Rockne's Roundtable

LOU!!
Got one for you.
I mentioned it on another thread, but thought I would post it in a more formal question here.

Has ND ever cleaned up like this in post-season awards? I know that many awards are fairly recently established, but trying to take that into account and all...

J_Law,

I can't see the USC series not ending every even numbered year in L.A. And the Stanford series appears to be something both schools are committed to for the long term because they have evolved into the top football/academics combinations.

When conference affiliations were discussed in recent years, Jack Swarbrick was consistent about the desire to maintain a yearly visit to California on a yearly basis. So for the short term, I don't see an alteration in this policy. Recruiting on the west coast also seems to ideally align with those year-end visits to USC or Stanford.

For a while in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the goal was to end the regular season in a warm weather spot — USC in even years and Miami in odd. Since Ara Parseghian's arrival in 1964, there have been only three exceptions where ND's final regular season game was at home: 1969 (Air Force), 1983 (Air Force again), and 1993 (you might recall that Boston College game).

Late November is generally not an appealing time to play in northern Indiana, and even this year there were quite a few Wake Forest tickets available before the game. I don't see this changing unless Stanford wants to break off the series.

"Nothing comes remotely close to this season as far as cleaning up on individual awards." -- Lou.

It sure seemed like it.
We didn't get that many All-Americans this year, but, wow, what an awards haul Manti came up with. And then the Coaches of the year awards, and even Eifert's. Wow.

Jason- when are junior days? Do you have to be invited?

Mpper10,

Would you believe that on a Jan. 7 several years ago, the universally accepted pronunciation of Knute Rockne's first name was to make the "K" silent, as in "NOOT"? This actually was found on a University anniversary calendar.

The proper pronunciation, however — and the one Rockne preferred — was to sound out the "K," as in "Ka-NOOT."

So the choice is up to you. You can do it the way it's universally accepted, or you can do it the way Rockne wanted it. Out of respect, I'd probably do it his way.

aceinthehole,

To qualify for Notre Dame academically, you need 16 core units for starters (four years of English, three years of math, two years of foreign language and sciences, etc.). Most players who wind up in JC are not anywhere close to fulfilling the scholastic needs to be admitted into Notre Dame. For some, certainly not all (i.e. Aaron Rodgers), the goal is just to major in "eligibility" until you get recruited by a major college. There has to be a major commitment by the student-athlete to school and to graduate.

Not saying there would be no one like that in the JC. Fullback Larry Moriarty (1980-82) came from Santa Barbara JC, but there were extenuating circumstances there, including a brother who had already attended ND. Tight end Ricky Gray came from Holy Cross JC across the street after failing at Clemson. The former DeMatha High product got his grades back up and became a good backup for Mark Bavaro.

If academics are not taken seriously by any prospect, he's not going to fit in at ND. Period. ND also usually winds up with top-10 classes in recruiting without JCs. Someone like Kansas State can't recruit the same pool as ND, so they will understandably go more toward the JC route.

Notre Dame makes plenty of exceptions, too. The average SAT score for an ND player probably is about 400 points lower than the average student, and many times more. But like Father Joyce used to say, a great football player adds value to the university the same way a virtuoso pianist or a master painter would.

It's just that you have to be able to fit in and compete academically too, otherwise you're not being fair to him and he will be overwhelmed. He must have a serious approach to the academics or he will get eaten up. It's a good thing to have people who are goal-oriented and competitive in all phases of their life, including scholastically.

Thanks Lou, appreciate the response.

NDFan20,

If Notre Dame lands Max Redfield (which we anticipate) and Eddie Vanderdoes, that's the icing on the cake. There is always room for a five-star player like Vanderdoes on the roster, even if you have to wait until Signing Day.

With Muhammad, I'd say it's safe to say Notre Dame's staff knows where it realistically stands with him at this time, and maybe with even someone already committed who might be wavering. The bottom line is you usually find a way to make it all work and fit. You know how many seats are on the bus and who gets preferred seating.

dave83nd,

The 17-man freshman class (including Chris Badger, who was an early enrollee in 2010 before taking two years off for a Mormon Mission) had eight players use up their rookie year of eligibility: safety Nick Baratti (mainly special teams), receiver Chris Brown, defensive end Sheldon Day, receiver Justin Ferguson (mainly special teams), slot Davonte' Neal (mainly punt return man), OLB Romeo Okwara (mainly special teams), corner KeiVarae Russell and nickel Elijah Shumate.

The nine who preserved a potential fifth season for 2016 are: Badger, snapper Scott Daly, center Mark Harrell, defensive end Jarron Jones, QB Gunner Kiel, running back Will Mahone, safety/OLB C.J. Prosise, offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley and safety John Turner.

DMo,

Even during a "dead period," one phone call per week is allowed to a prospect. What is not permitted are in-person contact, meetings or evaluations. No official visits to a campus by a prospect can take play. Even if a local product came to the campus — let's say Braxston Cave from nearby Penn came to ND as a high school senior for a basketball game — the staff cannot be in contact with him on the "unofficial" visit.

In-person contact, be it in-person meetings or in-person evaluations, or in-person anything. Location, here, is irrelevant. Teams cannot allow official visits to take place, and cannot contact a recruit if he visits a campus unofficially.

There was a story in "SB Nation" last year about how Nick Saban wisely used the dead period to his advantage when flipping running back T.J. Yeldon from Auburn to Alabama last winter. Allegedly, as they wrote, this is what occurred:

Saban had Yeldon convinced to switch from Auburn to Alabama. But he cleverly had Yeldon wait until right before the dead period began, so that Auburn staff and supporters could not contact Yeldon to get him to undo the switch. All Auburn can do is call Yeldon once per week. It's tough to get a kid to switch his commitment over the phone, particularly with just one call every seven days, as is limited by NCAA rule.

Even more fortuitous for Alabama was that Yeldon planned to enroll early. That meant he'd already have his enrollment papers submitted to the Crimson Tide before Auburn coaches ever have a shot to talk to him face-to-face.

You have to be "resourceful" to make the rules work for you. A national title pedigree helps too.