They have far higher standards than cal did a year ago. Stupidly we now require 80 percent of our recruiting class to have 3.0 gpa's.
Look at the offer lists of the kids who do go to Notre Dame have. They are the same deal as everyone. They make up shit because pieces of human shit like Kelly can't recruit. They can get anyone they need in if the coach could get them to sign an LOI.
Most of their higher rated kids are rich white kids with decent gpa's. That's been true forever since holtz left. Look at weis' top 5 ranked recruiting classes.
Oh, had it? So, the likes of Duke, Wake, NC State, Virginia, and on and on, are suddenly a threat? He's got better talent, an elite QB, and Brent Venebles managing his defense. Bring him to the SEC, I can see it falling apart. That recipe in the ACC feels like 9 wins at worst and a conference championship game appearance. Don't care for him and would enjoy the collapse, but don't see it.
The ACC is garbage this season and Clemson is both a contributing factor and a huge beneficiary. Yes, they do have talent. Yes, I do like Watson. But if Watson goes down -- and he does appear to be injury prone -- then it will get ugly. It will go from "possible losses to the likes of GT, ND, FSU, and Louisville" to "probable losses to the aforementioned four with an added loss or two to an NC State or Miami or Spurrier", and the world will begin to realize that "yeah, Dabo is as dumb as he looks and sounds." You'll be ahead of the curve. You already heard it from me.
Academic Requirement Issue: Hat's right, Droski's wrong. ND will take any ole idiot that can play well. No different than anybody else. ND's Sustainability As An Elite Program: Droski's right, Hat's wrong. There may be plenty of catholics in the midwest to build a competitive beer pong team, but certainly not a competitive football team. The geographical uphill battle they face in recruiting is a real thing. We complain, as UT fans, about how there isn't any good local talent and how that makes recruiting more of a challenge. This applies 10x at ND as the surrounding population is both scarce and caucasian.
Once again. They can take anyone, but they set a limit on those type of recruits. They aren't Stanford or northwestern,, but they aren't Arizona state either. They can take enough to have an annual top 10 program, but they'll always be lacking sec style athletes. In particular at the skill positions and dline. Stanford lets in 2 or 3 complete dumbshits a year, while nd probably is closer to a 10, while lsu or whatever is probably closer to 20. This is why when nd has 4 or 5 star busts it really effects the athleticism of their team. They can still field a competitive team, but their margin for error is low.
Re: Clemson. Looking at Bill's preview on them, they lose 4 of 5 starters on the OL and 6 of their top 7 tacklers on the DL. I think I'll take Bill's skepticism over the "dark horse playoff contender" stuff I've been hearing
Where did you get this information about letting in just a few dumbasses instead of a bunch of dumbasses? I dont' know that I buy that. Why would an institution have a rule that we can make exceptions for 5 morons but not 10 morons? That's a policy lacking in both principle and pragmatism. that's a university admitting that it doesn't have academic standards and that it doesn't want to be good at football either.
You have to look at who they are recruiting. I don't know the actual numbers, but I do have a feel of it and every nd coach since holtz has [itch bay]ed about it. The administration sets arbitrary standards for special admits to maintain some sort of academic integrity, team gpa's, and grad rates. My dumbshit school just did something similar attempting to follow their model. I agree it's idiotic.
Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, et al. They don't lack for population in their local recruiting corridor. They also have a brand that lets them go anywhere they want with a good coach. They simply have an overrated douchebag in charge now and that is why they are going to be a 9-4 team til they wise up.
They [itch bay] about it to give them a crutch. When was the last time you heard Mike Brey [itch bay] about it?
Other than making a splash on the recruiting trail, we are a recipient of that. We took a favorable matchup with an Iowa team and parlayed that into some hype. OLine play is going to determine our world. And game day coaching. I'm skeered.
Solid? Don't kid (pun intended ;-) ) yourself. Agree w/ dros and you on Holtz to Kelly, nevertheless, no coach is untouchable. Yr three (12-1) was Kelly's best to date. Yr four (9-4) is second. Yr five saw a return to 8-5 (mirroring his first two seasons). Yr six provides his most talented team to date. 8-5 or 9-4 seasons ain't gonna cut it much longer folks in South Bend (and ND loyalists everywhere) want and expect results. The sand is runnin'
I think they win at least 9, probably 10 (reg season) and go 6-2 in conf play but once again no invite to the Ball