'09 NJ LB Carlo Calabrese (ND Verbal 5/22/08)

[D-BOE34]

Saw this posted elsewhere:

Perfect!

 

[FLDomer]

hope that speed translates to better coverage skills cause it didnt help that much with Fox. I like Carlo's sure tackling and hard nose mentality

 

[PANDFAN]

i wish him the best! i have always liked him, hopefully this is HIS breakout year...he had a monster game against stanford in 2010 and has disappeared in coverage since

 

[NDhoosier]

More stuff like this with players stepping up, the better I feel. Calabrese knows the front 7 will be deadly, and he wants to be a part of it.

 

[IrishGD31]

Saw this posted elsewhere:

If 225 21x is #3 on the team...we are in for a very, very long season. We can only hope something was mistaken, like it was #3 among the LB core or something (which still would only be about average for D1 schools). Out of 50 DL at the combine that did the Bench, only 7 got 21 or less. Out of 29 LB who tested, only 11 got 21 or less.

 

[Grahambo]

If 225 21x is #3 on the team...we are in for a very, very long season. We can only hope something was mistaken, like it was #3 among the LB core or something (which still would only be about average for D1 schools). Out of 50 DL at the combine that did the Bench, only 7 got 21 or less. Out of 29 LB who tested, only 11 got 21 or less.

Here's the thing with that, they are trying to be a fast/athletic team instead of bulked up monsters. In order to get that speed, explosiveness, quickness, etc, they have to sacrifice bulk/strength.

I'm not saying you can't have both but it's just the way BK wants his team.

Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama repped 22 on the bench.

Mike Adams, OT, OSU repped 19 on the bench.

Andre Branch, DL Clemson repped 19 on the bench.

Quinton Coples, DL, North Carolina repped 25 on the bench.

What I'm getting at is it isn't the end be all. All of these names are considered 1st/2nd round talent.

Yes, on the flip side you have guys like David DeCastro who will pump up 34 times.

Just not the end all/be all.

 

[TerryTate]

mbeckha will return.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

mbeckha will return.

LMFAO

 

[johnnykillz]

mbeckha will return.

Aye.

And his antimatter as well.

The physicists said, that for all the antimatter in the world, there was a fraction more matter.

They could not explain it in its entirety.

But Einstein did a great job summarizing relativity: a minute of your hand on a hot oven feels like a lifetime. A minute with a beautiful woman, a second. That's relativity.

My point being: can the deer ever return?

 

[tadman95]

Aye.

And his antimatter as well.

The physicists said, that for all the antimatter in the world, there was a fraction more matter.

They could not explain it in its entirety.

But Einstein did a great job summarizing relativity: a minute of your hand on a hot oven feels like a lifetime. A minute with a beautiful woman, a second. That's relativity.

My point being: can the deer ever return?[/QUOTE]

Miss the deer! We may get deleted.

 

[IrishLax]

As my grandmother from Missouri always says... "show me."

I have never been a fan of Carlo as a player because he can't cover and can't consistently make plays unless the play is run directly at him. We'll see what happens I guess.

 

[NDPhilly]

If he steps up maybe Diaco can move Fox to DOG?

 

[NDdomer2]

Losing five pounds is not impressive and not hard to do, regardless, him being motivated and working hard is good news.

 

[BeauBenken]

Well now if I sell my stock in Fox, I'll be busted for insider trading. Thanks a lot.

 

[Walter White]

Saw this posted elsewhere:

Who is this coming from? Is this his dad saying this?

 

[NYMIKE6]

Losing five pounds is not impressive and not hard to do,

Your not kidding i lose 5 pounds every morning after i have a cup of coffee......

 

[IrishGD31]

Here's the thing with that, they are trying to be a fast/athletic team instead of bulked up monsters. In order to get that speed, explosiveness, quickness, etc, they have to sacrifice bulk/strength.

I'm not saying you can't have both but it's just the way BK wants his team.

Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama repped 22 on the bench.

Mike Adams, OT, OSU repped 19 on the bench.

Andre Branch, DL Clemson repped 19 on the bench.

Quinton Coples, DL, North Carolina repped 25 on the bench.

What I'm getting at is it isn't the end be all. All of these names are considered 1st/2nd round talent.

Yes, on the flip side you have guys like David DeCastro who will pump up 34 times.

Just not the end all/be all.

I agree that it isn't the end all be all. But... you don't want 21 reps to be 3rd best on your entire team. If that is true, I would bet that would place us in the bottom 25% for team strength. You shouldn't have 1 OT who benches less than 21 reps. If this report is true, then only a maximum of 2 of our OTs bench more than 21 and that would leave NONE of our DTs benching over 21. Again, I agree you want guys who are more speed-oriented but that doesn't mean that 21 should be 3rd best on the team.

 

[jjsccer2]

Isn't Longo's program concentrated more on endurance than absolute strength? Mendoza's program was all about strength from what I remember. I also remember that his "strong" offensive lineman gave up 58? sacks in 2007. I'd rather have the OL playing with good technique and stamina in the 4th quarter than them be able to bench 4 more reps on the bench press.

 

[Walter White]

Isn't Longo's program concentrated more on endurance than absolute strength? Mendoza's program was all about strength from what I remember. I also remember that his "strong" offensive lineman gave up 58? sacks in 2007. I'd rather have the OL playing with good technique and stamina in the 4th quarter than them be able to bench 4 more reps on the bench press.

^my sentiments exactly

 

[Redbar]

We need guys hungry for playing time, and willing to go out and push themselves and their teammates for it. I thought Carlo did a real nice job coming in and making plays a couple of seasons ago. With the exception of the silly penalty last year and getting put in CBK's doghouse, I did not see where Fox was seriously outplaying him on the field. Keep it up Carlo I'm pulling for you.

 

[Walter White]

We need guys hungry for playing time, and willing to go out and push themselves and their teammates for it. I thought Carlo did a real nice job coming in and making plays a couple of seasons ago. With the exception of the silly penalty last year and getting put in CBK's doghouse, I did not see where Fox was seriously outplaying him on the field. Keep it up Carlo I'm pulling for you.

Fox did start to play very well towards the end of the year, especially against Stanford.

 

[ThePiombino]

We need guys hungry for playing time, and willing to go out and push themselves and their teammates for it. I thought Carlo did a real nice job coming in and making plays a couple of seasons ago. With the exception of the silly penalty last year and getting put in CBK's doghouse, I did not see where Fox was seriously outplaying him on the field. Keep it up Carlo I'm pulling for you.

The problem is that those two were six of one, half dozen of the other- and the play wasn't spectacular by any means. ILB is a position that we desperately need someone to step up at, other than Manti. I'm sorry, but I don't think Calabrese is the answer. He's too much of a run stopping LB than anything else, pretty bad in coverage. This defense requires one to be a little more agile than he can be. Hopefully he has worked on that in the off-season and comes out and proves me wrong, but I kinda get the feeling he's only going to be used situationaly this season - down and short situations mainly.

 

[eNDzone]

Did Carlo ever sign with ND? If so, I think it is time to update the thread name.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Re: Carlo. His major flaw [to the eyeball test] in the past was unusual NON-flexibility in being able to turn and cover, or evade for that matter. No one doubted his strength and ferocity --- he played like a runaway garbage truck with similar "turning radius".

Secondly, footspeed was a major issue in space. Whether dropping some minimal weight improves that in any significant way, I doubt.

Thirdly, it is great that he is trying his da**nest to improve. That is a positive statement to the coaches about him, and a good example to the team. I hope that he will continue the work ethic [which if we will remember was a question with him two years ago, and why McDonald was ahead of him until AM got hurt], even as he discovers that it was not simply being in great shape that Diaco needs at linebacker, and he's still only a situational player. [Hope for his sake that I'm wrong, but I'm not selling Fox, Grace, or Moore stock yet].

Re: weightlifting reps. Statements made are out-of-reality context. The test of whether we are any good at lineplay is how good we are at lineplay. ........... We actually have some "data" on that. Our lines are the best things about our team, and tend to kick as$. No one seems to have looked at ZMartin's, Watt's, Lynch's, Nix', Tuitt's bench numbers and informed them that they weren't strong enough to play worth a sh!t, and should consider chess. These sort of theoretical comments about what's true and not continue to boggle me. My brother, who is an elite weight-trainer for the olympic team, [and who had two lifters qualify at the recent Arnold Classic], almost never employs ANY benching in his athletic training regimen. "The game is played on your feet", he always tells me.

 

[fitz_bu47]

Not sure why some guys are bagging on Carlo. I wish every kid on the team had the same attitude. Competition for spots is how teams get better. You love your buddies/teammates, but you gotta make it YOUR spot. I hope Fox has the same attitude, and Moore/Grace.

 

[ND NYC]

im hoping for, and we need improved play out of our entire linbacking corps next year (including manti)

 

[Kingbish01]

Love Carlo, I'm just hoping he also plays smarter. Bad penalty against USC last year.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Our linebacking crew needs nearly as much fixing as our DBs do. We have Te'o established, and a powerhouse-of-potential at CAT. [So I'm going to assume that Diaco molds CAT into something elite.] But both DOG and WILL still aren't adequately functional. The dysfunction is mostly speed and coverage in space. We have "fixed" part of that already when we take WILL out of the line-up and put Slaughter in, with a four hand-on-the-ground alignment [mainly; in that alignment the OLBs both play more like CATs, and Slaughter plays like Palomalo with slightly more disciplined role definition], and maybe Diaco will have to punt and use this more if Fox, Councell, Grace, Moore, Spond, Carlo, Baratti can't arise to fill the DOG&WILL deficits. No matter how much I hope, my eyes do not see Carlo as the kind of athlete that is a fix for what we need.

When I'm being starry-eyed I see Ben Councell as the savior of this problem, with lots of Jamoris and Nicky salted in, Shembo turning monstrous at CAT, with Ishaq helping but not starting, and Grace evolving into a Manti-like stud at WILL with some help from a continuously improving Fox. Carlo takes the field mainly against diesel locomotive smashmouth teams like MSU.

...crystal fogged up.....

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Our linebacking crew needs nearly as much fixing as our DBs do. We have Te'o established, and a powerhouse-of-potential at CAT. [So I'm going to assume that Diaco molds CAT into something elite.] But both DOG and WILL still aren't adequately functional. The dysfunction is mostly speed and coverage in space. We have "fixed" part of that already when we take WILL out of the line-up and put Slaughter in, with a four hand-on-the-ground alignment [mainly; in that alignment the OLBs both play more like CATs, and Slaughter plays like Palomalo with slightly more disciplined role definition], and maybe Diaco will have to punt and use this more if Fox, Councell, Grace, Moore, Spond, Carlo, Baratti can't arise to fill the DOG&WILL deficits. No matter how much I hope, my eyes do not see Carlo as the kind of athlete that is a fix for what we need.

When I'm being starry-eyed I see Ben Councell as the savior of this problem, with lots of Jamoris and Nicky salted in, Shembo turning monstrous at CAT, with Ishaq helping but not starting, and Grace evolving into a Manti-like stud at WILL with some help from a continuously improving Fox. Carlo takes the field mainly against diesel locomotive smashmouth teams like MSU.

...crystal fogged up.....

Mike, I think the freshman/sophs are working out alot better than anticipated. I think Grace is ready to start, or close, as is Utupo, Moore, Little (walkon kicking *** outside),
and Rasaba. All these kids are play ready, many are going to be vying for a starting position. That may cause the angst that Carlo allegedly feels, and may be the solution to the problems you so succinctly note.

 

[NDdomer2]

Carlo Calabrese ‏@Carlo44Cal

New goodies we got today in our lockers Photo by carlocal • Instagram