This isn’t a Notre Dame basketball blog, so I watched Saturday night as a fan only. Man was that a fun basketball game. (And that’s coming from someone who has sat through maybe one or two complete basketball games in his entire life.)
If you follow me on Twitter, I was all over the place, comparing John Calapari to the arrogant head coach of the Russian’s 1980 Olympic hockey team and the Wildcats to Ivan Drago himself. Turns out they were Apollo Creed and this was Rocky, not Rocky IV. Bummer.
(I would’ve liked to hear Pat Connaughton’s speech to help end the Cold War.)
That was probably the closest thing to the 2005 USC-ND game I can remember. And in defeat, I think Notre Dame won over more basketball fans than they’ve had in a long, long time. What a fun final month for the men’s basketball team and Mike Brey.
Let’s hope all the people that jumped on the bandwagon stick around for seasons to come.
With that, on to the late edition of the mailbag.
corknd: Long time reader, first time poster. From the press conferences, it seems Kelly has placed a renewed emphasis on being physical along the lines. Kelly also seems pleased with the development of some of his young o-linemen. Do you feel this will lead to some short yardage and goal line jumbo sets a la Stanford, or is this annual rite of spring coachspeak we’re hearing?
Thanks for joining the party, Cork. Pay no mind to some of the village idiots.
Outside of inviting Olivia Newton-John to practice, I’m not sure what else BK can do. In just about every media session he’s had, he’s talked about banging and hitting—and that’s probably the most telling sign as to where Kelly thinks his depth chart sits.
For really the first time since Kelly has been in South Bend, he’s got a depth chart that’s pretty much stocked for spring practice. And he’s acknowledged how much that helps.
While he’s been able to protect key contributors like Sheldon Day, he’s used the added depth to make sure the young nucleus of this team is ready to hold up, especially at the point of attack.
How that manifests itself, I’m not sure. While Irish fans love to reference Stanford’s style of offense, I don’t think that you’re going to all of a sudden see a jumbo, bunch-it-up, short yardage attitude that resembles David Shaw’s. (Also, it’s worth noting: Spend some time listening to Stanford fans talk about Shaw’s 3rd or 4th-and-short playcalling. Not too many of them are fans.)
In Boise, Mike Sanford rode one running back to the tune of 1,800 yards and 32 touchdowns and let his quarterback run the ball double-digit times in eight different games. That’s the same amount as Tarean Folston.
So let’s see what his imprint is on the offense. After seeing Malik Zaire charge into the line against LSU, I fully expect the red zone offense to change for the better.
irishfan4life: Now that we’ve seen a few practices and heard from the coaches, what impact do you think Grace will have on the defense?
That’s a great question. And I think it’s fully dependent on Joe Schmidt’s return to health, as well as how lucky the Irish linebackers are when it comes to staying healthy next season.
Right now, I think the Irish will use Grace in a similar fashion to how they used Cam McDaniel last year. Not a full-time contributor, but a significant (even if it’s limited) role in certain packages.
In the trenches, Grace has the size and length that Schmidt doesn’t. So depending on the opponent, he might be the kind of guy you want in a load-up-the-box scheme.
And of course, it’s all going to depend on Grace’s health—the fact that he’s practicing and going full tilt (when he isn’t sidelined by a concussion, as he was this weekend), doesn’t mean he’s back to 100 percent. Reading between the lines and talking to a few people, it sounds like his recovery is on track but not complete.
Some assumptions I’m making: 1) Jaylon Smith isn’t coming off the field. 2) Neither is Joe Schmidt, if he’s healthy.
But from there, Grace will fill a role, even if it’s a little too soon to know exactly what it is. But with Grace and Nyles Morgan capable of playing the Mike linebacker spot, that’s a good problem to have.
migshields: Keith, this is a very broad and complex question, but which defense will we see in 2015: Rice through FSU or the unit that ended the season? Let’s presume that players like Schmidt, Jones, and Russell all come back at 100 percent.
I think somewhere in the middle, though much closer to the first half than the free fall that we saw when ND was running kids out at nearly every position.
Top 1-11, this defense is going to be very, very good. And I think having a second year in the system—though one that won’t be a complete mystery to opposing playcallers—will be very beneficial to the guys in charge of running it.
That said, the depth is still relatively young and unproven. And it’ll be the next level guys, specifically on the defensive line, who’ll determine how good this defense can be.
Schematically, the biggest keys to success will be finding a base defense that allows the Irish to play well against an up-tempo attack and slowing down the option. It sounds like Bob Elliott is making that the focus of his analyst/special assistant work, and that’s a worthy place to start. But Navy and Georgia Tech sounds like a major handful, with Ken Niumatalolo and Paul Johnson no friends of the Irish.
But if the guys you listed are back and fully healthy? That’s a really good start.
jerseyshorrendfan1: Keith, when is this winter going to end? If it doesn’t end soon, can you put me up in SoCal for a few weeks? I hear your weather has been great. I am a pretty good cook and have a few good stories to tell, but I am told that I snore (although I’ve never heard it). What do you say?
Do you clean up after just-turned one-year olds? Do diapers? And are you willing to sleep on the roof? Maybe send a few sample menus and I’ll run it by the boss.
There are days when living in California is a total drag. But certainly not this winter. Hope spring is here sooner than later for everybody else, because it’s felt like summer here since, well, last summer.
