Dateline: April 15, 2011
Notre Dame, IN
Went to Rocco’s for incomparable pizza last night with Fr. (Broadway) Joe Carey. He had no formal insight for the Res Life situation with Michael Floyd, but he stated that Res Life has certainly “been around the block” and it is likely that there is no double-standard here. MF may be on a very formal and structured program to get him on track as a student and person…and perhaps onto the football field in September.
Digger and lady friend also came in for dinner. He was cordial to well-wishers, but mostly—people left him alone. Digger has fashioned a very nice career after ND coaching.
Stopped back by Armando’s at 7:15am this morning to pick up some tickets and ILB Carlo Calabrese (#44) was just finishing his haircut. I guess the Defense got the word that looking good for game days is important. Priorities: haircut, practice, classes. Carlos is a big fellow. Nice personality.
The highlight was actually this morning at the last formal ND football practice of the Spring at 8:00am. This is the new Spring practice schedule where the players practice in the morning until about 10:15am and then off to classes and a fairly regular student day the rest of the way. Kelly did this in Cincy and this is not uncommon at other schools. I confirmed that this will not be the schedule in the Fall, however—practices will be in the afternoon, as always.
This was a CLOSED practice limited to former ND players, their guests, and others who might have been great football players at ND…but instead chose to concentrate on their academic studies and community service instead.
Practice was shifted from the Stadium inside to the Loftus Center. It is quire windy here today and I am speculating that there may be more strict policies now in place for practices and wind conditions.
Arriving a few minutes early, I had a chance to speak to former ND great RB Reggie Brooks who is now the University Monogram Club liaison with former athletes. He is always very upbeat. A.D. Jack Swarbrick and a few other ND officials were also there. But actually, there were maybe only 40-50 visitors on the sidelines. This also included a number of H.S. junior recruits. No cell phones, and no cameras during the practice and strict policies for decorum.
I was mostly with Johnny Lium, back-up center on the ’66 National Championship team. He remains close friends with guys like Terry Hanratty (whose son will be a freshman player) and others from that team—where the camaraderie seems very high through the years.
The Head Football Manager this year is a young woman—Claire Kueny from suburban Philly. She is one of my Clare’s best friends from H.S. After practice, I was speaking to Coach Kelly and asked him if Claire was a good Manager. He pulled her over and said, “No…she’s not good. She is great.” Cool for BK displaying some humor and tenderness. Not sure if some previous ND Head Coaches showed such personality.
ND Head Manager Claire Kueny with Coach Kelly
The practice was very impressive. Helmets, but no pads, but full speed. No direct hitting or tackling…but plenty of action. After warm-ups, the session was full-scripted into 6 minutes drills with the various positions rotating clockwise around the field working on pre-designed exercises. Toward the end, it opened up to a more of a scrimmage (though not 11-on-11).
The QB drills were very competitive. While the focus was not on Crist or Rees, they still got a lot of reps and were throwing crisp strikes all over the field with very few drops. Although Crist was wearing a knee brace, he looked plenty mobile. Personally, I thought Andrew Hendrix (#12) looked pretty good. But I was not alone in assessing incoming freshman Everett Golson (#5) as great this morning. This kid can really throw!—very precise lasers…and he already looked very comfortable. The “early-admits” programs can really accelerate some player’s development and this looks like a great move. Golson is not that big, but I bet they don’t convert him to another position… because he is a QB.
The RB drills looked a bit thin with just Cierre Wood (#20) and Jonas Gray (#25) and 2 walk-ons.
The Defensive drills were quite serious and the D-coaches are real barkers…not much patience for mistakes. But then again, the defense looked very cohesive and skilled.
Practice concluded with Coach BK huddling the team into the center of the field to discuss weekend events and protocol (ex: team dinner tonight, Saturday schedule etc.) and then a dismissal chant. The team was just as pumped 2 hours later as when they ran onto to the field…full speed all the way.
As I was leaving the Loftus Center, Big #19 Aaron Lynch was about 10 yards away and he motioned my way. He smoothed his hand over his freshly cut head and smiled—acknowledging the Armando cut from yesterday. It was shorter than mine, but just perfect for him (below).
Aaron Lynch after practice this morning…hair also perfect
A very good morning practice session, indeed.
Out for now.
Abe