Unsettled?

[johnnd05]

(Via the Roundup.)

One thing that has been partly a symptom but also to some extent a likely cause of Notre Dame’s struggles this year is the way the lineup has shifted around from week to week. As I’ve discussed in some detail (see here and here), each of the last two weeks has seen major changes to the Irish depth chart, and when we compare the chart from the current week from the one at the start of the season (helpfully summarized here by Ben Ford), we find a remarkable number of changes:

• At only three offensive positions (tight end (with the exception of Konrad Reuland’s departure), “Z” wide receiver (with the exception of Barry Gallup dropping off the chart), and fullback) and four defensive ones (defensive end (with the exception of Derrell Hand’s return from his suspension), “Mike” linebacker, free safety, and right cornerback (with the exception of Munir Prince catching up to Raeshon McNeil)) is the depth chart the same at mid-season as it was at the start.
• Six players (Duval Kamara, Eric Olsen, Robby Parris, Evan Sharpley, James Aldridge (who is low on the depth chart this week only because of injury), and Kerry Neal) currently listed as starters weren’t starters or even co-starters at the beginning of the season, and two other current starters (Sam Young and Paul Duncan) have switched positions. (Sharpley was of course officially listed as a co-starter, but only as a smokescreen.)
• A total of eight players (Young, Taylor Dever, Thomas Bemenderfer, Dan Wenger, Olsen, Brian Smith, Anthony Vernaglia, Morrice Richardson) are listed as having switched positions. (Though note that most of those switches, with the exception of Vernaglia’s, are relatively minor, and simply involve being on the other side of the offensive line or linebacking corp.)

Moreover, in part because of injuries but also because of depth chart changes, only ten positions (left guard, center, tight end, fullback, left defensive end, nose tackle, “Jake” linebacker, both safeties, and right cornerback) have had the same starter for each game so far, and only twelve players (Duncan, Young, Mike Turkovich, John Sullivan, John Carlson, Trevor Laws, Pat Kuntz, John Ryan, Maurice Crum, David Bruton, Tom Zbikowski, and Terrail Lambert) have started at some position or other in every game so far. (Since they opened with three wide receiver sets, Asaph Schwapp wasn’t in on the opening plays against Michigan or BC, but perhaps he should count as number 13 on this list.)

(A more complete breakdown, both of game-by-game starting lineups and of depth chart changes, is available here. Note that I haven’t included any of the special teams positions, though there has also been considerable variability at punter, place-kicker, and on kickoffs.)

No matter how you spin it, that’s a lot of guys moving around. (For comparison’s sake, last year’s Irish team had sixteen players start in every one of their thirteen total games, not including Zbikowski, who sat out against Stanford with an injury.) And it’s easy to look at this situation and think that it reflects poorly on Charlie Weis and his staff: either they did a poor job of evaluating talent at the start of the season, or they’ve been doing too much shuffling around from week to week and so have kept the team from settling into a real rhythm, or whatever. But when we look more closely at where many of the changes have come, we see a different story.

Here are the cases where the need to make changes in the depth chart clearly wasn’t the fault of the coaching staff:

• “X” receiver: George West was listed as the starter here at the beginning of the year, but now the true freshman Kamara, who was originally third-string behind West and D.J. Hord, has moved up to the #1 spot. This is clearly a matter of a player showing what he brings to the field and taking the job away from a more experienced guy who was legitimately ahead of him at the start of the year, not a case where talent was misevaluated in any way.
• “Z” receiver: Parris is now listed ahead of Grimes for the #1 spot, but that may be in part a product of Grimes’s injury. In any case, Grimes’s solid play last year clearly earned him a starting position, just as Parris’s play this season (second on the team in receptions with 19 and the first in receiving yardage by a long shot with 272) may have done for him.
• Right guard: Wenger was the starter here at the beginning of the year, but he suffered an injury against Michigan and hasn’t played since. (He should be back this week, though, and Weis has indicated that he’ll be the primary backup for all of the interior positions along the o-line.) Matt Carufel was Wenger’s replacement for three games until he was beaten out by Olsen last week - but once again, having a player perform surprisingly well at a “need” position (especially when he overtakes someone who was originally a backup) is hardly something a coach can be criticized for.
• Right defensive end: Early season co-starters Justin Brown (who missed several games) with an injury and Dwight Stephenson Jr. started off dividing playing time between them, but Stephenson has now risen to the #1 spot. During one of the games when Brown was injured, Derrell Hand started in this position, and there have been others where the team started off in a nickle package and either Neal or John Ryan was listed as a defensive end.
• Right outside linebacker: This is where Neal has been playing extremely well, and taken the starting job away from the once-again disappointing Vernaglia (who’s now listed as the backup to Crum at “Jake” LB).

In other words, all of the above personnel shifts can be chalked up either to injury (Grimes, Wenger, Brown) or unexpectedly solid play from underclassmen who hadn’t seen much if any game action before (Kamara, Parris, Olsen, Neal), and so it would be wrong to blame the staff for them.

But that’s not to say that there aren’t some other positions where the coaching staff is arguably at least partly at fault for the fact that there was so much uncertainty through the first part of the season:

• Running back: This one really is something of a head-scratcher, since it became clear to most fans that Travis Thomas wasn’t going to get the job done long before he stopped getting a significant number of carries, and even though he lost his official starting job after week one, it took until the Michigan State game for Aldridge to take over that position instead of Armando Allen. Allen has shown himself to be a good change-of-pace back who has a chance to be a dynamic every-down player in the future, but he’s not there yet, and trying to work the offense around his speed instead of building around the skill and power of Aldridge was pretty clearly a bad decision. When the guy who is clearly your best running back is your third option on the season, something seems to have gone wrong.
• Quarterback: It’s been argued - with considerable force, in my mind, though I don’t think Jimmy Clausen deserved to be pulled before this week - that Sharpley should have been named the starter at the beginning of the season, and that the team would have been better off in the long run if that had been the decision made. It seems clear enough in hindsight that the choice of Demetrius Jones as the starter against Georgia Tech was a disaster, and that the time spent practicing a spread-style offense would have been better used working on more traditional sets. If Clausen would in fact have been the starter if not for his elbow surgery, then replacing him with someone who would run the same style of offense may well have been the best bet. Once again, this seems to be a matter of the staff getting to “cute” with schemes and personnel decisions rather than taking a more careful, “building-blocks” approach.
• The offensive tackles: The two-game experiment with moving Sam Young to right tackle clearly didn’t go very well, though it’s not as if he’s been stellar since going back to his original position. But if Young is in fact that much more comfortable playing on the left side of the line, then there’s a natural argument that says he never should have been moved in the first place.

The fact is that these four positions - tailback, quarterback, and the two exterior linemen - are obviously crucial to the success of a football team, and so if Weis and his staff did make bad decisions with how they managed them, then it’s very likely that that had adverse effects on the way the team played on the field, as well as on the overall progress the team was able to make, through the early part of the season. And while in each case the questionable decisions I’ve highlighted were understandable, it seems reasonable to put some blame at the feet of the coaching staff if they really did mis-evaluate their talent in these kinds of ways.

But at the same time, looking at these position changes as a whole reveals two really positive things about the state of the Irish: first, that there are lots of talented underclassmen playing extraordinary football; second, that the coaching staff has continually been willing to put them on the field and even in the starting lineup, no matter how much seniority may have been had by the players they were replacing. If we continue to see more personnel moves over the remainder of the season, it will probably be for these reasons rather than the more worrisome ones suggested above. This is an extremely young team, and it’s going to take everyone a while to settle in.

 

[jonesman]

John,
I think that these moving pieces on the depth chart will continue when the majority of you roster is made of young talent. We do not really have many established upperclassman who should be holding down positions. Trevor and Kuntz are anchors on the DL. Carlson at TE. Crum at LB. Beyond these players, we have youth or underperforming upper classmen all over the field. You notice that I did not put Zibby on the list above. He has even proven to be a liability in certain situations this year. I think the movement on the depth chart probably brings a higher level of performance from all the players because they know that if your a starter, you better perform and if your not, performance could still get you on the field. As we have heard many folks say, the lack of talented depth over the last two years at ND had brought on compacent players. There is NO complacent players anymore. Bring your A game or get out of the way. This also will excite our incoming recruits in that they know there is opportunity to get on the field early if they perform, no seniority rules at ND. Finally, it is not as if the starters are bringing home W's each week so keep looking for the right formula.

The only tinkering that I still believe was a waste or time was the D. Jones experiment in game one. Read the Rock Report article which has some interesting info. I also think that the DJ experiment cost ND a good player and great kid. I sure wish at this point that DJ would have been the kid to leave in summer and we had kept Zach Frazer. He had class and in the end his talents fall better into what CW's offense tries to do. DJ was about HIMSELF and too bad CW did not see that. Oh well, ifs and buts!!!!

 

[johnnd05]

Thanks jonesman. One point about the Jones/Frazer situation: Frazer was apparently behind both Clausen and Sharpley, and there's no reason to think that he wouldn't have left if he'd been named third-string after Spring ball. But as I said, I do agree with you that the whole Jones experiment was a disaster - though IMO, not giving Aldridge 20 carries a day from week one may have been even worse.

 

[Sir John]

Nice Johnn,

I myself could never understand the love affair with DJ. Believe me I got shot down numerous times saying he was all "ME ME" by fans on sites. What they called 'confidance' I called suicidal brashness. Even Weis said he was fun to be around and that just cuts no mustard game day. He came out leading, bouncing, hopping, smiling and was promptly shot down and exposed. He looked so shell shocked on the sidelines.

He claimed he was the GENERAL and all he would do was be QB. I still can't see why anyone else, you readers, media and coaches included could not see he was a misfit. It smelled before it got started.

 

[johnnd05]

Sir John, I agree with you about the problems with Jones's attitude, especially after the way that he (mis)handled his transfer situation. And you're right that that suggests yet another possible mistake made by the staff.

 

[Sir John]

I think it's all what i call (privately) The Louisville lip syndrome, (Cassius Clay - Muhammed Ali) Since then the mouth get's the attention.

 

[SoCalDomer]

Thanks jonesman. One point about the Jones/Frazer situation: Frazer was apparently behind both Clausen and Sharpley, and there's no reason to think that he wouldn't have left if he'd been named third-string after Spring ball. But as I said, I do agree with you that the whole Jones experiment was a disaster - though IMO, not giving Aldridge 20 carries a day from week one may have been even worse.

This is an interesting issue with alot of variables. So let's have some fun.

At the end of spring, Weis cut the competition down to 3. I think Frazer then said he was transfering, before Summer. But, if Weis already had in his mind to try the spread option, the fact that Jones was a more mobile QB may have tipped the scales for him to stay in the competition over Frazer.

Let's assume that is true. With the spread option out of his mind, Weis names Frazer, Claussen and Sharpley as the remaining three at the end of Spring. I don't think he would have up and transfered right then, because he would still be in the running. I think its safe to assume Jones would have transfered at that point, being the 4th QB and not wanting to play another position.

During Summer, Frazer and Sharpley would have gotten all the reps, since Claussen was injured an unable to throw, and more time would have been devoted to pocket passing since we wouldn't have wasted precious time with the spread option. So Frazer could have beaten out Sharpley, or at least been the #2 QB, since Claussen was hurt. He may not have transfered as the #2. Once Jimmy got well, if Frazer was bumped down to #3 then perhaps he would have. What happens during the season is too difficult to factor in, because I think we still would have had OL problems for a while.

I know this is alot of if's and mights, but I can see things could be very different if Weis had the spread option in his mind when he chose Jones over Frazer.

2cents

 

[Epitome]

I'm a little unsettled as to what may be going on behind scenes. There is a lot of negative remarks and spiteful actions being done lately. I'm beginning to feel this is all a ruse. I think CW isn't respected by his players and the team is divided instead of united. Recent articles say that Sully has been quoted as to say that he missed blocks on purpose so Jimmy could run around like an idiot. These articles went on to say he was stabbing at CW's weight problem.

More than Sully's allegations, the things that concern me the most are all the negative things the transfers are saying about what happens when the media isn't around. Carafel had had some real classless things to say about the program and DJ gave the team a premeditated screwing. These are actions of the spite that builds up not because of getting bumped on the depth charts, rather the responses that they believe are warranted because of actions done against them.

I'm a big CW fan and love ND, but MARK MY WORDS SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT BEHIND THE SCENES.

 

[SoCalDomer]

I'm a little unsettled as to what may be going on behind scenes. There is a lot of negative remarks and spiteful actions being done lately. I'm beginning to feel this is all a ruse. I think CW isn't respected by his players and the team is divided instead of united. Recent articles say that Sully has been quoted as to say that he missed blocks on purpose so Jimmy could run around like an idiot. These articles went on to say he was stabbing at CW's weight problem.

I haven't read articles like that. Can you post some links?

 

[johnnd05]

I haven't read articles like that. Can you post some links?

Please do. Quotes would also be helpful. And please also post more of what you've heard about Carufel saying nasty things; I never saw any of that.

 

[NDsuperfan09]

I need a link to believe in that 100%, but it seems like the offensive-line plays better with Sharpley under center. Sullivan must be pissed because he probably won't be drafted now after how bad he has performed this season.

 

[Epitome]

Irish Band of Brothers: A House Divided

 

[Epitome]

Something isn't right about this.

Matt Carufel, the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout offensive lineman who has left Notre Dame, was a spectator at Gophers football practice Wednesday and said he is interested in Minnesota, but might visit Iowa, too. He would have to sit out a year if he transferred.

Asked about Litchfield (Minn.) tight end John Carlson, who is a senior All-America candidate at Notre Dame, Carufel said: "How can he be doing anything the way things are going?" He said defensive end Trevor Laws, an Apple Valley graduate, is one of the Irish starters.

Speaking about the Irish's 1-6 record, Carufel said, "There are more reasons why Notre Dame isn't winning than why they should," but he declined to elaborate further.

There is one good reason for the Gophers' 1-6 record. A year ago, the Gophers were a plus-18 in turnovers for the season. This year, with five games to play, the Gophers are minus-15.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Something isn't right about this.

Matt Carufel, the former Cretin-Derham Hall standout offensive lineman who has left Notre Dame, was a spectator at Gophers football practice Wednesday and said he is interested in Minnesota, but might visit Iowa, too. He would have to sit out a year if he transferred.

Asked about Litchfield (Minn.) tight end John Carlson, who is a senior All-America candidate at Notre Dame, Carufel said: "How can he be doing anything the way things are going?" He said defensive end Trevor Laws, an Apple Valley graduate, is one of the Irish starters.

Speaking about the Irish's 1-6 record, Carufel said, "There are more reasons why Notre Dame isn't winning than why they should," but he declined to elaborate further.

There is one good reason for the Gophers' 1-6 record. A year ago, the Gophers were a plus-18 in turnovers for the season. This year, with five games to play, the Gophers are minus-15.

What a freaking di**head!!! Usually it's my policy to not talk crap on a kid who has left, but this s**t heel has hit new territory.

Good-Bye D***Wad

 

[Timugen]

Speaking about the Irish's 1-6 record, Carufel said, "There are more reasons why Notre Dame isn't winning than why they should," but he declined to elaborate further.

Yep, and evidently you were one of them, kid. Good riddance.

 

[johnnd05]

Whoa.

 

[johnnd05]

Irish Band of Brothers: A House Divided

I have to say that unfortunately I find much of this completely believable, especially since it squares with some other stuff I've heard ...

ND's version of the Hatfield's and McCoy's is brewing between Ty's former players and the underclassmen.

I started hearing rumors about this the week after the Georgia Tech game when a reliable source on campus said that several fifth year seniors were laughing about the game. While walking behind them on the way to Reckers, my source heard John Sullivan talking about how funny it was of how they lost ,and that "Fat Bastard" deserves what he gets from the media.

Another instance that was overheard was from a couple of weeks ago when Sullivan admittedly told others that he missed a block on purpose so that Jimmy Clausen would have to run for his life. Do you hear that crashing sound in the background? That's the preseason All-American center's NFL stock dropping at a rapid pace!

Even at practice, players are bickering back and forth at one another. It's one thing to bitch at a player for a blown assignment or whatnot, but it's something when they complain they are "Charlie's Boys" and that they need to pay their dues to start. Just like Charlie said, "The best players will play".

It's not the freshmen and sophomore's fault that they are better than Ty's recruits. Hopefully once the bad seeds are gone from the Losingham regime, Charlie and his Football Factory can start playing together as a TEAM!

Blech. What a nightmare. We just need to get through this year and put it behind us. Hopefully there won't be many long-term ramifications.

 

[goldandblue]

well come on next year! Get the bastards out of there that are not willing to play together as a team!

 

[Newc]

Wow...I would have never believe that this would be going on at Notre Dame, I just thought these kids were above this kind of trivial bullshit. Obviously it sounds like its an issue of hurt pride coming from the Ty boys since Charlie's guys seem a bit more hyped. Thats a real shame because life is going to be much harder for these guys if they can't get over a coaching change or the TY v. Charlie debate.

If this is all true then I am truely disappointed in ND for the first time in my life. Where is the veterean leadership? Where is the pride in your work? Sounds like some of these guys would be better suited for the set of Laguna Beach rather than the Notre Dame football field.

Complete bullshit...I can't wait for these guys to be gone now!

 

[GoIrish41]

What is really disturbing is that guys who are causing disruptions on the team are not being benched.

 

[Epitome]

The thing that I wonder about the most is Tommy Z. He is a born leader and I would think he has zero tolerance for this S$#t. I hope he is holding the culprits accountable for their actions via the threat of an ass whoopin.

 

[SoCalDomer]

Apparently no one is holding anyone accountable. Even the guy who wrote the Blog. If this information is legitimate, and he lives in South Bend, I think he has an obligation to get this information to Weis, or some non-player within the football program, and present his "eye witness information" to him.

I understand a reporter not revealing "his source", but they can get fired, end a career, or get sued for running a story if their facts aren't supported. It's pretty easy for a blogger to post whatever non-sense, claim he has a source and then not reveal it. What happens to a blogger who blows smoke? Nothing. He gets a few more hits on his blog.

The fact that no other blog or media source is supporting this troubles me. The South Bend Tribune found Jones' my space postings that he was going to be the starter. Other students also let the information out. If the 5th yr seniors have it in for Weis, more students would posting this information. The players would be talking to non-players, and they in turn would be gossiping it around. There's no way that zero media sources wouldn't want to run this kind of "scandalous" information. And there's enough media presence on campus to hear some of these rumors and pick up on it.

There's also some internal inconsistencies with these claims:
Regarding Sullivan allegedly missing blocks, Was Sullivan missing blocks for Jones and Sharpley on purpose? Because he looks like he couldn't block a leaf most of this season. And not just this season, he hasn't been an all-american anything. Sharpley (who is not a CW recruit) got sacked just as much as Clausen and Jones, did Sullivan forget who was back there?

Are the bad snaps on purpose? I seriously doubt Sullivan will get drafted at all next year based on how he is playing this year. He's a 5th yr senior who already has his degree(yes/no?) and is there presumably only to increase his draft stock. Why would you sabotage plays and make yourself look like an idiot if your sole purpose for playing a 5th year was to create a highlight reel for the scouts? That makes zero sense.

The blog also mentions other 5th yr seniors talking about it; who? Mo Crum, Trevor Laws, John Carlson, Tom Z? If Clausen is running around from missed blocks, Carlson would be pissed if that's why he's not getting the ball. Carlson had the most to gain by sticking around another year. He had a great year last year, and could have been a top tight end prospect if this year turned out well. I don't think he would be joking about sabotage when it affects him. The other guys on the defense would also be affected; the more the defense is on the field, the more they wear down and look bad.

Trevor Laws and Mo Crum have both increased their level of play and likely increased their draft stock this year. I don't think they would let Sullivan throw that down the drain for them. I don't think any of these guys would join in the sabotage; there's no logical reason to do so.

However...
IF THIS IS TRUE Sullivan could be endagering other players' future. Let's assume he lets someone through and he sacks Jimmy, or takes on the RB, and in the process causes a career ending injury. That is dead wrong. I don't care what animosity you have for the coach, you don't endanger other people's health or livelihood.

IF THIS IS TRUE Sullivan should be kicked off the team and possibly out of school. Is there an ethics code?

 

[KamaraPolice]

If this is true, how simple-minded is John Sullivan?

Even if Weis has made his life miserable, I would have to believe he capable of seeing the long term implications from playing like a patsy. His play this season has literally cost him a lot of money from the NFL.

I'm not doubting the source, but maybe its just rationalization for poor performance. Like, well I f'ed that play up... "Boys, you see where I let that guy nail Cluasen?"

If I were Sullivan, I'd be pissed at this shit. Either this is a misunderstanding or the coaching staff is so incompetent they do not know their players.

 

[Wham]

To hell with anyone who will write about "what they overheard".

Period.

To double hell with anyone who will wait to post it way after the obvious. If this writer had any nuts, the writer would have posted this immediately after hearing about it.

Bickering at practice is normal and healthy. Creating a scandal in writing is silly.

I've watched the games. Without ever reading about rumors, I thought a bit of a conspiracy was going on.

The fact remains though, this ND team is a Junior Varsity getting its collective ass kicked by superior teams.