Rockne's Roundtable

Scott from CLT,

Funny you should ask, because we just did a thread on that earlier this week, and I included it in my "3 Thoughts" section this morning (Thursday, Jan. 26). However, armed with the knowledge that this inquiry will be out there a couple bajillion times between now and next February, we offer this primer for 2012:

* We are expecting five fifth-year seniors with Cave, Slaughter, KLM, Goodman and Golic Jr.

* 15 fourth-year seniors, headlined by the return of Manti Te’o and Tyler Eifert.

* 20 juniors, including the return of safety Chris Badger from a Mormon mission this summer with four years of eligibility left.

* 25 sophomores, including the transfer of former USC running back Amir Carlisle,

* The 17 incoming recruits so far. That totals 82, three short of the NCAA maximum of 85.

The expectation might be cornerback Anthony Standifer becoming No. 18 in the class, with a holding-out-hope for another corner, either Brian Poole or Ronald Darby, if not someone else, to add icing on the cake. Either way, there should be room. So let's say ND has 19.

That leaves one scholarship left over for 2013. Add in the five fifth-year graduating seniors, and now you are up to six.

The only other fourth-year seniors who may be leaving the program after 2012 are Te’o, Eifert (although he does have a fifth year in 2013 if he wants it), long-snapper Jordan Cowart, safety Zeke Motta, running back/receiver Theo Riddick, receiver Robby Toma and punter Ben Turk. With that total of seven, you are now up to 13 scholarships.

The others eligible for a fifth year in 2013 are linebackers Carlo Calabrese and Dan Fox, running back Cierre Wood, offensive linemen Zack Martin and Chris Watt, tight end Jake Golic, defensive lineman Tyler Stockton and kicker Nick Tausch. I don't anticipate Golic or Stockton will be back for a fifth season, so that takes you up to 15.

After that are the wild cards. Do Wood and Martin turn pro, or do they come back? If both turn pro, you're up to 17. If neither does, you stay at 15.

How about Tausch? Does he beat out Brindza in 2012 and then want to come back in 2013, or does he move on?

And of course, there are always transfers. I expect one or two transfers every season. When all is said and done, that number will be at least 16 to 18 by next year at this time.

When you have 25 in one class like you do with the 2012 sophomores, that's the trade-off. Another class after it will have to have a little less volume.

Scott from CLT,

No harm, no foul. This won't be the last time that inquiry will be asked.

SDWolverine,

I am a humble man and have every right to be. Thanks for your continued support.

irishfan52,

With any kind of coaching list, people often just throw names out to see what sticks. Diaco's is not illogical for the Rutgers post because he is a New Jersey native at a high-profile school and enjoying some success (though far from his peak), but I would think at this point there probably are some more qualified head coaching candidates. For example, Athlon threw out 10 candidates for the position and five other "long shots," and Diaco wasn't among any of the 15.

Current head coaches include Steve Addazio (Temple), Mario Cristobal (FIU) and Tim Murphy (Harvard), and some from the past include Ralph Friedgen (Maryland) and Jeff Jagodzinski (BC). I've even heard Al Golden's name mentioned. (Who would have thought anyone would ever want to go from Miami to Rutgers?)

The 2011 Irish assistants who I thought might be most ready for a head coaching gig in college, although maybe not quite yet at a BCS school, were Ed Warinner and Chuck Martin. I have a lot of admiration for Bob Diaco and hope he thrives at Notre Dame, but I think he's a few years yet away from having his teeth cut and becoming a Division I head coach and with all that it entails. It would be tough for him to get a much better training ground for it — recruiting, dealing with media and fan bases, coaching, etc. — than Notre Dame.

If the program shapes up the way we want the next couple of years, by the end of the 2013 campaign, Bob Diaco should be a far stronger head coaching candidate.