'15 FL ATH Dexter Williams (Notre Dame Signed NLI)

[IrishLax]

if Denson has 3 of his running back position players kicked out of school basically in one year then some fingers have to be pointed at him IMO

Why? He didn't even recruit Dexter Williams.

 

[dublinirish]

Why? He didn't even recruit Dexter Williams.

Still his job to keep him on the straight and narrow.

 

[Meatloaf]

Live look at Tony Jones winning the starting job at RB by virtue of not being a shithead:

 

[brewdog_14527]

Still his job to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Need to hold the kids accoutable. I don't know if what they did warrants being booted from the school, but to say that Autry Denson needs to recruit better, while making sure that his RB's are behaving on campus may be passing the buck. Time to grow up, boys! Quit being numnuts!

 

[IrishLax]

Still his job to keep him on the straight and narrow.

No, it really isn't. It's his job to get production out of the RB position.

 

[connor_in]

IIRC, rumor was about the world's oldest profession.

making fire?

 

[dublinirish]

making fire?

delivering babies?

 

[dublinirish]

No, it really isn't. It's his job to get production out of the RB position.

In theory yes, but a CFB position coach is more than just coaching on the field. Alford was very good at this.

 

[zelezo vlk]

In theory yes, but a CFB position coach is more than just coaching on the field. Alford was very good at this.

Will Mahone, Greg Bryant, Cierre Wood...

 

[Irishnuke]

Will Mahone, Greg Bryant, Cierre Wood...

Ouch. Seems none of our babysitters are very good.

 

[IrishLax]

In theory yes, but a CFB position coach is more than just coaching on the field. Alford was very good at this.

Greg Bryant had off the field problems and died.
Will Mahone got arrested in a situation with awful optics.
George Atkinson had "locker room" issues his entire time at ND. He and Amir Carlisle got into a fight that caused an ankle injury to Carlisle that was so severe that he never returned to a true "100%".
Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick both smoked a ton of weed, Cierre Wood actually got himself in trouble.
Dexter Williams was Alford's recruit and was getting in trouble from Day 1.

It's cool to hate on Denson because that's the narrative certain "reporters" want to push. But he has gotten production from the RB position that is WAY better than what Alford did, and Alford had players get in trouble off the field too.

Facts speak for themselves.

The only RBs that Alford recruited that played meaningful snaps for him at ND *and* had zero altercations/incidents/arrests/suspensions were --
1. Cam McDaniel
2. Tarean Folston

But no one talked shit at Alford, why? It should be pretty obvious if you consider where these same "reporters" get their inside info. Be careful of narratives pushed by people with an agenda...

 

[Southside Sully]

if Denson has 3 of his running back position players kicked out of school basically in one year then some fingers have to be pointed at him IMO

Fingers need to get pointed at him for Adults making their own decisions to violate known rules? No.

 

[snoopdog]

Greg Bryant had off the field problems and died.
Will Mahone got arrested in a situation with awful optics.
George Atkinson had "locker room" issues his entire time at ND. He and Amir Carlisle got into a fight that caused an ankle injury to Carlisle that was so severe that he never returned to a true "100%".
Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick both smoked a ton of weed, Cierre Wood actually got himself in trouble.
Dexter Williams was Alford's recruit and was getting in trouble from Day 1.

It's cool to hate on Denson because that's the narrative certain "reporters" want to push. But he has gotten production from the RB position that is WAY better than what Alford did, and Alford had players get in trouble off the field too.

Facts speak for themselves.

The only RBs that Alford recruited that played meaningful snaps for him at ND *and* had zero altercations/incidents/arrests/suspensions were --
1. Cam McDaniel
2. Tarean Folston

But no one talked shit at Alford, why? It should be pretty obvious if you consider where these same "reporters" get their inside info. Be careful of narratives pushed by people with an agenda...

All good stuff Lax..........but where are Denson’s rb’s. or should I say lack of them.

 

[Luckylucci]

Greg Bryant had off the field problems and died.
Will Mahone got arrested in a situation with awful optics.
George Atkinson had "locker room" issues his entire time at ND. He and Amir Carlisle got into a fight that caused an ankle injury to Carlisle that was so severe that he never returned to a true "100%".
Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick both smoked a ton of weed, Cierre Wood actually got himself in trouble.
Dexter Williams was Alford's recruit and was getting in trouble from Day 1.

It's cool to hate on Denson because that's the narrative certain "reporters" want to push. But he has gotten production from the RB position that is WAY better than what Alford did, and Alford had players get in trouble off the field too.

Facts speak for themselves.

The only RBs that Alford recruited that played meaningful snaps for him at ND *and* had zero altercations/incidents/arrests/suspensions were --
1. Cam McDaniel
2. Tarean Folston

But no one talked shit at Alford, why? It should be pretty obvious if you consider where these same "reporters" get their inside info. Be careful of narratives pushed by people with an agenda...

^^^^^^^^^^^This!

 

[dad4aa]

Greg Bryant had off the field problems and died.
Will Mahone got arrested in a situation with awful optics.
George Atkinson had "locker room" issues his entire time at ND. He and Amir Carlisle got into a fight that caused an ankle injury to Carlisle that was so severe that he never returned to a true "100%".
Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick both smoked a ton of weed, Cierre Wood actually got himself in trouble.
Dexter Williams was Alford's recruit and was getting in trouble from Day 1.

It's cool to hate on Denson because that's the narrative certain "reporters" want to push. But he has gotten production from the RB position that is WAY better than what Alford did, and Alford had players get in trouble off the field too.

Facts speak for themselves.

The only RBs that Alford recruited that played meaningful snaps for him at ND *and* had zero altercations/incidents/arrests/suspensions were --
1. Cam McDaniel
2. Tarean Folston

But no one talked shit at Alford, why? It should be pretty obvious if you consider where these same "reporters" get their inside info. Be careful of narratives pushed by people with an agenda...

Well said!!

 

[stlnd01]

No, it really isn't. It's his job to get production out of the RB position.

That’s harder to accomplish when you don’t have running backs.

Of course the players bear primary responsibility for their actions but I don’t see how a coach bears none of it when his position group is devastated by disciplinary issues.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Greg Bryant had off the field problems and died.
Will Mahone got arrested in a situation with awful optics.
George Atkinson had "locker room" issues his entire time at ND. He and Amir Carlisle got into a fight that caused an ankle injury to Carlisle that was so severe that he never returned to a true "100%".
Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick both smoked a ton of weed, Cierre Wood actually got himself in trouble.
Dexter Williams was Alford's recruit and was getting in trouble from Day 1.

It's cool to hate on Denson because that's the narrative certain "reporters" want to push. But he has gotten production from the RB position that is WAY better than what Alford did, and Alford had players get in trouble off the field too.

Facts speak for themselves.

The only RBs that Alford recruited that played meaningful snaps for him at ND *and* had zero altercations/incidents/arrests/suspensions were --
1. Cam McDaniel
2. Tarean Folston

But no one talked shit at Alford, why? It should be pretty obvious if you consider where these same "reporters" get their inside info. Be careful of narratives pushed by people with an agenda...

I get how that would lead to talking up an assistant who gave info but who would have an agenda which would include tearing down Denson?

EDIT: A disgruntled player?

 

[ResLife Hero]

I get how that would lead to talking up an assistant who gave info but who would have an agenda which would include tearing down Denson?

EDIT: A disgruntled player?

Not sure if it applies here, but once I started listening to some of the podcasts, I was surprised by how petty some of the analysts seem to get on certain things. Doesn't come through as much in written articles, but you hear it when they're talking about press conferences or kids whose recruitments didn't go the way they were told to expect.

 

[PANDFAN]

I get how that would lead to talking up an assistant who gave info but who would have an agenda which would include tearing down Denson?

EDIT: A disgruntled player?

he's referring to driskell who has been down on denson...

 

[snoopdog]

Forget being down on Denson for a sec......

I think the issue is, if the fan base knows the problems with the RB situation over the past 3 seasons, the entire coaching staff (BK, Long, Denson) should be intimately familiar with the challenges going forward.....which begs the question.....


what are they scrambling from low 3 star C'Bo at the signing day deadline and are stuck on 3 start Kyren Wialliams so far in 2019.

Why hasn't RB been made the priority recruitment area for this class.

Because imho

Jones
Smith
C'bo
Armstrong

Doesn't reflect the positional strength of a team who is "apparently" showing so/so interest in the position for this recruiting cycle.

 

[Luckylucci]

Forget being down on Denson for a sec......

I think the issue is, if the fan base knows the problems with the RB situation over the past 3 seasons, the entire coaching staff (BK, Long, Denson) should be intimately familiar with the challenges going forward.....which begs the question.....


what are they scrambling from low 3 star C'Bo at the signing day deadline and are stuck on 3 start Kyren Wialliams so far in 2019.

Why hasn't RB been made the priority recruitment area for this class.

Because imho

Jones
Smith
C'bo
Armstrong

Doesn't reflect the positional strength of a team who is "apparently" showing so/so interest in the position for this recruiting cycle.

I think that's the issue. The fanbase just can't seem to grasp reality. The RB position the last 3 years, as Lax pointed out, has been stellar.

 

[BGIF]

Still his job to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Ahem, this is Notre Dame.

It's the student's responsibility to keep himself on the straight and narrow.

Let's see then, there's also Admission's personnel who approved the student based upon the HS record academic and conduct. There are RA's, advisors, tutoring service, development services, oh yes, and the Office of Community Standards.

It's not the coaches job at ND.

 

[snoopdog]

I think that's the issue. The fanbase just can't seem to grasp reality. The RB position the last 3 years, as Lax pointed out, has been stellar.

And now, all those stellar players are gone.....which is my point

And I agree with BGIF's point, that it is not the coaches job to babysit players....BUT it is their job to recruit the best players available (4-5 stars) and develop them.

I don't think you can fault Denson on development at all....but it is recruitment that makes you go HMMMMMM

 

[Irish YJ]

Reality is, academic schools rarely get top 10 RBs anymore. Hell, it's rare to get top 20 RBs. I was surprised we got Dex in 2015 and he was right outside the top 10.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Ahem, this is Notre Dame.

It's the student's responsibility to keep himself on the straight and narrow.

Let's see then, there's also Admission's personnel who approved the student based upon the HS record academic and conduct. There are RA's, advisors, tutoring service, development services, oh yes, and the Office of Community Standards.

It's not the coaches job at ND.

It's not the coaches job at any school. But I do think it is fair to ask about a players development - not just on the field but off the field as well. In the end, a coach can do everything right and still have player issues. A player is ultimately responsible for his actions. But I don't think it's unfair to ask why there have been this many issues within one position group and what is the coach and/or coaches doing to address it.

 

[stlnd01]

I think that's the issue. The fanbase just can't seem to grasp reality. The RB position the last 3 years, as Lax pointed out, has been stellar.

Josh Adams was stellar. CJ Prosise, a converted WR pressed into service as RB1 after Folston got hurt, was quite good. Beyond those two, and looking at the current depth chart, who are you talking about?

 

[stlnd01]

It's not the coaches job at any school. But I do think it is fair to ask about a players development - not just on the field but off the field as well. In the end, a coach can do everything right and still have player issues. A player is ultimately responsible for his actions. But I don't think it's unfair to ask why there have been this many issues within one position group and what is the coach and/or coaches doing to address it.

This is where I’m at. I don’t think it’s Denson’s “fault” that Dex, McIntosh and Holmes were apparently all knuckleheads. But it is his problem. And I don’t think you just shrug, blame the players and grunt “next man in!” When you lose 3/4 of your depth chart to knuckleheadery in one offseason, you need to address why it’s happening, and maybe do some things differently.

 

[IrishLax]

I get how that would lead to talking up an assistant who gave info but who would have an agenda which would include tearing down Denson?

EDIT: A disgruntled player?

When Alford was here, he was very "symbiotic" with pretty much all of the recruiting professionals covering ND. Which was particularly great for them, considering he was our recruiting coordinator and in charge of chasing a lot of the big fish down south. So you were never going to hear a critical word from them about Alford as a coach... regardless of off the field issues in his position group and an overall lack of production (at least relative to Denson). And I think that's fine, because I also think Alford was a good coach and really well liked by his players.

I'll just say that the main guy pushing the anti-Denson stuff the hardest is a guy Denson doesn't talk to. Denson does talk to some other reporters... and surprise, surprise those guys aren't the ones you hear taking ludicrous shots at him. Everyone has their biases. My issue is the disingenuous nature in which a coach that is getting more production from his group than we've seen in literal decades from any other ND running back coach is having all of that ignored in favor of 1) an unfair narrative about "his" players getting in trouble 2) an illogical narrative that acts like recruiting rankings are more important than production.

 

[Southside Sully]

When Alford was here, he was very "symbiotic" with pretty much all of the recruiting professionals covering ND. Which was particularly great for them, considering he was our recruiting coordinator and in charge of chasing a lot of the big fish down south. So you were never going to hear a critical word from them about Alford as a coach... regardless of off the field issues in his position group and an overall lack of production (at least relative to Denson). And I think that's fine, because I also think Alford was a good coach and really well liked by his players.

I'll just say that the main guy pushing the anti-Denson stuff the hardest is a guy Denson doesn't talk to. Denson does talk to some other reporters... and surprise, surprise those guys aren't the ones you hear taking ludicrous shots at him. Everyone has their biases. My issue is the disingenuous nature in which a coach that is getting more production from his group than we've seen in literal decades from any other ND running back coach is having all of that ignored in favor of 1) an unfair narrative about "his" players getting in trouble 2) an illogical narrative that acts like recruiting rankings are more important than production.

+1

 

[snoopdog]

When Alford was here, he was very "symbiotic" with pretty much all of the recruiting professionals covering ND. Which was particularly great for them, considering he was our recruiting coordinator and in charge of chasing a lot of the big fish down south. So you were never going to hear a critical word from them about Alford as a coach... regardless of off the field issues in his position group and an overall lack of production (at least relative to Denson). And I think that's fine, because I also think Alford was a good coach and really well liked by his players.

I'll just say that the main guy pushing the anti-Denson stuff the hardest is a guy Denson doesn't talk to. Denson does talk to some other reporters... and surprise, surprise those guys aren't the ones you hear taking ludicrous shots at him. Everyone has their biases. My issue is the disingenuous nature in which a coach that is getting more production from his group than we've seen in literal decades from any other ND running back coach is having all of that ignored in favor of 1) an unfair narrative about "his" players getting in trouble 2) an illogical narrative that acts like recruiting rankings are more important than production.

Are you putting Adams production on Denson, or a line based around McG, Q, Bars, Mustipher?