Archive for the ‘News and Notes’ Category

Offensive line and assistant head coach John Latina was available to speak with the media on Thursday instead of Charlie Weis and here are some highlights from what he had to say.

• On what you can take away from practices without pads along the offensive line. “How much carry over from the last time you coached them, which was spring practice. Not only just assignments, but footwork as an offensive lineman, technique, understanding the big picture. Are they growing, getting out of just knowing their little assignment. Growing as a player and learning the big picture.”
• On juniors Michael Turkovich and Paul Duncan. “I think they’ve gotten lot better from fall to spring, spring to where we are right now. There’s a great deal of confidence – they’ve done it over and over and over again.”
• On the depth the offensive line this year. “We have more capable bodies now than we’ve had since we’ve been here.”
• On graduate assistant Shane Waldron: “I think he has a bright, bright future ahead of him. He’s been with us going on his third year so just like players getting more and more confidence and learning what they have to do, you see him grow as a young football coach.”
• Chris Stewart is a little bit ahead of a new offensive lineman coming in, but not that much since he spent the spring on defense: “It’s almost starting over for him, and rightfully so and expected to be that. In the fall you have a freshman and a fall camp and if he doesn’t get in your two deep, he’s out on the show team so he’s really not getting much work with you. The first time he’s getting he gets a lot of work with you as a position coach is the spring and that particular person was on defense.”
• On junior Paul Duncan: “He’s a big, rangy, athletic kid.” Latina also said that last year Duncan was a bit light but is close to the 300 lb range now.
• Latina mentioned that there is a lot of one on one in practice in the run and pass games and that it helps developing a line because it puts them in a spotlight situation. “The defense knows it’s not going to be a screen, the defense knows it’s not going to be a draw. They’re playing 3rd and 15 every time they snap the ball in that environment.”
• Latina was asked about whether not he can ease up on installing the attitude they want in the offensive: “Offensive line is a huge attitude, it’s a huge toughness. Just when you start easing up or thinking you’re good enough you’ll go backwards in a hurry. That’s got to stay on our mind every single day.”
• On the importance of creating flexibility amongst the linemen: “The more you can ask of your players mentally, the better they’re going to be even when they settle into one position.”
• On the benefit of creating position flexibility within the offensive line: “It gives you two things as a coach: it allows you when an injury occurs to put in the next best player in. I think that’s important. If you just go by strictly positions, your 10th best player maybe the second right tackle. Why would you want to be the 10th best player in if the 6th best player can play that position as well. You get a chance to put in the best player in that you have left after your top five plus it really makes them grow and challenges them to learn the big picture instead of just their little world.”

Here are a few observations based on the videos from und.com and Irish Illustrated - as always, take them with a grain of salt…

• Quarterbacks were actually throwingtoday. Jones and Sharpley threw back and forth while Clausen threw with Ron Powlus – read into that what you want.
• Sharpley and Jones looked to be throwing it harder than Clausen who appeared to be lofting it a bit and concentrating more on mechanics. Regardless, the important thing here is that Clausen was throwing despite rumors this summer that he wouldn’t be able to right away.
• Today’s practice was forced inside the Loftus Center because of overnight and early morning rains soaking Cartier Field.
• Today’s practice was also the last practice of the year which the Irish are not permitted to wear full pads – they were in helmets and shoulder pads.
• DJ Hord looks quicker and quicker every time I watch him run through these drills – he looks very smooth in his motion and glides through a lot of these drills.
• Armando Allen is another guy who just looks fluid in these drills – it looks effortless when he’s running.
• James Aldridge’s cuts look better and better each day as his confidence in his knee continues to grow. Travis Thomas has looked very sharp and has all the confidence of a starting running back, but Aldridge is going to make it tough not to play him.
• Duval Kamara is just physically impressive. I know its been said many times already, but the kid just doesn’t look like a freshman. If he can pick up the offense quick enough I don’t think there’s anyway he’ll be kept off the field.
• Speaking of Kamara, he gets compared to Maurice Stovall a lot because of their physical similarities, but I think Kamara just might be quicker than Stovall.
• Mike Ragone looks very similar to Jeff Samardzija in his #83 jersey so far - he’s got a ways to go in terms of adding weight to play tight end on an every down basis, but he’s another guy whose athleticism is going to be hard to keep on the sidelines.
• Jones has a bit of a funky throwing motion, but he certainly looks the part – he might be the most physically put together candidate for the position.
• Clausen easily has the quickest release of the quarterbacks and in terms of throwing mechanics, he throws the nicest ball.
• Brian Smith has been practicing with the outside linebackers, but just by looking at his frame I would guess he will eventually move inside. He’s listed at 230, which could be a bit generous, but it looks like he could easily bulk up and move inside.
• Kerry Neal looked quicker today than he did yesterday.
• Across the board, the linebackers this year look MUCH bigger than last year’s group. The young guys like Neal, Brian Smith, and Morrice Richardson all have good size and some of the upper classmen like Kevan Washington and Scott Smith look considerably bigger. After seeing Notre Dame linebackers get steamrolled last year, having added bulk at the position is certainly a welcomed sign.
• Robert Hughes is another freshman who is just impressive physically - he’s easily the biggest half back already. Haywood has be seen in the All Access videos giving Hughes some one on one instruction a couple of times already which suggests to me that the staff has plans to use him early on.
• David Bruton looked a lot bigger in spring than he did at the end of last season and he looks even bigger now. Bruton could have a very, very nice season this year and will end up being an upgrade over N’Dukwe – especially with the new defense.

• Saturday’s practice will be open to the media and Weis said he wouldn’t be holding anything back and that it would be a normal practice. Something tells me what is seen Saturday won’t necessarily be a “normal” practice though.
• On the installation of the defense – “Each day we’re adding another facet. The first day was more of your base defenses – the 3 or 4 main coverages that go in. The second day we went to multiple wide receivers and therefore put in nickel as well.” “Today we’re putting in multiple tight end groupings so therefore your defense is more load up front as you’re trying to stop the run.”
• To recap the installation of the offense – Tuesday was multiple receiver sets, today was multiple tight end groupings, Thursday will be 3rd down offense, and Friday will be red-zone offense.
• Pat Kuntz weighed in at 287 this morning despite being listed at 272 on the official roster.
• Scott Smith is playing inside and outside linebacker positions. “He’s strong enough and physical enough to play on the point on the edge, but he also shows enough awareness in pass coverage where you can play him inside and not get exposed there.”
• “Potentially, we have the chance to do a lot of good things here.”
• On the size of the potential middle linebackers. “At the MIKE linebacker, the one where there almost always is an uncovered guard, you have to be stout. You look at all those teams that play 3-4 defenses in the NFL, and almost all of them have a middle linebacker that is one of those run right through you type of guys. I think we have a few candidates who do that pretty well.”
• On eliminating the big plays in the secondary: “I think the players that we’re playing with now are very, very competitive. There’s a lot of competition to get on the field right now and sometimes inherently that takes care of the problem because if guys get beat, you put someone else in. The problem is when you don’t have another alternative - when you just have a couple guys and you’re living and dying with what they d – but right now we have a lot of competition out there and I think that that sometimes answers that question.”
• On the depth in the secondary: “We have depth at the position where at one time we were very shy.” “We haven’t had it since we’ve been here. We have depth which, it just hasn’t existed.”
• On the improvement of David Brution from the end of last season to the spring and into fall camp: “David’s gotten a lot bigger and has not lost any of his speed and I think that that’s allowed him to play the game even more aggressively.”
• Weis approached Darrin Bragg about coming back to the team for fall camp after he was off of the team for the spring. “I didn’t want him to go into his senior year leaving Notre Dame with a bad taste in his mouth and me with a bad taste in my mouth about what’s happened here. I wanted to give him a chance to be a part of this program.”
• Weis also wanted Bragg back on the team in order to help with the depth at the quarterback position with the departure of Zach Frazer.
• Weis still intends on giving out scholarships to some walk-ons this year despite Notre Dame getting close to the 85 scholarship limit.
• Charlie was on the phone with Brady Quinn when Quinn got the call that a deal had been reached. “We were on the phone when his agent called him up to tell him the deal was done. So he cut me off. Then he called and I didn’t answer so he texted me to tell me it was done and I then called him back.”
• John Sullivan is in charge of making the MIKE calls at the line until further notice to take some of the burden off of the quarterbacks for now.

• The players were a bit gassed 2/3 the way though the second practice yesterday after having the conditioning test in the morning.
• Weis will be watching more of the positions on tape after practice ends because of the quarterback race - “I used to be able to go from position to position and spend more time there, but I’m spending almost the entire practice analyzing the quarterback position.”
• “I think that they all showed some promise. They threw it ok in relation to how they are, they ran the team ok. “
• Weis had a meeting with Ron Powlus and his quarterbacks to discuss the importance of some of the nuances of the quarterback position. “That whole meeting is going to be about how you carry yourself as the quarterback in the huddle, at the line of scrimmage. Bottom line is when you’re an offensive player an d the quarterback comes in the huddle, ala Brady for example, and comes in with a presence about him, it gets everyone’s attention both in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage I think you can’t take those little nuances for granted.”
• Weis commented on the process of dealing with off the field issues when players get in trouble. “You try to look at it more like you’re the dad than you’re the head football coach.”
• “Fortunately I have a bunch of intelligent kids and usually they do the right which leads to having a minimal amount of problems.”
• Weis addressed the Derrell Hand situation directly and said that Hand has to take care of his issues first before he can do anything. “He’s suspending indefinitely which is a very subjective term because I can’t even deal with anything till he takes care of business both legally and with the school.”
• In regards the Hand, Weis said he has spoken a lot with him and his mom and they are all on the same page, but that there isn’t much Weis can do until Hands legal problems are dealt with legally and through residential life within the university.
• For the second day in a row Weis stated that he won’t start a quarterback who can just manage a game, but can’t win it on his own. “When you’re playing with a more inexperience lot like we are this year, you can’t just count on a guy just to manage the team because then the only games you are going to win are the games you were supposed to win.”
• There is little doubt as to where Trevow Law will be playing this year – left end. Weis completely ruled out a move to nose tackle for the fifth year senior. “Trevor is our left end and that’s the one position we know. We talked about some starting jobs that are open, that one is closed. You can pen that one in.”
• When asked about the health of Asaph Schwapp who missed 11 games in 2006, Weis told the media he is healthy and ready to go. “Fortunately he’s no longer hurt. He’s been off and on for the last year and change with his knee so this is the first time in a while he’s uninhibited. “
• Speaking of Asaph, Weis made mention of his strength Tuesday. “Pound for pound, he might be the strongest guy we have.”
• Weis talked about all of the things the quarterbacks can do before the ball is even in their hands in the huddle and walking up to the line of scrimmage. “Play call comes in, I give it to coach Haywood, he gives it to the quarterback, he looks on his wristband, he knows what the play is, he goes into the huddle. Now, how he relays that information and the temperament he relays that information with and how he can look into your eyes with an air of confidence when he’s in there, all of those things, some of them subjective are what those players are seeing in return.”
• When asked about how difficult it will be to change his mindset of coaching a quarterback who isn’t as experienced, Weis said it’s not difficult, but you have to adapt. “Too many coaches in this position where you go from an experience guy to an inexperienced guy let their ego get the best of them when it comes to calling plays. They like a play, but the quarterback doesn’t understand the play, but they call it anyway and usually it’s set up for failure. So, what you have to do is make sure you minimize the times you call those things, even eliminate those things so you can put them in a position where there’s things that they have more confidence in doing.”
• Weis talked about how in 1999 when he was with the Jets, injuries forced them to start Ray Lucas who at the time was a scout team player stating that you have to adapt. “You can’t do the same things with the same guys. You have to look at one guy and the other guy and say ok, ‘Let’s tone it down.’”

As with my post earlier today about yesterday’s practice, take these points with a grain of salt as they are based on watching all of the free videos between und.com and Irish Illustrated’s free videos.

• Practice was inside the Loftus Center because of overnight rains soaking the fields.
• In an inside linebacker/defensive line drill the order was – Crum, Brockington, Trevor Laws, Dwight Stephenson, Pat Kuntz, Justin Brown, Paddy Mullen, Kallen Wade, Ian Williams, Steve Quinn, Scott Smith. Andrew Nuss, Toryan Smith, and Emeka Nwankwo. Stephenson had a little trouble and tripped up the bag at one point.
• Kallen Wade looks like he’s gotten even bigger since the spring and Toryan Smith looks light on his feet. You can see what Weis was talking about in the spring when he said Wade has the frame to handle more weight – he still looks fairly lean
• Sergio Brown looked to run through one cone drill the smoothest of the defensive backs and John Ryan surprised me with how well he ran through it.
• First group of DB’s in another drill were Zibby, Bruton, Lambert, and Wooden. Lambert came out of his break a little slower than the rest. Second group looked like McNeil, McCarthy, Herring, and Walls. Third group looked like Prince, Brown, Gaines, and Ferrine.
• In 2005 Ferrine was the nickel back. The fact that two years later he is running with the 3rd team defensive backs speaks volumes for the recruiting efforts of Weis. This isn’t a knock on Ferrine just pointing out that in two years the talent has been upgraded so much in the secondary that Ferrine has been passed by a number of under classmen.
• Demetrius Jones who is listed at 6’4” looks to be an inch or two taller than Jimmy Clausen who is listed at 6’5”. Jones also showed his athleticism in some of the
• Ian Williams easily passes the eyeball test at nose tackle – he looks like the biggest defensive lineman on the team.
• At linebacker – both Brian Smith and Kerry Neal pass the eyeball test as well – neither of them looks like a freshman when standing around the other linebackers. Many fell Neal could be a starter from day one.
• Darrin Bragg is back with the team as a quarterback and is wearing Zach Frazer’s old #12.
• Quarterbacks were practicing the play action.

Take most of these with a grain of salt since they are based on just a few minutes of video, but here’s some early observations.

• Mike Ragone looks like a wide receiver – he is going to have bulk up quite a bit before he is ready for playing time at tight end. Ragone also got a crash course on how to carry the football from Mike Haywood during on the drills.
• James Aldridge looked even more comfortable making cuts than he did in spring
• Chris Stewart looks very quick for a guy his size. I keep thinking Weis would have kept him on defense if he didn’t have a good chance to start on offense.
• I thought Thomas Bemenderfer moved really well laterally for an offensive lineman in the one drill.
• Emeka Nwankwo was practicing with the defensive linemen and got told “Emeka watch everbody else. You’re the last one in line. Pay Attention,” pay d-line coach Jappy Oliver.
• Robert Hughes had the ball in the wrong hand during one of the drills, but he looked as big as the tight ends. Hughes is easily the biggest half back on the team already.
• Konrad Reuland looked very agile making lateral cuts in one drill.
• Armando Allen was told “good feet right there” at one point by Haywood.
• Geroge West and Robby Parris look the smoothest of the wide receivers in the one cone drill – their cuts looked effortless.
• Richard Jackson had a great catch in the same cone drill on a pass thrown behind him. Jackspn showed some suspect hands in the spring game, but he looked good Monday.
• The order of the wide receivers in this drill was Grimes, West, Parris, Gallup, then Jackson – take that for whatever its worth.
• Golden Tate looked like someone getting used to wide receiver in the same cone drill – he looked a bit tentative making his cuts. This much is to be expected though considering he played running back in high school and will have a steep learning curve.
• Duval Kamara looked like the biggest wide receiver and physically looked like he could be the veteran of the group and not a freshman.

Despite wide spread internet rumors over the summer about the severity of Jimmy Clausen’s injury status, Charlie Weis told the media on Monday that his prized freshman quarterback’s health is just fine thank you.

“People want to talk about procedures and being gone for the year, okay, he’s out there practicing today like I said he would be. Would I say when we’re teeing off on September 1st, would Jimmy Clausen being capable of being our starting quarterback and slinging it 30 or 40 times? The answer would be yes.”

Weis’s words should be comforting to fans after rumors lingered all summer that Clausen would have to miss considerable playing time due to the mysterious elbow “procedure” which he under went after the conclusion of spring practice. A fully healthy Clausen could very well be lining up under center for the Irish September 1.

Speaking of the quarterback race, Weis did not offer much insight into where things stand right now, but he did make a comparison between the three finalists for the starting position:

That’s the easiest way for me to say it. Let’s just say that Evan is kind of a cross between Demetrius and Jimmy. That would be the easiest way for me to explain it because I’m not looking for a jack-of-all-trades, and a master of none. I’m looking for somebody that can actually do enough stuff where we can win.

This struck me as a bit odd since most people considered Clausen to be the more mobile of the two between he and Sharpley. Regardless of who is faster, knowing that Clausen is healthy and capable of starting September 1 is definitely good news.

Tom Zbikowski – Safety

• Feels better this year than he has any other year and is hungrier this year. Didn’t talk about being hurt last year, but said he definitely felt better this year.
• Is down to 205 after playing at 215+ last year.
• Last year was not the type of season he wanted to have last year.
• Made mention of certain (read Mark May’s) comments about Notre Dame winning 1 out of the first 8 games.
• Has had a more low key off-season this year and has been focusing on training since the spring game.
• Said he has something to prove to himself this year after not having the kind of season he had last year.

Travis Thomas – Running Back

• Echoed Weis’s comments of not rebuilding as well as the mantra of earning respect because people are not giving it to them.
• Mentioned that Darius Walker’s departure has given him an opportunity to shine and that he felt he earned the starting job in the spring.
• Said he knows that there will be more running this year.
• Thomas said he needs to be a coach out there for the younger guys and do that he needs to make sure he is well prepared.

John Carlson – Tight End

• Excited about the summer of conditioning as well as the opportunities the team has.
• The loss to LSU is a motivating factor, but not the only one for the team.
• Said it’s his job as well as John Sullivan and the other seniors to help whoever the quarterback is to feel comfortable in the huddle and on the field.
• Carlson said “no comment” to a question posed to him about Bernie Parmalee saying he was faster than Anthony Fasano.
• Said he felt that the tight end position is a safety net for a young quarterback along with the running backs.

Maurice Crum – Linebacker

• Said the attitude has been evolving on the defense which should lead to more big plays.
• Thinks he, Zibby, and Laws will set the examples and the rest of the defense will follow.
• Mentioned that coaches Weis and Brown have been more demanding of them which has got them excited.
• Said the defense is quicker and that the attitude overall is resulting in quicker play from the defense.
• Described coach Brown as a “jacked up guy ready to go every day.”
• Said he felt the defense was doing pretty much the same things as they have been, but have just been lining up differently in the new defense.

Corwin Brown – Defensive Coordinator

• Brown spoke of the learning curve facing the defense with a new system, but said the way you handle that is to not make the same mistakes twice and always learn from them.
• A common theme from Brown’s talk was about keeping the defense simple which is a reoccurring theme from the spring.
• Brown is looking for the older guys like Zibby to lead by example by playing hard.
• He said he could identify with anyone who likes to hit, run , and is tough – qualities he said Zibby had.
• Brown spoke about wanting to replicate the type of defenses Notre Dame had when he played against Notre Dame.  He brought up the names of Michael Stonebreaker, Todd Lyght, George Williams, “Flash” Gordon, Scot Kowalkowski, Chris Zorich, and Frank Stams.
• He is looking for guys who can hit and like to run.

Rob Ianello – Wide Receivers Coach

• This is the best time of the year for coaches because players are the most eager to learn and everyone if fresh and focused.
• Ianello believes the competition will make the group strong.
• It doesn’t matter to the receivers who the quarterback is going to be.  They will have to run their routes the same way regardless of who is the quarterback.

Bill Lewis – Defensive Backs Coach

Lewis stressed cutting down on the number of big plays this year – something that has plagued Notre Dame for the last few years.
Lewis made mention that pressure and coverage is a two way street – the pass rush is better with good coverage and coverage is a lot easier when there is a good pass rush.
Lining up against the first team offense gives the defense an advantage because of the skill level of the offense.
It’s very easy to see why Bill Lewis is such a good coach – he’s just a natural teacher when he speaks.

Ron Powlus – Quarterback Coach

• His job is both teaching the QBs the art of quarterbacking as well as being a mentor to them as someone how has been a quarterback at Notre Dame.
• Powlus said the situation is fairly similar to when he first came to Notre Dame as a quarterback 15 years ago regarding some of the uncertainty surrounding the team.
• He said his experience of playing the position is his best asset as a coach because he was exposed to numerous coaching styles throughout his career.

Jappy Oliver – Defensive Line Coach

• Oliver said he was familiar with the 3-4 defense, but not necessarily too familiar with everything they are doing with it.  He mentioned that they don’t move as much up front as some versions of the 3-4 do.
• Would love for Trevor Laws to be more of a vocal leader instead of just leading by example, but also said he is still a very good leader.

• Weis is more focused this year than any other season since he’s been at Notre Dame because of the transition the team has made since he’s been here especially with all of the changes in personnel this year.
• Weis is proud in the stability of the program right now, the numbers across the board, and the academic progress of the team.
• 3-4 is a personnel group that gives you the ability to get additional pass rushing ability off the edge which is something Weis feels Notre Dame has been missing since he’s been there.
• Weis tried to hire Corwin Brown when he first got to Notre Dame, but Brown’s family was not ready to move after transitioning from UVA to the Jets.
• Having Brown as the DC has allowed Weis to be much more familiar with the defense because it’s a system he has always been around. Weis mentioned he knows the defense second best behind Corwin.
• Weis didn’t rule out using multiple quarterbacks, but he didn’t seem too enthused with the idea. He also mentioned he wanted to keep Georgia Tech guessing.
• Weis will know how his starting QB is much sooner than the media.
• Chris Stewart is listed as a guard for now despite Hand’s suspension last week. Weis did mention that Stewart, along with freshmen Emeka Nwankwo and Andrew Nuss, could end up back on defense is there was an emergency.
• Weis’s expectations are always high and he said it’s easier to get the team to buy into his expectations when outsiders think the team will not be good.
• The team won’t be using any gimmicks this year as they have in the past – presumably referring to last year’s “9-3 isn’t good enough” banners.
• There is competition across the board. Weis made note that the depth and skill in secondary is better than it’s ever been since he has been at ND.
• Weis said he really likes the offensive line and the wide receivers despite the common concerns amongst Notre Dame fans about the youth and inexperience.
• Jimmy Clausen was out there practicing and would be capable of “slinging it 30 or 40 times” against Georgia Tech if he was the starter.
• Weis will never use the word “rebuilding” and said he has an ethical responsibility to the nine fifth year seniors to try to win now.
• Weis called the wide receivers this year “the Smurfs” after having some big, physical receivers the last two years.
• The time is now for the upper classmen along the defensive line who haven’t played much such as Justin Brown, Pat Kuntz, and Dwight Stephenson. Trevor Laws is the only “etched in stone” starter
• Weis acknowledged having a breakaway threat this year that the team hasn’t head. He didn’t mention Armando Allen by name, but he said “we all know who I’m talking about.” He also mentioned there is great competition at the running back position
• The overall team speed is as good or better than it’s been since Weis has been here.
• Offensive line depth is better than it’s been. Weis feels comfortable putting out two lines after having “maybe a half dozen” two years ago.
• Weis talked a lot about getting players to walk the walk and not talk the talk. He made numerous references to getting the players to buy into the idea of proving people wrong.
• On the kicking game, Weis made mention of having a new leg, Brandon Walker, and said that the kickers spent time working with mentors and old coaches this off-season.
• Weis thinks there will be a lot more kicks returned across the country this year with the new kickoff rules.
• The staff was all over the place visiting coaching staffs this summer – the Patriots, Saints, Panthers, and a few colleges.
• Weis won’t make any decisions on the QB situation until at least Saturday morning – giving all three quarterbacks equal reps until then. He will take another week to narrow things down though if necessary.
• All but two players passed the conditioning test out of 100.
• Weis does not like the text messaging ban, but is in favor of an early signing period in August.
• Weis’s Signing Day Press Conference about redefining what “commitments” are has had a very positive effect on the recruiting efforts this year because people have bought into it.
• Weis talks to Brady about every other day and made mention that he is anxious to get to camp.
• Zibby may have been a tad overweight at the beginning of the season last year and he was banged up after getting speared on a punt return. Zibby’s weight is down now and he will be playing with a chip on his shoulder this year.
• Weis still wants a lead running back, but he will likely share the wealth much more this year. He does not, however, expect to get into a 50/50 share of carries.
• The offense will be set around the quarterback and not vice versa. The offense will be installed early on and once a QB is decided on, the offense will be tailored around that QB.
• Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen are not the same type of quarterback.
• The staff is looking for some early enrollments out of the current commitments, but obviously could not comment further.
• Weis isn’t looking for a QB to keep them in games and just keep it close – he’s looking for a QB that can win games for this team.
• Hiring Ron Powlus was the most important aspect of Weis’s tweaking of the coach staff. He wanted someone in here who walked the walk as opposed to someone who could just talk the talk with the group of inexperienced QBs.