2012 NSD Reflections

[tussin]

Ok, I was steaming when the bad news hit this afternoon, and it still sucks. But after cooling down and watching some pressers, I've come to one conclusion:

We need guys that really want ND and come here with the fire to turn this thing around.

In retrospect, maybe Greenberry had the talent, but not the fire or passion for ND. It sucks he didn't pan out, but ND should be gunning for more guys with attitudes like Nix or Jackson or Lynch or Tuitt. And they are and I'm still completely confident that Kelly can and will turn this thing around if he gets the appropriate amount of time to do so. Hopefully when the wins start coming, we will continue to upgrade our talent while still recruiting guys that can match the mindset and intensity of these past two classes.

These younger guys have a swagger that Willingham's or Weis's teams never had. It's refreshing. People forget that Gary Gray and Rashon McNeil were huge recruits out of high school... but they never had the fire that some of our younger guys have now.

Greenberry was a bummer, but the sky isn't falling. And I think a lot would agree that Kelly's leadership has created a team that just feels hungrier and more desperate (in a good way) for elite results than any coach since Holtz.


Anyone else feel free to give their perspective... I'm curious.

 

[returnofthemack]

I don't really care that much about Greenberry going elsewhere, I was just confused as to why he chose Houston. But fire and passion can only get you so far without talent. Sure some of our 3-stars have passion, but that won't matter much when they're going up against the 5-stars at USC and FSU. Sure, we might get a few upsets here and there, but we're nowhere near elite. There were plenty of guys with fire last year. Everyone knows Rees is competitive, but he doesn't have talent. Cierre has swagger galore, as do Riddick and Jones. That didn't help a lot last year. We needed a playmaker wr and elite cover cornerbacks. We got one in Tee, but that probably won't be enough. I'm not going to put it all on the coaches as they spend more time than I'd like to think kissing the butts of these recruits. But it's not fair for us to constantly heap unreasonable expectations on this team when they clearly don't have the personnel.

 

[stlnd01]

Yeah. Fire's good to have. But talent's good to have, too.
You know what's best? Fire + talent.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

I will say that we did bring in some great guys. Having said that I am disappointed in losing out on Darby, Decker and of course Greenberry. I still believe our coaches did there best to get the best to South Bend, but in the end these are still kids and not everyone is cut out for Notre Dame for one reason or another. I will say that overall we brought in some great kids. Congrats to all of our recruits and welcome to the Irish family. I'm looking forward to the fall and can't wait to see our team back in action.

 

[Emcee77]

It's definitely important to remember that ratings aren't everything and a good eye for potential plus good coaching plus hard work and a good attitude by the player can all combine to make a ho-hum three-star into a stud. I do like that Kelly recruits RKG athletes, with a plan on how to build them up with Coach Longo and coach them up with the rest of the staff.

But the thing is, it's like when you are a high school kid and you are concerned about getting into a good college so you ask the guidance counselor whether you should take the AP course and get a B or the regular course and get an A. And the guidance counselor always says, "Take the AP course ... and get an A. You need to do both to get into the best schools." Similarly, to have a top program you need to get guys that have both the talent and the attitude, guys like Trent Richardson, who is in the weight room every Sunday after playing a full game on Saturday because he is totally focused on providing for his little girls by making it in the NFL. It's not an either/or thing ... you need both. But I agree with you. They do feel hungry and they play with swagger. I think Kelly will get there.

 

[BMT]

What are the odds of an NCAA VIOLATION coming out of the Houston recruitment of Greenberry?????????????

 

[NDPhilly]

What are the odds of an NCAA VIOLATION coming out of the Houston recruitment of Greenberry?????????????

Slim. Kid wanted to make a decision for himself. Houston coach told him to make his own decisions.