Irish Insights

A Room Of Smiths

Jon Tenuta said it's a first in his coaching career -- four players with the same last name playing the same position.
Yet that's what he's encountered at Notre Dame. Four linebackers. Four Smiths.
That'd be inside linebacker Scott Smith, inside linebacker Toryan Smith, walk-on inside linebacker Kevin Smith and outside linebacker Brian Smith.
"That's a first," Tenuta said. "There's not too many places where you have four Smiths let alone on a team, let alone they are all linebackers."
So first names rule the day in the Notre Dame linebacker meeting room, as that's how Tenuta addresses Team Smith, which balloons to five when you include safety Harrison Smith.
The next most crowded name is Brown -- as in defensive end Justin and safety Sergio. But nothing like the Smiths.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

More Harangody Love

Luke Harangody's Notre Dame season may be over, but he's not done receiving post-season accolades just yet.
Harangody was named an Associated Press second-team All-American, Notre Dame's first AP All-American since Troy Murphy in 2001.
Harangody just missed on being a first-team All-American, finishing sixth in the voting behind first-teamers Tyler Hansbrough (UNC), Michael Beasley (Kansas State), D.J. Augustin (Texas), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis) and Kevin Love (UCLA).
Joining Harangody in second-team honors is Vanderbilt's Shan Foster, Indiana's D.J. White, Georgetown's Roy Hibbert and Davidson's Stephen Curry.
Harangody averaged 20.4 points and 10.6 rebounds for Notre Dame, which lost to Washington State in the second round of the NCAA tournament, 61-41.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Practice Observations 3/31/08

Some notes from a day in South Bend where there was actually thunder and lightning (although the football team practiced inside), which is usually a good sign that spring is indeed coming.

• Notre Dame whipped out some green jerseys at practice today. No, the Irish aren't going to them for permanent home attire, but rather to denote injured players. Wide receiver Kris Patterson and defensive end John Ryan both sported the kelly green look.
• Baseball players invaded football practice. Well, three of them at least. Quarterback Evan Sharpley, punter Eric Maust and wide receiver Golden Tate all took part in their first practice of the spring. They'll be around Wednesday, too.
• The players seemed fairly upbeat during the stretching portion of practice, potentially a sign they are comfortable in spring ball. Overheard on the defensive side of the ball: "Leo, you in the room?" We're guessing they weren't referring to departed cornerback Leo Ferrine.
• Will Yeatman maintained his fixture like role at practice despite being suspended indefinitely from the team. The lacrosse star/football tight end looks noticeably bigger than a few months ago. Of all the players, though, he should be the least surprising as he hasn't had much else football or lacrosse related to do other than lift.
• Kallen Wade wasn't at practice today but rather in Cincinnati to be with his family after the death of his mother over the weekend because of cancer. Offensive guard Chris Stewart accompanied Wade to Cincinnati and was not at practice, either. Wade is scheduled to fly back to South Bend tomorrow night and will head back to Cincinnati on Thursday with Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis. Weis will return to South Bend on Friday for the weekend coaches clinic. Defensive line coach Jappy Oliver and, potentially, others, will head to Cincinnati on Saturday for the funeral. Our condolences to the Wade family.
• Weis is also scheduled to head to Virginia Tech tomorrow for a meeting with Virginia Tech coach and special teams guru Frank Beamer.
• Speaking of special teams, punters worked on a drill with bad snaps. Essentially, special teams coach Brian Polian would roll the ball to the punter, who would then have to pick it up and get it off quickly.
• Tight end Mike Ragone got some love from tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee. During an agility drill, Ragone destroyed some of the bags on the ground, which led Parmalee to say "That's the way to tear up a bag." Ragone is starting to fill out into his tight end role, but still looks more like a hybrid wide receiver/tight end.
• Struggling with the agility bags was offensive tackle Paul Duncan. He slipped and fell trying to get over one.
• Tight ends worked with the quarterbacks on releasing from the line of scrimmage and catching quick flare passes.
• As far as receivers go, Richard Jackson took very sharp stutter steps going around cones during a quick-cutting drill. It looked like he had to put more effort into making the cuts. Most receivers seemed to be choppy with it with the exception of George West, who had the most fluid motions by far. Barry Gallup Jr. also looked fluid going through the cutting and quick-step portion of the drill. As the media was being asked to leave, the wide receivers switched to working on a drill to keep feet in bounds on sideline catches. No one, from the ones we noticed, had much of an issue there but David Grimes was quite good at it. Then again, that should come as no surprise as he's done it in games throughout his career.

We're planning on a Sunday mailbag, so get your questions in to mrothstein@jg.net or leave them in the comment boxes below.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Practice Observations, 3/28/08

Popped into the Loftus Center for the media viewing of practice Friday while anticipating the Memphis-Michigan State showdown later today. Here's what we saw while we watched Charlie Weis move around the field:

• Early first-team defense: Morrice Richardson, Ian Williams and Justin Brown on the defensive line; Brian Smith, Kerry Neal, Toryan Smith and Maurice Crum Jr. at linebacker and Darrin Walls, Terrail Lambert, Kyle McCarthy and David Bruton at defensive back.
• First-team offense: Jimmy Clausen at quarterback; James Aldridge at running back; Asaph Schwapp at fullback; Sam Young, Chris Stewart, Dan Wenger, Eric Olsen and Paul Duncan on the offensive line and George West and David Grimes at wide receiver.
• Walk-on quarterback Brian Castello from Pittsburgh is the second-team quarterback as Evan Sharpley continues his baseball emergence. Armando Allen and Robert Hughes were the second-team running back and Duval Kamara was one of the second team wide receivers. Second-team offensive line consisted of Thomas Bemenderfer, Matt Romine, Andrew Nuss, Taylor Dever were four-fifths of the offensive line.
• Defensive back groupings: David Bruton, Kyle McCarthy and Darrin Walls; Terrail Lambert, Sergio Brown and Gary Gray; Jashaad Gaines, Leonard Gordon and Mike Anello; Raeshon McNeil, Ray Herring and John Leonis.
• Spotted at practice: Currently not enrolled nose tackle Pat Kuntz. We didn't recognize Kuntz at first because he abandoned the Mohawk and the shaved head for, as one reporter put it, a Brady Quinn-esque shaggy mop on his head. But he was there, which bodes well for his return in the fall.
• Also at practice: Assistant athletic director Stan Wilcox in an all-green warmup and suspended tight end Will Yeatman.
• Weis spent some of his time with Verona, N.J., recruit Carlo Calabrese. Calabrese, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound inside linebacker, brought his father with him and was wearing sweatpants with Irish written up the sides. Might be a good sign for Notre Dame here. According to Rivals.com, Calabrese has offers from Notre Dame, Boston College, Maryland, Florida, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse.
• How thin is Notre Dame at quarterback right now? Jimmy Clausen had to throw with Ron Powlus, this year more out of necessity than anything else.
• Wenger still what appears to be a cast on his left wrist.
• Bruton had a protective sleeve over his right knee. It looked kind of like a brace, but a very, very thin one.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

The Weis Tour To Stop In Florida

In what seems to be shaping up as a more ambitious tour than the Clinton family's week-long jaunt through Northern Indiana (today Hillary's stopping at a Fort Wayne diner!), another one of Charlie Weis' speaking engagements has popped up.
This time, the Notre Dame football coach will be in Ocala, Fla., on April 24 trying to convince retirees to vote for him as the next U.S. President (oops, wrong blog). Weis will actually give a speech and have a question-and-answer session at the Klein Conference Center in Ocala and you can attend for one of three low prices: $35, $50 or $250. No tickets will be sold at the door.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

ND Violates An Obscure NCAA rule

Notre Dame's women's basketball team had football players practice with the squad earlier this month.
Turns out, they unknowningly violated a minor, obscure NCAA rule.
The women's team had football players, including defensive backs Jashaad Gaines and Sergio Brown and defensive end Justin Brown, work out with the team. The players enjoyed their time with the team and said they wanted to help out.
"It's fun," Justin Brown said. "I know a lot of the girls on the women's basketball team, like a lot of them are my friends, like my little sisters and stuff."
Notre Dame associate athletics director for compliance Mike Karwoski said, though, that if a male scholarship athlete, known as a counter, practices with a women's team, it is a violation. Karwoski said the rule is so obscure, he wasn't even familiar with it at first.
"You're not allowed to practice with a women's team, that's what the bylaw said," Karwoski said.
Karwoski said none of the eligibility of the football players involved or the women's basketball players will be affected and that at most, the school might have to report the violation with a letter to either the Big East conference or NCAA and that then it'll be done.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Reggie Brooks Handling Football Alumni Relations

Former All-American running back Reggie Brooks is the new manager of the Monogram/Football Community Relations.
Brooks moves over to the position from working in the Office of Information Technologies.
The Tulsa, Okla., native played for Notre Dame from 1989-92 and ran for 1,372 yards and scored 13 touchdowns in his senior season.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

ND Fencer To Beijing

Well, Notre Dame will have an Olympic contingent of at least one.
Sophomore Kelley Hurley, of San Antonio, Texas, qualified for the U.S. Fencing team in Beijing in the epee.
Hurley won the NCAA gold medal in the epee earlier this year and if she were to win gold in Beijing, would be the second Notre Dame fencer to win gold in as many Olympics, joining Mariel Zagunis in 2004 in the sabre.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Spring Practice Observations, 3/26/08

Well, we're back in South Bend and at the first spring practice and, sorry, Charlie -- these guys don't look too much bigger than when we last saw them twirly-birding off the field in Northern California.

• Starting with sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen, the California kid doesn't look to be much bigger than last season -- even though he did gain a significant amount of weight up to 212 pounds. But as Weis did with many of the players earlier today, he said it was lean muscle gain.
• Good news for Asaph Schwapp. For the first time in a while, he's able to sidestep -- doing the drills along with all his other teammates.
• Suspended tight end Will Yeatman was at practice, throwing the ball around with Notre Dame Director of Football Personnel Tim McDonnell. Apparently Yeatman has a pretty good spiral.
• Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White and men's basketball coach Mike Brey were at practice.
• Offensive tackle Sam Young is still a giant -- but not as much giant as a 330-pounder might seem.
• Early-enrollee freshman offensive lineman Trevor Robinson has John Sullivan's old number -- and already looks meaner than the former center. Meet Robinson, a native of Elkhorn, Neb.: He has long, wavy hair that comes way out of his helmet and tattoos that wrap most of his arms coming out of his jersey. Dude looks like an offensive lineman -- just not big enough yet.
• Center Dan Wenger was wearing what appeared to be a yellow cast on his left wrist. It was either that or a really bulky tape job.
• All size aside, Chris Stewart looks a lot bigger.
• To give you an idea of tight end depth: When Bernie Parmalee ran across the field during drills, four players followed. That's it. That's all of Notre Dame's tight ends this spring. And none of them looked particularly big, either.
• Weis spent much of the media portion of practice with his arms folded, not saying a word as he watched the offensive line.
• One of Jimmy Clausen's only red jersey counterparts -- sophomore walk-on Nick Lezynski of Newton, Pa. -- looks awful small for a quarterback. Well, he actually looks like a pee-wee player in his No. 12 Irish jersey.  It could be because he's all of 5-foot-8, 157 pounds.

Anyone you want us to watch out for Friday, let us know in the comment box below.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Weis To Follow Brey To The Middle East

Last summer it was Mike Brey heading to the Middle East as part of Operation Hardwood, where he met with troops and coached some basketball.
Later this spring, Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis will take his turn heading there.
Weis is one of five football coaches heading to the Middle East (the location was not disclosed) to meet with troops and coach teams in a flag football tournament. The other coaches going over are Miami's Randy Shannon, Georgia's Mark Richt, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville and Yale's Jack Siedlecki.
And in a side note, anyone else think Siedlecki looks like Weis, except bald. Tell us for yourself.
Siedlecki (photo from Yale Web site)

Weis (photo from UND.com)





-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette