ND's Talking Heads ... The good, bad & ugly

[NDpendent]

I've never been on that site and don't plan to any time soon. What do the dancing gifs imply? Commitment?

Yes, usually when the recruit tells the staff and we are just waiting on the kids to make it public in a couple days

 

[dublinirish]

context?

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

No fan of Driskell but he's spot on. Anyone who tweets DM's a teenager should be banned from the internet. Period.

You're not recruiting for your school...you're recruiting against it at that point.

 

[MacIrish75]

context?

This is from yesterday. There were posts about it in the college girls Peyton Bowen thread, but apparently there are random accounts on Twitter that are hopping into Pop Bowen’s dms/mentions and ragging on the family pretty harshly. Some think it’s other team’s fans posing as ND fans, but at any rate it’s happening and it’s beyond cringy.

 

[dublinirish]

No fan of Driskell but he's spot on. Anyone who tweets DM's a teenager should be banned from the internet. Period.

You're not recruiting for your school...you're recruiting against it at that point.

the problem is that families of recruits who aren't technologically savvy are easily duped by fake fans from rival schools. It's a totally common and successful tactic and families will mention it all the time during recruitments

 

[BeauBenken]

There were rumors circulating yesterday that some Notre Dame fans were sending bad DMs to Bowen and his parents (assuming his dad based on the article posted) that were not taken well

Not rumors. The family clearly told the recruitniks about it.

 

[fightingirish26]

I feel like the Keeley recruitment also had a moment where after months of visits and rumors, we started hearing about nasty messages from fans. Pretty soon after that the recruitment opened back up.

 

[NDpendent]

I feel like the Keeley recruitment also had a moment where after months of visits and rumors, we started hearing about nasty messages from fans. Pretty soon after that the recruitment opened back up.

Those were very clearly not ND fans with the Keeley situation. They were all accounts that were 24 hours old and whose only posts were to him and his mom

 

[OhioIrish]

context?

He’s such a douche.

 

[ColinKSU]

context?

I hate agreeing with BD but here we are.

Never tweet at ‘croots.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

He’s such a douche.

I mean I agree but he's 1,000% correct here.

 

[NDpendent]

BD confirmed the dancing Gif was not for Minchey but there is another recruit that committed to the coaches that should be going public soon

 

[greyhammer90]

BD confirmed the dancing Gif was not for Minchey but there is another recruit that committed to the coaches that should be going public soon

Williams would seem to make the most sense?

 

[OhioIrish]

I mean I agree but he's 1,000% correct here.

He is. But, stating the obvious with arrogance is just so Driskel. He has a special talent for the obnoxious.

 

[FWIrish4]

I’m still irritated from the game last night so my judgment is probably clouded, but is the Shamrock an ND or USC podcast? Man, the first half of the postgame pod is just a USC pump fest. We literally don’t give a shit about who led USC out of the tunnel.

Also, the most irritating takes:
- this is the worst USC team ND will face in the future from Fortuna. Can’t you say the exact same thing about ND with the massive recruiting uptick and upgrades at QB? Also, is USC is going to have the heisman winner at QB every season?
- there’s no reason ND can’t be physical and also be explosive from Sampson. Yeah no crap dude. The coaching staff had to pivot to a ground and pound offense because of the lack of QB and WR recruiting. And ND was explosive against USC so idk what he was trying to get at that would have changed this game?

 

[ColinKSU]

I’m pessimistic by nature, but buddy I don’t have *anything* on Mike Frank. He was firing on all “Notre Dame is doomed and USC is an unstoppable juggernaut” cylinders in his Frank Commentary blog post this morning.

Reading Mike after a Notre Dame loss on a big stage is like watching MJ in his prime.

 

[notredomer23]

I’m still irritated from the game last night so my judgment is probably clouded, but is the Shamrock an ND or USC podcast? Man, the first half of the postgame pod is just a USC pump fest. We literally don’t give a shit about who led USC out of the tunnel.

Also, the most irritating takes:
- this is the worst USC team ND will face in the future from Fortuna. Can’t you say the exact same thing about ND with the massive recruiting uptick and upgrades at QB? Also, is USC is going to have the heisman winner at QB every season?
- there’s no reason ND can’t be physical and also be explosive from Sampson. Yeah no crap dude. The coaching staff had to pivot to a ground and pound offense because of the lack of QB and WR recruiting. And ND was explosive against USC so idk what he was trying to get at that would have changed this game?

That Fortuna take made zero sense when I heard it in real time and I’m glad it wasn’t just me thinking that. Is every USC team going to have a better QB than Caleb Williams? Because Notre Dame was better than USC everywhere else last night. ND is recruiting much better at all positions other than just QB and WR, and ND is closing that gap. That’s not to say USC isn’t going to be good this decade. I’m sure they’ll improve at other positions. The chances Malachi Nelson is as good or better than Caleb Williams are slim, and that was the entire difference.

 

[ColinKSU]

That Fortuna take made zero sense when I heard it in real time and I’m glad it wasn’t just me thinking that. Is every USC team going to have a better QB than Caleb Williams? Because Notre Dame was better than USC everywhere else last night. ND is recruiting much better at all positions other than just QB and WR, and ND is closing that gap. That’s not to say USC isn’t going to be good this decade. I’m sure they’ll improve at other positions. The chances Malachi Nelson is as good or better than Caleb Williams are slim, and that was the entire difference.

Even though he literally does a Notre Dame podcast, it very much felt like an uninformed national CFB guy take.

 

[Grahambo]

That Fortuna take made zero sense when I heard it in real time and I’m glad it wasn’t just me thinking that. Is every USC team going to have a better QB than Caleb Williams? Because Notre Dame was better than USC everywhere else last night. ND is recruiting much better at all positions other than just QB and WR, and ND is closing that gap. That’s not to say USC isn’t going to be good this decade. I’m sure they’ll improve at other positions. The chances Malachi Nelson is as good or better than Caleb Williams are slim, and that was the entire difference.

Not to mention, it’s a huge assumption Riley stays at USC for the long haul. Arizona will need a HC soon, McVay has talked retirement, if Dallas is one and done in the playoffs, how much longer will they keep McCarthy?

Caleb had his Heisman moment because ND shut down the WRs for the most part and the OL couldn’t sustain their blocks. ND is better and deeper everywhere but QB. That was literally the difference last night.

USC is 7-5 without Caleb Williams.

 

[IrishLax]

I’m still irritated from the game last night so my judgment is probably clouded, but is the Shamrock an ND or USC podcast? Man, the first half of the postgame pod is just a USC pump fest. We literally don’t give a shit about who led USC out of the tunnel.

Also, the most irritating takes:
- this is the worst USC team ND will face in the future from Fortuna. Can’t you say the exact same thing about ND with the massive recruiting uptick and upgrades at QB? Also, is USC is going to have the heisman winner at QB every season?
- there’s no reason ND can’t be physical and also be explosive from Sampson. Yeah no crap dude. The coaching staff had to pivot to a ground and pound offense because of the lack of QB and WR recruiting. And ND was explosive against USC so idk what he was trying to get at that would have changed this game?

I'm old enough to remember when people said that USC would forever be a perennial top 5 team under Carroll (and same for Texas in that era) because of all of their institutional advantages.

It's hard to anticipate "how" an "unstoppable" juggernaut can fail, but inevitably they do. Mainly they fail because of coaching turnover. USC is positioned well to be elite on offense for the foreseeable future but they are nowhere close to a Bama super team or Joe-Burrow-LSU-super-team. Is it easier for them to get there with NIL and current transfer rules? Absolutely. Will they be even better next year than they were this year? Probably.

But past that, there are ZERO guarantees about how they will stack up. For all we know Nico could bust like Spencer Rattler or they could have one key injury or they could end up never fixing their defense. No one knows!

Last night we were a couple spots or fumble recoveries or miss-timed interception leap or Drew Pyne implosion away from beating them on the road.

This is the worst USC team ND will see? Maybe. But barring injury (or NIL poaching or weird transfer isues) it's also almost certainly the worst ND team USC will see, too. ND is losing only three difference makers from this year -- Mayer, Foskey, Patterson -- and is going to upgrade virtually every other position. This will be *by far* the worst ND secondary USC will see as well as the least athletic linebackers, the worst QB, and least developed WRs.

 

[Grahambo]

I'm old enough to remember when people said that USC would forever be a perennial top 5 team under Carroll (and same for Texas in that era) because of all of their institutional advantages.

It's hard to anticipate "how" an "unstoppable" juggernaut can fail, but inevitably they do. Mainly they fail because of coaching turnover. USC is positioned well to be elite on offense for the foreseeable future but they are nowhere close to a Bama super team or Joe-Burrow-LSU-super-team. Is it easier for them to get there with NIL and current transfer rules? Absolutely. Will they be even better next year than they were this year? Probably.

But past that, there are ZERO guarantees about how they will stack up. For all we know Nico could bust like Spencer Rattler or they could have one key injury or they could end up never fixing their defense. No one knows!

Last night we were a couple spots or fumble recoveries or miss-timed interception leap or Drew Pyne implosion away from beating them on the road.

This is the worst USC team ND will see? Maybe. But barring injury (or NIL poaching or weird transfer isues) it's also almost certainly the worst ND team USC will see, too. ND is losing only three difference makers from this year -- Mayer, Foskey, Patterson -- and is going to upgrade virtually every other position. This will be *by far* the worst ND secondary USC will see as well as the least athletic linebackers, the worst QB, and least developed WRs.

I’d go so far as to argue that losing Mayer is addition by subtraction. Targets will be spread to playmakers like Styles, Colzie, Merriweather, and JT. Add in the incoming freshmen WRs and a QB who can throw a checkdown and the offense becomes much more explosive and unpredictable.

 

[Free Manera]

I agree they were really slobbering USC. Sampson did say something that resonated though. ND needs to either figure out how to take more transfers or admit they aren’t “all in” on winning championships, because saying you are dedicated to winning is just fraudulent if you continue to handicap in this way.

It’s not about getting the top free agents every year. It is about filling the roster holes that inevitably come up. ND needed like 4 more players from the portal this year in addition to the painfully obvious quarterback situation. But it ain’t easy finding graduate transfers that can make an impact. Underclassmen transfers are an absolute bare minimum necessity to be competitive.

 

[Grahambo]

I agree they were really slobbering USC. Sampson did say something that resonated though. ND needs to either figure out how to take more transfers or admit they aren’t “all in” on winning championships, because saying you are dedicated to winning is just fraudulent if you continue to handicap in this way.

It’s not about getting the top free agents every year. It is about filling the roster holes that inevitably come up. ND needed like 4 more players from the portal this year in addition to the painfully obvious quarterback situation. But it ain’t easy finding graduate transfers that can make an impact. Underclassmen transfers are an absolute bare minimum necessity to be competitive.

Now that MF has had a full year at the helm, will be really, really curious to see the direction he goes. I could see why he made the decisions he did last year but no excuse this off-season.

 

[ColinKSU]

I agree they were really slobbering USC. Sampson did say something that resonated though. ND needs to either figure out how to take more transfers or admit they aren’t “all in” on winning championships, because saying you are dedicated to winning is just fraudulent if you continue to handicap in this way.

It’s not about getting the top free agents every year. It is about filling the roster holes that inevitably come up. ND needed like 4 more players from the portal this year in addition to the painfully obvious quarterback situation. But it ain’t easy finding graduate transfers that can make an impact. Underclassmen transfers are an absolute bare minimum necessity to be competitive.

Notre Dame got *extremely* lucky that Marcus was on staff when BK left. **EXTREMELY** lucky.

What do you think the 2022 team looks like if we wait for Fickell, lose half our recruiting class, 10-15 people on the roster leave for the portal *and* Fickell can’t fill any of those holes trough the portal?

Marcus is going to leave one day and the roster’s going to be a smoking crater if they don’t figure out how to handle transfers. It’s going to be bad and it’s going to take 2-3 seasons just to get the roster back to a healthy place.

 

[IrishLax]

I agree they were really slobbering USC. Sampson did say something that resonated though. ND needs to either figure out how to take more transfers or admit they aren’t “all in” on winning championships, because saying you are dedicated to winning is just fraudulent if you continue to handicap in this way.

It’s not about getting the top free agents every year. It is about filling the roster holes that inevitably come up. ND needed like 4 more players from the portal this year in addition to the painfully obvious quarterback situation. But it ain’t easy finding graduate transfers that can make an impact. Underclassmen transfers are an absolute bare minimum necessity to be competitive.

Agree with this a million percent. ND needs to be able to take 5-10 guys a year or they will not be able to keep up with other teams that have "Tier 1" aspirations. They need to be able to plug holes because they will start having more and more of them via transfer. They don't need to be able to take 20 guys (yet).... but they can't have their hands tied competing for a handful of impact players.

For next year, ND should out there aggressively looking at 1-2 WRs and a QB plus "best available" at all levels of defense. They could really use some more big bodies inside on the DL plus maybe a safety. They also likely need to add a kicker and punter again.

 

[NDRock]

I’d go so far as to argue that losing Mayer is addition by subtraction. Targets will be spread to playmakers like Styles, Colzie, Merriweather, and JT. Add in the incoming freshmen WRs and a QB who can throw a checkdown and the offense becomes much more explosive and unpredictable.

Sorry but I never like this take. Seems like this gets brought up every time we lose a #1 receiver (Floyd, Fuller, etc…). The problem wasn’t Mayer being an elite player, the problem was our mediocre QB focusing on him too much. If Pyne is the QB next year he’ll probably have the same issue and will just be forcing it to a less talented receiver.

What you’re essentially saying is that we would rather Mayer leave than come back for a 4the year. That’s crazy, IMO. All we talk about is the importance of 5* talent in the college game. Losing one won’t be a plus, especially a guy who works harder than everyone else on the team. He’s essentially a perfect player.

 

[Grahambo]

Sorry but I never like this take. Seems like this gets brought up every time we lose a #1 receiver (Floyd, Fuller, etc…). The problem wasn’t Mayer being an elite player, the problem was our mediocre QB focusing on him too much. If Pyne is the QB next year he’ll probably have the same issue and will just be forcing it to a less talented receiver.

What you’re essentially saying is that we would rather Mayer leave than come back for a 4the year. That’s crazy, IMO. All we talk about is the importance of 5* talent in the college game. Losing one won’t be a plus, especially a guy who works harder than everyone else on the team. He’s essentially a perfect player.

I have no issue with your take. It’s incredibly reasonable from my POV.

Both the QB and the play caller can become too comfortable with one person. It makes it easier to devise a scheme in shutting down that one true option.

At the same time, other players suffer because they aren’t being given the opportunity to grow and develop. It’s great to have a player like Mayer but when you look at recent title winners like Alabama, LSU, and OSU, you need your WRs more then you need the TE.

They are game breakers. Game changers. One play away from an explosive TD. Mayer is reliable and dependable for sure. And I’d love him back but for the greater good of the WRs and the offense ND needs to focus more on WR development.

You open up your offensive scheme a lot more then when you’re number 1 is a TE. Some of Pyne’s throws to Mayer last night had to be near perfect, like the one in triple coverage and because he focuses in on Mayer too often, he misses Colzie down the sideline for a huge play.

Again, I completely see your side and have no issue with the flip side to my opinion.

 

[stlnd01]

I agree they were really slobbering USC. Sampson did say something that resonated though. ND needs to either figure out how to take more transfers or admit they aren’t “all in” on winning championships, because saying you are dedicated to winning is just fraudulent if you continue to handicap in this way.

It’s not about getting the top free agents every year. It is about filling the roster holes that inevitably come up. ND needed like 4 more players from the portal this year in addition to the painfully obvious quarterback situation. But it ain’t easy finding graduate transfers that can make an impact. Underclassmen transfers are an absolute bare minimum necessity to be competitive.

I listened to most of it on my run this morning and this was the part that really rang out.

Pete mentioned not just USC but Marshall having like 20 transfers as something that turned some heads at ND, and that we need to get out of our own way figure out how to bring in like five Brandon Joseph’s in the off-season. Guys who can walk in to the two-deep and upgrade the talent where it’s needed. And that Notre Dame should be really appealing to a lot of guys who've been around college football for a couple seasons, realize the promises made during recruiting don't always come true, and want to play high-level ball and get a good degree.

Or else, yeah, stop pretending we’re in this to win it. He was pretty blunt.

 

[NDFAN2008]

Is Joseph back next year?

 

[Free Manera]

Is Joseph back next year?

He could come back but all the beat reporters are saying he’s gone.

That’s the other thing with graduates. It’s one and done. You bring in a sophomore they could contribute for 3 years.