2011 Notre Dame Football Blog

2011 Regular Season Final Thoughts

       The final record for the Irish of 8-4 may be a let down for the Irish faithful, but that number doesn't tell the whole story.  While it is true that the only thing matters is 'wins', the qualifier is that it is only talking about where a team finds itself in the Top 25 rankings.  Wins do not necessarily do a good job of showing if a team is trending up or down.  For example, lets say the Irish indeed play Florida st. in the Champs sports bowl and lose, so they finish with the same 8-5 record as last year, does this mean they did not improve?  Of course not.  Look at their regular season games, in only two of them (USC and Standford) were they outplayed for at least a half.  In fact they were only outplayed in 7 quarters out of 48 (4th quarter of Michigan,  all four quarters of against USC and the first two quarters against Stanford).  And that despite dealing with many injuries to starters throughout the season and a very young starting group including a handful of true freshman.  Notre Dame's 8-4 record this year is certainly better than last seasons 8-4 record.  Expect to see a similar record next year however due to what is shaping up to be the most difficult schedule in the country and the Irish's QB issues.

      Biggest Weakness:  QB

      Rees is not the future of Notre Dame football, and if he is then you can count on a couple more sub par seasons and possibly even an end to the Kelly era.  Rees has one good quality: his ability to make pre-snap changes at the line, other than that his is average or below average in every other facet of the game, with the most glaring issue being his decision making.  Rees' turnover issues and weak arm prevent him from being even an average QB.  Here I am likely to hear the meaningless phrase, "but he is a winner."  This phrase is infuriating to my intelligence and offensive to the other players on the field.   Rees is not a winner, the Irish defense and offensive line's are the winners.  The Irish defense has won most games for Notre Dame while Rees has lost them (except against Michigan, that was the fault of both Rees and the defense) or kept them closer than they should have been.  Hendrix or Golson will have to step up next year if the Irish plan on making it to a BCS game.

Biggest Strength:  OL & DL

       It is strange to talk of Notre Dame's strength being their Lines, but it is indeed the case.  The defensive line, despite losing Ethan Johnson, looks to be even better next year, as the likely starters (Tuitt, Nix, and Lynch--of which two are true freshman) are coming of their first season seeing the field, and are very young and therefore likely to improve physically and mentally.  This defensive line is shaping up to be one of the best in the country.

       As for the offensive line, they have been nothing but solid all year long, preventing pressure from getting to Rees, and opening up huge holes for Wood and Gray to run through.  Next year we should see more of the same with only one starter likely to graduate.

John Turner, DB, Rivals - 3* Scout - 3* ESPN - 3* Avg - 3*

John Turner, Safety from Cathedral HS in Indiana, has just committed to the University of Notre Dame. Turner recently attended Notre Dame's one day camp and apparently showed the coaching staff enough to warrant a scholarship offer, he didn't hesitate and gave a verbal pledge one week later.

Turner has no serious offers on the table, his only other notable offer coming from Minnesota, the others come non-AQ teams like Ball st. and Akron, and 4 others.

These sort of signings can always turn out to be surprises, and I certainly trust the coaches to recruit the right type of players, but that being said I wonder whether or not they do themselves any favors offering these type of lightly recruited players scholarships. It seems to me that it would be best to continue to heavily recruit the better talent and then as they come off your board you offer the lesser talent. It might be the case that the coaching staff didn't expect to sign a top safety in the class and so offered Turner after the good camp showing, in which case it was likely a good move. They had to know that if a kid comes to their camp they are coming to get the offer and will likely accept it when it finally comes, so they need to know if this is a guy who will have a productive career or it seems like it would be a waste of a scholarship.

Turner did look good in the video I watched of him, he isn't afraid to hit, he reacts quickly and looks good against the run and pass, and he looks faster then a 4.5+ 40. So for all I know he is a hidden gem.

In the end Notre Dame needs safety help, and they are probably looking to sign one more (they have already signed Nicky Baratti, recruited by most schools as a QB but will be playing safety for ND, and CJ Prosise also a lightly recruited prospect), lets hope it is a top recruit.

List of Current Notre Dame Commitments:

Ronald Darby, DB, Rivals - 4* Scout - 5* ESPN - 4* Avg - 4.33*

Tee Shepard, DB, Rivals - 4* Scout - 5* ESPN - 4* Avg - 4.33*

Taylor Decker, OL, - Rivals - 4* Scout - 4* ESPN - 3* Avg - 3.67*

Deontay Greenberry, WR, Rivals - 4* Scout - 4* ESPN -3* Avg - 3.67*

David Perkins, ATH, Rivals - 3* Scout - 4* ESPN -4* Avg - 3.67*

Nicky Baratti, ATH, Rivals - 3* Scout - 4* ESPN -3* Avg - 3.33*

Mark Harrell, OL, Rivals - 3* Scout - 3* ESPN -4* Avg - 3.33*

Justin Ferguson, WR, Rivals - 3* Scout - 3* ESPN -4* Avg - 3.33*

CJ Prosise, DB, Rivals - 3* Scout - 3* ESPN -3* Avg - 3*

John Turner, DB, Rivals - 3* Scout - 3* ESPN - 3* Avg - 3*

Scott Daly, LS, Rivals - 2* Scout - NR ESPN - NR Avg - N/A

June 24 - Kelly has yet to name a starting QB going into the fall. Crist is coming off his second knee injury in the past two years, but by all accounts he looked good during the spring. Rees still looks like he is a sophomore in HS rather than College, but still has a legitimate shot at regaining his starting job he took when Crist went down against Tulsa. Behind these two is the big and relatively athletic red shirt freshman Andrew Hendrix and Michael Bishop like true freshman Everett Golson.

            I suspect Crist will get the job in 2011 and that would probably be the right move. Crist has all the tools to be a great college QB, he just needs to stay healthy. Last year he played well despite having to learn a new system and coming off a torn ACL. Crist appears to be a great leader (during the blue and gold game his was mic-ed up and certainly sounded the part of a poised commander of the field), hes older and more mature than Rees, and gives Notre Dame its best shot to make it to a BCS game in 2011.

            Rees did his part last year, he made a few mistakes, but did as much as you could ask from a true freshman. That being said I am not sure we will ever see him take the field again as the starting QB for Notre Dame, except possibly due to an injury.

            Hendrix lit it up during the spring game and was highly touted during the recruiting process. He is big and athletic with a good arm. He appears to be a better all around QB than Rees, and so I would expect him to eventually pass Rees on the depth chart if not during this season than certainly next season.

           Golson is likely Brian Kelly's future starter. I would not be surprised if Golson took over when Crist graduated. Golson seems to be a perfect fit for Kelly's offense. He has a cannon of an arm, and can run like a running back. His biggest problem is his height (he is only around 6 feet tall), and this might force him to leave the pocket more than you would like (he was doing this during the blue and gold game). As much as I like Hendrix, I do not see how Kelly doesn't utilize Golson's talent as soon as he can. Because of this I would expect to see either Rees or Hendrix (or both) transfer in the next two years, depending on their personal ambitions.

Projected Depth Chart to Start Year:

#1 - Crist #2 - Rees #3 - Hendrix #4 - Golson (RS)

Notre Dame appears to be officially out of the running for Barry Sanders Jr., prized RB recruit out of Oklahoma and son of former great Barry Sanders. He listed his final 4 teams as Stanford, Alabama, Florida st., and Oklahoma st. (his fathers Alma mater).

This was a huge let down for me since Sanders Sr. was my favorite player growing up and I would have loved to see him on the side line sporting a Notre Dame cap and his son wearing the Blue and Gold.

Luckily for the Irish there are still many RB's left on their recruiting board, and due to their limited depth and skill level in the backfield getting a top tier RB recruit will be extremely important in this class.

Jonas Gray is in his final season. Woods will have one more year of eligibility. Cameron Robinson is a big back and not an ideal fit to be used as an every down back for Kelly's spread offense, not to mention he will likely be out an indefinite amount of time due to a serious knee injury sustained during the start of spring practice. The two incoming freshman of Cam McDaniel and George Atkinson were being talked about originally as WR's, but due to the lack of depth will be starting their careers at RB. If Notre Dame is able to pick up a pair of top RB's this class I would suspect to see either McDaniel or Atkinson move to the WR position next year.