jimbo

222 Great, now I have to remember not to remember to put the count number…. 555

Yeah, not much drama this time around. It seemed the class has been pretty settled for a while now and the staff was more involved with the transfer portal. ND doesn’t seem to win many of those recruits who ‘pick the hat’ on signing day, so maybe the focus this year was on securing commitments earlier? I’m impressed there weren’t any decommits with the departure of Stuckey and Parker. Tells me they have done a really good job of ‘selling the ND experience’.

Couldn't agree more!

218 The Big LePlowski gets most votes in contest to name South Lake Tahoe's snowplows

Good luck to G Parker, hope he does well. I was reconciled to him being OC for the coming season. I thought if any assistants would leave, it would be Deland or Al Golden or maybe Mickens. Still is possible. I don't see Golden leaving for another college job, it's ND or NFL for him. It'll be an interesting few weeks: Christmas, New Years, early signing period, transfer portal, Bowl Game, New OC and who knows what else is coming our way!

And we're glad to have you...

215 Today, Dec 18, is “Answer the Telephone Like Buddy the Elf Day,” so when you answer the phone, you must immediately ask the caller their favorite color.

I don't see it as likely that Carr will leave because of Riley Leonhard coming to ND for 1 year. Minchey or Angeli, yeah possible. If Carr would win the starting job as a freshman, I think that would increase the probability of a Minchey / Angeli transfer. Either way, If Minchey / Angeli don't see a pathway to becoming the starting QB, they may look to enter the transfer portal.

Actually, players can transfer as many times as they like. However: The transfer portal has forever changed college football and how schools create their rosters, and now the NCAA has brought in another new change. While players going into the portal for the first time will still be able to get immediate eligibility at their next school, the NCAA is trying to stop players from entering the transfer portal multiple times. What's new: The NCAA Division I Council approved legislation to limit waivers for second-time transfer players. Now, any undergraduates who transfer a second time, or any other time after that, must meet specific guidelines in order to be eligible for immediate playing time starting with the 2023-24 season or risk sitting out a year between transfers. With exceptions: Under the new rule, players can still get immediate eligibility at their next school if they are transferring due to a physical injury or mental health concern. Exigent circumstances: And the NCAA will also consider "exigent circumstances" like abuse or sexual assault, but will not consider academic or athletic reasons, like being unsatisfied with playing time on their team. In recent years, the NCAA has granted waivers for immediate eligibility for football, basketball, and baseball transfers, but will now recommend against that for players who have transferred once during their college careers. Why the change: The NCAA wants to rein in the number of players using the transfer portal, a figure that has exceeded 2,000 just in the first transfer window after the 2022 college football season. Of those, at least 120 are quarterbacks. The rule in action: As an example, this new rule would have affected the career trajectory of quarterback JT Daniels. The former 5-star played at USC (2018-19) then at Georgia (2020-21) and then West Virginia (2022) before moving to Rice. Had this rule been in place, Daniels would have needed to graduate between each of his other two transfers or sit out and use up a year of eligibility. Undergrads only: The new rule applies only to undergraduates and not graduates, who are still eligible to play immediately should they transfer.

Definitely! Glad he's coming back and also a little surprised. Figured he would be testing the NFL waters, but what do I know?

I don't know if they are comparable type players, but Collins has been much more productive at Clemson than Tobias was in his 2 years at ND. I would make that trade for sure. Maybe a fresh start elsewhere is what Tobias needs to kick-start his career.

Sure it would be great if ND could pump out ‘homegrown’ QB’s with regularity. In today’s world of college football, the normal thing is for top QB’s to transfer. Look at the 3 QB’s who are Heisman finalists - Bo Nix, M Penix and Jaden Daniels - all transfers. Caleb Williams, last year’s Heisman winner, transfer. OSU took Justin Fields as a transfer from Georgia, which resulted in Joe Burrow transferring to LSU. OSU had freakin Joe Burrow on their team and still brought in Fields as a transfer. Quin Evers transferred from OSU to Texas. The list goes on. It is a difficult situation nowadays, seems like whoever loses the starting QB job will transfer. And then all of a sudden you’re down to 2-3 QB’s on the roster. Almost impossible to keep that ideal number of 4 QB’s on the roster. Whether you bring in someone from the portal or not, whoever doesn’t win the starting job will be more likely than not to transfer out. So what’s the answer???

Yes, very impressed with how MF and the staff have been handling things with the portal.

Yes it would be good to get Angeli and Minchey some playing time in the bowl game. There’s also something to be said about playing in your very last college football game.

Dude, if you were talking about FSU, I might agree with you…555

Agree with this for the most part. I think with the 12 team playoff field next year, things will change. At least for the playoff bound teams, my guess is that there will be far fewer players opting out and/or entering the portal (at least until afterwards). For instance, if ND was in the playoffs this year, do you think Chris Tyree or Zeke Correl would still be in the portal? My point is, at least for those 12 playoff bound teams, the bowl games will be a lot more meaningful. Which is a good thing.

Agree with much of this fro both BTC4 and Baldy. I think the coaching staff turnover hasn’t been all that much really. Sure there have been a few, nothing I would say is all that excessive. OC: It looks like Parker will be back for another go of it. Not completely onboard with that, but I hope it works well. Many folks lament the Ludwig situation at OC, but Utahs O this year was anything but great, something like ranked 85 in the country. Not very impressive. OL: Rudolph is good. RB: Deland is great. TE: Continued stellar play. WR: Chances are we’ll never know the whole story here. Trust MF will make another good hire. Chansi certainly improved the WR group. I’d give a 2 steps forward, 1 step back rating. DC: Golden is great. DL: Al Washington showed out this year, much better than his 1st season. DB: Mickens is great. If Al Golden leaves, and I really hope not, Mickens would be my choice for DC. S: Much improvement in the play and recruiting of the safeties this year. ST: Impossible to improve on Mason, but it wasn’t a big step back either. I think if Golden leaves, it would be for the NFL, not another college job.

Yes it is. Best wait until the dust settles before getting too upset about things.

Tobias moving on isn’t a surprise at all, I had him pegged as one of the more likely candidates to enter the portal. His time at ND has been underwhelming from whichever point of view you look at it from. Will be interesting to see how he fares in a new environment.

I’m guessing there were rumblings going around about Chansi for a while, because it seems MF moved pretty quickly on this after the season ended. Also makes it seem more likely Parker is staying, what would be the point of letting go of Chansi now and then changing Parker later? If you’re cleaning house, why hold back for now? I think Elko is a good coach, although Duke stumbled down the stretch. He may turn out to be a great hire. I just don’t believe he will bring A&M to a level with Alabama and Georgia. A&M under Elko will be good, not necessarily great.

Wondering what kind of buyout package A&M is giving Elko???

Definitely surprised by Tyree and Correll. And probably more surprises coming!

The intrigue will be there for a ND/LSU matchup. My preference would be Tennessee, primarily because we have played LSU recently in the postseason bowls. New blood. But if I were the Reliaquest Bowl organizing committee, I’d be all in on making ND/LSU happen. The game would sell itself.

Mike, I appreciate that you announce the upcoming changes to the site etc in advance and also seek input on it. Most sites make changes and then inform you after the fact. Kudos!

Excellent post tneun! My uninformed opinion is most of the staff stays, the possible exceptions being Deland, one of Al Golden / Mike Mickens and probably Parker. Deland probably moves on, sounds like he’s a wanted man in the pros. My guess is if, as most everyone wants, Al Golden sticks around, that increases the probability of Mike Mickens leaving for a DC position somewhere else. If Golden leaves, Mickens will be promoted to DC at ND. My gut feeling is Al Golden stays. Hope they both stick at ND! Chansi stays. He was dealt a tough hand this year with all the injuries and the play calling at times didn’t bring out the best in the wide receivers. This year has probably dimmed his star a bit, but I would expect a bounce back next season, for both Chansi and the WR room as a whole. Gerard Parker, as tneun put it, this is the million $$$ question. There are going to be some changes on the O side of the ball, but exactly what only MF has any idea at this time. I think Parker will be gone or at least demoted. I don’t see him sticking around long if he is in fact demoted.