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1. Whiskeyjack said:

   April 26th, 2011 at 9:39 am

   Good read, Eric. I agreed with most of your answers.

   Though this is slightly off-topic, I want to throw it out there before I forget. I’m dying to know how Diaco changed our defensive schematic between Navy and Army last season. OFD had an excellent Xs and Os analysis of what went wrong against Navy, but aside showing a lot of our basic 4-3 front against Army, I don’t know what we did differently.

   Maybe that’s a good article for early October, but I wouldn’t complain if it came during the interminable stretch before September either.
2. 

   Eric Murtaugh said:

   April 26th, 2011 at 10:25 am

   That might be a possibility Whiskeyjack, we’ll have to see if Coach can make some time for it.

   From what I remember in the Navy game, we had NT Ian Williams all alone in the middle of the line, with the DE’s pretty far out near the offensive tackles. The OLB’s stood up next to the DE’s.

   One of the things coach stressed was that the DE’s have to crash in on the fullback on every play. They did not do that.

   For some reason, we lined up in a scheme against Navy that begged them to run the ball up the middle…which of course they did. I know some will talk about the veer option play, but we basically had Williams on an island by himself to stop the run up the middle.

   We made it easy on Navy to double Williams, and allow their linemen to get out and block Te’o and Calabrese, which they did with ease on many plays. From what I recall, it was like the Irish DE’s and OLB’s were concerned with the pitch outside, but left Navy to use 5 linemen to block the 3 other Irish defenders up front. Just too easy.

   We did go to a four-man front against Army, but I can’t remember if we brought in another tackle (Hafis maybe) or if we just put Fleming down with his hand like a regular 3-4 scheme. But we did clog the middle and made sure Army wasn’t running up the middle.
3. Mouth Of The South said:

   April 26th, 2011 at 2:45 pm

   Prister said that? I’m not now a member of any pay sites, but I thank Mr. Prister for helping me make the decision to never pay to be a member of a site that he runs. Mike Frank will get my money if I ever decide to start giving it to a pay site. What a snarky, petty, ugly thing to write. I wonder what he thought he would accomplish. Was he sitting there, twisting his mustache, wringing his hands, thinking “I’ll show that son-of-a-bitch Walters. I’ll teach him to disseminate his opinions freely in the public forum. He should know better than to express extremely generic opinions about the ‘feeling’ surrounding ND football. That’s my job.” Golic would say “SERIOUSLY?” Wasn’t it Prister who published Weis’s off-the-record comments about Pete Carroll and his mistress? Honestly. I hope he was kidding, but it doesn’t sound like it.

   I would say to WhiskeyJack that, first and foremost, Navy and Army are two different teams. Navy’s gone to bowl games for like 10 years in a row–I’m clearly not a statistician–and they haven’t had a losing season since the 90′s–also not fact and based totally on my memory. But Navy has sustained a high level of success for much longer than Army. I defer to Paul McCartney on the defensive front alignment, but Navy and Army are two entirely different animals.

   Biggest Spring Disappointment–I wouldn’t say that McCarthy and McDonald were disappointing. I would say that their injuries were disappointing. I’m really pulling for those two guys. McCarthy was supposed to be a lot more talented than his bro, and if he’s half the “football player” that Kyle was, he’s just got to drop it like it’s hot sooner or later. K-Mac didn’t blossom until his true senior year, but when he did, he was a ROCK. Even though Whiskey (a) was hating on K-Mac and (b) still believes that Sergio Brown was the better football player. Don’t believe him if he says otherwise. Maybe McCarthy will have a fifth-year for the ages. I guess playing any amount of football is gravy after you FRACTURE YOUR CERVICAL SPINE and have to get a fusion. Poor A-Mac. The kid will catch a break this year. He’s due.

   tMotS
4. Whiskeyjack said:

   April 26th, 2011 at 5:33 pm

   Thanks for the replies, guys. There’s no doubt that Navy is significantly better than Army; but our defense was so utterly ineffective against Navy, and so completely dominant against Army, that I have to believe schematic changes played a part.

   Someone on the Irish Illustrated board answered my question; to the extent you might find it interesting, here it is:

   “We played a 3-4 Cover 4 vs. Navy. Unfortunately, I deleted the game and can’t look at exactly what went wrong. What I do know is the defense was unsound. I know this because of the game the Navy FB had. If you’re playing it correctly, the FB should rarely get the ball (only when they block it a certain way that makes the FB the carrier). We didn’t get beat because of a 3-4. The front doesn’t matter. What matters is execution. Like I said, I wish I still had the game on my DVR. I think part of the problem was the coaches gave the OLB’s and safeties predetermined assignments. So instead of reacting to how Navy blocked the play, which would determine the proper assignments, our OLB would play the pitch and the QB would cut inside him. That’s just an example that I recall. They also got us good with their unbalanced formation.

   Vs Army, we played a 4-4. The base alignments were:

   DE’s in 5 techs (outside shade of OT)
   DT’s in 2i’s (inside shade of OG)
   ILB’s in 30′s (outside shade of OG at depth)
   OLB’s outside end man on line of scrimmage.
   Safety run the alley to direction of flow
   CB’s deep half (essentially man-to-man vs the WR.

   This alignment takes away the midline option and forces the veer option (FB aiming point at guard).

   The DT’s just plug the A gap all day long.

   The DE’s were responsible for “squeezing” the down block of the OT. Then they tackled whatever threat was there (FB). Squeezing the down block allows the ILB to flow over the top.

   ILB’s read flow and check their B gap. If open, attack and tackle the FB. If closed, which it usually was, scrape to the C gap and play QB. The OLB’s read the wing back to their side and reacted to his block. Maintain outside leverage and play pitch on wide blocks by wing backs. Squeeze down blocks by wing backs and play QB.

   We executed pretty much flawlessly that game. It was beautiful. However, we changed the structure of our base defense’s. This is not generally a good idea, but was acceptable because we didn’t know how to stop Navy out of our base defenses. So don’t be surprised if we come out in a 3-4 Cover 4 vs. Navy and Air Force next year.”
5. BryanW said:

   April 26th, 2011 at 7:05 pm

   Wow Prister is a jerk. I don’t care if he has a point, there is no need to say something like that. As he writes that comment about KA, there is some player or coach saying “How would Tim Prister know anything about Notre Dame when he’s never in team meetings or in the locker room to report on its football program? Player and coaches have a feel for the program because they are immersed in it; reporters take the feelings/opinions formed by those on the scene and make it their own.” I will actively avoid his work from now on. I get all the info I need from the blogs.
6. Marty Healy said:

   April 27th, 2011 at 9:26 am

   Eric, Great article as usual. I am an armchair fan with very little knowledge of the X’s and O’s.
   I watch games on TV, FORM AN OPINION, then read expert opinions of what I saw and,
   USUALLY FORM AN ADJUSTED DIFFERENT OPINON. Mainly, from your articles as well as those of others I have read: My ADJUSTED OPINION is that Notre Dame will be a better football
   team in every aspect of the game: By Position Group including depth except maybe running back
   depth. 1: Notre Dame is returning the bulk of last years team. 2: One more year under the guidance of the Kelly System (conditioning, experience, and familiarity) 3: Influx of Possible difference making players (Nix, Lynch, Williams, Truitt).
   My main apprehension is has to be ” Was our defense as good as it looked in the final 4 games”
   or based on some combination of luck and catching a few programs (mainly USC and Miami) in years where there offenses were not up to par? I hope that as Whiskey pointed out it was a scheme thing against Navy. I suspect that our defense was somehere in the middle, meaning not as good as we looked thru the final four games nor as bad as we looked against Navy. Insert
   Nix in the middle and Navy may have to go to a aerial attack or submarine warfare since the middle will be clogged!
   Regardless, I think Notre Dame’s defense this year will be either very good too “Elite”.
   Offense: The only thing to hold us back is our quarterbacking play. Notre Dame had very good offensive players last year as they will this year with another year under their belt.
   The quarterback situation is the great UNKNOWN!
   I think Notre Dame will win 7 to 10 games with any of the four quarterbacks. I also think that they
   can lose or win against anybody that is scheduled. Stanford and USC are the most formidable opponents. But I think Notre Dame will be competitive with them this year.
   Kelly has stated that their will be a competition to become the quarterback for 2011, he has also stated that he is forming packages of playsfor each player that take advantage or avoid disadvantages of players abilities. I agree with Whiskey from another blog that Kelly is probably
   managing his comments to avoid over enthusium towards the young guys (Hendrix and Golson) and to propping up the play of the incumbents(Reese and Crist). Kelly and his coaching staff
   see what we have seen from the play of all four in the Spring Game as well as the play of the incumbents from last year. They have the decisive advantage of seeing these guys in practice up to September! Conditions were miserable for the Spring game. Some of Crist’s throws may have slipped or been batted down by the wind. I have read numerous comments that the incumbents may not be the type Kelly would have recruited for his spread formation and that (Hendrix and Golson) would be. Crist looked very good and not so good last year.
   I dont think it will be totally decided by Sept. Kelly may state that Crist is the starter but that we may see plenty of action from all four, depending how the game is going and situations develop.
   Kelly will not want to be pigeonholed of having named a one and only starter for 2011. He may want to allow players to work themselves in or out of minutes. Politically, he gives Crist (Reese) a five star recruit his final chance as well as giving experience to the future Hendrix(Golson).
   This will be viewed as having been idiotic if we lose but as genius if we win. Notre Dame might be able to get thru with wins for a few games as this develops. It might give all of us a decisive opinion as to who should or should not be quarterback. My personal opinion from what I have seen or read is that it is between Hendrix and Golson
7. Marty Healy said:

   April 27th, 2011 at 10:39 am

   Kelly is not looking to 2012 but 2011. Reese may not have the Physical attributes to play pro.
   Crist has more but with his prior two injuries we need a change of pace guys like Hendrix (Golson) to run . Naysayers will claim conventional wisdom is keep one guy at quarterback until you lose. Consistency is important to your offense. Maybe!! But the opponents defense will not be able to figure how to prepare for Notre Dame. Kelly has always been unconventional. I think he will attack unconventionally. I do not want either Hendrix or Golson to transfer after 2011 only to see them star somewhere else. (USC oh please no!!).
   I am looking at this from the angle of future recruiting. Any future recruit Notre Dame has at quarterback with Kelly will always wonder if he will be given a fair chance to strut his stuff or be
   sitting on the bench his career because one student was slightly better. I would want Kelly to be known as a coach that will use all his weapons at his disposal.
   Question: why does anyone think Crist will not come after 2011?? Going pro, transfer or quitting football?? I believe his best chance is here unless he senses he will not be given a chance due
   to the talents of the Hendrix(Golson) combo or that Kelly might not be high on him.
   I agree with you Eric that Reese may have seen his glory in 2010 unless something were to happen significantly in 2011.
8. Marty Healy said:

   April 27th, 2011 at 2:11 pm

   Eric, I am sorry to be a pest today on here. But I am with you 100% on the fact that it is a very uncomfortable feeling to have two quarterbacks with such high possible upsides while having four or five years of eligibility to them in Hendrix(4) and Golson(4 or 5). Neither wants to play second fiddle to each other at this point. One without the other might see extensive playing time in their very near future due to an injury or just lack of ability from the incumbents (Crist or Reese) getting the job done. I also at this point do not want to give up on Crist now that our defense appears pretty good. Maybe some of Crist’s throws into the dirt were actually his way of throwing a ball away at the last moment having seen a defender coming on for a possible interception. Either way my gut tells me that Hendrix and Golson are the future and Kelly must give them significant playing time NOW or risk losing one or both to transfers. Both have cannons for arms and can run!! That is why I would start Crist noting that fans may be seeing all four in the first half. Kelly has a way out of not really committing to one. Let their play dictate minutes. Just try not to get them over anxious as to forcing things as my method invariably will. LOL!!
   Please, look on You Tube and see watch Golson highlights of “less than three quarters of play in one game”: titled “Everette Golson Doin’ work” uploaded according to U Tube on Aug 1,2009.
   If I have it right that would make it at most a sophmore performance from the prior year!!
   Could that be right??

   “Everett Golson goes 26-30 for 411 yards and 7 touchdowns with 4 rushes for 52 yards and 1 touchdown against North Myrtle Beach (AAA playoff team). He completed his first 11 passes, which included four touchdowns. Two of the incompletions were drops (which are shown). That’s a 253.8 QB rating.”
   He appeared to get pretty good blocking and had good receivers. But he also delivered almost every ball perfectly in their hands on the run. Most of these highlight films never show a players bad plays. I think this film is showing almost his entire performance.
   WOW I go back away He reminds me of Doug Flutie 5’10 180 lbs Golson 6’0 180 lbs
   Longo might be able to build Golson up a few ounces!!
   Kelly, I suspect, was a huge Boston College fan coming from Mass. one year younger than Flutie. Maybe, that is where Kelly developed his approach of having a mobile quarterback
   with a rocket arm. I suspect Kelly saw the clip or clips I referenced above and said to himself
   “Doug Flutie” and he couldn’t care less if Golson was leprechaun size as long as he brings the Golden “Arm, Legs, Vision, Touch, and Elusiveness” this kid appears to possess. Golson
   was a three star recruit by some scouting services due to his physical size. Well, Boston College was the only college that offered Flutie a scholarship. The “Golden Leprechan” LOL
   This kid has been operating in the spread offense for at least three years. Give him an idea
   of what our offense and their defenses are doing, maybe try to get him to change hands with
   the ball once he commits to run. Don’t try to coach this kid too much. I think he is a PHENOM.
   as I think Lynch might be. GO IRISH!!
9. 

   whiskey said:

   April 27th, 2011 at 5:43 pm

   WJ- I don’t think we ever went back and broke down Army but if you follow the link below there is a lengthy discussion on the Navy game. We talked about what went wrong in the comments. From what I remember I think the explanation on Army that you posted above pretty much covers the basics. Short version by playing 4 down linemen and walking Slaughter up as a 4th LB bottled up the inside gaps and left bodies available to cover the pitch. It worked but Army is a different offense and the whole idea behind the game plan would make for an interesting discussion. I’ll try and keep it in mind for Navy week this year.

   Conversations with the Coach ND vs the Navy Spread Option

   As for Prister I think his comments reflect a growing resentment towards bloggers from actual reporters. Scipio Tex actually wrote a great post on Barking Carnival about this exact thing last year. I wish I had time to dig it up. While there is an element of truth to Prister’s comments I think that the ever expanding media coverage will continue to close the gap on what one is and is not able to discern from being on location or on the other side of the planet. For instance he can attend a BK presser in person but we can watch the same presser on the internet then get a post up on it within the hour minus any word count limits, editor opinions etc.

   tMoTS- I also concede on the Brown vs. McCarthy debate. You were proven correct. I owe you a beer.
10. 

    Eric Murtaugh said:

    April 28th, 2011 at 5:23 am

    Like I’ve said, I don’t want to see any transfers either, but in reality one or two of these quarterbacks will not be playing significant minutes over their career.

    Even if we assume Rees will be out of the picture, it’s hard enough to tell who is going to emerge as the “guy” between Hendrix and Golson in a post-Crist ND world.

    I’m not really comfortable with Kelly using multiple quarterbacks.

    Bringing in Hendrix this year on a play here or there or down near the goal line…that’s about as far as I can accept playing two quarterbacks. In a perfect world it will be a great way to get Hendrix playing time and keep defenses on their toes, but unless the team goes 13-0 there will be problems of some kind stemming from doing this.

    As already mentioned, I don’t think there will be huge “problems” this year, but 2012 is going to be one heck of a thrill. Some think Crist will go to the NFL if he plays well, yeah maybe…but I still think he comes back unless he doesn’t finish 2011 as starter. If he returns, does the team go full blown LSU-style and change quarterbacks every other series? That sounds scary, and probably something we don’t want to replicate seeing as how that’s the one position holding LSU back right now.

    I kind of see the comparisons of Golson to Flutie, but Flutie was listed VERY generously at 5’10″ and is extremely small for a QB whereas Golson probably has 3 or 4 inches on him.

    I keep seeing a lot of people predicting Golson will see the field this year, and I would be absolutely shocked if that were to happen. Yes, he has stud written all over him but the kid is seriously skinny and needs more time in the system. Sure he is instantly our most athletic quarterback and probably one of the top three or four most athletic players on the whole team, but he’s not Vince Young or Michael Vick, and it’s not like he’s just so dominant running the ball that he has to play right away.

    I am seriously interested to see how Kelly handles these players.
11. Whiskeyjack said:

    April 28th, 2011 at 9:33 am

    Assuming Crist stays healthy, when does Rees see the field? The general consensus seems to be that Hendrix will be our change-of-pace/ mobile red zone QB, and that mop up time would be best spent on getting Hendrix more reps; if that’s the case, Rees seems to be the most likely transferee.

    What happens if Kelly takes a highly rated QB in the class of 2012? We’re already at risk for a transfer with 4 talented scholarship QBs on the roster; toss in a 5th, and it’s virtually guaranteed that someone will transfer.

    Now, why a highly rated QB would choose to walk into our depth chart, or why Kelly would want to take a QB– in light of our current QB situation– in a class that may be as small as 16, is beyond me… but FUSC has been doing it for years, so why can’t we?
12. 

    Jim Miesle said:

    May 4th, 2011 at 9:44 am

    So I am only a week behind and didn’t make it thorugh the second half of the comments, but here are a few thoughts for the select few that read an 8 day old dinosaur of a blog post:

    1. I agree with you that Crist will be starter. Hopefully he stays healthy. I know many are going to still be on the Rees bandwagon due to the mediocre show in the spring game by DC (magnified by poor overall route running on the outside), but his ceiling is so much higher, it is rediculous. Rees is very accurate, but doesn’t have the arm to throw a 15 yd out from the opposite hash without floating it. Read: Pick Six more often than not. Hendrix has a great skill set and could settle into the #2 spot by midseason. Golson is a sick talent, but his overall height concerns me. If the kid was 6’2″ or taller, he would have been one of the top QBs in last years class and would blow away the competition. As it is, he will struggle to get throwing lanes in college without Vick-like deep drops or roll-outs.

    2. Yes and Yes. We should have high expectations for a kid like Lynch, but should also temper them this year. He may end up in the two deep or just be a pass rush specialist, it all depends on how he does over the summer. It will be hard to keep him off the field and will likely back up KLM. 6 or 7 sacks? I would be a bit more conservative with a Shembo-like 4 or 5.

    3. Lo Wood definitely helped answer some lingering questions about the secondary with a solid effort in the spring game. Welch also was a nice surprise. Disappointments–injuries.

    4. Cierre Wood – over, Jonas Gray – over, Floyd – under, Crist – over, Rees – under, Hendrix/Golson – under, Lynch – under, Wins – over (I hope). Still lots of questions that won’t be answered for some time.

    5. Don’t underestimate the importance of playing in Philly vs. Temple. Look at what the trip(s) to Texas have done for recruiting. Same goes for getting regular games in Chicago. BK and JS have a plan, and any true ND fan should be happy/excited about what they are doing. You can’t play a top 10 team every week.

    6. I never liked the pay sites because, well you pay for content you can get for free. I think that same feeling is shared by traditional/main stream media across the country. He comes off as a jerk (that is putting in nicely), but seriously–anyone who follows the team with any regularity could say that the feeling/attitude has definitely changed.

    As far as the Army vs. Navy discussion, Whiskeyjack broke it down nicely. I am not some uber-football tactician that knows all the vernacular, but I do remember what I saw. First, yes–the two teams are very different on the level of coaching and execution. Navy has been doing that same thing for quite some time, while Army just switched back from more of a pro-style offense recently (if I remember correctly).

    Versus Navy, the spacing and assignments were all screwed up, which as was pointed out opened up the FB up the middle. The fullback should only get a handful of carries if you play the triple option correctly. They shouldn’t rack up 200 yds. It was basically 5 on 3 inside, which left the safeties to clean up after a huge gain.

    Versus Army, they went to a 4-4 stack, single high safety (Cover 1). Blanton was on the weakside (I believe) alternating with Slaughter. The corners played press man and never allowed a free release. The DEs were controlling the edge and allowing the OLBs to clean up. Just look at the tackle totals: Te’o – 9, Walls – 7, KLM – 7, H Smith – 6, Slaughter – 5, Blanton – 4. Gray – 3. Inside out pursuit from Te’o because he wasn’t being blocked by the FB or interior OL, the rest of the tackles came from defenders on the outside (DB/CB/DE). That is all you need to know.

    As far as Navy and Air Force in 2011, I don’t think they would go back to the Cover 4 vs Navy. They will be breaking in a new QB (good riddance to Dobbs) and a new QB will tend to do one of two things–get rid of the ball too soon (FB dive) or hold on to it too long (off tackle/sweep). Cover 4 won’t help in either situation. They might play that vs. Air Force because they tend to throw the ball more in their offense.
13. 

    Eric Murtaugh said:

    May 5th, 2011 at 5:24 am

    A week later Jim, but I still read your comment. Can’t say I really disagree with you on anything.
14. 

    Jim Miesle said:

    May 5th, 2011 at 8:47 am

    Thanks Eric, I figured someone would.
15. 去痘痘 said:

    September 26th, 2011 at 2:54 am

    Cost depends upon your chosen treatment and the number of treatments needed.

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