Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1395005
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2021 15 THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "Notre Dame landed Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan to help bridge the gap to the program's inexperienced (but talented) freshman quarterback in Buchner. The California native missed most of his sophomore season due to a torn ACL and missed his senior year due to COVID-19. However, Buchner has all of the talent needed to thrive in South Bend. "As a junior in 2019, he threw for 4,474 yards and 53 touchdowns and added 1,610 yards and 28 scores on the ground. Buchner im - pressed in his first stint on campus with the Fighting Irish and finished spring by connecting on six of nine passes for 140 yards and adding a rushing score in the Gold-Blue Game." — Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports on listing Notre Dame's TYLER BUCHNER as one of 10 true freshman quarterbacks to watch in 2021 "I wouldn't have said this five months ago until I sat in this chair; I believe this is the most unique, amazing job in the country. You can truly offer a kid here that nobody else in the country can. We just have to be able to explain it to these young people in the right way." — Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman on former Irish defensive lineman Chris Zorich's podcast in July "The Irish have only nine returning starters and are No. 128 on my experience chart. They still have running back Kyren Williams, a talented but just not as experienced O-line, and quarterback Jack Coan who led Wisconsin to 10 wins in 2019. Notre Dame has six starters back on D and my No. 8-rated defense in the country to along with my No. 13-rated special teams. There are no easy games on the schedule, but no non-winnable ones either and they could win all 12 games. The Irish will be much better than most expect this year." — Phil Steele on ranking the Irish No. 7 in his 2021 preseason top 40 "The big issue with this team is once again the passing offense, but this time around it's a little bit more concerning. Firstly, their current crop of wide receiv- ers leaves a lot to be desired. While they do have a rising star at tight end with Michael Mayer, they don't return a single wide receiver that has a single-season receiving grade above 65.0 under their belt. Among all FBS programs, Notre Dame returns the third-least productive wide receiver unit from last season. That issue paired with a quarterback in Jack Coan, who is accurate underneath but struggles to throw deep downfield, raises major concerns with this offense's ability to consistently create explosive pass plays." — Pro Football Focus (PFF) on Notre Dame's outlook in its 2021 College Football Preview magazine "Hamilton is one of the most explosive safeties in the college game. His 42-inch vertical may have helped land him on Bruce Feldman's 2020 Freaks List, but he also pairs his physical skill set with great eyes in coverage, making him a certified playmaker. Hamilton amassed 16 combined pass breakups and interceptions and 15 passing stops as a true freshman and sophomore. Better yet, he was responsible for only three explosive pass plays of 15-plus yards over that span. The Notre Dame safety has generated the third-most PFF Wins Above Average among players at his position over the past two years and is the favorite to claim the top spot in 2021." — PFF on junior safety Kyle Hamilton "We college presidents have learned to tread lightly when it comes to the pas- sions of alumni and other fans for our athletic teams, whether it is one compet- ing for a national championship or a less heralded group playing a rivalry game. "Recently, though, we have seen passions aroused in other quarters, as state legislatures have passed bills enabling our student-athletes to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness (often referred to as 'NIL'). Now, the NCAA has approved a historic change to allow student-athletes to be compensated for use of their NIL, with schools and conferences allowed to adopt their own additional policies. The Supreme Court recently issued a ruling against NCAA regulations limiting education-related funds a school can provide to its student-athletes. Such developments will undoubtedly, in the short term at least, create disrup- tion and uncertainty for college sports. "Rather than treading lightly around this situation, we should seize the oppor- tunity for reform and improvement. As we consider the shape of such reform, I propose the following as a guiding principle: Any changes adopted should support and strengthen the educational purpose central to our institutions and enhance the educational outcomes for our student-athletes. … "Cynicism about college athletics is abundant and perhaps understandable, because some of its practices have given observers good reasons to be cynical. Still, I have spoken to many alumni who say the challenge of competing in their sport at a high level while attending college taught them invaluable lessons for their personal and professional lives. There is still reason to pursue that ideal of college sports, without making them into a semi-pro league. "Let's seize the opportunity for reform, while focusing on the work that is at the heart of our mission: the education of young people." — University of Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., in a guest essay titled "At Notre Dame, We Believe 'Student' Should Come First in 'Student-Athlete'" that was published by The New York Times on July 1 UNDER THE DOME OF THE MONTH ➤ "No one in WNBA history did it faster. "3 3000 points "3 1000 assists "3 200 steals "@ndwbb alumna @SkyDigg4 became the fastest player in @WNBA his- tory to reach 3,000 career points, 1,000 assists, and 200 steals. "#IrishInTheWNBA #GoIrish" — The official account of The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) on July 5 PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER