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Johnny IrishBack To The FutureThu, 11/15/07 Wow, you guys! The feedback on what you want to see out of the site has been great. And for those of you that emailed us some suggestions about some things you'd like to see us do this spring and next fall (e.g. live web chats, golf outings, etc.) thank you ... they were great, and keep them coming! Again, this sight is for you, so tell us what you'd like to see and be able to do while you're here, and we'll do our best to make it happen. Who knows, it just may be your suggestion that gets the ball rolling on something really cool next year. Now let's get down to some bidness. Many of you asked about the offensive line, and I will be breaking them down on Friday, so be sure to check back then. But something I found interesting that a few of you asked about was how injuries to C John Sullivan and NT Pat Kuntz would impact a team that is already desperately thin on talent and leadership. So, I called Johnny Irish and we talked about it a bit, and believe it or not, we actually saw eye to eye for once. Actually, it was more like eye to navel because JI is so short you can see his feet in his driver's license picture. Sorry bro, you know I love ya! Anyway, enjoy the read and be on the look out for the OL breakdown tomorrow. Ouch! The 1-9 Irish hobble into their home finale Saturday against equally wounded 1-9 Duke with crushed spirits and, now, a handful of costly injuries as well. Fifth-year senior center John Sullivan and junior nose tackle Pat Kuntz will miss this Saturday’s game, and to hear Coach Weis talk, the duo will likely also be sidelined for the season finale (and de facto bowl game) at Stanford the following Saturday. Thanks to Coach Weis’ mysterious insistence on guarding the nature of injuries like they hold the secrets to the DaVinci Code (or at least a really good brownie recipe), we’re not quite sure what exactly is ailing Sully and Kuntz, though they appear to be leg and back injuries, respectfully. When I first read about these two losses today, my first thought was, “Great. Just what this team needs. Those are a few of the guys that really seem to be playing hard all the time!” But then, the more I thought about it, the more that sentiment morphed into, “So what? Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.” BackPost new commentMan, I'm sorry, but we gotta have you log in. That's so we don't get spammed. Appreciate your understanding. Don't have an account?
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Why Latina needs to "hit the road"
I am a believer (like many) that DISPAIR and HOPE and tight bed mates and that sometimes you need to spiral down so low that you finally reach an internal "bottom" and only then can you find HOPE and a willingness to change everything and replace DISPAIR with HOPE. The offensive line has been wallowing in a "bottom" for years. The O-Line is the nucleus of any successful team...you must be able to run the ball and protect the QB if you want to be better then .500 in Div 1 football today. Notre Dame can do neither. The Notre Dame train will never leave the station unless the O Line is the one pulling it.
I have heard people saying "the O-Line is young" or "don't worry they have good recruits next year" or "what do you expect we lost so and so to the draft"....let's call it for what it is....the O Line is an absolute embarrassment (and has been) and unless radical changes are made with the fundamental techniques, off season conditioning, and overall toughness.......which are 100% on the shoulders of Latina...Notre Dame will never be back on top. Here are my cliff notes why Latina is more too blame then the kids:
1.You say there is no talent......and the recruits next year will change everything...
RT: Duncan: Offensive Lineman of Year GA
RG: Olson: Offensive Player of the Year NY
C: 5th year Sullivan: Parade and Super Prep All American
LG: Turkovich: PA Big 33 Team
LT: Young: 1st Team USA Today All American/#1 Lineman in Parade
2.You have to be tough to play OLine and be willing to do whatever it takes to not give up a sack or get that crucial 3rd and inches...do you see toughness? Look at the stats:
Team/ Sacks Allowed/ Yards Rushing
GT/ 9 / -8
PS / 6 / 0
Mich / 8 / -6
MSU / 4 / 117
Purdue / 2 / 49
UCLA / 3 / 46
BC / 2 / 27
USC / 5 / 48
Navy / 4 / 235 (triple OT)
3.If you believe toughness is the key....it used to go "either you show up and play on Saturday or you will play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday"...which means full pads, full speed, doing 1 on 1 (against the 1st team DLine) instead of film or kicking game. When I see the BGI video clips from practice all I see is the O Line is shorts, hitting dummies, and going 75% speed. Toughness can be instilled....obviously Latina (who is also an assistant head coach ) is not capable of doing it. Here is the thing about hitting dummies and sleds...they don;t move or hit back
4. Ask yourself this simple question....would Joe Moore (given the supposed lack of talent.. see #1 above) be able to get more out of this years O Line then Latina? If the answer is YES...then you also see the importance of having the right coach. BTW...1998 -1993 Notre Dame averaged north of 270 yards rushing a game.
5. Having 5 All Universe O-line recruits will not help if Latina is the coach next year
Prediction for Saturday?!
Johnny,
Holy cow, you know it must be tough to crawl to the finish line when the die hard fan can't even muster up a call for a W. Where's the prediction?!! Cheers from Austin, TX - nice job and well done on this site. Keep rockin the free world. JS class of 1990