved Fasano and Carlson were in the offense. Rudolph definitely has the ability and should be better utilized.

yeah that's a good point too... our passing game consisted mainly of streak routes to Tate and MF... good to have but you got to mix it up

 

[phork]

One thing to notice about great teams is that they utilize their TEs in the passing game. Rudolph is going to be a great TE and there was a lot of times where he was wide open in games this year.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

i want texas tech's offensive line.

Totally agree with you. They just look freakin' scary!!!

 

[NDMontana]

With the announcement that Weis will be back for a fifth season the discussion about whether it's the right move or not is somewhat irrelevant. For better or worse, the man will be back roaming the sidelines for 2009 so I thought we'd begin posting some positive and constructive comments that focus on the upside for Notre Dame. I hope that Weis manages to pull things together and give us a winning season (bowl included) in 2009, even if it means his staying on. So, what things do you want to see most from the Irish in '09? Personally, here's my list:

1. More offensive creativity. Running up the middle and screen passes have their place, but seriously.

2. More tenaciousness by the defense. I want an aggressive, balls out defense that comes after you. A saying I saw once that I really liked was "You can't always be the strongest or the fastest athlete on the field. But, you can be the toughest." I believe that, and I'd like to see the Irish laying people out like kitchen tile. Just hammering anyone who touches the ball, regardless of talent level.

3. Less gambling on fourth down. It's nice, and it's ballsy, but it's becoming too predictable.

4. Considerably better O-Line play. Doesn't even need an explanation.

5. Tenuta being allowed to put more of his stamp on the defense, including much more blitzing. His GT defenses were hell to play against, I'd like to see the Irish defense become known for that.

Let's see what you all have.

Points one through four are fine. However, you and I significantly differ on point five.

We blitzed, by my count, about 70% of the time. It rarely worked on any level. We all know, or at least should, that blitzes don't have to result in a sack or knock down to be effective. What blitzes do need to do, in the absence of the former, is create enough pressure to force the quarterback to make a rushed decision. Our blitzes rarely achieved that outcome. In fact all our blitzes really did was leave our cornerbacks on island to get burned or, as was the case in the Michigan State game, leave our linebackers five yards deep in the backfield while running backs get big yards on draws and quick hit running plays.

I want to see the polar opposite of blitzing next season. I want to see the defense come out and play in their base set the majority of the game.

 

[goldandblue]

I think alot of the blitz success depends on the play or "pressure potential" of the front 3 on defense. I don't think there was a single player on the defensive line that required a double team block throughout the year (at least not consitently). That one stud defensive line player can create a lot of holes for linebackers to go through if he can take up the double team. My gut tells me had Trevor Laws been there this year we would have seen the blitz's be at least somewhat effective.

Honestly I'm not a huge fan of Tenuta either but this is just my take on why his blitzes were completely uneffective.

 

[Irishwino7]

1. slants

2. Brandon Walker kicking off not Burhart

3. I do not ever want to see the I formation with Schwapp and Aldridge again in 3 and 2 or 4 and 1 situations.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I'm in the middle here. I totally agree with Montana and Camp, that the blitzes were ineffective. We blitzed A LOT, but when did we get pressure? Rarely. I was hoping that things would change once we got used to the new schemes, but things never seemed to get better (as far as getting pressure). I'm still hoping that another year in the same system (remember, continuity is HUGE infootball) will get them to where we all want them to be.

But I do love the fact that we are TRYING to put pressure on the QB. Let's face it, all great defenses (throughout history) get pressure on the QB. Hell, just look at last year's NYGiants for case #1. But they could do it without blitzing so much (our boy Justin Tuck is going DAMAGE!), whereas we simply don't have the personnel to get pressure without blitzing. So I do see the need to blitz.

It'd be nice, however, to see one of those damn blitzes work!!!

 

[goldandblue]

Schwapp is gone after this year isn't he?