Archives › Keith Arnold
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I feel like every word I type talking about draft prognosticators is a wasted one, but friend of the blog Mike Florio over at PFT, had a great column on ESPN’s scouting analyst Todd McShay. From Florio: Once upon a time, Mel Kiper was the primary target of NFL scouts; Kiper has been supplanted by…
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Not too long ago, Brian Smith and Darius Fleming were wowing Irish fans with their potential. Smith, one of the final recruits added to the 2007 recruiting class, burst on the scene as a freshman, starting the final three games of the 2007 season at outside linebacker during an otherwise forgettable year, providing Irish fans…
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With scholarship offers from schools like Florida State, Michigan, and Nebraska, it wasn’t a stretch to say that Lane Clelland was an elite national recruit coming out of McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland. Clelland had the size and athleticism that profiled perfectly for a left tackle, and his background as a prep wrestler had…
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After reading various reports on the first day of practice, one thing is very clear: there is a new sheriff in town. Across the board, reporters are working hard to come up with a new word for face-paced. Even players were shocked. “It was overwhelming, well, different,” Michael Floyd said after practice, catching himself with…
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The Brian Kelly era of Notre Dame football hits the practice field today for the very first time. After months of offseason evaluations, recruiting, community commitments and press obligations, it’s time for the former Cincinnati coach to being doing the thing that got him the Notre Dame job in the first place. The Irish kick…
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I’m planning on rolling out a big Spring Football column tomorrow morning and I’m busy at work on that, but in the mean time, here are a few notes from around the interwebs… * Eric Hansen had a chat today at the South Bend Tribune’s website and he’s always worth a read. There wasn’t anything…
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At an impromptu press conference, head coach Brian Kelly gave the CliffsNotes to the state of the Irish union yesterday. Here’s what he said: On the quarterback situation: “We’d be really close to playing with (Dayne Crist). We’re going to be smart. He’ll play all our 7-on-7 routines, he’ll be in all of our one-on-ones.…
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With plenty of NFL teams in attendance, 14 former Irish football players strutted their stuff for potential employers. See below for all the raw numbers from the athletes that worked out, courtesy of ND’s Sports Information Department, but here are a few thoughts… * Looking at James Aldridge’s numbers, you can’t help but think of…
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Brian Kelly spoke this morning at the Hall of Fame Luncheon and revealed a few tidbits as Spring Practice gets ready to begin. * As rumored, Lane Clelland has been moved to defensive end. I’m incredibly high on this switch and really think Clelland has the chance to be more than just a role player…
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It’s been four months since I’ve had a chance to categorize my thoughts by number, so I thought I’d bust out a “Five Things,” for Brian Kelly’s first Junior Day. As mentioned previously, Saturday’s efforts netted the Irish defensive end prospect Brad Carrico as the first commitment to Kelly’s 2011 crew, but it also laid…
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As we hypothesized earlier in the week, Brad Carrico became the first recruit to commit to Brian Kelly’s 2011 recruiting class. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive end plays his prep football at Dublin Coffman High, the same high school that produced former Irish standouts Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe. Carrico profiles perfectly for defensive end in…
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Before we get to football, the Irish basketball team got bounced from their first round game against Old Dominion and fell about three wins shy of my bracket projections. As usual, I pick the Irish to pull through in a big game and then wish I didn’t do it. While many will call this loss…
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ND and Michigan going under the lights at the Big House in '11
Mar 18, 2010, 1:57 PM EDT
Expect an even more electric atmosphere in 2011, when the Irish return to Michigan to play the Wolverines. This from the AP: ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will play its first night game at the Big House in 2011 against Notre Dame. New athletic director Dave Brandon made the announcement Thursday. Brandon expects it…
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Best of St. Patty's Day: Brady vs. Jimmy, Irish March Madness
Mar 17, 2010, 6:10 PM EDT
As we creep closer to spring football, writers have gotten a little bit more creative when coming up with content with news and information hard to come by. Here are a couple ideas I wish I would’ve come up with first: * Over at SubwayDomer.com, the boys take on a wonderful debate topic: Brady vs.…
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Notre Dame’s Sports Information department just released the football team’s spring schedule. The fifteen practices will kick off on Friday, March 26th and culminate with the annual Blue-Gold Spring Football game on Saturday, April 24th. Here’s the complete list of scheduled practices, with two sessions falling furing the annual Notre Dame Football Coaches Clinic: 2010…
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This Saturday, Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame coaching staff will have their first Junior Day on campus as a complete staff. While this will hardly go down in media guides as an important day in the Brian Kelly era, this is probably the most important day of recruiting that Kelly has had since taking…
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With less than two weeks before spring practice, it’s almost time to get our first look at Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish. But before we get to that, here are a few notes from the weekend. * Brady Quinn has been given a fresh start in Denver, and he’ll have a chance to play in a…
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Nothing like a little conference talk to get Notre Dame fans nice and riled up about football as the Irish basketball team makes a pretty incredible run. Mike Brey’s resurgence is pretty incredible. What next, fashionable mock turtlenecks? Here are a few notes on everything but conference affiliations: * While Notre Dame’s 2011 date at…
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There was a lot of speculation as to whether or not Jimmy Clausen, still recovering from surgery to repair torn tendons in his toe, would be ready for his individual Pro Day, currently slated for April 9th. IrishIllustrated.com’s Pete Sampson reports that Clausen definitely won’t participate in Notre Dame’s Pro Day, scheduled for March 23rd.…
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As you’d expect, the conference affiliation talk got everybody riled up, even though the South Bend Tribune’s Eric Hansen accurately points out that it was an “over-reactive rehash of ND’s position on ND’s position.” A few additional thoughts worth mentioning again: * I’ve reached out to a few of the more educated Notre Dame fans…
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During the dredges of the offseason, the smallest quotes often times make the biggest news. And when Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick spoke to a small assembly of media and mentioned that Notre Dame could one day be forced to join a conference in college football, it created quite a stir. “I believe we’re…
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With a logjam of explosive talent at the running back position, head coach Brian Kelly made official something often debated this offseason: Theo Riddick is moving to wide receiver. With Kelly’s offense not nearly as dependent on the traditional running back as Charlie Weis’ pro-style attack, the move should help get the ball in the…
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While it was already common knowledge in late January, Maryland and Notre Dame officially confirmed their November 12, 2011 game will be held in FedEx Field. This from Notre Dame’s official release: Notre Dame and Maryland will face each other on the football field for only the second time in history on Nov. 12, 2011,…
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Friend of the program Bruce Feldman had a nice interview with Irish defensive coordinator Bob Diaco covering just about everything that’s gone on since the new coaching staff has come to South Bend. Diaco strikes me as a unique guy that clearly understands how the relationship with the media works. I caught up with Feldman…
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There was some good back and forth over the past week about the performance of Ruben Mendoza’s strength and conditioning program, started by a nice article written by Blue & Gold’s Ryan O’Leary. O’Leary touched on the common phenomenon of blasting the departing staff and touting the incoming guys, just as it happens at nearly…
