NDinL.A.
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I'm on information overload right now. There was a ton of stuff to read on from Day 1, as players and coaches allowed to talk to the media and media members got their 20 minutes of practice viewing. A few tidbits:
Edit: This is kinda long, sorry...
* Jimmy Clausen, at least this offseason, has blossomed into the leader we all want him to be. This according to Weis, Paulus, and more importnantly, Tate and Rudolph. We already know about him Flying out Tate, Floyd and Rudolph to Cali to work out, but he also brought personal coaches to the workouts to help the receivers. They didn't just work out, they watched film as well. They say that it's paid huge dividends, especially for Tate.
* The players love the combo of Coach Hart and Coach Young. Ian Williams calls Young and 'god' to the players, because he's been to where they all want to go. And he says Hart is the best coach he's ever had. Hart and Young work really well together, according to Hart, who has given Young glowing reviews.
* Manti Te'o is a beast, as has been stated in another thread. He stands to-to-toe w/ Brian Smith, thickness wise at least. He completely looks the part already as a college middle linebacker. He's going to play early and often.
* Shaq Evans also already physically looks prepared to play college football. Mentally is another story, as it is with all freshmen.
* The coaches were already getting on the freshmen LOL. Shaq, Wood, and Fox, were all hearing from the coaches, and all about technique. Wood wasn't secure enough with the football, even getting it knocked out by Alford after being corrected once, and Alford is a maniac about ball possession.
* The move to center for Olsen has been on the works for months, as they would do it during the spring after the media would leave. The only reason that they didn't do it fore the spring game was b/c of injuries to other linemen.
* This is what I heard hanging out with a buddy yesterday who is well connected with ND knowledge: Verducci came in, looked at film, and said that Robinson was our best lineman last year period, and he has to get on the field. Somehow Latina didn't see that, but I digress. He also saw that Wenger got his ass kicked last year (doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out), and he wanted the top 5 guys playing. Thus the moves on the line.
* The team worked harder this offseason than they ever had, and they did it as a unit. Instead of some guys coming in the morning and others in the afternoon, they all came in at 4. Jimmy would coordinate the offense and Kyle McCarthy the defense. But apparently there were tons of guys stepping up as leaders. And they wouldn't just work on 7 on 7's. They would start by doing team stuff, which included the O and D lines. Eventually they would get to the 7 on 7's, but they wanted the entire team involved. They expect it to pay big dividends.
* Several players are noticeably bigger. Johnson, KLM, Floyd, Goodman, Walker, Duncan, etc. Kamara is in shape this time.
* I'm usually the one to laugh off all these pre-season, 'we worked harder than ever', 'so and so looks amazing in 7-on-7's' stories that every team talks about. But I feel this really is different this time. Last year I was hoping for 8 wins, but I knew 6-7 was a possibility. Not this year guys. 10 wins is a MUST. We're too damn loaded, we're too damn talented, we're too damn experienced, they've worked too damn hard, they finally (I think) have the right coaches in place, the schedule sets up right, etc. THERE'S NO EXCUSES!!! This season should be the return of ND football, I truly believe that...
Edit: This is kinda long, sorry...
* Jimmy Clausen, at least this offseason, has blossomed into the leader we all want him to be. This according to Weis, Paulus, and more importnantly, Tate and Rudolph. We already know about him Flying out Tate, Floyd and Rudolph to Cali to work out, but he also brought personal coaches to the workouts to help the receivers. They didn't just work out, they watched film as well. They say that it's paid huge dividends, especially for Tate.
* The players love the combo of Coach Hart and Coach Young. Ian Williams calls Young and 'god' to the players, because he's been to where they all want to go. And he says Hart is the best coach he's ever had. Hart and Young work really well together, according to Hart, who has given Young glowing reviews.
* Manti Te'o is a beast, as has been stated in another thread. He stands to-to-toe w/ Brian Smith, thickness wise at least. He completely looks the part already as a college middle linebacker. He's going to play early and often.
* Shaq Evans also already physically looks prepared to play college football. Mentally is another story, as it is with all freshmen.
* The coaches were already getting on the freshmen LOL. Shaq, Wood, and Fox, were all hearing from the coaches, and all about technique. Wood wasn't secure enough with the football, even getting it knocked out by Alford after being corrected once, and Alford is a maniac about ball possession.
* The move to center for Olsen has been on the works for months, as they would do it during the spring after the media would leave. The only reason that they didn't do it fore the spring game was b/c of injuries to other linemen.
* This is what I heard hanging out with a buddy yesterday who is well connected with ND knowledge: Verducci came in, looked at film, and said that Robinson was our best lineman last year period, and he has to get on the field. Somehow Latina didn't see that, but I digress. He also saw that Wenger got his ass kicked last year (doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out), and he wanted the top 5 guys playing. Thus the moves on the line.
* The team worked harder this offseason than they ever had, and they did it as a unit. Instead of some guys coming in the morning and others in the afternoon, they all came in at 4. Jimmy would coordinate the offense and Kyle McCarthy the defense. But apparently there were tons of guys stepping up as leaders. And they wouldn't just work on 7 on 7's. They would start by doing team stuff, which included the O and D lines. Eventually they would get to the 7 on 7's, but they wanted the entire team involved. They expect it to pay big dividends.
* Several players are noticeably bigger. Johnson, KLM, Floyd, Goodman, Walker, Duncan, etc. Kamara is in shape this time.
* I'm usually the one to laugh off all these pre-season, 'we worked harder than ever', 'so and so looks amazing in 7-on-7's' stories that every team talks about. But I feel this really is different this time. Last year I was hoping for 8 wins, but I knew 6-7 was a possibility. Not this year guys. 10 wins is a MUST. We're too damn loaded, we're too damn talented, we're too damn experienced, they've worked too damn hard, they finally (I think) have the right coaches in place, the schedule sets up right, etc. THERE'S NO EXCUSES!!! This season should be the return of ND football, I truly believe that...
