2025 Spring Practice Thread

[irishknight35]

Screw you guys who don't like Prister.

As a mid 30's millennial, hell yeah! Prister is a wealth of Irish knowledge even when he goes into old head rants but he delivers the goods and is a professional with an edge to him which I respect.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

As a mid 30's millennial, hell yeah! Prister is a wealth of Irish knowledge even when he goes into old head rants but he delivers the goods and is a professional with an edge to him which I respect.

Mid 30s millennials unite!

 

[greyhammer90]

You behaved like a brat who was jealous of the attention someone else was getting. Then you devised this straw man argument to excuse your sophomoric behavior. All of which is relatively par for the course for you. The appalling behavior was when you got a moderator and site owner to join you in drumming out a member we actually cared to hear from. I never had respect for you. When you were here before and unfortunately again you never had anything more than generic opinion and pay site headlines. But I am disappointed not only in what debatable value Mercke but that your behavior removed the respect I previously had for Irishlion. At this point you won so please just shut the fuck up and stop rubbing peoples noses in it.

I now know how this guy writes briefs and he's exhausting.

 

[Irish#1]

People take shots of significantly higher magnitudes at talking heads on the beat almost daily here, we have an entire thread dedicated to it. Really.

People need to lighten up a bit. Don’t need to rehash this again though. I treated Mercke as a talking head with info/an opinion on the QB battle. Substitute Prister for Mercke and no one would have batted an eye.

Let’s get back to ball. Minchey Heads, unite!

No worries, I was just explaining to Piombino what happened as his comment gave the appearance that he wasn't aware.

 

[irishnd31]

(Seriously though, I have no idea what I supposedly did to drive Merck away, aside from pointing out that dude was being treated with kid gloves compared to every other user on this website because he was providing inside info. I get it. I loved the flood of inside info, his willingness to wade through the shit from this multitude of lovable idiots that had zero decorum or social awareness about how to interact with such a gift, and truly appreciated the contribution. I think it’s equally ridiculous that he got mad and left because one (1) guy “questioned” him. This is fucking internet message board. It’s not that serious, in any regard.)

 

[Blazers46]

Dale only pushed back a tad. I appreciate Mercke’s contributions, but he didn’t like his info being questioned whatsoever. And when it happened, he seemed to take it as a personal shot. It was over a month ago now. Who really cares.

We were given a gift, and as Lion put it so elegantly: “…we had zero decorum or social awareness about how to interact with such a gift.”

I agree with this guy.

Two things. For as good of info as it was he didn’t have to field every question. Also if I am the bastion of info and get questioned why take it so personal?

Also… I think the real crime was BUA pretending to be an insider and hijacking the thread and some of the good lads on the boards falling for it.

 

[Katzenboyer]

"official" roster on UND.com has him at 262. That isn't big enough for DT.

He's going into his redshirt freshman season. Plenty of time to put on 20-30 pounds of good weight, which ISD clearly think he'll be able to do.

For perspective, Armel Mukam showed up to campus in June 2023 at 255. He's now 305. If we follow that same path, Mullins could conceivably be at 280-290 by next fall.

 

[Irish8248]

If no one wants to discuss spring practice then I'll jump in on this ...

1 ... Merck was free. He's not Prister or Loy or whomever. That's the difference. If the guy wants to pop off claiming to be MFMF long lost brother, who cares? There's no reason to get into the weeds on anything. Either his stuff is correct, partially correct, or wrong. So it's the same as the 1000 posts daily on this site. His brought something slightly different than what we see every day hence the intrigue.

2 ... Merck made his decision. Let him go. It sucks but also #1 above. There's plenty of blame to go around and he absolutely wears some of it. In hindsight, we could have crafted that thread better, limit commentary, and used it as a resource to look back on. He certainly didn't have to answer every question either. No offense it became redundant and we were approaching whether or not fencing NIL is competitive.

3 -- the shot at Merck in this thread was absolutely going to derail this. 100% lol. Prob not necessary and was used to likely mock the Great Oz, but this community of Irish fans have no discipline lol. That's kind of the fun part of this group. We should be able to jab, poke, and joke around with comments without going to far off track. However, we love to pile on (I'm being a hypocrite with this post probably) and we draw lines in the sand very quickly. That's likely a huge negative to many in this group.

4 -- Roast me but let's get back to spring practice! Carr or bust. You can't change my mind

 

[rtrn2glory]

Here's my QB take.

Carr is Angeli with better physical traits. Doesn't look like he wants to trust his instincts and everything you see in warm ups just isn't translating when the bullets start firing. 10 years ago this would be fine in the non portal world where dudes were ok sitting until they were juniors and playing two years. Unfortunately that's not the world we live in. He's expected to be playing and be playing at a high level in no less than 4 months. That's where it gets scary because the dude hasn't played a meaningful snap in close to 2 years. College football doesn't leave much room for error and that leads one to lean towards Angeli.

Minchey is boom or bust. He takes risks which if properly channeled can be great. Is biggest flaw right now looks to be taking unnecessary risks which will lead to turnovers that we all despise to see.

I guess it all depends on what you want when we take the field in Miami the last week in August. I for one am glad that I do not have to make that decision because it'll possibly make or break the next 1-2 seasons of the program.

 

[OKCDomer23]

As a mid 30's millennial, hell yeah! Prister is a wealth of Irish knowledge even when he goes into old head rants but he delivers the goods and is a professional with an edge to him which I respect.

He's also a superb writer who makes nearly everything he writes interesting, informative, and humorous at times. I've been reading his ND work since the 90's, and the guy is candid and very good. Love the fact that he's not afraid to sugarcoat recruit film review and delivers his unbiased thoughts. His experience should count for something here.

 

[mhunter85]

Defense Practice Report:

Before the position breakdown I will say what I like about the defense compared to offense is the straight business approach. Pre-practice and during practice they are constantly at work and no reps are wasted. Just very fun to watch a machine at work. During the team periods, one thing that looked evident is that Ash doesn't look like he's going to bring as much heat as Golden. Perhaps they were told not to with the OL being a bit vanilla, but I saw more DL stunting and movement compared to the blitzes that Golden would bring. Maybe just a one time thing, but just my initial thoughts. I didn't like big plays given up. KK cooked Gray very early in practice for a explosive TD and I mentioned during the offense breakdown that Rairidon took a middle screen for a huge play. I will be very hard on this if it extends into the season as we didn't give up explosives last year, which no good defense should ever!

DL - Interior is going to be just fine. Rubio and Hinish started, but I'll be honest, Onye and Dawson looked like the two best interior guys on Saturday imo. Onye absolutely obliterated Jagusah on a team rep and got screwed by a shitty hands to the face call. I'd even be comfortable going all the way down to our 3-Deep with Hughes, who had a great bull rush during 1 on 1's. After them there is a huge drop off. Sevillano and Mukam were not very good I didn't think and if I remember maybe one of the media thought Mukam looked good. I did not. I can definitely see why neither were asked to give minutes in the playoffs last year.
Edge was ok not great. Bryce had moments where he made the young OL look silly. Cole Mullins I thought had a good day. His body reminds me of a taller Howard Cross. Not much to report here with a lot of the guys were expecting to contribute not healthy enough to. Wild card is definitely Mullins from Saturday's observations. Hate to do this, but I thought Onyiuke (#45) is a very dirty player and is in my dog house. 2 separate times he was dumb and did something that could've been flagged if it were a real game and what is more dumb is it was on a teammate. During a kickoff return scout team rep he buried Leonard Moore unnecessarily and he landed awkwardly on his shoulder and he got up favoring it. Then worse, he drilled Angeli in a team rep (reminder QB's where red jerseys) which forced players to start to should and I may be wrong, but I think he was kicked out of practice for this. Disgusting on both ends IMO from a dude that is a Sr. He can go if it were up to me.

LB's - Drayk is awesome. Love the guy. Getting better reading and reacting and I don't see how he won't be a problem for opposing defenses. Same can be said for Sneed. WOW talk about heat seaking missile. The play that stands out is him trusting his speed and undercutting a crack block and getting a TFL during team on Price, I believe. What I liked the most about the play is that he wasn't blitzing, he read the play quickly and used his speed to track it down. Just outstanding overall. Eye ball test winner is Faraimo. You would have to know that he's a high school senior to believe it. Not sure what his wing span is, but it looked like he should be playing Vyper rather than inside. Huge recruiting win here.

DB's - A little disappointed in Cree based on the press he's been getting. Got chewed out good once or twice. Again just one day. Gray man I mean, for a guy with as much experience I didn't expect to see him get cooked by any of our receivers, but I did. Overall nothing crazy bad, but expected better. I'll give Mickens credit man he has his dudes coached up and ready to play. Was actually most impressed with a walk-on (#32) Dunn. He got quite a few reps and was the one to pick off Minchey on the RPO.

Safeites - Our depth here is stupid good. A lot of long lean bodies outside of Shuler who is just thick and looks like he should be playing for the U in the 80's and early 90's. Sign me up for the offical Tae Johnson fan club. Without knowing much about Stroman, I'm convinced he better show up ready to work or Tae will be the starter. I was very impressed with seeing him fill in the run game, which I wasn't expecting to be a strength of his, but it was! All the safeties I feel like do well fitting. Jadon Blair wins the eyeball test for sure and honestly Ethan Long looks just as impressive physically. Hard to say for sure without a true passing game threat, but we looked great on the back end despite having little to no game experience. Talich and Shuler started, but Tae played a lot and Imo was the second best safety on the roster.

Again, any questions please feel free to throw them out.

I just looked at the roster and Onyiuke is no longer listed. I wonder if he is still on the team?

 

[PolishDomer]

I just looked at the roster and Onyiuke is no longer listed. I wonder if he is still on the team?

Someone mentioned in the practice he observed, that Onyiuke was behaving very poorly towards his teammates and looked like they were trying to injure them...maybe it did happen.

 

[PolishDomer]

To those who have come at Dale:

- I appreciate your willingness to defend me, but there’s no need to gang up on him. I said what I wanted to say to him, last night.

- Yes, Dale was one of the reasons I left, but he was only one reason.

- I became tired of other people saying things like “if true”, “too good to be true “, “I’m skeptical”, etc. I was going out of my way to answer everyone’s questions, and to me, it’s quite off-putting to then be passively questioned.

- I was repeatedly being asked the same questions, or the same questions worded slightly different than before, simply to get me to provide more information than I previously wanted to.

I have posted for many years, and hundreds of posters, writers, and mods know who I am, and that I can be trusted. My track record speaks for itself.

No, I never expect anyone to kiss my ass, but when I’m going out of my way to answer a stranger’s question, it’s off-putting for those questions to be accompanied by questions about me.

I expected that thread to essentially be questions, answers, and little more than that. Frankly, if that’s how it would have stayed, I likely would have answered all of your questions, indefinitely.

In closing:

Dale messaged me privately. I responded. I’m not sure of his response to come, but I consider the matter closed. So, to those who blame him for all this, please just leave it be.

Best,

Merckx

Thank you Merckx...hope all is better in your personal life and your health...Go Irish!

 

[rtrn2glory]

To those who have come at Dale:

- I appreciate your willingness to defend me, but there’s no need to gang up on him. I said what I wanted to say to him, last night.

- Yes, Dale was one of the reasons I left, but he was only one reason.

- I became tired of other people saying things like “if true”, “too good to be true “, “I’m skeptical”, etc. I was going out of my way to answer everyone’s questions, and to me, it’s quite off-putting to then be passively questioned.

- I was repeatedly being asked the same questions, or the same questions worded slightly different than before, simply to get me to provide more information than I previously wanted to.

I have posted for many years, and hundreds of posters, writers, and mods know who I am, and that I can be trusted. My track record speaks for itself.

No, I never expect anyone to kiss my ass, but when I’m going out of my way to answer a stranger’s question, it’s off-putting for those questions to be accompanied by questions about me.

I expected that thread to essentially be questions, answers, and little more than that. Frankly, if that’s how it would have stayed, I likely would have answered all of your questions, indefinitely.

In closing:

Dale messaged me privately. I responded. I’m not sure of his response to come, but I consider the matter closed. So, to those who blame him for all this, please just leave it be.

Best,

Merckx

All the best and thanks for your input

 

[MacIrish75]

I’m not gonna speak for Merck, but in some back and forth the dude seems inclined to stick around to an extent…but maybe let’s just let him provide his input in threads where discussions are happening organically instead of literally @‘ing him for info every time there’s a question…or creating an entire thread devoted to him? Seriously. Only @brick4956 gets that sort of treatment around these parts.

Hating on either Dale or Merck is dumb as hell. They’re both grown ass dudes on an Internet forum. They can handle themselves and they’ll be okay.

 

[MacIrish75]

Who’s going to the B/G game? Me and Mac Jr will be going up for our third. It’ll be the best weather we’ve had so far. Looking forward to seeing the guys in action, even if the format differs from years past. If anyone is going and tailgating or anything lmk and we’ll pay a visit!

 

[StPaul_Irish]

To those who have come at Dale:

- I appreciate your willingness to defend me, but there’s no need to gang up on him. I said what I wanted to say to him, last night.

- Yes, Dale was one of the reasons I left, but he was only one reason.

- I became tired of other people saying things like “if true”, “too good to be true “, “I’m skeptical”, etc. I was going out of my way to answer everyone’s questions, and to me, it’s quite off-putting to then be passively questioned.

- I was repeatedly being asked the same questions, or the same questions worded slightly different than before, simply to get me to provide more information than I previously wanted to.

I have posted for many years, and hundreds of posters, writers, and mods know who I am, and that I can be trusted. My track record speaks for itself.

No, I never expect anyone to kiss my ass, but when I’m going out of my way to answer a stranger’s question, it’s off-putting for those questions to be accompanied by questions about me.

I expected that thread to essentially be questions, answers, and little more than that. Frankly, if that’s how it would have stayed, I likely would have answered all of your questions, indefinitely.

In closing:

Dale messaged me privately. I responded. I’m not sure of his response to come, but I consider the matter closed. So, to those who blame him for all this, please just leave it be.

Best,

Merckx

Please come back

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Feel free to ask me questions too.

 

[ndfanatic78]

Ok, can we now get back to Spring ball. If I wanted to deal with a bunch of useless feelings and emotions I’d go to a knitting circle or AA meeting. 🤣

Peace to everyone just want to get back to football.

 

[NDMD]

Feel free to ask me questions too.

 

[DONTH8]

Feel free to ask me questions too.

Who do you got in the Masters this week??

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Who do you got in the Masters this week??

My sources say Homa.

 

[Huntr]

Hating on either Dale or Merck is dumb as hell. They’re both grown ass dudes on an Internet forum.

Oh come on. That's the best reason!

 

[Terry Jillery]

Angeli could be a Rees kind of guy. Like a trusty guy that can move the ball a bit. You can trust him as a backup. He does appear to have talent, but also looks like a statue in the pocket without any overwhelming traits to supersede that. If what is being said is really true, then we should expect some rotation. I’m not sure the starter for Miami will be the starter vs ATM.

 

[DONTH8]

My sources say Homa.

I dont know man. I question that take....

 

[Rizzophil]

Angeli could be a Rees kind of guy. Like a trusty guy that can move the ball a bit. You can trust him as a backup. He does appear to have talent, but also looks like a statue in the pocket without any overwhelming traits to supersede that. If what is being said is really true, then we should expect some rotation. I’m not sure the starter for Miami will be the starter vs ATM.

That's where I'm at too. I think Angeli takes the first snap against Miami no matter who wins the competition

 

[Terry Jillery]

If weather holds up, Saturday will be pleasant football weather in SB.

To me the quarterbacks brings something different to the table, and that gives us flexibility. The situation is fluid, who starts could change quickly depending on performance, injuries, or even the opponent. We’ll eventually name a starter, but I think he’s keeping everyone in the mix for a reason. We need all 3 imo.

I was always under the impression that Carr was the most mobile, but lately reports are saying it’s Minchey, who I saw more as heavy legged. 🤷‍♂️

I thought Angeli might be somewhat mobile considering he won the spring game with his legs a couple years ago, but real games, he’s about as collapsible as you get when even slightly touched.

 

[stpeteirish]

Ok, can we now get back to Spring ball. If I wanted to deal with a bunch of useless feelings and emotions I’d go to a knitting circle or AA meeting. 🤣

Peace to everyone just want to get back to football.

Those AA meetings are more than “useless feelings.” Some are actually helpful

 

[Plankton]

Angeli could be a Rees kind of guy. Like a trusty guy that can move the ball a bit. You can trust him as a backup. He does appear to have talent, but also looks like a statue in the pocket without any overwhelming traits to supersede that. If what is being said is really true, then we should expect some rotation. I’m not sure the starter for Miami will be the starter vs ATM.

Can he outrun the South Bend PD?

 

[ndfanatic78]

Those AA meetings are more than “useless feelings.” Some are actually helpful

I know it was a joke. Been a friend of Bill’s for over 16 years.