'11 NC OLB/DE Ben Councell (Signed Notre Dame LOI)

[Sherm Sticky]

This guy's one of our great "sleepers". We've wanted the speed, the ranginess, the ability to close --- this young man MIGHT be the first to see the field in this class.

Not sure if he is a sleeper anymore.

 

[Praytorian]

This guy's one of our great "sleepers". We've wanted the speed, the ranginess, the ability to close --- this young man MIGHT be the first to see the field in this class.

I must agree. I do think though, that he WILL be the first to see the field.
Pray

 

[BGIF]

#91 overall in Rivals Top 100

Rivals awarded him a 4th Star.

When the new rivals position rankings are posted Counsell will jump up from #29. In the current ranking the lowest 4 star DE is at #22 but the nobody below #8 made the Top 100.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

ESPN gave him a 4* and #19 OLB

 

[Irish Man3]

Pay attention to all the positions this kid lines up in pre-snap. He plays everywhere.

Athlete Vault - Ben Councell - LB/DE - AC Reynolds 2

 

[rtrn2glory]

With the lack of depth at OLB I gotta believe he will see the field in some capacity atleast as a monster on special teams.

 

[ACamp1900]

a large number of our front seven frosh will get playinjg time next year... few to none will start but BK knows he has to get these guys legit experience this season... and he will

 

[Dannyboy Ayers]

I can see some of these younger guys getting in the mix on the 2 deep BK is going to keep a rotation going to keep guys fresh through out the year so that the temp can always stay high.

FREE AT LAST!

 

[The Polish Irishman]

Speeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddd..Welcome to the Family

 

[Riddickulous]

II Freebie:

Ben Councell flipped on the Blue-Gold Game last month to see a familiar face.



Councell has put on 10 pounds using the Longo plan.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound outside linebacker from Asheville, N.C., watched early enrollee Everett Golson run the Notre Dame offense, throwing a touchdown pass and scrambling for 62 yards just months after Councell tried to tackle him in the Shrine Bowl. The two Irish commits played in the Carolina all-star game in mid-December.

"It was awesome to see how he showed up and played just like he did in the Shrine Bowl, running around the field, making some plays," Councell said. "You're just out there playing football, that's the biggest thing, getting over the mental thing of playing college football. When it comes down to it, you're just playing football like you've always done. It was cool to see him, even without much practice, doing his thing."

Next month Councell will get started on his own career after making the mid-June drive from the mountains of western North Carolina to South Bend. He'll face the lifestyle adjustment of leaving home to go with the fact he's going to a program with BCS aspirations and plenty of defensive talent to push him.

Councell admitted if he'd known the kind of star quality athletes that would be joining him at Notre Dame when he committed last June, it would have surprised him. The Irish inked Aaron Lynch, Ishaq Williams and Stephon Tuitt, all three Top 30 players in the front seven.

But when Councell, a four-star prospect who jumped into the Rivals100 thanks to his strong week at the Shrine Bowl, saw how Notre Dame recruits after he committed to the Irish, the former A.C. Reynolds star wouldn't have put anything past Brian Kelly and Co.

"When I first committed I got a lot of flack from people around here for choosing Notre Dame and not staying in the South," Councell said. "At first it was 'why are you going up there? They don't have a great recruiting class.' But the way this class came together, it shut people's mouths. Now there's a lot of respect for Notre Dame.

"Seeing how these coaches recruit and form relationships, that sold me. At first I thought they didn't really need me and as I was looking around at other schools I could see how serious the Notre Dame coaches took recruiting. After that I saw that they knew how to recruit and I knew that they'd get who they wanted."

Notre Dame was among the first programs to want Councell, offering when his list was limited to in-state ACC programs. South Carolina made a late run when Councell started to wonder about the distance between home and Notre Dame, but a late official visit settled his commitment.

Since signing with the Irish, Councell has embraced Notre Dame's workout plan, putting on 10 pounds to get up to 230 and holding his own with the conditioning sprints. After working through the series of 350-yard sprints, Councell has moved on to shorter stuff, the regimen shifting to 10 100-yard sprints, eight 80-yard sprints, six 60-yard sprints and four 40-yard sprints with set times to complete the series.

"I was expecting a little harder workout with the lifting, this is more just getting you in shape and getting you ready," Councell said. "The running part, that was a little tough not having coaches pushing you, not running with teammates. You're out there as an individual a lot."

Councell requested to wear his high school No. 6, now worn by Theo Riddick, but doesn't know if he'll keep that single digit in South Bend. It might just be another adjustment Councell needs to make while settling into the "dog" linebacker position occupied by Prince Shembo and Danny Spond.

Now sitting out spring football for the first time in years, Councell just wants to get started. He'll miss the mountains of his hometown and the access to authentic sweet tea once he arrives at Notre Dame, but he'll have football back.

"Right now I'm still in high school and they're doing spring practice and I just go home after school," Councell said. "I miss football and I'm ready to get back into it."

 

[Veer option]

dig it!

 

[jmurphy75]

Man do I like our Dog depth! Shembo and Spond looked impressive in the B&G Game and Councell should develop into quite the animal!

 

[BeauBenken]

I don't know if I haven't expressed this enough already, but I really love this class.

 

[IrishLax]

Councell has oodles of potential. As does Ishaq. I'm kinda hoping they both redshirt (although Ishaq might be really hard to keep off the field) so that we get maximum years out of them as starters. I can't see Councell, adjusting to a brand new position, being able to supplant Spond/Shembo as a true frosh. But he seems like a perfect fit athletically for the Dog.

Also really interested to see what happens with Rabasa.

 

[Ironman8]

Councell has oodles of potential. As does Ishaq. I'm kinda hoping they both redshirt (although Ishaq might be really hard to keep off the field) so that we get maximum years out of them as starters. I can't see Councell, adjusting to a brand new position, being able to supplant Spond/Shembo as a true frosh. But he seems like a perfect fit athletically for the Dog.

Also really interested to see what happens with Rabasa.

Look for Rabasa at Will or Cat.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Look for Rabasa at Will or Cat.

That'll be interesting to watch. Cat is going to be tough to break into, with Fleming and probably Ishaq ahead of Rabasa.

Who's behind Calabrese at Will? I want to say Fox, Utupo, and maybe Moore (or is he camped out as the #2 MLB?) It might be easier for Rabasa to challenge for early playing time at Will.

Then again, we lose Fleming after this year. I bet Rabasa competes with Ishaq for the #2 Cat spot, with an eye toward establishing depth there in 2012 and beyond.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Councell has oodles of potential. As does Ishaq. I'm kinda hoping they both redshirt (although Ishaq might be really hard to keep off the field) so that we get maximum years out of them as starters. I can't see Councell, adjusting to a brand new position, being able to supplant Spond/Shembo as a true frosh. But he seems like a perfect fit athletically for the Dog.

It is going to be hard to red-shirt any of the freshmen, especially with special teams needs and Ben's speed and all. Three good DOG's are not too many. So third DOG and special teams may be enought. Phase two of Kelly's plan is going to be to play a ton (at least three players) at every position. Some won't be possible. But last year Diaco said in an interview, that one of the reasons for getting as many playes ready as possible, is that different players have different tendancies, making it harder for an offense to prepare or call signals. ND is not far from having 10 or 11 lbs ready to play . . .

 

[rtrn2glory]

Councell may not break the two deep, but i gotta feeling he is going to be an absolute beast on special teams and also give the coaches the flexibility to throw him in for a few series to keep Spond and Shembo fresh for the 2nd half run. If councell develops like i think he can, like ishaq, he will be hard to keep off the field.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

Good players will play under BK. He has shown if you win a spot, make an impact, can help us win, etc. you will play. Gotta love it.

I LOVE NOTRE DAME!!!! GO IRISH!!!!

 

[Irish Fam]

I saw Ben at South Bend airport yesterday, well atleast I saw a tall white guy with an ND duffel bag with a tag on it that said Councell... Anyway, he didn't seem to be too physically imposing. Hopefully he is able to get in the weight room this offseason. Kid is a natural, hope to see what he can do at some point.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Freebie from II

Now 20 pounds heavier and finally comfortable in his new frame, Councell seems poised to build on his freshman season of watching. Unlike last season when Prince Shembo was almost a force fit at dog linebacker, where he admittedly struggled with pass drops, Councell says coverage is the strength of his game.

“I think what comes easiest, I think re-rerouting and dropping into coverage,” Councell said. “I think I’ve got to put on a little more weight to feel comfortable. I’ve been going against Troy (Niklas), trying to match up against him, he’s probably the biggest tight end you’ll see out there. We’ve been going pretty good at it. He’ll drive me back pretty good, so I want to put on a little more weight so I can play the run a little better.”



IrishIllustrated.com - Councell moving up

 

[Bogtrotter07]

. . . Really, really, really . . .​

He will be a ^ good one.

 

[PANDFAN]

Freebie from II

Now 20 pounds heavier and finally comfortable in his new frame, Councell seems poised to build on his freshman season of watching. Unlike last season when Prince Shembo was almost a force fit at dog linebacker, where he admittedly struggled with pass drops, Councell says coverage is the strength of his game.

“I think what comes easiest, I think re-rerouting and dropping into coverage,” Councell said. “I think I’ve got to put on a little more weight to feel comfortable. I’ve been going against Troy (Niklas), trying to match up against him, he’s probably the biggest tight end you’ll see out there. We’ve been going pretty good at it. He’ll drive me back pretty good, so I want to put on a little more weight so I can play the run a little better.”



IrishIllustrated.com - Councell moving up

THANK GOD! This is a very important piece of our def which will only help our secondary out

 

[NDdomer2]

I don't think there will be too many olb in the country that Niklas won't be driving back pretty good.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Who are the current guys competing at DOG?

Spond - if he can come back
Councell
Okwara
Prosise
Slaughter - if he has to
Shembo - if he has to

Did I miss anyone?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Spond will be back. And no. I don't think Slaughter is under any consideration.

 

[Irish YJ]

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Love the pic YJ! Someone needs to start a thread "Werewolves in Dublin!"

 

[Irish YJ]

Love the pic YJ! Someone needs to start a thread "Werewolves in Dublin!"

HA! Very nice. Since we shouldn't wear our leprechaun shirts in the motherland, we should just replace with a fightin' wearwolf!

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Who are the current guys competing at DOG?

Spond - if he can come back
Councell
Okwara
Prosise
Slaughter - if he has to
Shembo - if he has to

Did I miss anyone?

Kelly has stated that Shembo will not be working in the DOG LB spot. Pretty sure I heard that in a presser.