A good gambler doesn't need the best cards
in every hand to enjoy success...
The way you play, with what you're given...is what makes
a consistent winner!
The way you hold your cards, your facial expression.
The tone of your voice..the way you stack your chips!
The attacks you make....pinpoint and critical!
Then every now and then you have to just go ALL IN!
This can pay off, or it can back fire!
This is the position of the Notre Dame Defense this season
by my opinion...
ag-gre-ssion: noun
1. Hostile or violent behavior or attitudes
toward another ; readiness to attack
or to confront.
This is what I've heard about the new defensive
scheme...We are going to play AGGRESSIVE with
an emphasis on attacking.
The "bend but don't break" mentality is gone now!
This will create two situations...
1. More "BIG PLAYS" on defense...I expect to see a
defense that will go after the QB and the ball aggressively!
Different stunts...and personnel packages, due to
the influx of speed and young talent.
This will have the DBs in man coverage most of the time and
will attack the QB with multiple looks and blitz packages!
2. This will make us more vulnerable to offensive "BIG PLAYS"
We are GOING TO GET BURNT here and there.
The difference this season...Can we survive the games
that we are burnt in, by outscoring our opponents due to
having the proper offense?
Look...Nix and Tuitt are gone!
We are going to have to gamble to be efficient!
It's an odd situation...we upgraded at almost EVERY
position group in the past three years as far
as talent...now we have to develop and train the
young talent to perform!
In 2012 I remember the message board
couch coaches screaming "THE SKY IS FALLING" with
our DB situation...We had Bennett and Russell, two players
NOT recruited to play DB, and Farley a kid that
had only played limited time in High School and at WR!
But we had speed...
You can make up for a lack of experience with speed!
But you can't make up for a lack of speed with experience!
That was my message in 2012 and look how that went?
We have the horses now...young aggressive THOROUGHBRED
studs at almost every position on the defense...now we just need
to set them loose in the right scheme...
2014's D will be as dominant, if the coaches can develop
the talent....The verdict is just not in yet!
What are our hole cards?
1. Talent- We are deep at certain spots and thin at others
but we have young aggressive talent that shows no
celling as far as their abilities!
Jaylon Smith:
This season we will actually see
Jaylon. Freshmen year it was more "See ball..
now got get ball!"...Now his understanding of the
game. His ability to read plays..to position himself
should make him a household name by week three!
Cole Luke:
Cole was thrust into action, and by pure talent alone
was not a liability but a tremendous asset.
Speed and closing ability make him special..now
with the opportunity to take the starting CB
position, the sky's the limit...but he's got Devin Butler
to talk to about that campaign!
Jarron Jones:
WHO IS JARRON JONES?
This kid is a complete bi-polar mystery to me!
He played like a man possessed at times last season!
BYU linemen are still having flashbacks of him
destroying their running back!
What and who will he be this season?
2. Experience
We have kids on this D that have played in
almost every game since they arrived at ND!
Sheldon Day- BREAKOUT YEAR
Russell-BREAKOUT YEAR
We need our experience to rise up on the field!
-Ishaq Williams
-Austin Collingsworth
-Mathias Farley
It's time...you've faced some of the best teams in the
country...now experience should help with that next
step in evolving their game!
3. Re-Enforcements
I told a guy February tenth that this might be the
best class Kelly has landed since his arrival!
I don't care about the stars!
I don't care about the ranking!
I see talent...deep developable talent!
We need some of this talent to emerge!
We saw freshmen arrive and contribute last season,
this season in my opinion will be NO DIFFERENT!
I don't see many breaking the depth chart offensively!
But I see several that can be difference makers right away
on D!
-Nyles Morgan?
With Grace and Councell hurt and with an
undetermined return date?...Morgan has a
chance to contribute right away!
-Pete Mokwuh?
Running the 4-3 opens the door for Pete to,
if properly conditioned, make a tremendous impact
quickly!...
-Jay Hayes
-Andrew Trumbetti
-Kolin Hill
-Grant Blankenship
-Drue Tranquill
We have BIG kids with athletic ability just
chomping at the bit to play and make plays!
This is the first class in years with this many over 6'3
athletes that can lose weight and move position or
gain weight and move position!
These guys are multi-functional players!
We have questions on D....that's no mystery!
But we have the pieces in place, and soon to arrive
to make us a very LARGE PAIN IN THE ASS for
opposing O-coordinators!
This may come as a shock to some...but word is we
were moving in a new direction defensively either
way from what I'm hearing!
This guy wins...he's coached in the best conference
in college football and at the biggest stage in the NFL!
I've got little doubt he'll have us ready!
But we are gonna have to flip a coin here and there!
JAMESON DOUCHE BAG OF THE WEEK!
This week the Jameson Douchebag of the week?
The bad 20% of the Notre Dame Fan base!
It's like religion...
The Jewish think they are right!
The Baptists are sure!
The Catholics are convinced their correct!
The Mormons want to show everyone
the "truth"
So they fight, argue and shed blood...
Yet they all have the same goal...to walk with our
Heavenly Father!
-Facebook Pages
-Blogs
-Chatrooms
-Forums
-Websites
-Twitter
STOP THE INSANITY of bashing each other
when we all want the same thing!
For NOTRE DAME to enjoy success!
I live in the worst sports city in America...believe me!
I know UN-RATIONAL!....Stop giving them a run for
their money!....We are all IRISH FANS!
Stop the trolling...and bashing and personal attacks!
This was just an example...this was a post on
Facebook for a blog...it was, as you can tell, not received
very well!
But for some reason the "dislike" of the post ended up
being all the Damefan's fault!
Not the 14 people who agreed with me...not the
other comments around mine...just me?..
Now at the end of the day a guy like me FEEDS off
this type of insecurity...but not everyone is like me!
We aren't gonna all see eye to eye...but if you don't
relax...let it go and realize we are all gonna have
different views!
Hell I wonder if people who like my blog read it more than
people that hate my guts that don't know me and have
never met me! LOL!...
Let's just for the lack of a better way of saying it...
"Get along!"
GO IRISH and GOD BLESS!
