'11 GA DE Stephon Tuitt (Signed Notre Dame LOI)

[Me2SouthBend]

I stand corrected.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

I stand corrected.

No worries my man. I read that web site from the NCAA and it gives me a headache.

 

[Old Man Mike]

We all need to get this straight: Me2SouthBend may stand corrected, but HE IS STILL THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN MAINE!!! My theory is that he merely allowed this to make Southwest feel better.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

We all need to get this straight: Me2SouthBend may stand corrected, but HE IS STILL THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN MAINE!!! My theory is that he merely allowed this to make Southwest feel better.

LOL!!!! Well done OMM....well done.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NJTJDkwPs0o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[BobD]

because I ask stupid questions, just out of curiosity......If a student/athlete plays two or more sports, can they "red-shirt" in one sport but play in the other(s)?

 

[BGIF]

This is incorrect. Once the clock starts, you can not redshirt after that. Kona does not preserve a year of eligibility this year simply by not playing, this I am quite sure of. BGIF? I know this has been discussed on other threads, can't remember whose thread however.

Clashmore is right. You get 5 years to play 4. It's probably most common to sit out the first year to develop the body and technique. Sometimes it's done when there's a logjam at a position. Someone may chose to sit out a later year for academic reasons. Julius Jones had to dropped out of ND for academic reasons as an upperclassman after playing in '99,'00, and '01. He sat out the '02 season then returned to play his 4th season in his 5th year and last year of eligibility.

A season ending injury can get you a 6th year waiver, if approved. Missions are "off" the clock.

 

[KPENN]

because I ask stupid questions, just out of curiosity......If a student/athlete plays two or more sports, can they "red-shirt" in one sport but play in the other(s)?

Yes they can. They get 4 years eligibility in their chosen sport(s)

 

[Kak7304]

Clashmore is right. You get 5 years to play 4. It's probably most common to sit out the first year to develop the body and technique. Sometimes it's done when there's a logjam at a position. Someone may chose to sit out a later year for academic reasons. Julius Jones had to dropped out of ND for academic reasons as an upperclassman after playing in '99,'00, and '01. He sat out the '02 season then returned to play his 4th season in his 5th year and last year of eligibility.

A season ending injury can get you a 6th year waiver, if approved. Missions are "off" the clock.

Darrin Walls took a similar path as well.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Julius Jones had to dropped out of ND for academic reasons as an upperclassman after playing in '99,'00, and '01. He sat out the '02 season then returned to play his 4th season in his 5th year and last year of eligibility.

He would have been useful.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

We all need to get this straight: Me2SouthBend may stand corrected, but HE IS STILL THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN MAINE!!! My theory is that he merely allowed this to make Southwest feel better.

You saw right through that one OMM. Gotta keep SW's spirits up. So now that this issue has been cleared up, no thanks to me, I wonder how much of Kona we will see the rest of the way. I hadn't heard any concious efforts were being made to preserve eligibility (hence keeping him off the field) so now it will be interesting to see where he fits in the rotation. He is a monster and has strength to dominate many lesser O Lineman. He is more of an interior guy than End correct? If Ethan is unable to come back this week, or even if he is and they decide to hold him out and insure health for U$C, I'll be curious to see the line. KLM, Kona, Big Lou, Lynch? Insert Tuitt, Hafis, Cwynar, etc. and roll the AFA as we hope they would. I love our D.

 

[tko]

ok, now stephon tuitt.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Kona's playing time and Stephon's are probably linked fairly tightly. Diaco has been playing Stephon lately, I think, in those fronts where the DE goes to the nose and pass rushes from the middle. Kona is built to do that sort of interior violence too. Both are mainly monster straight ahead locomotives.

I am forced to think that even our demigodlike Diaco has been struggling to try to get the D-Line substitution patterns working so smoothly that he can get guys on and off the field without substitution violations.

Working with two "sets" of players is a heck of a lot easier than partial 2 & 2/3rds sets or whatever. AND he has 3 vs 4 man base front to juggle, plus the plays where the front will suddenly change [example: Fleming or IWilliams' hand goes down]. Who is best to have in there then?

Whether BobD has the "two sets-of-three" thing smooth now and can salt in the other good D-Linemen [Hafis is plenty good too and can play both NT or DE] who knows? We shall see.

 

[Riddickulous]

He would have been useful.

Ryan Grant ran for over 1,000 yards.

They should've started Julius Jones right out of the gate in 2003, though. He compiled 1,268 yards despite starting only 8 games.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Ryan Grant ran for over 1,000 yards.

They should've started Julius Jones right out of the gate in 2003, though. He compiled 1,268 yards despite starting only 8 games.

I know Grant was a stud and all, but having both with that defense all of their lucky breaks would have been crazy. He might have been enough to have beaten those damn Eagles.

 

[Rhode Irish]

From ISD:

Freshman defensive end Stephon Tuitt is practicing with the team this week after being left home last week for skipping class.

“(I am) really pleased with him,” Kelly said of Tuitt after Wednesday’s practice. “I just like the way he handled himself. He apologized to the team for letting them down. (He) took full responsibility for his actions and we talked to his mom. They all as a family understand why he’s here, and that’s to get a degree. That’s why he made that decision.”

With Johnson hobbled, both Tuitt and fellow freshman Aaron Lynch, who has 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, figure to see even more playing time this Saturday vs. Air Force.

“They're going to play,” Kelly said of the freshmen.

 

[NDinFL]

That is so great to hear about Stephon...

Let's all cross our fingers that he takes out any remaining frustration on AF's Oline

 

[ThePiombino]

On a completely unrelated note- am I the only one here who just doesn't "feel" Stephon wearing #7? I feel like he's too much of a behemoth to be wearing a number so small.

 

[Old Man Mike]

You might be....Nix wears "9". Ishaq wears "1", I believe. Manti wears "5".

 

[ndfi78]

On a completely unrelated note- am I the only one here who just doesn't "feel" Stephon wearing #7? I feel like he's too much of a behemoth to be wearing a number so small.

No, I get it what you are saying. Of course that is the new hotness for these players so they are going to do it.

 

[ulukinatme]

I know Grant was a stud and all, but having both with that defense all of their lucky breaks would have been crazy. He might have been enough to have beaten those damn Eagles.

2002 looked like a special year on paper, but a lot of those early wins were nail biters. The offense was completely unimpressive in many games, we survived on a stingy defense that could bring in a few points. Special teams wasn't too shabby either. If you combine our Special Teams and Defensive TDs, they nearly matched the same number of passing TDs we had all season.

Julius may have helped against Boston College had he played, but there was no way that 2002 team would hang with USC, nor NC State. We looked horrible by the end of the season.

 

[clashmore_mike]

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/30445924" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/30445924">Tuitt grows up</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/irishillustrated">Irish Illustrated</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

[Grahambo]

"Tuitt wears No. 7 to signify his intent to work and improve, painstakingly, every day of the week. He now has a mistake he insists he never will make again to reinforce that."

Tuitt Learns His Lesson

Article from the Chicago Tribune linked by Bleacher Report.

 

[ThePiombino]

You might be....Nix wears "9". Ishaq wears "1", I believe. Manti wears "5".

Not very helpful. None of those guys weigh near-300 pounds.

No, I get it what you are saying. Of course that is the new hotness for these players so they are going to do it.

"Tuitt wears No. 7 to signify his intent to work and improve, painstakingly, every day of the week. He now has a mistake he insists he never will make again to reinforce that."

Tuitt Learns His Lesson

Article from the Chicago Tribune linked by Bleacher Report.

^These are both insightful and relevant responses. Thank you, gents.

 

[pkt77242]

Not very helpful. None of those guys weigh near-300 pounds.





^These are both insightful and relevant responses. Thank you, gents.

Um, Nix weighs well over 300 pounds, so yes it is helpful.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

Gotta love that kid. I'm glad he is on our team

Go Irish!

 

[ThePiombino]

Um, Nix weighs well over 300 pounds, so yes it is helpful.

Good point, brain fart here. Something about Nix's personality that makes it stand out less than Tuitt for some reason- almost like he does it as a joke (I know, I know- it's an homage to KR).

Anyway, my point about that not being helpful is this- my question wasn't, "Hey, Tuitt wears a low number for a defensive lineman. What other players on defense wear low numbers?" My comment was about wondering if anyone else found that off, nothing else. That was the point I was trying to get across to OMM.

As for Tuitt, I maintain that him wearing such a small number just doesn't seem right for some reason. Whatever, I guess it really doesn't matter- he's gonna go down as one of the ND greats of all time regardless of number.

 

[Old Man Mike]

LSU, FSU, Florida [two], and Clemson [just to mention a few], all have single digit defensive tackles. Alabama, Texas, USC, and South Carolina [two], all have single-digit defensive ends. Michigan State's Gholston [280lbs] wears #2. This was a five minute survey.

I have assumed on a Notre Dame oriented board that information would be attempted to be thought about before calling the other person irrelevant and unhelpful. But I never take into account the testosterone factor.

I suppose that the only thing of even vague interest in this is that almost all the low numbered D-Line players are freshmen or sophs. Example: our own guys and people like Clowney at SoCarol. This indicates that "self-expression" and what used to be called "catchin' some pub" is automatic with the younger less tradition-oriented players.

 

[beryirish]

ESPN Freebie

Tuitt responds to Kelly's discipline - Notre Dame Football Blog - ESPN

By Matt Fortuna

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Stephon Tuitt slept through his alarm clock two weeks ago, and with it came a harsh lesson in growing up fast.

That No. 7 jersey he wears, the one that represents working hard every day of the week, looked compromised.

A missed Friday morning calculus class resulted in his name being wiped off Notre Dame's travel roster the following day for Purdue, and he was forced to watch the 38-10 Irish victory from a friend's house with the guilt of letting his teammates down hanging over his head.

"A lot happened in that week," Tuitt said. "It was just like it hit me. It was one of those — you sat down and you watched the game and you say, 'Oh, I'm not there.' It hit me. I grew up a lot and I learned from my mistakes and it won't happen again."

The freshman quickly made amends. With more time to think than usual, given his football-free weekend, he thought about what he did.

Then he asked himself: What kind of person would he be if he didn't apologize? What would his teammates think of his character, one that could be up in the air given his status as a first-year player?

"I wanted to make sure the team knows that I'm not better than anybody else," Tuitt said, and with that came a Monday apology to the entire team.

He quickly won back his peers, and he showed his character to the man who sat him down, coach Brian Kelly.

"Each situation is different. As it relates to Stephon, I just told him that we expect a lot out of him," Kelly said. "We got a high bar for him. We expect him to be a leader here some day, and this is gonna hurt right now but it's gonna be something that you're gonna be able to build off in the future.

"He was obviously disappointed but understood the decision that had been made. But it was a very mature decision and mature reaction based upon the decision that was made."

Even worse, Kelly brought Tuitt's mother into the conversation, and she threatened to come to campus, which Tuitt, only half-joking, said "would be the worst situation ever."

"I did come up here for two reasons: to get a degree and play football at the same time, and [the staff] promised her that," Tuitt said. "She was gonna be involved in most of my success or some of the mistakes that I make here at college as a college student. So she was involved and she helped me get my head back on straight and stay focused on what my goals are: getting a degree and playing football."

The first goal will take some time. The second has already been on display in four of the Irish's first six games, as the 6-foot-6.5, 295-pound Tuitt has fluctuated between nose guard and end, amassing nine tackles.

And after absorbing a valuable early lesson, he hopes to restore the validity in the jersey number he tries to live by.

"College football is seven days a week you gotta do," Tuitt said. "You gotta grind seven days, if it's classes or football, and one day out of the seven days you mess up, you never know what could happen. And I already had to deal with that. So everything, you gotta take it a day at a time. A day at time. … That's how I live. That's my motto."

Safe to assume Mr. Tuitt will be in an Irish jersey in 2014??!!

 

[irish4ever]

ESPN Freebie

Tuitt responds to Kelly's discipline - Notre Dame Football Blog - ESPN

By Matt Fortuna



Safe to assume Mr. Tuitt will be in an Irish jersey in 2014??!!

He better or momma Tuitt will kick his behind from here to kingdom come!

 

[Grahambo]

He better or momma Tuitt will kick his behind from here to kingdom come!

Honest to God, that was the first thing I thought of when I heard he was out for the Purdue game due to missing class. I thought his mom might have come up to South Bend and given him some "motherly love". Wanna see a near 300 lb, 6'5 behemoth get real scared, real fast, send the mother after him! lol