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Interview with Autry DensonAutry Denson on Struggling Run GameNotre dame's all-time rushing leader (4318 yards) and former Irish All-American Aaron Taylor lend their experience and perspective on this year's rushing attack...or lack thereof.
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11/12 | ND H.O.F. TE Ken McAfee
11/08 | Legendary QB Joe Theismann on Jimmy Clausen
11/06 | Irish All-American LB Bob Golic
11/05 | CB Shane Walton Dissects Irish Defense
11/02 | Autry Denson on Struggling Run Game
11/01 | POV from Navy Player
10/23 | Tim Brown Breaks Down Irish-O
10/19 | Chris Zorich on current Irish DT Trevor Laws
10/11 | The 1993 BC Game And Its Impact On Notre Dame Football
10/10 | Rocket Ismail on the Notre Dame Family
10/08 | Catching Up With Irish Great Derrick Mayes
10/04 | Irish Toughness
09/27 | Holtz: What's Important Now for the Irish
09/25 | Coach Holtz Answers Fan Questions!
09/20 | MSU Keys to Victory with Luther Bradley
09/19 | Football 101 with Luther Bradley
09/18 | Exclusive Interview with Tyrone Wheatley
09/17 | UM Recap by Luther Bradley
09/12 | Notre Dame - Keys to Victory over Michigan
09/09 | PSU Recap
09/07 | Rocket Ismail's Tips & Techniques
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Easy Mike
I empathize...You'd be crazy not to be pissed. I made myself suffer through the SC game, and thank god, my wife came to my rescue last weekend, and made family plans...Yea I'm an optimist, and think great things are to come for this program.
No answers on why we are so bad, beyond the obvious stuff everyone sees week in and week out. I have my belief that this year is a perfect storm. It is the confluence of players who've had heroes to do all the heavy lifting (until this year) with youth. To me that equals zero accountabilit/ownership/leadership. Are coaches to blame...Yea.
I also think we are missing "NaSTY"...the kind of pridefull guys that just flat refuse to lose...we don't have any of those.
I hope this drubbing gives these guys a complex, and they get angry about it...sooner would be better than later.
There you go, my two cents...not critical. I am very similar to you..grew up in PA, did not go to ND, my entire family are ND nuts...hell they wheeled my grandmother's casket out of a catholic funeral mass with an ND bumper sticker on it...that the priest put there...I get it. When ND won the NC in 88, I had guys tracking me down from as far away as Alaska to say congrats...when they lost to BC in '93, same guys called to rub it in...I lived 2000 miles from where I did in 88...no real contact with any of them...they still found me. Point is, I'm a Fan, and this is killin' me too.
Be pissed, be critical, be vocal, be pasionate,...but continue to be...ND!
Terrible coaching
I totally agree. If CW doesnt pull his head out of his ass next year I think he'll be gone the ND faithful wont put up with this BS any longer. I like the idea of bringing in a coach sucha s CHuck Martin from Grand Valley State. Bringing in a coach from a div. 1aa or div 2 is an excellent idea. those coaches know how to develop talent because they dont have much of it to work with. or even better yet, how about chris peterson from boise state. I go school at Boise state and he does a lot with not much talent.
The Navy Debacle as a Symptom
First, Corwin Brown, et.al. were not familiar with how to stop the option attack. The 3-4 is NOT the type of defense that provides the flexibilty for stopping the option. The option was a dead offense in the 1970s/80s when we found the solution to stopping it. THAT's why, with the 3-4 & the 4-3 defenses that are prevalent in college football today...AND the SPEAD offenses that put the defense from sideline to sideline...we are seeing a resurgence in option attacks that are making great strides [pun intended]. With these new defenses, we are also seeing a resurgences of old offenses - single wing, double slot [Navy], double wing, etc. The man in motion and the passing attacks have frozen defenses to almost static impotence, while offenses are limited only by lack of historical knowledge or creativity.
This brings up our second point, CW is apparently hampered by BOTH a lack of historical knowledge AND creativity. The sameness of ND's New England offense is becoming offensive to whose of us who are alumni that Our Lady educated to be THINKERS. This educational institution is NOTED for innovation in all fields, including sports. The intelligence of our athletes makes our teams able to do things other teams are not able to do as well - learn new things quickly, grasp new concepts, offenses, defenses. Lower our standards to get better athletes?? NO..RAISE the intellectual/creative level of the coaches!! If Charlie or ANY coach at the college level tries to say otherwise...it just AIN'T so. There is NOTHING about football that is rocket science...believe me, I know...I played hs & college [not ND] & I have coached hs. The coaches who do well on ALL levels, are the ones who do NOT accept the conventional...ie. Boise State, Tressel, Saban, even Urban Meyers...watch their offenses...watch their receivers run their patterns...ours play like pros...theirs run like hs...clearing out...fake & go...streaks...hitch & go, slants, trips to one side, doubles to the other, inside pitches...GEEZ, we are ONLY LIMITED BY OUR IMAGINATIONS. Our athletes can ADAPT..LEARN...DO...they prove that everytime a new coach enters the scene. Most of the time, I think coaches limit themselves by making a playbook the size of a phonebook. Why? To me, each team every year that I face has new weaknesses & strengths...shouldn't I attack those? A basic offense is necessary, a phonebook is not. Because I will be scouted, THAT should ALWAYS be in my mind as I prepare for one opponent. What can I do in this game, to make my NEXT opponent waste time getting ready for me? The ONLY maxim should be..the only thing predictable about ND is our unpredictability. While other coaches said it couldn't be done, Knute Rockne was too busy doing it to argue. My graduate degree at ND helped me learn to "think out of the box." Did Charlie LISTEN while he was in class? Or was he too busy drawing up his phonebook of plays?
phone book
Well said.
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weis v. davie
is charlie weis a reincarnation of bob davie? good recruiter, good coordinator, bad head coach?
BIG BLUNDERS BY charlie
A FIELDGOAL for a WIN, a miss O.T., did I miss something? Or was that the stupidest 4th down call I have ever seen?
Couldn't agree more
My concerns started last year when an experienced team pretty much regressed from the previous year. This year, well, frankly, I am in shock. There really has been no progress. Today's coaching was horribly bad. CW's presser comment that this was "just a loss to Navy" in indicative of how little emotion and understanding CW has for the college game. And, don't even get me started on the transfers. While I can't blame a kid for transferring to find more playing time, the rate of departures is shocking.
Issues from today:
- not even trying to win the game with a field goal at the end of regulation. CW said the wind was too strong to try a kick. What? At no time in the entire game was the wind ever mentioned; in fact, it was a "perfect" fall day. And if the wind was too strong to kick, then it certainly was too strong to try all the out passes near the end of regulation. No one can tell me the odds of getting the first down were better than a kicker's 40 yard attempt.
- the stupid fake field goal in the 1st quarter
- play action on 4 and 17th on the last drive
- a defense that never could figure out how to stop the option
- an obvious lack of emotion coming out of the tunnel..why can't visitors wait to get onto the field while ND looks like it is getting ready to strecth
- an offensive remarkably predictive
- continued inability to get the ball to playmakers in a position to utilize their athletic ability
CW gets ND, he loves the university, he is a smart guy, amazing recruiter, apparently, very loyal and respects the tradition, but the last 15 games have left me every bit as depressed as anything I saw under Ty W. and I have little hope for the future. It's one thing to lose while showing progress, see Holtz' first year, but to continue to show little development in players getting your system in the 3rd year of coaching is frightening.
My biggest worry was a comment from Charlie when asked about some recent transfers that he only can worry about the kids playing. Well, yes, those kids are important, but if players are just kids then so are the ones transferrring, and a coach can't play favorites or he risks losing the team. College kids also need to be treated with a little more depth than a NFL free agent.
The record this year isn't what depresses me, it's the absolute lack of progress. CW say's the staff keeps trying new things...wonder what those are, because it sure isn't visible on gameday. When the inevitable new coach conversation begins, I hope it doesn't focus on another NFL coach; that experiment has been tried at too many schools and continues to fail (Pitt, G Tech, ND, Stanford under Walsh,) I only can hope ND goes the way of Ohio State and finds a coach that has a proven record as a head coach and actually has had to coach and develop his player rather than just calling plays. My pick...Grand Valley State's Chuck Martin.
WISHFUL THINKING
Navy does not have the luxery of "the recuiting class" excuse, they just play hard nose in your face football, every time no matter if they do have a 120 Ilb defensive tackle they still made our o-line look sick. motivated by a tough no nonsense coach who plays the collage game. I only wish we had him.
EVERY ONE, HAVE YOUR FUN NOW??!!
These are 2 great tidbits I found on The Blue-Grey sky:
He (CW) would determine what his players could do and then mold the offense around what they could absorb and execute. BGS 2/05
Charlie said that rah rah stuff only lasts about 10 minutes. He said preparation is the reason you win and not emotions. Emotions can carry you only through part of the 1st quarter and then it comes down to who is better prepared BGS 2/05
I guess that neither hold true anymore.
That's it, I am done trying to find ways to like or support CW. 64 rushes for only 3.7 per attempt? When your O-line outweighs the opposition's by 40 lbs per man? 27 pass attempts? Why? Because this guy is an NFL coach and that's the bottom line. I like him as a person. I can't stand him as the coach of my family's favorite team. I couldn't stand him as the coach when he was hired. WHERE IS THE FREAKIN' "NASTY"? Why doesn't he let his QB's run the ball? Brady had wheels, Evan has wheels. I have been a hardcore fan since at least 1977 at the age of 12. My basement is painted up blue and gold. I have pennants, banners, bar stools all emblazoned with ND. I have a "play like a champion today" poster at the base of my basement stairs. I am a fan. BUT I am afraid that I cannot watch this debacle anymore. As long as this NFL guy is at the head of this team my heart will not be into it. I apologize for being so petty.
Also, I really don't give a crap what any of you think of my position either. These are my feelings and PLEASE RESPECT THEM. I can not believe the situation we are in right now. I don't care about what ranking the next class is or the previous class was. That is totally irrelevant to what we are seeing on the field today. It is not acceptable to lose 8 freakin' games in a season because it is NOTRE DAME. NOTRE DAME DOES NOT LOSE 8 GAMES IN A SEASON!!!!!!
NOTRE DAME IS NOT THE PLACE TO LEARN TO BE A HEAD COACH. IT NEVER WAS AND NEVER WILL BE. WE ARE A LAUGHING STOCK IN THE SAME NOTION THAT NEBRASKA IS. I am so angry, disappointed and drained right now that I am done. Go ahead and fire away and criticize my blog with all your upbeat, optimistic Bull S**T!! I am sick of all "the wait until next year", "HAVE YOUR FUN NOW" crap. GERRY FAUST NEVER EVEN SAID ANYTHING THAT STUPID!!! WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR?!!!! I DON'T WANT OTHER TEAMS HAVING THEIR FUN AT OUR EXPENSE. DO YOU?? DO YOU ENJOY IT?? I DON'T. SINCE WHEN HAS THAT ATTITUDE BEEN ACCEPTABLE? HUH? SINCE WHEN? JUST BECAUSE CW IS SOME NFL "GURU" DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULD ACCEPT WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS SEASON. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT HE CAN COACH COLLEGE BALL. JUST BECAUSE CW SAYS THE APPROPRIATE THINGS OR DOES THE APPROPRIATE THING SHOULD WE ACCEPT WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS SEASON. IF SOMEONE IN THE NORMAL WORKING WORLD SCREWED UP AS BAD AS CW HAS THIS PAST SEASON THEY WOULD BE FIRED FOR LACK OF RESULTS.
SO WHAT IF THERE IS A LACK OF SENIORS AND JUNIORS ON THIS TEAM. CAN CW ONLY COACH A SENIOR AND JUNIOR LADEN TEAM? THE LACK OF UPPER CLASSMEN IS JUST AN EXCUSE THAT I AM SICK OF HEARING. A GOOD COACH WOULD BE A GOOD COACH NO MATTER WHAT THE CLASS MAKE UP. A GOOD COACH WOULD ADAPT TO HIS TALENT. A GOOD COACH WOULD ADJUST TO DIFFERENT SITUATIONS AS THEY PRESENTED THEMSELVES. CW HAS NOT DONE ANY OF THIS. CW GETS THE TRADITION BUT DOESN'T GET THE COACHING.
Thanks for reading this and letting me vent. Let me add that I am not an alum and couldn't afford to be. My opinion doesn't mean crap to anyone but me. I am just a good Irish Catholic guy near Buffalo NY who is pissed off at Weis, White and the direction that this team is going. May God bless the NAVY cadets. SLAINTE!!
Mike Clifford