Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1338415
10 MARCH 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame Seniors Elevate Stock In All-Star Outings Several Notre Dame players enhanced their NFL Draft stock in a couple of college all-star outings in late January. • Cornerback Nick McCloud, a graduate transfer from North Carolina State, intercepted passes in the second and fourth quarter during his team's 15-13 victory in the Hula Bowl, and earned Defensive MVP honors. Defensive back Shaun Crawford also partook in the game. Five Notre Dame players played in the Senior Bowl at Mobile, Ala., considered the top venue for NFL aspirants. Two others who were invited did not. Wide receiver Ben Skowronek, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, was sidelined because of a foot injury earlier in the week, while left tackle Liam Eichenberg opted for undisclosed reasons not to practice or play in the game. • After the week-long practice, Ian Book was named the National team's top quarterback, as voted by a group of defensive backs, over Arkansas' Felipe Franks and Texas' Sam Ehlinger. Book started the second half and completed 5 of 11 throws for 48 yards with an interception on a Hail Mary attempt, carried four times for 18 yards and also led a touchdown drive in the National's 27-24 win over the American squad. "He reminds me a lot of Colt McCoy, who has been in the NFL for a long time," NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah said during the broadcast. Yahoo! Sports' Eric Edholm listed Book as one of the week's winners in his postgame reaction and labeled him as a day-three prospect. • Four-year starting right tackle Robert Hainsey's NFL future might be on the inside instead. He started at right guard in the Senior Bowl but also snapped some to Book at center. Jeremiah listed Hainsey among 10 winners from the week of practice. "The team that picks him will be getting a very polished player," Jeremiah wrote. "It didn't go unnoticed that the Notre Dame guys worked after practice every single day, and I was told Hainsey's interviews with teams were outstanding." • All-American left guard Aaron Banks remained at his same position, while defensive ends Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji each had at least a half-sack. Hayes was credited with three stops, while Ogundeji also played inside some at three-technique and graded well with his length and hand counters. Other NFL hopefuls for the April 29-May 1 NFL Draft include Eichenberg; unanimous All- America linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, a first-round projection by various outlets; guard Tommy Kraemer; wide receivers Skowronek and Javon McKinley; and tight ends Tommy Tremble and Brock Wright. — Lou Somogyi JACK NOLAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM BROADCASTING For the second time during the 2020-21 academic calen- dar, the University of Notre Dame athletics will be losing a memorable voice from the last 39 years. Jack Nolan, a fixture on Notre Dame athletics broadcasts for almost four decades, has announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2020-21 men's basketball season. It was in 1982 Nolan began his career covering Notre Dame sports — the same year that Mike Collins became the public-address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium be- fore retiring this December following the Syracuse game. "I have been truly blessed to have been associated with the Notre Dame athletics department for 39 seasons," Nolan said. "I will be forever grateful to all the athletes, coaches, colleagues and fans who have been so wonder- ful to me over the years. However, the time has come for my wife Rhonda [Brown] and I to live a more normal life." A 1981 graduate from Missouri's prestigious school of journalism, Nolan worked at CNN for a year before ac- cepting a post at WNDU, the local NBC affiliate that at the time was owned by the university. Before NBC took over in 1991 telecasting all home games nationally, Nolan was the play-by-play man for Notre Dame telecasts and three times received Associated Press awards. A true Jack-of-all-trades as a broadcaster, Nolan also served as an analyst for Notre Dame men's basketball since 1982 on radio and television, and assumed duties as play-by-play man after Jack Lorri's retirement from that post in 2006. That same year, Nolan left WNDU to become a full-time employee on campus as part of Notre Dame Sports Prop- erties and Fighting Irish Media. He would host the Brian Kelly and Mike Brey television and radio shows, call various Notre Dame Olympic sport events and serve as master of ceremonies at numerous functions. He was celebrated in November 2015 when he won the Outstanding Crafts Achievement Emmy for On-Camera Talent-Sports presented by the Chicago Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. A native of Winchester, Mass., Nolan was awarded an Honorary Monogram by the university in 2013. — Lou Somogyi Robert Hainsey played at right guard and center in the Senior Bowl, and was included among the 10 winners from the week of practice by NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Nolan has been a fixture on Notre Dame athletics broad- casts for 39 years. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS