Before we start digging into the season that was, I wanted to clear a few little notes off the desk. The first is that running back Armando Allen and defensive tackle Ian Williams were the only two Irish football players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. (Obviously, that would change if either Michael Floyd or Kyle Rudolph decide to head to the NFL.) Cornerback Darrin Walls is an alternate.
I can’t say I was surprised that the Irish didn’t get a larger contingency invited, but guys like Chris Stewart, Brian Smith, and Robert Hughes will definitely get looks by NFL teams as well, even if they don’t make the trip to Indy.
Allen receiving an invite to the combine is fortuitous and if he can come back healthy by late February, he’ll have a great chance at making a career of it on Sundays, especially with his versatility out of the backfield. Healthy, he’s the kind of guy that could light up a stopwatch, and the drills in Indy could be somewhere he’ll get noticed.
Williams has also been invited to the Senior Bowl, the best of the college all-star games that serve as a draft showcase.
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Nose tackle Sean Cwynar will undergo surgery on his broken foot, suffered during the Sun Bowl against the Hurricanes. Safety Jamoris Slaughter, who’s been plagued by an ankle injury all season will have minor surgery to help clean up some loose cartilage. Slaughter’s season was essentially ruined by the ankle injury he suffered in the season opening game, an injury that forced Zeke Motta into full-time duty opposite Harrison Smith, and had the Irish down to essentially two healthy safeties for much of the year.
Irish fans can officially take a deep sigh of relief as the knee injury Manti Te’o suffered was diagnosed as a mild sprain, meaning there’s no need for anything other than a little rest for the Irish’s tackling machine.
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Jake Brown of IrishIllustrated.com has a great article on one-time Notre Dame commitment Aaron Lynch, who found some “closure” with the Irish after receiving plenty of backlash for decommitting.
From Brown:The Seminoles secured Lynch’s commitment on Nov. 16 and Lynch will enroll in Tallahassee after spending a couple days at home following the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
But looking back on how he handled the situation, Lynch has some regrets about how the de-commitment went down. Rather than call Alford to deliver the news, Lynch consulted with his high school coach and sent a text message, then didn’t answer or avoided phone calls.
“I should’ve handled it differently,” Lynch said. “I shouldn’t have sent a text out. I shouldn’t have listened to nobody. I should’ve just called him, that’s how close we were. I regret it and that was foolish of me to do that. So, we didn’t talk for awhile.”
I’m not going to get into the idiotic mindset of fans texting and Facebook-ing recruits, but kudos to Lynch for taking his share of the blame in the entire fiasco.
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With the Irish’s lack of depth at safety a concern, it’s interesting that George Atkinson, one of the Irish’s touted wide receiver commitments, is taking all his snaps at the US Army All-American Bowl at safety.
Atkinson still says he’s coming into South Bend as a wideout, but the cross training at safety, especially if Michael Floyd decides to come back to school.