ND Fans -- Think "Player Development" Today!

It's Super Bowl Sunday in "snowy" Dallas, TX -- why does that make me smile!  And, Notre Dame fans won't be able to root for a former Irish star today -- as we don't have any players on the "active" roster for either the Green Bay Packers or Pittsburgh Steelers (at the time of this article it was being reported that Arnaz Battle would be not be activated by the Steelers for this game).  This is the second year in a row that we haven't had a Notre Dame football player -- playing in the Super Bowl.

So, the word of the day for Notre Dame Fans is; "PLAYER DEVELOPMENT."  I know it's two-words...

Here's why.   Did you know there are 15 players in today's Super Bowl game that hail from the Mid American Conference?  Four are from Central Michigan University -- yep, that "football power" in Mt. Pleasant, MI shares the honors of having the most former players in the Super Bowl with LSU, Ohio State and Tennessee.  We're going to want to steer clear of CMU grads today!!!

Do you think we recruited any of the fifteen players who went to play football in the Mid American Conference?  Not a chance -- so, how do we stay positive today?  We think PLAYER DEVELOPMENT and trust that Coach Kelly and staff -- who spent time in the MAC at Central Michigan University -- will develop our talented student-athletes to their full potential "on and off" the field.  Enjoy the game!

LINK:   THE MAC HAS 15 FORMER PLAYERS IN TODAY'S GAME

Tim Brown & Jerome Bettis -- Not This Year!

Former Notre Dame All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown and All-American Jerome Bettis were just eliminated from consideration to join the NFL Hall of Fame's Class of 2011. 

John Scully's "Our Lady of the Lake" -- VIDEO!

Former Notre Dame All-American football player, John Scully -- who's also famous for writing and performing "Here Come the Irish" -- wrote a second song about his beloved alma mater.  It's called "Our Lady of the Lake" -- and I finally found this video of John performing it at the NYC Pep Rally at Lincoln Center -- with Cathy Richardson -- who's also the singing voice in "Here Come the Irish."  And, while I'm at it -- I can't help but share the link to the song they performed right after... Here are the links:

LINK:  JOHN SCULLY'S "OUR LADY OF THE LAKE"

LINK:  THE SECOND SONG...

Troy Niklas -- National Signing Day Feature!

The Orange County Register -- had a video crew follow around Notre Dame commit Troy Niklas -- as he made his college decision.  You'll enjoy this video.  Here's the link:

LINK:  TROY NIKLAS COMMITS TO THE IRISH!

Will ND Overtake USC Tonight in NFL HOF?

The NFL will announce tonight -- at 7 PM EST on the NFL Network -- the latest inductees into the NFL Hall of Fame.  Presently, Notre Dame has ten former players in the NFL Hall of Fame, second only to USC's eleven. Two former Notre Dame stars are among the seventeen finalists -- Tim Brown and Jerome Bettis.  Will they both get in tonight?  They both have to be on 80% of the ballots of the 44 members of the voting committee to be elected.  Here's a list of the ten "Domers" already in the NFL's Hall of Fame followed by a link to this year's finalists:

• Curly Lambeau -- Green Bay Packers
• John McNally -- Milwaukee Badgers
• George Trafton -- Chicago Bears
• Wayne Millner -- Washington Redskins
• George Connor -- Chicago Bears
• Paul Hornung -- Green Bay Packers
• Alan Page -- Minnesota Vikings
• Joe Montana -- San Francisco 49ers
• Nick Buoniconti -- Miami Dolphins
• Dave Casper -- Oakland Raiders

LINK:  A LIST OF THE FINALISTS FOR THE NFL HALL OF FAME

Vote For the IRISH!

The University of Notre Dame sent a team down of students to Wake Forest University this weekend to compete in The Marketing Summit.  And, to get you to go to the website promoting the summit -- the organizers are giving a check away for $1,000 to the school that generates the most votes.  So, VOTE FOR THE IRISH -- you'll find a poll on the right side of the page.  Click on the link:

LINK:  VOTE FOR THE IRISH!

A Video Notre Dame Fans Must Watch!

I was sent an email by one of the ND GO IRISH BLOG regulars, this afternoon, with a link to this video of highlights from the 2010 Notre Dame football season.  It is extremely well done!!!!  You'll enjoy! -- click on the link below:

LINK:  "TODAY'S THE DAY WE'RE GOING TO WIN"

Tom Lemming Talks Notre Dame Recruiting...

Long-time college football recruiting "analyst/expert" Tom Lemming -- spent some time with the gang at WSBT 960 AM's WeekDay Sportsbeat to talk about the 2011 Notre Dame recruiting class.  Here's a link to the radio interview:

LINK:  TOM LEMMING TALKS NOTRE DAME

Parade All Americans -- The Original!!!

To us "old-timers" -- back in the day -- the truly great high school football and basketball players were named "Parade All-Americans."  Parade magazine -- the long-time Sunday supplement found in many weekend newspapers around the country -- was the first to honor America's best high school athletes.  Today -- for the 48th time -- the Parade All-Americans were named for 2011.  And, three high school football players, who've signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the University of Notre Dame -- were named to the team:

• Kyle Brindza, Kicker
• Ben Koyack, TE
• Ishaq Williams, OL

LINK:  2011 PARADE ALL-AMERICANS

Is This the Next "Face" of Notre Dame Football?

I watched with great interest, the interviews of the five "early enrollees" conducted by UND.COM's Jack Nolan this week.  And, after the twenty-five minutes it took to do just that -- I walked away with this thought;  Aaron Lynch will become the next face of Notre Dame football.  I won't say anymore on this subject right now -- other than "judge for yourself."  Here are the interviews of the first five members of Notre Dame's #1 ranked recruiting class (thanks Tom Lemming!) -- to arrive on campus:

LINK:  GO TO PAGE 3 -- TO FIND LINKS

National Signing Day: The Experts Rank!

Thought we'd take a quick look around the "recruiting" expert landscape and check in on what they think of Notre Dame's recruiting class.  YOU'RE GOING TO BE FIRED UP WHEN YOU SEE A COUPLE OF THE RANKINGS!  First, let's take a look at what Coach Kelly thinks:

LINK:  COACH KELLY -- RECRUITING RECAP

LINK:  COACH KELLY -- SIGNING DAY:  PRESS CONFERENCE

LINK:  ESPN CLASS RANKING

LINK:  RIVALS CLASS RANKING

LINK:  SCOUT CLASS RANKING

LINK:  TOM LEMMING / MAXPREPS CLASS RANKING

Team USA's Notre Dame -- Signing Event!

This had to be quite a moment for these five young men.  The folks at the USA vs. The World game did a wonderful job this morning of parading up the players to sign their National Letter of Intent.  When you watch the video -- note the Notre Dame Victory March playing in the background!  Here's the five young men involved in this event;  George Atkinson III, Josh Atkinson, Matt Hegarty, Anthony Rabasa and Stephon Tuitt.  The game kicks off this evening at 8:30 PM EST -- you can watch it here LIVE online -- just click on the link below:

LINK:  WATCH TEAM USA TAKE & THEIR FIVE IRISH COMMITS -- LIVE!

Notre Dame's Football Recruiting Class -- 2011

Brian Kelly's first full-year recruiting effort payed off quite nicely for the Fighting Irish Football program.  They hail from 14 states -- and represent some of the best talent at their position.  Recruiting "experts" -- generally rank this class among the very best in the country.  Here's a list by state -- of where these young men hail from -- and at what position group Notre Dame has recruited them to play; Skill (QB, WR, RB, DB, K), Big Skill (TE, LB, DE) or Power (OL, DL). And, we've included a link to their highlight video -- just click on their name:






CALIFORNIA -- 3 athletes

• George Atkinson, III -- SKILL
• Josh Atkinson -- SKILL
• Troy Niklas -- BIG SKILL

CONNECTICUT -- 1 athlete

• Conor Hanratty -- POWER

FLORIDA -- 2 athletes

• Aaron Lynch -- BIG SKILL / POWER
• Anthony Rabasa -- BIG SKILL

GEORGIA -- 1 athlete

• Stephon Tuitt -- POWER

 
INDIANA -- 2 athletes

• Nick Martin -- POWER
• Tony Springmann -- POWER

 
ILLINOIS -- 1 athlete

• Davaris Daniels -- SKILL 

MICHIGAN -- 1 athlete

• Kyle Brindza -- SKILL

NEW MEXICO -- 1 athlete

• Matt Hegarty -- POWER

NEW YORK -- 1 athlete

• Ishaq Williams -- BIG SKILL 

NORTH CAROLINA -- 2 athletes

• Ben Councell -- BIG SKILL
• Mathias Farley -- SKILL

OHIO -- 4 athletes

• Brad Carrico -- POWER
• Jarrett Grace -- BIG SKILL
  
• Eilar Hardy -- SKILL
• Chase Hounshell -- POWER

PENNSYLVANIA -- 1 athlete

• Ben Koyack -- BIG SKILL

SOUTH CAROLINA -- 1 athlete

• Everett Golson -- SKILL

TEXAS -- 2 athletes

• Jalen Brown -- SKILL
• Cam McDaniel -- SKILL

National Signing Day: Notre Dame Recruiting

As of right now, 12:01 AM EST on Wednesday, February 2nd -- the top high school football players in America can begin faxing in their National Letter of Intents to the University of Notre Dame!!!  The LIVE coverage begins at 7:00 AM EST on UND.COM -- followed by ESPNU's coverage which begins at 9 AM EST.  University of Notre Dame Football Coach, Brian Kelly is expected to meet with the media at 1 PM EST to talk about the recruiting class.  The timing of this day couldn't be better for all of us "snowbound" Irish fans in the Midwest.  Here's the NATIONAL SIGNING DAY schedule for Notre Dame fans -- along with links to everything you'll need to follow all of the national recruiting services.   It's going to be fun -- GO IRISH!!!

7:OO AM EST -- LINK:  UND.COM'S - NATIONAL SIGNING DAY @ NOTRE DAME

9:00 AM EST -- LINK:  ESPNU'S LIVE COVERAGE OF NATIONAL SIGNING DAY

1:00 PM EST -- LINK:  COACH KELLY'S NEWS CONFERENCE

2:20 PM EST -- LINK:  COACH KELLY'S RADIO INTERVIEW WITH RIVALS

LINK:  UND.COM'S NATIONAL SIGNING DAY CENTRAL

LINK:  ESPN'S LIST OF THE TOP 150 PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY

LINK:  ESPN'S CURRENT RANKING OF NOTRE DAME'S RECRUITING CLASS 

LINK:  TOM LEMMING / MAXPREPS RECRUITING RANKINGS

LINK:  SCOUT'S RECRUITING RANKINGS

LINK:  RIVALS RECRUITING RANKINGS

LINK:  UND.COM -- RECRUITING TWITTER FEED

ND Picks Dolly Duffy to Replace Chuck Lennon

Dolly Duffy grew up in an Irish family in South Dakota.  In September of 1980, Dolly made the trek east to the University of Notre Dame -- for her first day of college -- to a campus she had never seen before.  Four years later, she became a member of the Notre Dame Alumni Association -- having graduated as a proud member of the Class of 1984.  Now, twenty-seven years later -- Dolly Duffy has been given the great responsibility of leading the greatest university alumni association on the planet -- the Notre Dame Alumni Association.   After a global search to find a replacement for the retiring Chuck Lennon -- Notre Dame announced Dolly's appointment, this afternoon, as Executive Director of the Alumni Association and Associate Vice President of University Relations.  The Notre Dame Alumni Association is charged with engaging the more than 132,000 living alumni and their 276 clubs around the world.  Congratulations Dolly!  Here's a link to Notre Dame's release:

LINK:  REPLACING A LEGEND!

Davaris Daniels' -- Monster Dunk!

If you'd like to get a "sneak-preview" of the type of athlete that Notre Dame football is recruiting -- take a look at this YouTube video of Davaris Daniels -- a wide receiver out of the Chicago area who will be signing with our Fighting Irish tomorrow.  It's going to be fun watching this young man wearing a gold-helmet!  Here's the link:

LINK:  YEAH -- HE'S COMMITTED TO NOTRE DAME!

Big Day Tomorrow for ND Football Fans!

It's National Signing Day -- the day that America's top high school football players make their "commitment" to their school of choice.  Recruiting experts are predicting a HAPPY DAY tomorrow for Irish fans -- despite the heavy snow predicted for many of us in the Great Lakes region.  As of right now, the folks at UND.COM are still planning on producing exclusive video-coverage beginning at 7 AM EST tomorrow morning! Be sure to check back with the ND GO IRISH BLOG -- first thing in the morning -- with links and schedules to all of the programming covering National Signing Day.

LINK:  UND.COM COVERAGE OF NATIONAL SIGNING DAY

A Historic First for Notre Dame Athletics!!!

This is the first time in Notre Dame's storied athletic history that its Men's Basketball Team and Men's Hockey Team are ranked in the Top Ten in the country at the same time!  Mike Brey's Irish are ranked #9 in the Coaches Poll and Jeff Jackson's Irish are ranked #10.  In addition, this marks the first time in nine years that both of Notre Dame's basketball teams are ranked in the Top Ten at the same time.  Muffet McGraw's Irish are ranked #8 -- making Notre Dame one of three schools in the country who have their men's and women's basketball teams ranked in the Top Ten this week!  The other two schools;  UCONN and Duke.  A big thank you to ND GO IRISH BLOG regular contributor, Dr. Jim Clancy -- for alerting us to this fact!

Notre Dame Stadium -- The Next Generation!

I found this great work @ NDNATION.COM -- as you can see -- an "architect" who doubles as a ND ALUM and Irish football fan went to work at what the next generation of Notre Dame Stadium might look like.  I for one -- think it's AWESOME!  I hope you enjoy the artist renderings -- along with a link to the creator's rationale for his design:

LINK:  WE SHOULD DO THIS NOW!!!

Irish Now Up to #8 in Coaches Poll!

Mike Brey's Fighting Irish are now receiving the respect they deserve.  This morning's polls came out and the Coaches poll has the Irish at #8 while the AP (media) poll has ND at #9.  The Irish play again this Thursday in Chicago - against DePaul.  Here's a link to the college basketball rankings released this morning:

LINK:  COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS

LINK:  SAGARIN'S COMPUTER RANKINGS -- COLLEGE BASKETBALL