Pre-season update

Ok guys...just a few quick notes about what I've observed in the first four days of practice. There will be a ton more articles coming out tomorrow and Sunday because tomorrow is the first day of two-a-days and at least one of the practices is completely open to the media. Up until this point only about the first twenty minutes of drills has been open. I'll do this periodically (like maybe once a week) leading up to season to give people a feel for what I have observed.

Weis isn't going to take crap from anyone and won't tolerate anyone breaking his rules...players, coaches, or media. This has been proven time and time again. It was proven with his response to the Cumbie stuff this summer. But it was never more firmly or effectively proven than over the first part of this week when the two reporters from the South Bend Tribune who wrote all the BS critical columns about the Clausen commit were effectively shutoff from Weis, the assistant coaches, and the rest of the team. The tribune published many letters written to the editor about how bad the articles were, the two reporters apologized to Weis and Heisler, and then sheepishly asked if Weis would take a question from them. That's right boys, don't sneak behind Weis to get to Paddy Mullen without him knowing (Mullen's comment was something along the lines of "I thought arriving in a Hummer to make his verbal commitment was a little much... he better be good." I'm sure Weis disciplined him as well).

I'm not going to lie, Samardzija looks a step faster, Grimes is quick as hell, and Robby Parris has some of the best footwork I've seen in a wide receiver. He may not be lightning quick, but he has the ability to run very sharp and effective routes, he is tall, and he has very good hands. Weis has said he feels comfortable with Grimes as his third wide receiver even if he isn't THE third wide receiver. That's good for us. I'm a little disappointed with Richard Jackson's quickness and speed but the guy goes up for everything once the ball is in the air. And oh yea, George West can flat out fly, like Rocket Ismail fly. Can we say return specialist? Converted quarterback Darrin Bragg who had an excellent spring (both practice and game) and Barry Gallup, who many have described as the most polished of the freshman, will also contend for playing time at one of the receiver spots.

Weis said no one came back to camp in better shape than Rhema McKnight. I guess he looks better now than he did last year. To quote from Weis, "I hope they double-team Jeff every down because Rhema is going to have a field day." His foot quickness definitely has improved. For a kid that grew up waking up to gun shots in Inglewood, he is awfully well spoken too. This young man is a true gentleman. The next thing we're going to find out is that he writes poetry...just kidding. Weis put Duke on the Maurice Stovall plan. Lose twenty pounds or we'll find someone else to play free safety. Guess what? Duke played at 230 last year and weighed in at 208 for fall camp this year. He got the message. And he also spent his summer at a speed camp down in Florida. Let's hope both pay dividends.

I've been big on Landri for a while, all of last year in fact. However, the guy put on about twenty plus pounds in the off-season and either maintained, or dropped his speed, quickness, and agility in all the drills used to time defensive lineman. The guy has a motor than just never stops, he's as quick as anyone in the country off the ball, and now he won't be playing undersized.

If you want a story to model perserverance by, look up Travis Leitko. The kid had to take a year off due to academic problems, care for both of his parents who were recovering from cancer, and earn his way back into the university. Weis welcomed him back with a walk-on position and said he is well on his way to earning back his scholarship. This bodes well for us considering he was one of the top defensive lineman in the country out of his class. Luckily they have also diagnosed his learning disorder (a kid with a 1470 SAT score shouldn't have problems at ND) and he has changed his major to something more suited for his learning.

Perhaps one of Weis' most brilliant moves seems to be his decision to put Travis Thomas over on the defensive side of the ball. He played safety in high school, is faster than anyone we currently have on that side of the ball at that position, and is the best special teams tackler we have. This began last spring but didn't surface until now. I guess the experiment is going well and it looks like Thomas may be starting for us at the weakside backer position. He will still play spot duty at running back but if the next guy I'm going to talk about is as good as advertised, we won't need him. Kudos to Thomas for being unselfish. I know he likes offense better but is willing to do this for the better of the team. If he, Crum, and Mitchell Thomas line up at weak, middle, and strong linebacker positions, we may have the fastest and most athletic linebackers we've had in a long time, maybe ever. Now if our defensive line can just tie people up and allow them to run...

When you hear Michael Bennett and one of your running backs mentioned in the same sentence that is good news. Bennett was an Olympic qualifying sprinter that chose to play football at Wisconsin and (currently) in the NFL (probably to make more money). Munir Prince is apparently just as fast. This is what we've been missing...that one player that can score any time he touches the ball. Hell, Weis even mentioned him in the same sentence as Reggie Bush (because they were both clocked at 10.42 seconds in the 100m dash during their senior years of high school. For those of you who don't run track, that's fast, lightning fast.). My only concern is durability. He's listed at 5'10", 175 lbs but has likely bulked up to almost 190 lbs. I think Weis shared the concern and indicated it to him. He spent his off-season after his senior year hitting the weights. Of course, there was another Irish great who wore the same #25 and stood about that same size and who's already been mentioned above.

Looks like Hord is out for the season from a freak gasoline fight, er weight training incident. Hand has a wrapped foot, not good for us considering we don't have a lot of depth at the defensive line positions, Aldridge still can't cut on his knee. Ferrine has been limited but I'm not really sure what is wrong (ankle?). And Harris is being kept out for a safe amount of time so we don't lose our four year starting left tackle.

On the offensive line we look good so far. Young is a beast. The kid is quick as hell for someone his size. Stewart lost the 50 lbs Weis required him to and also looks surprisingly quick. I think he will be a sort of pave-the-road type blocker we've been missing for a while. And has anyone seen Sullivan? The guy looks like he just wants to kill someone. He's bigger, faster, and more explosive from last year. Weis is turning out lifting, running, agile machines along the offensive line. Sulli looks good, damn good. I'm not trying to jinx him, but the name Tim Ruddy comes to mind when I see him, only meaner. Weis mentioned that he'd like to have 10 linemen in the mix this year which means that aside from starters Harris, Santucci, Sullivan, Morton and Mattes, sophomore RT Paul Duncan, sophomore LT Michael Turkovich, freshman RT Sam Young, freshman RG Chris Stewart, and freshman C Daniel Wenger all could see substantial playing time this season.

You should start purchasing Christmas cards for Ruben Mendoza. Everyone looks stronger, quicker, and in better shape than they were last year. Weis emphasises this and gives Mendoza the support he needs and it looks like it has paid off. Just take Stewart for example. My cousin played at Ole Miss and was on the team when Cutliff hired him as their strength coach. His opening speech, "Tomorrow, 5 A.M., country club is over." I like it...a lot.

Ok, I'm going out on a limb. Our secondary will not be the wink link on our team this year. That's right, you heard it. I think Minter (at the prompting of Weis) has adjusted, simplified, and improved our secondary. I think Lewis will continue to teach excellent technique. I think Wooden, Duke, and Zibi will be better, more instinctive, and more reactive. And I think Richardson will continue to be used in ways (coming off the corner, slot man coverage, short side of the field, etc.) that are conducive to his particular set of talents. Weis seems to think they are much farther ahead than last year since at this point last year we did not have starters identified and now have 5-6 defensive backs that can be rotated into the mix. This doesn't include the two talented freshman corners Raeshon McNeil and Darrin Walls. Word from camp is that both freshman have been very impressive so far.

Say what you will about being close-mouthed...Weis has been pretty frank and open with the media. He won't let them get to players often but as for himself, he's been pretty honest. He still won't (and doesn't allow assistants to either) mention individuals. I just hope all of the rumors out there in the media about how poorly he treats them, his players, and his coaches are out of retribution for a lack of access and have no firm foundation in truth. It seems like he's coming into his own with the players in practice, breaking them down, building them up, being fair, and joking around at the same time.

It seems like the coaches are more tenacious than they were last year. Everything is like clockwork, they are on top of everything and everyone all the time, and they really do seem to be settling into their roles. Only good things can come from this.

I would like to send a shout out to my editor, a one Michael William Kinder. His additions and grammar knowledge does not go unnoticed.