2013 Fall Camp Thread

[STLDomer]

Tuitt looks huge

The sky is blue

On a serious note, who's the coach besides Elston?

 

[IndyIrishFan1]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>D-LINE.....D-LINE....D-LINE...<a href="https://twitter.com/CoachMikeElston">@CoachMikeElston</a> getting <a href="https://twitter.com/DOCnation_7">@DOCnation_7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/S_NDbound_Day91">@S_NDbound_Day91</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/1IrishChocolate">@1IrishChocolate</a> coached up <a href="http://t.co/jVdtio1MNo">pic.twitter.com/jVdtio1MNo</a></p>— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDFootball/statuses/364790594901536768">August 6, 2013</a></blockquote>
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tuitt looks huge

And do they have Zaire shagging balls? What is he doing over there?

 

[Ndaccountant]

And do they have Zaire shagging balls? What is he doing over there?

My guess is that it was an errant throw back to the QB's. You can see they are working in a group in the background.

 

[GoIrish41]

My guess is that it was an errant throw back to the QB's. You can see they are working in a group in the background.

That was one terrible throw as they seem to be working in the other direction.

 

[Rack Em]

The sky is blue

Ms. Lippy's car is green.

 

[Rack Em]

The sky is blue

On a serious note, who's the coach besides Elston?

Looks like Corey Brown. He's a GA on defense.

Corey Brown Bio - UND.COM - University of Notre Dame Official Athletic Site

 

[ulukinatme]

I think we will have a tough time scoring a ton of points.

We lost our two leading rushers (and our best rb-receiving threat by far in Theo), downgraded at QB, and are replacing hands down the best TE receiving threat in the country.

What do you guys think of this years OL compared to last years?

I'm excited for more practice video - personally I can't tell much from 1-2 seconds clips.

To play devil's advocate, some would say Tommy was the better QB the first half of the year last year which is why he had mop up duty. I expect his maturation and execution to improve this year again. While he isn't a mobile QB like Golson, I think an experienced Tommy Rees will be just fine at QB.

As far as RB, I'm not worried here with GAIII's big play ability, AC's speed, and the rest of the talent in this group. I think Amir will fill in under Theo's role, while GAIII will be strictly carrying the rock. GB will get some carries to get his feet wet.

TE will be the biggest question since none of the heir's apparent to Eifert have been targeted much yet, but people were worried about Eifert too when Rudolph was the starter and went down. I expect we'll be just fine here, one of the guys will step up.

OL will be better this year than last year, I have no doubt. Theres depth coming in now too, the future is bright for this group.

 

[kmoose]

And do they have Zaire shagging balls? What is he doing over there?

Zaire moving to cornerback. You heard it here, first. Let's flood NDN with the news, and watch the strokes happen.

 

[Ndaccountant]

To play devil's advocate, some would say Tommy was the better QB the first half of the year last year which is why he had mop up duty. I expect his maturation and execution to improve this year again. While he isn't a mobile QB like Golson, I think an experienced Tommy Rees will be just fine at QB.

As far as RB, I'm not worried here with GAIII's big play ability, AC's speed, and the rest of the talent in this group. I think Amir will fill in under Theo's role, while GAIII will be strictly carrying the rock. GB will get some carries to get his feet wet.

TE will be the biggest question since none of the heir's apparent to Eifert have been targeted much yet, but people were worried about Eifert too when Rudolph was the starter and went down. I expect we'll be just fine here, one of the guys will step up.

OL will be better this year than last year, I have no doubt. Theres depth coming in now too, the future is bright for this group.

I appreciate what Golic did last year, but if Stanley or anyone else cannot perform at or above his level, we have problems.

 

[ulukinatme]

I appreciate what Golic did last year, but if Stanley or anyone else cannot perform at or above his level, we have problems.

I feel the same way. Then again, right now Golic is getting a chance with the Steelers at the next level. Who knows, dreams can happen, maybe he'll make the most of this opportunity. I do think Nick Martin and whoever ends up replacing Golic will do very well for us this year.

 

[NDWorld247]

I feel the same way. Then again, right now Golic is getting a chance with the Steelers at the next level. Who knows, dreams can happen, maybe he'll make the most of this opportunity. I do think Nick Martin and whoever ends up replacing Golic will do very well for us this year.

I think Nick Martin is the key to determining if this year's OL is better than last year. You'd like to think ZMart, Watt and Lombard are all better than they were last year and whoever replaces Golic will be better, or at a minimum on par, so it comes down to NMart vs. Cave. I'm hopeful we don't see a drop off in performance at the center position. If not, we'll definitely be better than last year.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Kingsbury adds fun, loose atmosphere for Red Raiders on reporting day | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Not ND related, but I thought it was an interesting way to approach day 1. I am sure that was a big change from Tubs.

 

[kmoose]

Kingsbury adds fun, loose atmosphere for Red Raiders on reporting day | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Not ND related, but I thought it was an interesting way to approach day 1. I am sure that was a big change from Tubs.

“For the first day we report, we show up and there’s a DJ in the team room,” said sophomore Michael Brewer, who is currently battling for the starting quarterback position against freshman Davis Webb. “We go in and people are getting randomly selected to do karaoke, mainly the freshmen....”

...and then they were locked in an equipment shed.

Also, former Coach Mike Leach was supposedly sighted, at the Motel 6 in town.

 

[NDBoiler]

To play devil's advocate, some would say Tommy was the better QB the first half of the year last year which is why he had mop up duty. I expect his maturation and execution to improve this year again. While he isn't a mobile QB like Golson, I think an experienced Tommy Rees will be just fine at QB.

As far as RB, I'm not worried here with GAIII's big play ability, AC's speed, and the rest of the talent in this group. I think Amir will fill in under Theo's role, while GAIII will be strictly carrying the rock. GB will get some carries to get his feet wet.

TE will be the biggest question since none of the heir's apparent to Eifert have been targeted much yet, but people were worried about Eifert too when Rudolph was the starter and went down. I expect we'll be just fine here, one of the guys will step up.

OL will be better this year than last year, I have no doubt. Theres depth coming in now too, the future is bright for this group.

I had been thinking the same thing here in regards to targets for Niklas/Koyack from last year. I have also been watching the condensed replays of all the games from last year too (I'm up to the Oklahoma game right now) to study up on this. I know their number of overall targets don't compare to Eifert's but it was actually a lot more than I remembered. The problem is there were a decent amount of drops or bad throws going Niklas'/Koyack's way, and there also seemed to be a decent amount of plays where Niklas was wide open and didn't get thrown too, probably due in part to the attention paid to Eifert. I do expect that the combo of Niklas/Koyack can be highly adequate to help offset the loss of Eifert with the main difference being that the level of athleticism will have a slight drop off.

 

[IrishLion]

Ahhhh, over-analyzing short practice clips...

Football is upon us, gentlemen. Feels nice.

 

[STLDomer]

I think Nick Martin is the key to determining if this year's OL is better than last year. You'd like to think ZMart, Watt and Lombard are all better than they were last year and whoever replaces Golic will be better, or at a minimum on par, so it comes down to NMart vs. Cave. I'm hopeful we don't see a drop off in performance at the center position. If not, we'll definitely be better than last year.

drop off? A lot of reports I have seen have indicated the Martin will be better than Cave.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I think Nick Martin is the key to determining if this year's OL is better than last year. You'd like to think ZMart, Watt and Lombard are all better than they were last year and whoever replaces Golic will be better, or at a minimum on par, so it comes down to NMart vs. Cave. I'm hopeful we don't see a drop off in performance at the center position. If not, we'll definitely be better than last year.

The coaches are REALLY high on Martin. Much higher on him than they were Cave, who for whatever reasons graded out very poorly last year (one thing most people don't know about Cave is that he didn't even call the blocking assignments, which almost all centers do. He missed a ton of assignments and it's assumed that is why Chris Watt did it instead). On Power Hour yesterday they were talking about how obliterated Golic and Cave got by the Purdue line, and how for the rest of the year they basically ran behind the left side of the line almost exclusively (Golic, to his credit, was good at pulling).

After it was over, they expanded on it. The coaches watched the film of the game and saw that it was basically no use to run behind Golic and Cave. Mele interviewed Chris Watt Sunday and Watt shrugged and basically agreed that they played the entire year left-handed. Think about how crazy that is, and how they STILL were able to run the ball very successfully most games.

This year, if Martin is as good as the coaches say he is, and if the right guard is an upgrade (I think most of us think it will be), then the offense can be opened up a ton more...

 

[IndyIrishFan1]

Not sure who it is up there...

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[kmoose]

one thing most people don't know about Cave is that he didn't even call the blocking assignments, which almost all centers do. He missed a ton of assignments and it's assumed that is why Chris Watt did it instead

How sure are you, that Watt called the blocking assignments? Because I know that, in Kelly's offense, the QB is responsible for calling out pass protection. I have no idea, in the run game, though.

 

[GowerND11]

The coaches are REALLY high on Martin. Much higher on him than they were Cave, who for whatever reasons graded out very poorly last year (one thing most people don't know about Cave is that he didn't even call the blocking assignments, which almost all centers do. He missed a ton of assignments and it's assumed that is why Chris Watt did it instead). On Power Hour yesterday they were talking about how obliterated Golic and Cave got by the Purdue line, and how for the rest of the year they basically ran behind the left side of the line almost exclusively (Golic, to his credit, was good at pulling).

After it was over, they expanded on it. The coaches watched the film of the game and saw that it was basically no use to run behind Golic and Cave. Mele interviewed Chris Watt Sunday and Watt shrugged and basically agreed that they played the entire year left-handed. Think about how crazy that is, and how they STILL were able to run the ball very successfully most games.

This year, if Martin is as good as the coaches say he is, and if the right guard is an upgrade (I think most of us think it will be), then the offense can be opened up a ton more...

I think the bolded part is something people don't realize about Golic. At the point of attack he was overwhelmed. However, in space as a pulling guard he opened up some holes. I do think we should have an upgrade in his position this year regardless, but let's hope they have the motor he did to pull and open up space.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

The coaches are REALLY high on Martin. Much higher on him than they were Cave, who for whatever reasons graded out very poorly last year (one thing most people don't know about Cave is that he didn't even call the blocking assignments, which almost all centers do. He missed a ton of assignments and it's assumed that is why Chris Watt did it instead). On Power Hour yesterday they were talking about how obliterated Golic and Cave got by the Purdue line, and how for the rest of the year they basically ran behind the left side of the line almost exclusively (Golic, to his credit, was good at pulling).

After it was over, they expanded on it. The coaches watched the film of the game and saw that it was basically no use to run behind Golic and Cave. Mele interviewed Chris Watt Sunday and Watt shrugged and basically agreed that they played the entire year left-handed. Think about how crazy that is, and how they STILL were able to run the ball very successfully most games.

That's amazing. Makes me even more optimistic for our ground game this year.

 

[aubeirish]

I think we will have a tough time scoring a ton of points.

We lost our two leading rushers (and our best rb-receiving threat by far in Theo), downgraded at QB, and are replacing hands down the best TE receiving threat in the country.

What do you guys think of this years OL compared to last years?

I'm excited for more practice video - personally I can't tell much from 1-2 seconds clips.

I don't know man. It feels like we have more talent across the board on offense since a logn time. I'm probably the minority, but I strongly believe that Tommy will do an excellent job running this offense. Bottom line, I expect us to be better in almost every position except tight end.

 

[NDWorld247]

drop off? A lot of reports I have seen have indicated the Martin will be better than Cave.

The coaches are REALLY high on Martin. Much higher on him than they were Cave, who for whatever reasons graded out very poorly last year (one thing most people don't know about Cave is that he didn't even call the blocking assignments, which almost all centers do. He missed a ton of assignments and it's assumed that is why Chris Watt did it instead). On Power Hour yesterday they were talking about how obliterated Golic and Cave got by the Purdue line, and how for the rest of the year they basically ran behind the left side of the line almost exclusively (Golic, to his credit, was good at pulling).

After it was over, they expanded on it. The coaches watched the film of the game and saw that it was basically no use to run behind Golic and Cave. Mele interviewed Chris Watt Sunday and Watt shrugged and basically agreed that they played the entire year left-handed. Think about how crazy that is, and how they STILL were able to run the ball very successfully most games.

This year, if Martin is as good as the coaches say he is, and if the right guard is an upgrade (I think most of us think it will be), then the offense can be opened up a ton more...

Cave was a 5th year senior who started 33 games over the last three seasons and is now fighting for a roster spot in Cleveland. NMart will have been playing center for about six months and approx. 35 practices before he steps on the field vs. Temple for the first meaningful OL snaps of his career. I don't think it's ridiculous to question whether or not Martin will perform as well, or better, than Cave.

Even with all of that, I'm hopeful there won't be a drop off. I personally don't remember Cave missing blocks or assignments whereas Golic's were more noticeable. Obviously I don't have the benefit of sitting in the OL meeting room and reviewing the film/grades, but I thought Cave was solid (except for that Purdue game...that was noticeable). Also, I listened to Power Hour and interpreted their, and Watt's, remarks as an indictment on Golic, not Cave.

Again, I'm not saying Martin won't be better than Cave. All of the reports have been very positive. As I said, I think his performance will be the key to determining if this year's OL is better than last year, which I think it will be.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Cave was a 5th year senior who started 33 games over the last three seasons and is now fighting for a roster spot in Cleveland. NMart will have been playing center for about six months and approx. 35 practices before he steps on the field vs. Temple for the first meaningful OL snaps of his career. I don't think it's ridiculous to question whether or not Martin will perform as well, or better, than Cave.

Even with all of that, I'm hopeful there won't be a drop off. I personally don't remember Cave missing blocks or assignments whereas Golic's were more noticeable. Obviously I don't have the benefit of sitting in the OL meeting room and reviewing the film/grades, but I thought Cave was solid (except for that Purdue game...that was noticeable). Also, I listened to Power Hour and interpreted their, and Watt's, remarks as an indictment on Golic, not Cave.

Again, I'm not saying Martin won't be better than Cave. All of the reports have been very positive. As I said, I think his performance will be the key to determining if this year's OL is better than last year, which I think it will be.

I also think people tend to forget who painful it was when man Cave got hurt towards the end of 2011 and how badly it messed up the line play. Martin may have more upside then Cave, but Martin will not have the experience, which can lead to some pretty nasty miscues.

 

[koonja]

I don't know man. It feels like we have more talent across the board on offense since a logn time. I'm probably the minority, but I strongly believe that Tommy will do an excellent job running this offense. Bottom line, I expect us to be better in almost every position except tight end.

We may very well end up being better on offense, it's just really hard to justify it at this point when we lost our far and away leading receiver, our dual threat QB (who played really, really well at the end of the season and was one of few who played like a man against Alabama), and our only established RBs are gone.

We can talk about talent all we want at RB, but we were better off last year going into the season at that position. Carlisle hasn't stayed healthy yet, Bryant is a freshman, and as of the spring game, GA3 still hadn't learned how to run like a RB.

 

[ulukinatme]

We may very well end up being better on offense, it's just really hard to justify it at this point when we lost our far and away leading receiver, our dual threat QB (who played really, really well at the end of the season and was one of few who played like a man against Alabama), and our only established RBs are gone.

We can talk about talent all we want at RB, but we were better off last year going into the season at that position. Carlisle hasn't stayed healthy yet, Bryant is a freshman, and as of the spring game, GA3 still hadn't learned how to run like a RB.

I'm going to go ahead and say we will be better on offense, no question. We were pretty bland last year. We're returning with good experience, especially on the line. Depth is there, and lots of talent at the positions that we're replacing. Of course, theres the fact we weren't that great on offense last year for many games, so it's hard to go anywhere but up.

 

[koonja]

I'm going to go ahead and say we will be better on offense, no question. We were pretty bland last year. We're returning with good experience, especially on the line. Depth is there, and lots of talent at the positions that we're replacing. Of course, theres the fact we weren't that great on offense last year for many games, so it's hard to go anywhere but up.

We weren't great on offense last year, agreed.

Our personel is better on offense this year? I disagree. We have a lot more question marks than we did a year ago, and the running game is a dangerous place to have uncertainty.

Agree to disagree. I also think Theo is going to be sorely missed. Off of the too of my head I want to say he was our 3rd leading receiver.

 

[NDinL.A.]

How sure are you, that Watt called the blocking assignments? Because I know that, in Kelly's offense, the QB is responsible for calling out pass protection. I have no idea, in the run game, though.

From a guy who reports for ND and evaluates game tape for one of the ND sites and who played center for Kelly and Denbrock and co. at Grand Valley. Not 100% of course, but I trust what he says.

 

[PANDFAN]

From a guy who reports for ND and evaluates game tape for one of the ND sites and who played center for Kelly and Denbrock and co. at Grand Valley. Not 100% of course, but I trust what he says.

i remember this was discussed a while ago that when cave went down and golic had to step in this caused an issue because i believe it was watt then had to call the coverage..this was 2 years ago

 

[IrishFaninTX]

We may very well end up being better on offense, it's just really hard to justify it at this point when we lost our far and away leading receiver, our dual threat QB (who played really, really well at the end of the season and was one of few who played like a man against Alabama), and our only established RBs are gone.

We can talk about talent all we want at RB, but we were better off last year going into the season at that position. Carlisle hasn't stayed healthy yet, Bryant is a freshman, and as of the spring game, GA3 still hadn't learned how to run like a RB.

If you think about all of the top teams in the country, how many of them in the last year or 2 have had a freshman RB who had a major impact? I don't have time now to go check teams' websites for red shirt vs true freshmen but some that come to mind are TJ Yeldon (AL), Keith Marshall (GA), USC has had a couple, I believe Michigan's RB played as a freshman and did pretty well but not 100% sure on that, Duke Johnson (Mia), Deanthony Thomas (Ore), Todd Gurley (GA), Oregon State had one but can't remember his name, Pitts RB was a freshman, Jonathan Gray (TX), either Arizona or ASU had a freshman last year who played well. Chances are we willl get most of our production from GAIII, Amir, and Cam, but Greg Bryant is a rare talent that ND hasn't seen in a long time. I think the last player we recruited in his realm was Aldridge and sadly a knee injury his senior year kept him from ever reaching his true potential. If ND was ever in a position (both due to inexperience and depth) for a RB to have a breakout year, this is the year. And it could end up being Folston instead of Bryant or both like Georgia last year. Not saying it will happen but there is plenty of reason for Irish fans to be optimistic about Greg Bryant!