The Official Notre Dame Football Thread

[padman59]

LOL. From an ESPN Insider blurb:

Schad reports that former Stanford/Notre Dame/Washington coach Tyrone Willingham (Anderson used to be a California administrator) and New Mexico coach Mike Locksley (a D.C. native) would also be candidates for the job, but it would be interesting to see if Anderson would follow through on ousting Friedgen if he doesn't get Leach. (At this point, with all this out there, he probably has to.)

Really? If that happens, Maryland alums should be calling for the AD's head.

[FirstTimer]

Tuitt is currently visiting Auburn. Huggins missed the trip down.

.

Tuitt would be a huge loss as he's already a verbal.

[FirstTimer]

http://irish.nbcsports.com/2010/12/19/integrity-a-two-way-street/

Arnold blasts Haugh.

Excellent piece.

There is nothing straightforward about the circumstances surrounding the death of St. Mary’s freshman Lizzy Seeberg, who committed suicide nine days after accusing an Irish football player of sexual assault. That accusation was first reported by the Chicago Tribune, who has been the paper of record on this story since initially reporting it for its Sunday edition on November 21st, a day after the Irish defeated Army in Yankee Stadium 28-3.

Again, there’s little that seems straightforward about this story. That Notre Dame and its independent police force have shared little information with the Seeberg family (or the Tribune) hasn’t helped the University’s case in the court of public opinion. That the 19-year-old Seeberg had long suffered serious bouts of depression, taken antidepressants, and battled thoughts of suicide before her accusations don’t make things easier for the family or the prosecution. And while St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak declined to file any charges after spending a month reviewing a “voluminous report” turned over by Notre Dame to the county prosecutors, the story has already been framed, not just by the Tribune’s one-sided reporting, but some horrific editorializing, turning a tragic story with no winners into a melodrama that positioned the Tribune to play the role of scrappy underdog against the monolithic and conspiratorial Notre Dame. It might be an excellent angle to sell papers, but it’s a great disservice to all parties involved.

That the Tribune’s reporting on the incident has been one-sided shouldn’t be all that surprising — only one-side of the story is talking about the incident. But the fact that the Tribune has published three different opinion pieces on the tragedy, all sharing the same viewpoint, is a major cause for concern.

In between columns name-checking guys like Rahm Emmanuel and Geraldo Rivera, and tongue-and-cheek exposes on revolving-door “ride poachers,” Tribune columnist John Kass took Notre Dame to task for failing to live up to its name when dealing with the Declan Sullivan and Seeberg tragedies.

Kass points out that the Virgin Mary, who Notre Dame was named after, “wasn’t much for spin. She didn’t lawyer up. She didn’t hide behind bureaucratic walls.” Kass failed to mention that the Virgin Mary didn’t completely avoid the other side of the story either.
While Kass chooses to label Notre Dame’s responses “public relations spin and bureaucratic shielding of liability,” he conveniently leaves out Father John Jenkins’ statement of responsibility for the death of Sullivan. He also conveniently ignores the multiple releases from the University explaining how and why they’ve handled the Seeberg investigation the way they have, and all but calling the initial Tribune report false and misleading.

While schlocky writing isn’t necessarily mediocre journalism, another Tribune columnist, David Haugh, took his second swipe today at the University over the Seeberg tragedy. While his first column was filled with righteous indignation that only subtly abused the truth, his most recent work raised the bar by misappropriating a Brian Kelly quote to help fit his column better.

In a column entitled “Integrity is wrong word in school’s handling of Seeberg case,” Haugh opened his column with this (bold lettering added by me for emphasis):

Curious to see in person how the most visible leader at Notre Dame defended the most famous college football program in America from charges of hypocrisy — and worse — I came Friday to hear coach Brian Kelly.

And was astonished by what I heard.

I shouldn’t have been.

Kelly used the word “integrity” four times in 30 seconds while answering a question about support for a player accused of sexually attacking a St. Mary’s College student who killed herself 10 days later.

If you don’t have integrity, what else do you have?” Kelly began. “I’ve got a family to raise. I’ve got kids. I have a football family here. If there’s no integrity in what you do … I’d have been in a different business a long time ago.

“Integrity is probably, for me, the only thing that keeps me going in this business. Sometimes misinformation and not having the right facts drives you crazy. So you have to have something that you hang your hat on. It’s always, for me, been doing the right thing. And integrity.”

As the Notre Dame coach invoked all that was wholesome and good about the guys in gold helmets, the cyber hunt to identify the player and poke into his past continued. The Tribune is not naming the player because he was not charged with a crime.

In what has become a habitual exercise in framing the narrative, Haugh turned Kelly’s comments about integrity into something that would help his column, not into the response of the question he actually asked.

Here’s the question that Kelly was actually asked:
“Your program obviously is scrutinized, and my newspaper has been critical of the way things have been handled, other people may be as well, do you feel just as strongly now than you did a month ago in terms of defending the type of player that you recruit, and the type of process for situations like this?”

And here’s the response Kelly gave:
“If you don’t have integrity, what else do you have? I’ve got a family to raise, I’ve got kids, I have a football family here. If there’s no integrity in what you do, then I’d have been in a different business a long time ago. So, integrity is probably for me the only thing that keeps me going in this business. Because sometimes misinformation, and not having the right facts drives you crazy. You have to have something to hang your hat on. And it’s always for me been doing the right thing and integrity.”

Kelly’s answer reads quite differently when you consider it a response to what Haugh actually asked him, not as an act of support for the accused player. Maybe the most disappointing part of Haugh’s column wasn’t what he wrote, but what he didn’t, leaving out Kelly’s response to his final question, when the reporter asked the head coach if he felt “vindicated” that the prosecutor decided not to file charges.

“Boy, I don’t think I’ve ever felt a vindication in such a very unfortunate time,” Kelly said. “A young girl lost her life. I can’t imagine how tough that is on the parents. I don’t think there were ever those feelings as much as completing the process, and I’m committed to the way the University handles the process. They’re thorough and we’re all part of that process.”

Kelly’s comments are probably the best encapsulation of what’s actually transpired in the days since Lizzy Seeberg took her own life. There are no winners here. Not the Seeberg family, who grieve the loss of a daughter and struggle to find answers in a process that’s guarded by laws that protect both sides of a sexual accusation. Not Notre Dame, who deals with their second high-profile tragedy of the football season. And not the Chicago Tribune, who had to sacrifice their journalistic ethics to get the most out of a story, where only one-side openly cooperated.

Two days after the Tribune broke their initial story, Janet M. Botz, Vice President in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications had this to say in a statement released to all faculty, staff, and students at the University.

“It is and always will be a central tenet of Notre Dame’s mission to learn the truth and to act in accordance with it. As you read stories about any matter that involves our careful and thorough process, I urge you not to arrive at any conclusions until all the facts are known. Only through a serious, informed and fair process can justice be served. Such a process will always be our focus.”

That process means staying quiet while the Tribune continues to throw rocks at the Golden Dome, even if it means taking the bumps and bruises associated.

Funny, that sounds an awful lot like integrity.

Haugh is a fucking hack.

[FirstTimer]

Duval Kamara will miss the Sun Bowl for personnal reasons.

Sucks since he was really starting to come on.

[FirstTimer]

Duval Kamara will miss the Sun Bowl for personnal reasons.

Sucks since he was really starting to come on.

Tai-ler Jones has stepped in and been running with the first team offense to take Kamara's place.

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Ishaq Williams has it narrowed down to ND, PSU, and 'Cuse for his choices. Most places I have read have ND as the leader but not by much and all three are very much in play as possible choices. With the loss of Lynch, Williams would be a huge pickup. If we can get Williams and hang on to Stephon Tuitt(who is visiting GaTech Jan 15th) I really like the class.

A lot of people are hung up on Savon Huggins, but I like Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray coming back next year and Cameron Roberson was a really highly touted back from Cali when he committed last season.

[FirstTimer]

Jacory Harris looks to be getting the start Friday.

[FirstTimer]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcd0CED1yKI&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

Everett Golson Senior Highlights.

[Irish]

Cam Roberson is from Cali*

But anyway I'm real excited for the game. Been watching any interview I can and reading almost everything. Nobody really has ND winning which kind of surprises me with all the issues happening at Miami and how well we are playing.

Really kind of sad that Duval won't play. I would've liked to see him go out with a bang on what I would say was a disappointing career. But it really was no fault of his own, it probably isn't easy to beat out Golden Tate/Michael Floyd.

And I 100% agree with you FT. Ishaq is the most important get right now assuming we hold on to everyone else. With Neal and B Smith leaving it will be nice to have a real stud able to learn underneath some good LBs in Manti/Carlo/Darius.

Getting Savon sounds purely like an ego boost and I don't know how well he will translate into the offense over guys like Cierre and Cam. I think Cierre with the speed and Cam has some decent speed but a lot more power, and the coaches say he has very good vision. I've kind of given up on Jonas. Need to see more of him.

Also very interested in how well Tommy will play in the bowl game. If he does well and we win, it will be interesting to see if it gives him a huge advantage to be the starter next season. I'd much rather see guys like Crist, Hendrix, and Golson play ahead of Rees but it will be hard to jump Rees at that point.

[FirstTimer]

Cam Roberson is from Cali*

Sorry about that. I got the state mixed with Huggins and/or I think Cam is from some city in California called "New" something or other.

But anyway I'm real excited for the game. Been watching any interview I can and reading almost everything. Nobody really has ND winning which kind of surprises me with all the issues happening at Miami and how well we are playing.

I've seen some people saying Notre Dame will win...but most predictions, regardless of who the winner is, has the margin of victory no bigger than 3-7 points.

And I 100% agree with you FT. Ishaq is the most important get right now assuming we hold on to everyone else. With Neal and B Smith leaving it will be nice to have a real stud able to learn underneath some good LBs in Manti/Carlo/Darius.

The emergence of Shembo does wonders from the DE/OLB depth next season. Fleming has really come on at the end of this season as well. Shembo/Carlo/Te'o/Fleming is a pretty solid linebacking corps for next year.

Getting Savon sounds purely like an ego boost and I don't know how well he will translate into the offense over guys like Cierre and Cam. I think Cierre with the speed and Cam has some decent speed but a lot more power, and the coaches say he has very good vision. I've kind of given up on Jonas. Need to see more of him.

Jonas I've liked for a few seasons now. He's always been the best combopower/speed back on the roster but Allen was so good all around, especially catching the football, that it was tough for Gray to break through. Hughes was always loved by the fans and coaches, then with Kelly coming in Wood was a natural choice to get more playing time.

Gray has been caught in no mans land for a season or so and now next year Roberson will be pushing for playing time which may hurt Gray a bit as well. However I'd still love to see a Wood/Gray combination next season.

Also very interested in how well Tommy will play in the bowl game. If he does well and we win, it will be interesting to see if it gives him a huge advantage to be the starter next season. I'd much rather see guys like Crist, Hendrix, and Golson play ahead of Rees but it will be hard to jump Rees at that point.

This spring is going to be VERY interesting at QB....even more so if Crist makes it back for non-contact.

Crist, Rees, Hendrix, and Golson.

My fears with Rees is he is another Matt Lovechio. Has a good freshman season "just wins" then falls flat on his face the next. Of that group Rees is the least naturally talented and Golson is the most. Rees is very accurate, has a very good feel for the offense/intelligent, and is a good leader.

Crist really needs to work on his accuracy, especially down the field. He's the best leader. Best true QB. Major injury concerns.

Golson and Hendrix are unknowns but most likely have the best talent/tools.

Massa and Montana are pretty much out of the picture IMO.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Strong work today, you fucks.

A fitting end to the Shannon Error.

[Sportsbuck]

This spring is going to be VERY interesting at QB....even more so if Crist makes it back for non-contact.

Crist, Rees, Hendrix, and Golson.

My fears with Rees is he is another Matt Lovechio. Has a good freshman season "just wins" then falls flat on his face the next. Of that group Rees is the least naturally talented and Golson is the most. Rees is very accurate, has a very good feel for the offense/intelligent, and is a good leader.

Crist really needs to work on his accuracy, especially down the field. He's the best leader. Best true QB. Major injury concerns.

Golson and Hendrix are unknowns but most likely have the best talent/tools.

Massa and Montana are pretty much out of the picture IMO.

IMO redshirting Golson is the best option. Lets him bulk up, refine technique, and get acclamaited with Kelly's offense. If Crist or Rees can hold things together next year then Golson should star from 2012 on.

When he was a freshman in high school, Golson took away the starting job from a senior 2 year starter who had a full ride to a 1-AA school in the first game of the season.... and promptly took the reisn and carried the team to through the playoffs when he was still just a 14 year old kid. If that gives you any inkling into his leadership abilities.

[padman59]

Nice to get the bowl win to extend the streak to two.

-Hurricane Floyd struck fast and couldn't be contained by Miami's defense. Although there were a couple of plays that I'm sure he'd like back like those two would-be catches in the endzone that resulted in field goals.
-Rees got lucky on a few throws too. He seemed to target Floyd a little too much, and defenders were waiting. They just didn't capitalize. Overall, another efficient day for him.
-Harrison Smith was a big reason for the W. He single-handedly kept Miami off the board until the end of the first half with his INTs.
-Tough to see Ruffer's FG streak end the way it did. You could tell he hurt himself as soon as he struck the ball on the previous kickoff. However, I believe Tausch is a capable replacement if Ruffer is not back next season.
-I hated watching the team mail it in halfway though the 3rd quarter. I realize that most of the Miami team was going through the motions before that point, but it ended up giving the Hurricanes a little hope that they could have come back. Although it did lead to a little excitement in the 4th.

Overall, a nice stepping stone into next season. One of the most anticipated QB derbies in recent history is about to kickoff this spring as we all wait to see how the depth chart is going to shape up, and there's still a lingering question about the status of two potent receiving threats in Floyd and Rudolph. It's been a rollercoaster season to say the least, and I'm sure we're all looking forward to 2011.

But for now, on to recruiting...

[Irish]

Go Irish!

If Robert Hughes never fumbles, Ruffer makes his last kick, and Floyd makes that diving one handed catch, it would be the best way to end their careers if some of them ended today.

It still felt good for the seniors to go out strong and the younger guys to show great promise for next year. Great game and I am really excited moving forward.

[Boucher]

Miami really did shit the bed today

[padman59]

Miami really did shit the bed today

They didn't look like they wanted to play by the end of the first quarter. Too bad, I suppose. Hopefully, Golden will change that attitude in two years.