'11 CA LB Joe Schmidt (Scholarship Earned)

[Bogtrotter07]

Two reasons in my estimation:

1. He had a knack for finding the football last year and he made some big plays, i.e., stripped a ball against Michigan, the interception against FSU, etc. I agree with Koon that he wasn't as disruptive as one would want against the run (very few tackles for loss) but he was a solid run defender last year - he got to the ball carrier and was a sure tackler.

2. Expectations. This is the big one, IMO. Most people expected him to struggle last year and he didn't. He played well and everyone was ecstatic about his performance. Expectations were much higher this year and he hasn't met them. The more you give the more people will want. That's life.

Note to a Brilliant football mind, great looking guy with magnificent friends, and a guy with a great name :

Please add to your estimation : All his fellow players realized with his leadership and other intangibles he made them play better than they otherwise would.

My only analogy is having the right NCOIC. If you have a marines' marine, who cares for his men, and really knows the ropes, that really helps during tough times or facing uncertain situations. And remember last year, once the frozen five started playing out, the only thing that was for sure was that the team, particularly the defense, were going to be young!

This is a perfect scenario for a non-playmaker with leadership skills to max the value chart. Remember, when you look at last year in any conversation about Joe, you have to look at Jaylon's productivity post Navy, (Joe's injury.)

Or ask Jaylon. He said last year that even with his play which got recognition nationally, Joe was more important to the defense.

So I see this conversation as follows :

Some are arguing that Joe isn't athletic enough to be a playmaker at this level; they are right.

Others are arguing that Joe's intangibles are worth more than his athletic limitations; they are right.

The only people that are wrong are those that want to lay a lot of the defensive miscues and inadequacies at his feet; the fact is most of them are on the back end of the defense.

 

[Domina Nostra]

Note to a Brilliant football mind, great looking guy with magnificent friends, and a guy with a great name :

Please add to your estimation : All his fellow players realized with his leadership and other intangibles he made them play better than they otherwise would.

My only analogy is having the right NCOIC. If you have a marines' marine, who cares for his men, and really knows the ropes, that really helps during tough times or facing uncertain situations. And remember last year, once the frozen five started playing out, the only thing that was for sure was that the team, particularly the defense, were going to be young!

This is a perfect scenario for a non-playmaker with leadership skills to max the value chart. Remember, when you look at last year in any conversation about Joe, you have to look at Jaylon's productivity post Navy, (Joe's injury.)

Or ask Jaylon. He said last year that even with his play which got recognition nationally, Joe was more important to the defense.

So I see this conversation as follows :

Some are arguing that Joe isn't athletic enough to be a playmaker at this level; they are right.

Others are arguing that Joe's intangibles are worth more than his athletic limitations; they are right.

The only people that are wrong are those that want to lay a lot of the defensive miscues and inadequacies at his feet; the fact is most of them are on the back end of the defense.

This is how I see it. But I do think there are probably a couple LBs who could play his position equally well, if given the chance.

 

[Guest]

I think all levels of the defense could be improved, honestly.

The DEs don't get enough consistent QB pressure; a stud rusher would help here but also some additional pressure from the interior.

The DTs we have are good, but we cannot establish a consistent rotation due due injuries and failure to recruit at a high level consistently.

Our LBs are ok, but we lack athleticism up the middle and also an additional OLB that can attack the line of scrimmage and cause disruption.

The DBs are particularly suspect; the FS play has been less than ideal for some time now. We lack a shut down corner, ala Todd Lyght, that gives us advantages scheming against offenses. We also lack depth here.

The offensive recruiting has been better for some time now but it looks like the last coupe of years that the coaching staff has put an emphasis on recruiting more defensive depth. We are becoming more balanced but I still see the offense as a solid notch above the defense as a whole.

 

[gkIrish]

Easily his best game this year.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

Easily his best game this year.

Totally agree

 

[ulukinatme]

So, I have 4 cousins, all girls (No pics). 2 went to ND, 1 is at St. Marys, and 1 is at BC. The eldest was good friends with Floyd (Never found out if they dated, but they were close at one time at the very least) and went with Nate Montana to some dances. The 2nd dated Zeke Motta for quite a while back in 2012. Then I get a text from my mother yesterday that says the youngest is seeing Joe. So yeah...Joe is the best until I say otherwise.

True story, the night after the '09 Michigan State game when Floyd broke his collar bone, he had dinner with my cousin, grandparents, etc. My grandpa tried to pay for his meal, cause that's what he does, not even thinking about NCAA violations and whatnot. Floyd had to jump in and stop him. He may have goofed when it comes to DUIs, but he at least knew his NCAA regulations.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> DC <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachVanGorder">@CoachVanGorder</a> on why Nyles Morgan didn't get more opportunities this season: <a href="https://t.co/8Od2DxZ918">pic.twitter.com/8Od2DxZ918</a></p>— Eric Hansen (@EHansenNDI) <a href="https://twitter.com/EHansenNDI/status/681908957317738497">December 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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[gkIrish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> DC <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachVanGorder">@CoachVanGorder</a> on why Nyles Morgan didn't get more opportunities this season: <a href="https://t.co/8Od2DxZ918">pic.twitter.com/8Od2DxZ918</a></p>— Eric Hansen (@EHansenNDI) <a href="https://twitter.com/EHansenNDI/status/681908957317738497">December 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Nothing we haven't heard before.

 

[ThePiombino]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> DC <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachVanGorder">@CoachVanGorder</a> on why Nyles Morgan didn't get more opportunities this season: <a href="https://t.co/8Od2DxZ918">pic.twitter.com/8Od2DxZ918</a></p>— Eric Hansen (@EHansenNDI) <a href="https://twitter.com/EHansenNDI/status/681908957317738497">December 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Lame.

 

[Luckylucci]

Can't say I was overly impressed with BVG's press conference. He acknowledged that we were inconsistent but no acknowledgement that it might be the system or that we can expect any changes or even tweaks to the system. Players need to play better and coaches need to coach better. I was hoping and maybe we still will, have some sort acknowledgement, like we did with Kelly and the offensive staff, that we need to shake some things up a bit. Not the end of the world but can't say I was happy about it.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Okay....care to elaborate on that? Because if Morgan isn't at the point where he can whiff on umpteen tackles, constantly get beat in coverage, and be a blocking magnet, then I don't know what the hell Elston and BVG are coaching then. I just don't know what Joe has done that has been so integral to our defensive gameplan, because so far, he's been one of the major problems in our defensive outings.

 

[Irish#1]

Okay....care to elaborate on that? Because if Morgan isn't at the point where he can whiff on umpteen tackles, constantly get beat in coverage, and be a blocking magnet, then I don't know what the hell Elston and BVG are coaching then. I just don't know what Joe has done that has been so integral to our defensive gameplan, because so far, he's been one of the major problems in our defensive outings.

Evidently BVG places the most importance on being able to get guys into the right position before the snap.

 

[Irishman77]

Jaylon could have made all the calls just as he would always show Joe Joe where to stand during most games

 

[bkess8]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> DC <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachVanGorder">@CoachVanGorder</a> on why Nyles Morgan didn't get more opportunities this season: <a href="https://t.co/8Od2DxZ918">pic.twitter.com/8Od2DxZ918</a></p>— Eric Hansen (@EHansenNDI) <a href="https://twitter.com/EHansenNDI/status/681908957317738497">December 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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This really fires me up. If we aren't playing a kid because he can't put people in the right position that seems to be a coaching problem in my mind. If he has the athleticism and puts out the effort then play the kid. I don't want to knock JS but I know athletically we have better options at LB.

 

[Ignats]

It still amazes me how this is still the case. I'm sure Bama has a consistently dominating defense by making sure their elite athletes take 2 years to learn the system while walk on's line up the defense correctly.

Like many others I appreciate Joe as a ND guy. But I wonder just how much better guys like Jaylon would have been if they weren't cleaning up for Joe. Against Stanford it was amazing how he was consistently the guy taken out by the FB. To be fair though, that did free up the other guys to make tackles on McCaffrey...

 

[ShawneeIrish]

Morgan should have played over Joe period. If BVG could not get Morgan ready thats on him.

 

[Domina Nostra]

Morgan should have played over Joe period. If BVG could not get Morgan ready thats on him.

No way to know that, but BVG certainly shouldn't pass the buck.

 

[Irish8248]

You can have all the athletic talent in the world but if you don't have it between the ears you're not going to make it far... It finally clicks for most college players in their 3rd year anyways... Morgan should keep his nose in the playbook and want to learn everything possible

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

Morgan should have played over Joe period. If BVG could not get Morgan ready thats on him.

That's what we said about Redfield two years ago, yet two years of experience later everyone is still bitching about his play. Like, maybe the coaches know something.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Jaylon could have made all the calls just as he would always show Joe Joe where to stand during most games

At one point it was mentioned Jaylon was asked to be more a vocal leader and hasn't.

 

[IrishLion]

This really fires me up. If we aren't playing a kid because he can't put people in the right position that seems to be a coaching problem in my mind. If he has the athleticism and puts out the effort then play the kid. I don't want to knock JS but I know athletically we have better options at LB.

That's what we said about Redfield two years ago, yet two years of experience later everyone is still bitching about his play. Like, maybe the coaches know something.

As bkess basically said, at what point should BVG realize that "quarterbacking the defense" doesn't matter when the MLB struggles to make above average plays and the unit is still giving up big plays despite "getting lined up properly"?

 

[ShawneeIrish]

At the least BVG absolutely should have given other guys snaps. At some point it became abundantly clear that Joe was not the answer. Maybe Morgan, Martini, and Grace would have also failed but at least give them some opportunities to succeed or fail because it was clear that Joe was consistently failing.

 

[ulukinatme]

I'm not saying the statements above are wrong, but some players have a better understanding or football IQ than others. How much of that is on the coaches to develop and how much of it is innate, I can't say. Why couldn't Andrew Hendrix unseat Tommy at QB? Why did Cam get the start over GAIII, Greg Bryant, and Carlisle? Sure seems like the staff has shown a preference for kids that do the right things over kids that are physically gifted but don't have all the mental aspects of the position down. Again, I agree that some of that needs to fall back on the coaches and Joe has certainly been a liability at times, but Nyles needs to do his part too.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I agree that the real issue is why Joe got almost all the snaps. Martini and MOrgan could have been used more.

 

[ulukinatme]

I agree that the real issue is why Joe got almost all the snaps. Martini and MOrgan could have been used more.

Grace too. Jarrett did an excellent job against Navy when he was in, I see no reason he couldn't have been used more this year.

 

[Luckylucci]

Not sure if it got posted to IE yet, or if it did, where it was but Bill Polian was interviewed about what is wrong with Rex Ryan's defense and the parallels between how he explains it and BVG's system is incredible. Including that at both of Rex's last two stops he had to have a player on the field that shouldn't be playing (physically) because they understood the defense the best. Jim Leonard was the example with the Jets.

 

[GBdomer]

Everything I need to know about Joe Schmidit is that he never missed a snap and only had 65 total tackles this year. That's everything i need to know about him and BVG son treatment with him

 

[IrishLion]

Everything I need to know about Joe Schmidit is that he never missed a snap and only had 65 total tackles this year. That's everything i need to know about him and BVG son treatment with him

This is especially amazing when you consider that he's playing behind Sheldon Day and next to Jaylon Smith.

If you can't take advantage of that and make a few more plays? My goodness.

 

[GBdomer]

This is especially amazing when you consider that he's playing behind Sheldon Day and next to Jaylon Smith.

If you can't take advantage of that and make a few more plays? My goodness.

And who's fault is it that he can't get anybody else ready for this complex defense? I look all over the country and seeing younger players make greater impacts early on during the freshman and sophomore seasons but BVG can't get anybody ready to roll early on. He needs to look himself in the mirror and realized this isn't working

 

[Irish Insanity]

What I'd really like to know is who plans on standing in front of their TV and family/friends just prior to kickoff and pump a fist and yell.........