What's in a name?

You would think at 6’4” 235 lbs. and a tremendous athlete, that would be all you need to catch the attention of Irish fans as a recruit but with a last name of Holtz it may game your attention a little more.  Currently J.P. Holtz plays running back and linebacker but with offers from Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia schools are looking at him as a possible tight end.  Most scouting services have him listed as a tight end, again a sign of Kelly’s recruiting style, get an athlete and go from there. Currently there is no offer from the Irish on the table but I would expect one shortly after his visit to South Bend.  His stats are fair with a 40 time of 4.7, a bench of around 300 lbs. and a squat of 450 lbs.

Towing the Line - Recruiting an Offensive Line

With commitments from 6’5” 260 lb. Mark Harrell and 6’8” 290 lb. Taylor Decker, the Irish are getting a second look from Michael Flint.  Flint, who originally had verbally committed to Auburn, has decided to re-open his recruitment.  Notre Dame does have an offer out to Flint along with several other big name programs including LSU, USC, Florida, Florida State and Stanford.  Flint says he will wait until the Under Armor game to make his announcement, but where ever he goes he plans on being an early enrollee.  Even though he looks like from “Cam” from Modern Family, at 6’4” benching 435lbs. and squatting 585lbs, and with a nice combination of size and strength along with a 3.7 GPA, I like the fit.  Check him out at http://recruiting.scout.com/2/953098.html

The Irish are also on the radar of 6’5” 275lb Paul Thurston from Colorado.  Thurston has offers from a ton of big name schools including Michigan, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA just to name a few.  I am not sure how much Notre Dame is really in the hunt, however, the Irish are relevant in the national recruiting landscape. 

Back to Mark Harrell - the Irish won out over a dozen programs including Auburn, Clemson, Michigan and his home state schools, North Carolina and NC State.  I think it sends a strong message when Notre Dame can lure recruits away form their home state programs. 

With a 3.7 GPA and a 25 ACT score, Taylor Decker is another recruit that gravitates to Notre Dames academics not just athletics.  Decker has good size and will continue to add bulk, however he does seem to need to improve his strength (Yahoo Sports has his max bench at 225 lbs.)

With three of the top five offensive tackles and four of the top six offensive guards still up for grabs, I’m sure Kelly has his coaches pounding the pavement.

The Receiving Situation

When I heard Michael Floyd was coming back to South Bend for the 2011 season, I was as happy about his return as I was upset and disappointed when I heard Golden Tate was leaving the previous year.  Now, I truly think it should be Floyd that should be happy that he decided to stay.  Although he has been cleared to participate in student-lead voluntary workouts, Floyd currently does not appear on the official Irish roster, a situation that that can only be remedied by Michael himself.  I like that Brian Kelly has not given this situation the traditional big time football solution of suspending a player for the first half of a game or making him sit out the spring game.  Kelly has said it is all or nothing for Floyd.   It’s obvious that Michael Floyd was not mature enough for the trappings of an NFL Rookie (although there may not be a season) and being taken to task by Kelly may be just what he needs to continue his maturing process.

Because nothing is guaranteed and Brian Kelly will no doubt make Floyd tow the line on this deal, we should plan for the worst and hope for the best.  First plan for the worst; looking at our receivers, we are more deep than experienced.  Senior John Goodman brings 22 games (including all 13 games last season) worth of experience to the table.  Sophomore T.J. Jones had a good freshman season playing in 12 games (missing only the Utah game due to injury).  It also helps that his godfather is non other than Raghib “Rocket” Ismail.  I think Jones has a great upside and could really make a name for himself during his time at Notre Dame.   Luke Massa was moved from quarterback to wide receiver at the beginning of spring practice and with a log jam at the QB position and being 6’4” / 220 lbs., he could be a formidable target for Irish quarterbacks. It also plays into Kelly’s philosophy of getting a good football player and putting him on the field.  Junior Theo Riddick is entering his second season at receiver after playing running back during his freshman season.   Riddick missed four games last season with a foot injury but is a very exciting player to watch thanks in part to his quickness. Look for explosive kick off returns from Theo over the next two years.   Robby Toma enters his Junior season with a solid resume seeing action in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. At 5’9” he may play the slot more and will compete for time but a consistent starting role is probably not in his future.  Sophomore Daniel Smith at 6’4” could see some time and maybe get into a rotation.   Senior Deion Walker and Junior Nick Fitzpatrick round out the current receivers.

With three months to go, we can only hope that the retro jerseys will bring retro results.  Notre Dame and Michigan have worked with Adidas to create specially designed uniforms for the Irish’s September 10^th prime time match up with Michigan. Michigan and Notre Dame respectively rank #1 and #2 in all-time winning percentage and #1 and #3 in al-time wins.  Maybe Brian Kelly thinks by dressing his players in retro uniforms it will resurrect the winning spirits of the past and wake up the echoes.  Karma could be in the air; Michigan was Notre Dame’s first varsity opponent in 1887, however, the Wolverines blew out the Irish in that inaugural game.  I am not sure beating Michigan in their first ever night home game is an equal revenge but I would take it.

I think the uniforms have a good traditional look and they’ve kept it relatively simple (which was a good thing).  I like the gold helmet with the green shamrock on the side; it reminds me of my Aquinas Lil’ Irish football helmet (not that it got a lot of use on the sidelines), nonetheless I do like it.  Traditionally, I have always liked the plain gold, but the simple shamrock works.  The white jerseys are great, and the kelly green really pops (kelly was a better choice than forest).  I don’t care one way or the other about the shoulder stripes.  Gold pants were the only way to go, white would have been too much.  I don’t know how I feel about no ND monogram anywhere.

Although I am not a fan of gimmicks, I think this falls more in line with the concept of fun and embracing Notre Dame’s rich tradition.  These may never live up to the lore of the green jerseys  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/359516-the-green-machine-a-history-of-notre-dames-green-jerseys  These jerseys will be available for purchase on the first of August.  I won’t comment on Michigan’s retro uniforms for this game as I don’t care…let Joanna comment.

Talking Irish

With a strong offensive pedigree Brain Kelly has done a great job recruiting on the defensive side of the ball.  The defensive backfield is the next recruiting frontier the Irish will embark on.  With strong recruits on the defense line Kelly seems to be directing his staff to build relationships with high school defensive backs.  Kelly has an eye and philosophy for athletic talent and position assignments will come together later.  I think the class of 2012 will yield fast and multi talented corners and safeties.  We may also see highly touted wide receivers recruited to South Bend as defensive backs.  

Talking Irish