Thanks for the good questions, everybody. I did my best to pick ones that matched up with a slew of similar ones... and pick ones that I thought I’d enjoy answers.
(Why? Why not, I thought.)
Here goes nothing:
IrishDodger: Keith, please offer your opinion on the play of Joe Schmidt. We all love Joe’s story but he seemed to lose a step after his injury and even let Navy neutralize him. I’m afraid he’ll be further exposed this weekend and against Stanford. Why is it the less talented players seem to pick up the defense better than the 4-star phenoms?
I’ve gotten a half-dozen questions about Joe Schmidt’s play and this one from IrishDodger seemed to cover most of the angles. My opinion on his play? It’s been... a mix of very good, okay, and once or twice slightly disappointing.
As I look at Joe’s PFF grade—a website that knows a ton about football and literally grades and charts every play—I kind of see what they see. A disappointing performance against Virginia (I believe I tweeted that Joe overran a few tackles) and subpar play against Clemson, when Schmidt only had one tackle. (A quick plug for PFF. If you are a college football junky you should absolutely pony up the $$ to see their premium stats. It’s an incredible service, and it’ll help your fantasy team, too.)
Some have asked why Joe is playing. That answer is simple: He’s Notre Dame’s best middle linebacker. Brian Kelly said it point-blank in a press conference a few weeks ago and he’d likely say it again.
Dodger, you should know me well enough by now that I’m going to chuckle at your 4-star recruiting mention. Those rankings mean about as much as the gold star I gave myself for an excellent column last week. Just look at Greer Martini. He was a guy that Irish fans wondered why he was even being recruited. Now he’s my odds-on-favorite to be the starter next season.
Is Joe a perfect player? No. Is he a step slower than last year? I’m not sure, but we sure are ignoring the fact that he’s been playing with a cast on his thumb since Game One. Schmidt’s been asked to handle some of the toughest jobs on the field. And if he struggles at times doing that, you can bet that Nyles Morgan will, too.
There’s a lot of good football left in Notre Dame’s captain and leader. And I expect to see it during the second half of the season.
wisner74: Keith – C.J.Prosise’s spectacular development at RB is one of the big stories this year, and freshman RB Josh Adams appears to be coming along very nicely. At the same time, ND’s talented D-backfield seems not to be meeting fans’ expectations. What, if anything, do you think that says about the relative performance of two of the new Irish position coaches, Autry Denson and Todd Lyght?
Notre Dame’s secondary is still a work in progress. But Kelly commended Elijah Shumate’s solid play of late on Thursday and expect to see Cole Luke and KeiVarae Russell begin to find a rhythm now that the option football is behind them.
Again, fan expectations aren’t necessarily reality. And saying Autry Denson is doing better than Todd Lyght because C.J. Prosise is a freak of nature isn’t necessarily a sound logic jump. But the Irish are still struggling at the safety position, and amidst all the box jumps and Instagram training videos we might have forgotten that Russell didn’t play football or even practice for a full calendar year, so expecting him to go from the shelf to lockdown status was a stretch.
ndlv: Keith, you have just been hired as a head coach. Whom do you hire as your defensive coordinator – Diaco or Van Gorder?
I think you do exactly what Brian Kelly did. Hire Bob Diaco.
Diaco is a builder. He took a group that was literally laughed at and made them believe they could be the best defense in America. When Irish fans heard the defense chanting “B.I.A.” you couldn’t miss the snarkiness. Two seasons later, Diaco had the Irish defense leading Notre Dame to the BCS title game. No they weren’t the best defense in America. But I think they were second or third.
All that being said, I think VanGorder gets a bum rap. You could have brought Bill Parcells, Buddy Ryan, or any other defensive guru in football history in last November and I’m not sure they’d have been able to make chicken salad with that group. Notre Dame’s front seven was decimated, and you just can’t defend if you’re getting blown off the ball and playing kids who have no clue what they’re doing.
That’s not to say that VanGorder has been perfect. I do think sometimes his group gets too scheme reliant. This group also has some maddening lapses—big plays that go for quick scores and a softness in the red zone that still scares me. But Notre Dame has played some good defense this year, save a handful of series. And they’re doing it without their starting nose tackle, and primary nickel and dime backs.
blushirts88: How comfortable are you with Kizer at QB? Do you feel he can handle this game at home?
I’ve been really impressed, haven’t you? And if you haven’t, maybe you didn’t see Kizer in the Blue-Gold game this spring. He was—and he admitted as much to Jac Collinsworth for our Stay Gold podcast—horrific, and basically hit rock bottom as he wondered if football was even the sport for him.
But his poise has been excellent. He throws a pretty ball and has no problem getting it down field. He has yet to have that “lost freshman” look, and that includes in a pouring rain storm in Death Valley.
He’s missed some throws. He’s forced some others. But his leadership and demeanor is contagious, he’s a really conscientious kid. I think he’s doing more than just keep Malik’s seat warm, he’s creating competition in the ranks and also helping the Irish stay on track to achieve their goals.
blackirish23:
KA – 2 Questions:
1. If you could have ONE of our injured players back for the bowl game (hopefully the playoffs), who would it be and why?
I’d want Jarron Jones back and healthy. That’s kind of an easy one for me, though I’d love to see what Tarean Folston would do behind this offensive line.
2. In the process of writing an article, does it ever cross your mind which way the comments thread will go? If so, does it ever affect your writing/wording for the article in any way?
Ha. I can safely say that I’ve never worried about what you guys were going to say. Maybe my mom has, but I know that behind every faceless commenter on the internet who writes mean things, there’s really just somebody who wants to be loved.
(I tell myself.)
andy44teg: Hey, Keith, saw on ESPN the other day that BK’s name was possibly out there for replacing Sark. Is that just some blow-hard trying to get interweb clicks or is there any juice to that at all?
I’ve got no clue. But here’s how I view it: There wasn’t a writer in town who wasn’t shocked when Sark no-showed for Sunday practice and created this mess. So if you’re telling me that in the 24 hours between his indefinite suspension and his firing that all these reporters went and hit the phones and started talking to anonymous sources, I’d be really surprised.
That said, Brian Kelly is going to be on every list for job openings until he eventually leaves Notre Dame or decides to retire in South Bend. He’s a successful coach who runs a program the right way, is a professional and has a reputation for building programs—and he’s currently doing it at a really difficult place like Notre Dame.
When BK went and visited with the Philadelphia Eagles, he gave certain people, some Notre Dame fans among them, a lifetime pass to believe he’ll be gone at the first chance he gets. But watching him on Showtime and seeing how he’s grown comfortable in his job, I don’t get the feeling he’s a guy looking to uproot his family. Rather, I think he’s a confident coach committed to winning a title at Notre Dame, knowing that alone will allow him to do whatever he wants.