Comments on: How we got here: Redshirts

By: hotcarnut

hotcarnut — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:47:55 +0000

gregiz “Redshirting won’t help ND running the football might…funny if ND we possess the ball more the weakness in the front seven on defense might no show as much.”

This might be the dumbest thing I’ve read yet, and that’s saying something. The redshirts are EXACTLY what will help ND run the football. You have offensive linemen with an extra year in the system, who have an extra year in the weight room, and who have an extra year of experience opening holes for the running back. At the skill positions (outside of quarterback, which is a different animal) redshirting isn’t as necessary. But in the trenches on both sides of the football, size, experience, and age are a huge advantage.

By: js69

js69 — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:23:41 +0000

54 redshirt players on Florida roster, Texas 2010 freshmen listed as redshirt 15, FYI

By: 3458don

3458don — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:32:05 +0000

gregiz,

School Redshirt Starters RS upperclassmen RS on back-ups

Mich 14 7 11
Mich St. 4 2 13
Purdue 4 2 10
Pitt 16 12 21
BC 10 7 15
Stanford 12 8 16
USC 10 7 21

This shows what kind of experience in the system the Irish have to deal with every week. These kids
get the benifit of being in a system an extra year without being forced into action unless the are ready.
This cycle should not run out for these schools with all the redshirting throughout the depth chart.
As far as Texas they have 19 (soph. to senior) RS’s and 13 frosh. and Florida has 13 starters with
12 back-ups. This, I gaurantee goes on throughout college football and even worse with the rest
of the SEC and ACC. If you don’t think this is an advantage, then I don’t know what you would call it.

By: cleve0311

cleve0311 — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:44:05 +0000

It’s actually a very distorted article and extremely unfair to old Chuck. Charlie had no choice but to use Freshman from the 2006 & 2007 recruiting classes because Ty Willie left him with no depth whatsoever, especially in the trenches. Arnold focused on those two classes only for the article and failed to mention that in the 2008 class of 23 recruits, 15 did not play as Freshman, and of the 16 remaining recruits from the 2009 class, 9 did not play as a Freshman. That means Charlie left Kelly with 25 players over a 2 year recruiting period who can potentially play as 5th year Seniors. Any program in the country would be thrilled with the prospect of having that much 5th year experience on their roster. Say what you will about Charlie from a development and coaching standpoint, but you can’t criticize him for this aspect. He left Kelly with a much stronger and deeper roster than he inherited from Ty Willie. One of the lamest articles I have ever seen from Arnold who is usually more detailed in his analysis.

By: gregiz

gregiz — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:54:45 +0000

Your lucky Keith people let your poor excuse for article off easy most people here obvious don’t watch the games. The trouble is who you are comparing ND with when in comes to redshirting that list only has 5 teams that have won National Titles(in the BCS era) on it. Oregon won’t be in the picture when USC gets back on its feet plus they run a circus for an offense so does it matter if they play defense. You don’t have Florida, and Texas on the list who recruit in talent rich states how many do they redshirt? Plus you seem to forget that Brain Kelly, and Charlie Weis didn’t focus on having a physical team. They reason Weis couldn’t put young talent on the field is because for the last three years he has had to come from behind so many times. Plus only two teams on the list are ND rivals so who cares about the rest? The last coach who understood football is a physical game is also the last one to beat USC. Redshirting won’t help ND running the football might…funny if ND we possess the ball more the weakness in the front seven on defense might no show as much.

By: rcali

rcali — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:51:49 +0000

I’ve enjoyed reading the “excuses” articles as it does put a microscope on why the team continues to fail. The final article should be about how “the dog ate my playbook.” I’m not sure I can stomach this Utah game.

By: kmf84

kmf84 — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:07:12 +0000

KA, don’t have your facts and stats to back this up but I believe deep in my heart that the WIN NOW mentality has been the culprit in the Irish demise. No depth, no development of underclassmen, plus the talent level fall off when starters get hurt is obvious. Remember when freshmen weren’t even allowed to play? It is going to take BK 4-5 years to build the program if he lasts that long. This flavor of the month coaching change has to end. Who is going to wait though.

By: thepiper3

thepiper3 — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:00:45 +0000

Keith – You are proving to be the #1 blogger for Irish football. For those of us that truly miss BlueGraySky, you are doing an admirable job of filling a very deep hole. Keep up the good solid analysis.

By: tlndma

tlndma — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:37:46 +0000

An excellent column Keith. Weis did not seem very adept at building a college roster. A case in point would be the QB situation Kelly got stuck with.

By: vegasirish

vegasirish — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 23:18:04 +0000

This is top level stuff, KA. Keep up the great work.

By: tedlinko

tedlinko — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 18:56:58 +0000

Thanks for this analysis Keith. I always had the sense that Weis was a bit inept in his use of underclassmen, but I always thought it was more that he focused all his energy on the starters and never bothered to develop the underclassmen. I still think that was the case — why after Brady Quinn’s class graduated there was such a dearth of experience. But seeing the comparison with other programs in terms of upperclassmen/5th years at the power positions is really enlightening. I never realized there was that much of a disparity.