97domer

Same with Phil J at Pitt. Ugly

Alabama / Buchner / Reese - looking really bad so far Prime time- a relative has dealt with him a lot professionally and gotten to know him personally… when the camera is on and social media is involved, he’s everything you see when the camera is off, he is a complete a’hole and treats anyone who’s not a celebrity like $h1t I listen to him and want to love him, but he’s everything wrong with the world

Buchner now starting for Alabama this week so that game certainly becomes a lot more interesting to watch.

Offense and Oline had me a little worried. I’ll chalk it up to what I’m hoping is a really good NC State defense and maybe a slightly off Hartman. It especially bothered me how much we struggled to have sustained drives. On the other hand, the chunk plays will force future defenses to think about how they defend us Defensively, I was really pleased. Remember back in the day when we used to struggle against a scrambling QB? - We did an A+ junior yesterday! Hopefully that will translate to the USC game.

Hadn’t given up 30 points in 16 games - makes me feel better

Is NC defense really good? Trying to determine how much our poor offensive showing is in us

I try to appreciate what Kelly did for ND and then root like heck against him for the way he left. it felt so dirty rooting for FSU, but made me happy. He always struggled with the big games and too much time to prepare wonder what the LSU faithful is saying now. That was a second half beat down

My ticket advise for anyone buying from a ticket service is to AVOID VividSeats like the plague. I've had 2 situations where the seller never released the tickets (because they decided to hold onto them to see if they could sell them for more $ on another site.) I ended up having to pay premium as I was standing at the gate with my son waiting to get into a game. VividSeats also had a seller that only released 1 of 2 tickets. So I was stuck with 1 ticket for 2 people and ended up having to buy 2 more. VividSeats told me tough-luck.

Thanks for your service! I paid for ND tuition through an Army ROTC scholarship which makes me love the ND vs. military academy games and appreciate the military history of the school! I took the wife and kids to Ireland for spring break last year. It was fantastic - what a beautiful country! I was talking to a friend of mine when I got back about how truly different and better the Guinness was in Ireland. He had recently hired an Engineer who worked for Guinness and learned that there really is a difference. Granted, this is 3rd-hand so I can't speak to the actual validity of this, but... 1) They have various quality measures for Guinness. The highest rated Guinness stays in Dublin. Tier 2 stays in Ireland. Tier 3 stays in the UK 2) They have very strict quality control measures in Ireland and even stricter quality measures in Dublin. I believe he mentioned in Dublin that they have quality teams that go to the bars (weekly in Dublin and every 3 weeks in the rest of Ireland?) to test/clean lines, measure if it's at the proper temp, ensure the right gas mixture, ensure the bartenders are doing a proper pour, etc. They even measure how many micro-scratches are in the inside of glasses from being washed. If there are too many, it can hold onto the carbonation (or something like that) making it taste slightly more bitter - they replace the glasses. They also have their own line-cleaning technology they use. 3) Obviously, it's fresher. Partly because it's closer but largely because it is constantly flowing so there is never Guinness sitting in a line or a keg that has been around for awhile. Anyways, some interesting facts. I always assumed it was a mental thing. You're in Ireland, on vacation, in a wonderful pub, surrounded by some of the nicest people in the world so it should taste better. But I can say that there is a significant difference. Final note on Ireland. The people are absolutely amazing. Almost uncomfortably nice and welcoming. It was one of the things that most stood out to me from our trip. To all of those there - enjoy! and GO IRISH!

I’m looking for pretty much one thing - what do we have in Sam Hartman. He is the difference between 15 or lower ranking vs fighting for a college playoff bid late in the season

My heart tells me 10-2 or better My mind tells me 9-3 with all the coaching staff changes either way, I’m freaking excited for the season. - Freeman in his second year will be fun to see how he’s grown and progressed - Sam Hartman!!! - How will Parker do and how will the offense look compared to Reese? - so many fun recruits that have come in. Can’t wait to see who shines early - what a freaking great schedule! Clemson, Ohio State, and USC! Plus Navy in Dublin!

Thanks Jack and enjoy retirement! I was a big fan of his. He helped ND navigate some really unique situations and has done an incredible job hiring coaches across sports. I especially look at how he treated Kelly in 2016 when he went 4-8. He didn’t kick Kelly to the curb like every other big D1 program would have and like the alumni wanted. Rather, he helped Kelly see his faults and reinvent himself. I feel like that says a lot about Jack’s character

Overall, I feel like the transfer portal is one of the biggest detriments to ND football moving forward. It becomes a complete uneven playing field for us considering that every one of our players is eligible to play anywhere in the country, but we can really only bring on grad transfers with few exceptions. if the portal rules don’t change, I wonder if ND will be willing to get creative

Sorry, I’m an idiot on how to insert a Twitter feed. Pete Thames saying that Alabama is a likely destination. This would be interesting if it happened

Faith - love the direction of moving on to what we have and what it means. I wonder how much simplicity we need. On one hand, a seasoned QB. On the other hand, a new-to-ND QB. I’m still optimistic on our offense. If we can continue to establish a great running game, it should really open up the passing.

To me, the only problem with all of this is not having the correct contract. That is the disaster. I hire 20-50 sales people every year, and there is no excuse for not understanding their contract obligations. By not understanding the contract, we pushed other candidates away, leaked to the press that he's our top guy, etc. It also possibly means we told Hiestand that we found a new Oline coach (pure speculation.) An organization the size of ND with the resources it has should never be in this situation. My opinion, which differs from most here, is that it is not a bad thing that we turned Ludwig down due to the buyout and I don't think it means Freeman or anyone that matters feels that ND doesn't fully support the football program. I think ND would have no problems buying out $4MM of contracts, but not for someone who's not worth it. If they don't feel Ludwig is worth it, then I'll trust them. Also, realize that Ludwig has never lasted anywhere more than a 2-3 years in his entire career. That's a red flag and really tough to do when your career spans 30+ years, though I realize the nature of college football drives some of that. If we assume he's a 2-3 year guy at ND, then his $2M salary (or whatever he would demand from us) now becomes a $3M salary with the buyout spread over 2 years. Not worth it for a guy like Ludwig in my humble and ignorant opinion. So, we learn from our mistakes, adjust, move on, and hopefully hire an even better candidate!

Klein is interesting - I feel like we'd be hiring his potential, more than anything. He's only been an OC for 1 year, so there's a lot of risk there, especially considering how young and inexperienced our staff is. ND is a tough spot to learn on the job, but he certainly has a lot of attention in CFB with what he did at KState last year. Klein is my least favorite option, but I'm sure that ND/Freeman know better than I do. Ludwig is the opposite of Klein - much older and experienced. I feel like you know what you get with him. Though he has a few small pockets of failure, most of his experience has shown a lot of success on the offense. His balanced offensive style and ability to generate a great running game seems like a good match for ND. My biggest concern with him is that he does not have a reputation as a top recruiter. Sean Lewis is known for his fast-tempo offenses. I believe he had the fastest temp in CFB this year? I love the concept of a fast-tempo, but it becomes a hot mess if your offense goes 3 and out. It would be fun to stick it to Deion. I also love that Lewis has been a head coach the past few years.

Was a nice résumé builder tonight. Michigan State is really banged up and I expect their ranking to increase significantly later on in the season. Notre Dame seems to still live and die by the 3 pointer. Shoot 10% 3PT against St Bonaventure and lose Shoot over 40% 3PT against Michigan State and win

Water bottle and no flag. Here’s the video https://twitter.com/CowardlyDoggo/status/1576422429898833921?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1576422429898833921|twgr^30969c64760c761d233ab7855524a712f3b1019d|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-2674259263400369382.ampproject.net%2F2209142312000%2Fframe.html

I am now a huge ASU fan!

I can’t speak to the rules for this particular situation, but I will give Harbaugh credit that he is at the forefront of creativity in recruiting. Trips to Europe, Colin Kaepernick, this event, etc. He is progressive in trying things where everyone else is reactive.

I joined here after the Blue Grey Sky blog/forum shut down back in 2010. Was one of my favorite ND blogs of all time. Right after DD of course 🙂

According to my brother who went to UF, UF sees this as a big get. Taylor was possibly LSU's best recruiter.

I was pretty elated that all the assistant coaches turned him down, but it sounds like Freeman would have gone if he didn’t get the head coaching job at Notre Dame. He said as much in his interview.

When Coan is under pressure, our offense has been terrible. I see our success dependent on how much our offense has improved since the first few games of the season. Also, if we can gain first-downs, the up-tempo should keep them a bit more on their heels or gasping for air. I'm excited to see how Freeman does!