Frank Vitovitch

Observations from Tuesday’s Practice – 8/12

Here’s some comments and observations after watching all of the videos on UND.com of all of the offense vs. defense plays and individual drills. In a drill where…

2008 Notre Dame Football Roster

The 2008 Notre Dame football roster was a formidable lineup, boasting a mix of seasoned veterans and promising young talents. Led by head coach Charlie Weis, the team…

Notes from Monday’s “Irish Eyes” Drill

UND.com posted the full video of the “Irish Eyes” Drill (the drill in which a defender lines up in front of a blocker and needs to shed the…

Tuesday Practice Video – Full Pads Edition

Today was the first day in full pads and the media was treated to seeing the entire practice.  The video II posted on YouTube definitely shows the team…

John Latina Talks About the Offensive Line

The offensive line is the most critical unit for Notre Dame this year.  The Irish will only go as far as the offensive line will allow it offensively…

Monday Practice Video – 8/11

Here’s some video of the secondary from today’s practice.  First unit is still Raeshon McNeil, David Bruton, Kyle McCarthy, and Terrail Lambert with Leonard Gordon, Sergio Brown, Ray…

Brian Smith Looking to Make a Name For Himself

Notre Dame, IN (UHND.com) – Brian Smith’s father Chris had a very solid career for Notre Dame in the early 80’s, but when it comes time to define…

Thoughts on the First Depth Chart

The first depth chart of the year was released by Charlie Weis on Friday, and while he said it is very much subject to change over the next…

Practice Video – 8/10

Here’s some more video from today’s open practice.  Deion Walker might be listed at 188, but he looks pretty big.  He and Floyd are going to be one…

Weis Notes – 8/10

Here are some notes from Charlie Weis’s press conference with the media Sunday. Morrice Richardson played better than Justin Brown in the spring.  Brown is competing for the…

Observations from Sunday’s Fan Appreciation Day

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend Sunday’s open practice for Fan Appreciation day, but Domer81 from the UHND Forum was and posted his thoughts earlier tonight.  Here’s what…

Video of EJ Banks

Here’s some video of Notre Dame’s newest commitment – EJ Banks.  He shows some great athletic ability here.  He is projected as either a safety or a corner…

Defensive Practice Video 8/9

Here’s some video Irish Illustrated posted to YouTube of the defense.  Notice Hafis Williams (#79) hustling in the beginning and getting some praise from Charlie Weis.  “Look at…

Duval Kamara Has a New Number

Duval Kamara has been seen wearing #60 in practice the last two days and on Saturday, Charlie Weis let the media know why. Similar to a conversation I…

Weighing In on the Freshmen

Here are the height and weights listed for all of this year’s freshmen with a few observations below. 2008 Freshmen Weights Name Position Height Weight RJ Blanton CB…

Notre Dame Assistant Coaches on Friday’s Practice

Here’s some video of Jon Tenuta, Corwin Brown, Rob Ianello, and Mike Haywood talking about the 2008 Fighting Irish after the first practice of the fall yesterday. [youtube]nTYLGBLjbNQ[/youtube]

Season Preview ’08: Wide Receivers

The first two years of the Weis Era produced three 1,000 yard receiving and four 10+ touchdown seasons from Notre Dame wide receivers, but when Jeff Samardzija and…

Season Preview ’08: Running Backs

For the first time since the Holtz Era, Notre Dame will enter a season with a stable of running backs full of depth, talent, and complementary skills. Over…

Legendary Notre Dame Football Player/ Coach Joe Yonto Passes Away

Former long time Notre Dame assistant coach Joe Yonto passed away Sunday night. Tim Prister had a very nice tribute to Yonto on Irish Illustrated that is worth…

Season Preview ’08: Quarterbacks

The biggest question for Notre Dame heading into last season was who was going to be lining up under center when the Irish opened up against Georgia Tech.…

What They’re Saying About Samardzija’s Debut

The Chicago Cubs placed closer Kerry Wood on the DL earlier this week and in the process called up Jeff Samardzija for his first stint in the big…

Possible Summer Decision for Anthony LaLota

Allen Wallace of SuperPrep.com posted an article today about Notre Dame defensive end prospect Anthony LaLota today stating that the New Jersey native might be looking to end…

Wood, Motta, and Evans at Top Gun

Notre Dame commitment Cierre Wood and prospects Zeke Motta and Shaquelle Evans are taking part in this week’s FBU Top Gun Showcase Camp in Florida and none seem…

Cierre Wood Guarantees We’ll Beat USC the Next 3 Years

Cierre Wood surprised some people when he committed to Notre Dame as early as he did with the success the Irish have had recruiting the running back position…

Irish Pick Up Zach Martin, Stick it to Michigan Again

For the second Sunday in a row, Notre Dame picked up an offensive linemen commitment from a prospect very much on Michigan’s radar in Zach Martin. Martin (6;5″,…

Laws Hoping to Win Philly Fans Over

Philadelphia, PA (UHND.com) – Next week a whole class of NFL rookies will begin reporting to their first training camps. One of them will be former Notre Dame…

Trevor Laws Q&A – Round 2

Back in March we were able to get Trevor Laws to answer some questions for us in between the NFL Combine and NFL Draft. Recently we were able…

Report: Notre Dame Found it’s AD in Jack Swarbrick

Last week at this time Steve Orsini was thought to be the front runner for the open Athletic Director position at Notre Dame. A week later Notre Dame…

Watt a Way to Begin the Week

Notre Dame, IN (UHND.com) – Last weekend pretty terribly for Notre Dame fans with the disappointing news that Darrin Walls would not be with the team in 2008,…

Don’t Get Too Excited About a Possible Game with Miami

Last week there was an article in the Miami Herald which said that the Hurricanes would be interested in playing a game with Notre Dame in one of…

Notre Dame Adds 5-Star OL Chris Watt

Notre Dame picked up commitment #12 on Sunday in the form of 5-star offensive guard and Chicagoland area native Chris Watt. Watt, Scout.com’s #2 OG, is the second…

Steve Orsini Won’t Be Notre Dame’s Next AD

Walls Gone for the Season, Hord Transferring

Per the latest University press release: Wide receiver D.J. Hord has decided to leave the Notre Dame football team and will transfer to a Division I-AA school. “I’d…

Brian Polian Getting Some Props

Brian Polian has been criticized quite a bit over the last few years for his coaching skills, but he has been getting some props for his recruiting prowess…

Sporting News – Duval Kamara Ready to Breakout

Sporting News’s Matt Hayes published a list of college football players who are ready to breakout this year and Notre Dame wide receiver Duval Kamara was on his…

Catching Up with Michael Stonebreaker

Tonight’s guest on the UHND Podcast, Spanning the Dome, was former Notre Dame linebacking great Michael Stonebreaker. We talked about the infamous ’88 Miami game, pre-game brawl and…

And Eifert Makes it 11 for Irish

Marlon Pollard gave Notre Dame its 10th verbal commitment of the year on Monday and on Tuesday the Irish added verbal #11 in the form of Fort Wayne…

Weis, Irish Cornering the Market

Notre Dame, IN (UHND.com) – Before Charlie Weis arrived in South Bend in December of 2004, it had been years since Notre Dame had much success recruiting cornerbacks.…

Pollard Where His Heart Was

Notre Dame’s newest commitment told Jill Painter of Inside UCLA today that his decommitment from UCLA to Notre Dame was not a difficult decision because it was where…

Marlon Pollard Makes it 10

Notre Dame picked up its 10th commitment (full commitment list) of the year Monday morning when cornerback Marlon Pollard, a one time UCLA commit, made the switch to…

Matt Carufel Still Talking About Notre Dame

When Matt Carufel transferred from Notre Dame last year, he didn’t always have the nicest things to say about the Irish or Charlie Weis. It seems he just…

Clausen Named to Maxwell Watch List

Jimmy Clausen was added to the Maxwell Watch List along with 74 other NCAA signal callers this week. Clausen was one of 26 quarterbacks to make the list…

ND to Blitz 80% of the Time, Clausen Greatly Improved

Jon Tenuta spoke at the Notre Dame celebrity golf tournament last week and some interesting things to say.  Notre Dame fans better be ready to see a lot…

Three Big Concerns for 2008

I made a quick post the other day on the Football board about my three biggest concerns for 2008 and it got a nice little discussion going so…

Notre Dame/NBC Renew Contract

Notre Dame’s landmark contract with NBC has been renewed once again making all Irish home games through 2015. From the AP: “We’re big believers in how Notre Dame…

Pat Kuntz Officially Back in School

Senior nose tackle Pat Kuntz is back in school and will be on the field for the Irish this fall according to the Chicago Tribune. Notre Dame starting…

Alex Bullard on Picking Notre Dame

Notre Dame added its first offensive linemen of this year’s recruiting class last week with the addition of Tennessee native Alex Bullard. Bullard spoke about his commitment to…

Chris Zorich Wants to be an AD, Someday

I was a bit busy last week at work and didn’t get the chance to post about Chris Zorich returning to Notre Dame to work in the athletic…

Irish Pick Up Two More Commitments

Notre Dame, IN (UHND) – So much for the thought that recruits this year would be applying a wait and see approach with Notre Dame after last season’s…

Dan Fox Commits to Notre Dame

Notre Dame picked up another commitment today in the form of linebacker Dan Fox. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer “They see a very athletic young man who plays…