Spring Practice Thread 2012

[greyhammer90]

Sweeeet.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Having a former All-Pro hanging around with "his" O-Line coach at practice has got to be a terrific motivator and general feeling-good thing for the current O-Line and everybody else. God Bless You , Coach Hiestand!!!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Having a former All-Pro hanging around with "his" O-Line coach at practice has got to be a terrific motivator and general feeling-good thing for the current O-Line and everybody else. God Bless You , Coach Hiestand!!!

Word

 

[rtrn2glory]

@NDHardin: Fmr Chicago Bears all-pro Olin Kreutz is at #NotreDame practice today. Olin was coached at Bears by current ND O-line coach Harry Hiestand.

dude was the best at his position for years...nasty dude, and was a great leader.

 

[ChiRish]

@NDHardin: Fmr Chicago Bears all-pro Olin Kreutz is at #NotreDame practice today. Olin was coached at Bears by current ND O-line coach Harry Hiestand.

Think he might have a thing or two to say about leadership. Guy was the offensive leader for the Bears for years. Miss him on the team. Also shows the kind of background that Hiestand brings. Not only is he reeling in these recruits, but he's been in the NFL a bunch too. Can't believe some were skeptical of the hire!

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Think he might have a thing or two to say about leadership. Guy was the offensive leader for the Bears for years. Miss him on the team. Also shows the kind of background that Hiestand brings. Not only is he reeling in these recruits, but he's been in the NFL a bunch too. Can't believe some were skeptical of the hire!

People in Tennessee hated him it seemed...

 

[TheSunIsRising]

People in Tennessee hated him it seemed...

Many were glad to see him go. Then again, many Notre Dame fans seemed to have a hate on for Bob Diaco after the 2010 Navy game. Funny how things change when the players get more experience in a system; sometimes almost makes fans look impatient or foolish

 

[Grahambo]

People in Tennessee hated him it seemed...

Yeah well, they went from Phil Fulmer to Lane Kiffin to Derek Dooley, can't say I blame them.

 

[Fbolt]

After watching all the und.com episodes and recent commits, it certainly seems like the Irish are motivated with more pep in their step. The Offense also seems to be loaded and ready to put up Kelly-like ppg.

I haven't felt this optimistic since...last year!

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

After watching all the und.com episodes and recent commits, it certainly seems like the Irish are motivated with more pep in their step. The Offense also seems to be loaded and ready to put up Kelly-like ppg.

I haven't felt this optimistic since...last year!

I'm with you!

 

[rtrn2glory]

offense is going to miss floyd drastically i fear...if we don't have one or two outside guys step up it could be a tough year offensively imo

hiestand has definitely shown he can recruit so far no doubt there. jury is out on what the on field product. knock on warriner was he couldn't recruit supposedly, but can't deny his ability to produce quality on the field.

let's hope HH is the best of both worlds for us.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

offense is going to miss floyd drastically i fear...if we don't have one or two outside guys step up it could be a tough year offensively imo

hiestand has definitely shown he can recruit so far no doubt there. jury is out on what the on field product. knock on warriner was he couldn't recruit supposedly, but can't deny his ability to produce quality on the field.

let's hope HH is the best of both worlds for us.

Floyd was the primary target for Rees (and for anyone else with a brain) and that cost him some interceptions by forcing the ball and staring Mike down. With his absence, the ball is going to be spread around more, forcing the defense to really be on their game. We have big playmakers coming in with Neal, Daniels, and Brown along with the great receiving TEs we are building up. We will be okay.

 

[NDdomer2]

Sometimes an offense can get more dangerous after losing a guy of Floyd's caliber because you are no longer depending on him as a play-caller or as a teamate. We will see if that is the case this year. My gut tells me it will. EDIT: I see that Admiral shares a similar thought with me.

Also, I want to thank Mr. Corey Robinson for taking my vote into account yesterday:

Since there is not going to be a practice report today I vote for commitment #9!

 

[Grahambo]

offense is going to miss floyd drastically i fear...if we don't have one or two outside guys step up it could be a tough year offensively imo

hiestand has definitely shown he can recruit so far no doubt there. jury is out on what the on field product. knock on warriner was he couldn't recruit supposedly, but can't deny his ability to produce quality on the field.

let's hope HH is the best of both worlds for us.

I'm gonna cautiously disagree. With a dynamic QB (Golson/Hendrix/Kiel), I think it will be quite the opposite. How many times did we see TJ Jones open last year and Rees never look his way? Floyd was too much of a comfort for Rees that it hurt more then helped, IMO. I most assuredly understand your thought but I think it might actually be better for the offense. It will force the QB to use his checkdowns like he is supposed to. Eifert will be getting the double teams which will leave Daniels/Jones/Toma with a lot of one on one's. Cierre/GAIII/Amir..a lot of options.

 

[FLDomer]

I'm gonna cautiously disagree. With a dynamic QB (Golson/Hendrix/Kiel), I think it will be quite the opposite. How many times did we see TJ Jones open last year and Rees never look his way? Floyd was too much of a comfort for Rees that it hurt more then helped, IMO. I most assuredly understand your thought but I think it might actually be better for the offense. It will force the QB to use his checkdowns like he is supposed to. Eifert will be getting the double teams which will leave Daniels/Jones/Toma with a lot of one on one's. Cierre/GAIII/Amir..a lot of options.

I have to agree with Grahambo 100%! Sometimes when a star leaves you see the other players left, step up and spread the wealth, making the defense defend everyone

 

[rtrn2glory]

no offense to you guys...but we just lost the best receiver this program has ever seen. we are going to struggle to replace him and i just hope it doesn't cost us games early on.

the reason is there just is not a player in our receiving core, with the exception of an unproven Daniels, that will be able to do the things that Floyd did. Eifert is a TE so i don't include him in this part of the discussion b/c he's already good and if we don't get a guy that can take pressure away from him his production will decrease.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

no offense to you guys...but we just lost the best receiver this program has ever seen. we are going to struggle to replace him and i just hope it doesn't cost us games early on.

the reason is there just is not a player in our receiving core, with the exception of an unproven Daniels, that will be able to do the things that Floyd did. Eifert is a TE so i don't include him in this part of the discussion b/c he's already good and if we don't get a guy that can take pressure away from him his production will decrease.

Michael no doubt is a huge loss, but sometimes (especially Tommy) would use him as a crutch. The training wheels are off now without Mike. The QBs can either start spreading the wealth and get this offense firing on all cylinders, or, just crash and burn.

Let's hope its not the latter.

 

[rtrn2glory]

however, if we throw a first time starter back in, which i'm sure 99% of us are hoping, the training wheels technically go back on, with perhaps Eifert being this year's Floyd. just my opinion, but i just don't feel we're in good position in our passing game right now, running game is a different story, but even that can be taken away regardless of how good you are, which was proven last year as well in several big games.

 

[woolybug25]

no offense to you guys...but we just lost the best receiver this program has ever seen. we are going to struggle to replace him and i just hope it doesn't cost us games early on.

the reason is there just is not a player in our receiving core, with the exception of an unproven Daniels, that will be able to do the things that Floyd did. Eifert is a TE so i don't include him in this part of the discussion b/c he's already good and if we don't get a guy that can take pressure away from him his production will decrease.

I understand what you're saying, but what I think you are disregarding is that we aren't going to be playing the same style of offense as we did last year. One of our biggest struggles was that we had an offense designed around one special player (Floyd) and we were lost when we didn't have him. We have A LOT of playmakers on this offense, and we haven't been getting them the ball. With a renewed focus of spreading the ball around, we will hopefully be able to get out of the offensive funk that we had before. If anything, it will force us to run different types of plays in order to spread the ball around to the many playmakers that were hiding in Floyd's shadow.

 

[Praytorian]

Sometimes an offense can get more dangerous after losing a guy of Floyd's caliber because you are no longer depending on him as a play-caller or as a teamate. We will see if that is the case this year. My gut tells me it will. EDIT: I see that Admiral shares a similar thought with me.

Also, I want to thank Mr. Corey Robinson for taking my vote into account yesterday:

Paragraph 1. I totally agree with you. I remember the year the giants won their first SB with Manning at QB. They had just lost their RB Tiki Barber, and went to the triple set of RBs. I was thinking to myself watch them spread it out more and win now (No I am not a Giants fan).

Paragraph 2. Good call.

 

[NDdomer2]

This KINDA reminds me of the movie Moneyball when Jonah Hill's character was trying to explain that you don't need one person to replace one person. You just need EVERYBODY to pick up the slack just a little. Yes, it hurts losing Floyd as you know he is going to beat his man (and sometimes another) 95% of the time. Asking Davaris to come in year 1 and fill the void is outrageous, but asking Davaris, Toma, Riddick, Goodman, Neal, Brown, TJ, Eifert and others to all do a little more is very realistic.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Prince will play CAT, Spond and Councell at Dog. Bennett and Lo are doing very well...

http://www.irishsportsdaily.com/foo...s/6780-defensive-thoughts-with-diaco-a-elston

 

[NDdomer2]

Tyler Stockton

The nose guard has not played in more than a year. He is listed at a slimmed-down 285 pounds to go with his 6’0 frame. “Tyler reported to spring ball in much better shape than he did in the fall,” was Elston’s evaluation.

Thank you Coach Elston for that splendid evaluation.

 

[PANDFAN]

Thank you Coach Elston for that splendid evaluation.

that was his polite way of saying he aint going to see the field and be back next year

 

[NDdomer2]

that was his polite way of saying he aint going to see the field and be back next year

Haha...never good to get the one sentence evaluation.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I don't know. I think that is more in Tyler's hands than coaches.

 

[irishog77]

Thank you Coach Elston for that splendid evaluation.

that was his polite way of saying he aint going to see the field and be back next year

I hear Tyler has a splendid vocabulary, charming personality, and deft sense of humor as well.

 

[DANsanity15]

On the first video for practice 3 did anyone else see Tate vs. Lynch? Tate might have some power to him

 

[woolybug25]

Elston says, for right now, Day will focus solely on defensive end. “As a freshman, we don’t want to teach him two positions. Kona’s ready to play two positions, he’s ready to do that. Sheldon is just ready to play end. We’re gonna keep it slow for Sheldon, and we don’t need to force him into anything like that.”

What happened to Day being an inside player (NT/DT) first? If he is only going to focus on one position, would NT/DT be easier than DE anyway?

I don't get it.

 

[woolybug25]

On the first video for practice 3 did anyone else see Tate vs. Lynch? Tate might have some power to him

Tate has been really impressive. Anybody that can block Lynch has some skill.