Hotel Terbaik Lombok - The folks at und.com are testing an over-the-field camera at the April 24 Blue-Gold Game, and NBC-TV personnel are in town to gather information as to whether they might want to add the feature to Irish home telecasts during the 2010 season.
Getting a hi-def bird’s-eye view of coach Brian Kelly’s first incarnation of Notre Dame football is a little dodgier. There are still too many moving parts, too many works-in-progress and too many schematic overhauls. But headed into Saturday’s spring session 11 of 15, the Irish have clearly distanced themselves from Kelly’s early-spring proclamation: "We stink."
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Roughly a week before the annual spring wrap-up, here are the most significant threads contributing to the big-but-pixelated picture.
1. It’s not the shoes. It’s the feet.
As in footwork. That’s the bar that junior-to-be quarterback Dayne Crist has to clear in order for Kelly to finally start spewing superlatives about a player who pro scouts already think may have as high a ceiling as predecessor Jimmy Clausen.
Kelly doesn’t want Crist thinking that far ahead, nor does he want him thinking backward, either.
"You can’t use the footwork from another system and apply it to what this system is," said Kelly, who scrapped Irish ex-coach Charlie Weis’ pro-style attack for a spread look.
"That’s really the tough part. (Crist) knows all the X’s and O’s. That’s easy for him. He’s really got great football intelligence. It’s matching the footwork, and that’s really the growing pains right now."
2. Plan B matters.
And so does Plan C. One of the most noticeable philosophical differences between Weis and Kelly is how they treat their backup quarterbacks — on game day and in practice.
During Kelly’s final two seasons as the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, his backup quarterbacks attempted 28 percent (267) of the combined total of 944 passes. Over the same two seasons, Weis’ backups at ND attempted 25 of the total 894 — or just under 3 percent.
In practice, it wasn’t unusual for the No. 1 quarterback to get 90 percent of the reps under Weis. In the spring, the splits were a little more generous for the No. 2.
Under Kelly this spring, Crist is getting roughly 60 percent of the snaps. Backup Nate Montana is receiving 40 percent. That doesn’t leave many for early-enrolling No. 3 QB Tommy Rees this spring, but Kelly did say the No. 3 QB, whoever that may be in the fall, will get more reps once August rolls around.
Fellow freshmen Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa join the mix in the fall.
In large part, the philosophical difference can be traced to Weis’ desire for his quarterback to avoid contact and Kelly’s stance that he wants his quarterback to be a viable option carrying the ball. A consequence of the latter philosophy is the QB getting hit — often.
"I’ll have three quarterbacks ready for the first game," Kelly said. "I want them to all feel equal in the fact that they’re prepared to play at a high level if they’re called upon."
3. Defense is up to speed.
Of the handful of questions and concerns that will bleed into summer for Kelly, ND’s defense doesn’t appear to be one of them.
The Irish are coming off a season in which they finished 63rd nationally or worse (out of 120 Division I-A schools) in all four major defensive statistical categories. That includes a school-record worst 397.8 yards yielded per game.
"I don’t remember what happened last year with our defense," Kelly said. "I’m focused on what we’re expected to do, and that is get our kids to play fast and not have to think. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job.
"I think if you go back to some of the old principles, that’s really where we’re going — run, hit, get excited. If we can just get our defense to run, hit and get excited, I think we’ve got a pretty good chance to play well."
4. Offensive line and wide receiver are the speed bumps.
There’s still shuffling to do on the offensive line, most notably whether arguably ND’s top lineman, junior Trevor Robinson, stays at his new tackle position or bounces back inside to guard.
Starting positions are unsettled at some spots as well, and offensive tackle-turned-defensive end Lane Clelland has been turned back into an offensive tackle to provide some additional depth.
The other factor that hastened the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Clelland’s reverse flip-flop was the rapid and convincing development of 6-1, 290-pound junior Hafis Williams at the defensive end position.
Williams, a surprise last spring at defensive tackle who faded in the fall, isn’t the prototype Kelly likes at end — he’s too short.
"The biggest question we had is: ‘Are you big and strong enough to push against those big tackles?’ " Kelly related.
So far, so good.
Getting Robinson settled, though, is the piece that needs to be in place before all the other answers come forward.
"It’s about your footwork and your ability to set the edge," Kelly said of his options at right tackle. "That’s an ongoing battle right now that we’re simply continuing to evaluate day to day."
At wide receiver, slimmed-down junior Michael Floyd is back to his pre-broken collarbone form, if not a bit ahead of that.
The options around him are plentiful, but inconsistent.
"One of the areas we’re most concerned with is finding that rotation," Kelly said of the receivers. "Michael, we know, is a good, solid player for us, but he’s got a lot of things he can get better at, too. I can’t tell you that’s this is a position I’m ever going to sleep easy over right now. We have a lot of work to do."
5. The attitude has been adjusted.
As spring gives way to summer, you’ll hear less from Kelly — and presumably those who cover him — about a changing culture.
It is a process, not an event, yet the first-year head coach has to feel ahead of the game when it comes to his players buying into his regime and all it entails.
"We’re getting more consistency in the way we come to work every day, " Kelly said. "They understand more what’s expected every single day, duplicating that same intensity.
"We got a little tired on Wednesday, especially with the new tropical conditions here in South Bend. And that was a great teaching point for us. But we came back today with great energy and good intensity."
Getting a hi-def bird’s-eye view of coach Brian Kelly’s first incarnation of Notre Dame football is a little dodgier. There are still too many moving parts, too many works-in-progress and too many schematic overhauls. But headed into Saturday’s spring session 11 of 15, the Irish have clearly distanced themselves from Kelly’s early-spring proclamation: "We stink."
This VideoAd requires that you have the Flash Player plugin installed and that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.
Roughly a week before the annual spring wrap-up, here are the most significant threads contributing to the big-but-pixelated picture.
1. It’s not the shoes. It’s the feet.
As in footwork. That’s the bar that junior-to-be quarterback Dayne Crist has to clear in order for Kelly to finally start spewing superlatives about a player who pro scouts already think may have as high a ceiling as predecessor Jimmy Clausen.
Kelly doesn’t want Crist thinking that far ahead, nor does he want him thinking backward, either.
"You can’t use the footwork from another system and apply it to what this system is," said Kelly, who scrapped Irish ex-coach Charlie Weis’ pro-style attack for a spread look.
"That’s really the tough part. (Crist) knows all the X’s and O’s. That’s easy for him. He’s really got great football intelligence. It’s matching the footwork, and that’s really the growing pains right now."
2. Plan B matters.
And so does Plan C. One of the most noticeable philosophical differences between Weis and Kelly is how they treat their backup quarterbacks — on game day and in practice.
During Kelly’s final two seasons as the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, his backup quarterbacks attempted 28 percent (267) of the combined total of 944 passes. Over the same two seasons, Weis’ backups at ND attempted 25 of the total 894 — or just under 3 percent.
In practice, it wasn’t unusual for the No. 1 quarterback to get 90 percent of the reps under Weis. In the spring, the splits were a little more generous for the No. 2.
Under Kelly this spring, Crist is getting roughly 60 percent of the snaps. Backup Nate Montana is receiving 40 percent. That doesn’t leave many for early-enrolling No. 3 QB Tommy Rees this spring, but Kelly did say the No. 3 QB, whoever that may be in the fall, will get more reps once August rolls around.
Fellow freshmen Andrew Hendrix and Luke Massa join the mix in the fall.
In large part, the philosophical difference can be traced to Weis’ desire for his quarterback to avoid contact and Kelly’s stance that he wants his quarterback to be a viable option carrying the ball. A consequence of the latter philosophy is the QB getting hit — often.
"I’ll have three quarterbacks ready for the first game," Kelly said. "I want them to all feel equal in the fact that they’re prepared to play at a high level if they’re called upon."
3. Defense is up to speed.
Of the handful of questions and concerns that will bleed into summer for Kelly, ND’s defense doesn’t appear to be one of them.
The Irish are coming off a season in which they finished 63rd nationally or worse (out of 120 Division I-A schools) in all four major defensive statistical categories. That includes a school-record worst 397.8 yards yielded per game.
"I don’t remember what happened last year with our defense," Kelly said. "I’m focused on what we’re expected to do, and that is get our kids to play fast and not have to think. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job.
"I think if you go back to some of the old principles, that’s really where we’re going — run, hit, get excited. If we can just get our defense to run, hit and get excited, I think we’ve got a pretty good chance to play well."
4. Offensive line and wide receiver are the speed bumps.
There’s still shuffling to do on the offensive line, most notably whether arguably ND’s top lineman, junior Trevor Robinson, stays at his new tackle position or bounces back inside to guard.
Starting positions are unsettled at some spots as well, and offensive tackle-turned-defensive end Lane Clelland has been turned back into an offensive tackle to provide some additional depth.
The other factor that hastened the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Clelland’s reverse flip-flop was the rapid and convincing development of 6-1, 290-pound junior Hafis Williams at the defensive end position.
Williams, a surprise last spring at defensive tackle who faded in the fall, isn’t the prototype Kelly likes at end — he’s too short.
"The biggest question we had is: ‘Are you big and strong enough to push against those big tackles?’ " Kelly related.
So far, so good.
Getting Robinson settled, though, is the piece that needs to be in place before all the other answers come forward.
"It’s about your footwork and your ability to set the edge," Kelly said of his options at right tackle. "That’s an ongoing battle right now that we’re simply continuing to evaluate day to day."
At wide receiver, slimmed-down junior Michael Floyd is back to his pre-broken collarbone form, if not a bit ahead of that.
The options around him are plentiful, but inconsistent.
"One of the areas we’re most concerned with is finding that rotation," Kelly said of the receivers. "Michael, we know, is a good, solid player for us, but he’s got a lot of things he can get better at, too. I can’t tell you that’s this is a position I’m ever going to sleep easy over right now. We have a lot of work to do."
5. The attitude has been adjusted.
As spring gives way to summer, you’ll hear less from Kelly — and presumably those who cover him — about a changing culture.
It is a process, not an event, yet the first-year head coach has to feel ahead of the game when it comes to his players buying into his regime and all it entails.
"We’re getting more consistency in the way we come to work every day, " Kelly said. "They understand more what’s expected every single day, duplicating that same intensity.
"We got a little tired on Wednesday, especially with the new tropical conditions here in South Bend. And that was a great teaching point for us. But we came back today with great energy and good intensity."
Irish Picture
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