Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 23, 2021 13 UNDER THE DOME THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "As a kid born and raised in Virginia, I dreamed of playing DI football, playing in that stadium, feeling the atmosphere. I finally get to experience it first hand." — Notre Dame sophomore running back CHRIS TYREE on playing in Lane Stadium against Virginia Tech "He has a great relationship with his players. Any time a new coach comes in, it's about developing relationships, which he continues to build throughout the season. It's about consistency, about relationships, about trust. It's about our process and delivering it on a week-to-week basis. "I sit in all the team meetings on defense and get a chance to listen to him talk to the entire unit. He's on point. There's a good esprit de corps, there's great camaraderie. "We're still building. We're just about at the halfway point of Year 1 with Marcus Freeman leading this defense. Stay tuned. There is going to be some good stuff to follow." — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on defensive coor- dinator Marcus Freeman "This is where Notre Dame's independence works against it, because the Irish don't have a conference championship game to help them compensate for a loss. Cincinnati is the most difficult opponent on Notre Dame's schedule this season, and the Irish came up short on their home turf. While Notre Dame is still favored to win each of its remaining games, a road trip to Virginia Tech could be tricky, along with November trips to Virginia and Stanford. "Even with an 11-1 record, it's unlikely the selection committee would be wowed by any of those wins enough to unseat a Power Five conference cham- pion, or an unbeaten Cincinnati, for a top-four spot." — ESPN's Heather Dinich on the Fighting Irish's chances to earn a College Football Playoff berth "If there's a complaint about Notre Dame's quarterback track record under [Brian] Kelly, it's a question of recruiting evaluation, not a question of player development. Notre Dame has had enough good quarterback play in the past six years to believe in Kelly as somebody who can get a lot out of the talent on hand. "… At some point, you question the incoming material more than the guy doing the development. But that gets the discussion to Tommy Rees since he took over the evaluation of quarterbacks and the offense itself. In the 2018 class, Notre Dame offered [Phil] Jurkovec, JT Daniels and Tanner McKee. Good evaluations. All three are Power Five starters this year. In the 2019 class, the of- fers were Spencer Rattler, Graham Mertz, Dylan Morris, Cade McNamara, Paul Tyson, Brendon Clark, Bo Nix, Max Duggan, John Rhys Plumlee. "Six of those quarterbacks are starting at Power Five schools. A year later, Notre Dame only offered Drew Pyne. It's too soon to know if casting that small a net will prove to be a mistake. And the year after that, the Irish went with Tyler Buchner early. Again, too soon to know if that evaluation will prove cor- rect, but early returns are promising." — Pete Sampson of The Athletic "Making changes in the leadership of one of our programs is never easy, especially at the start of the competitive season, but recent events convinced Mike and me that a change in the direction of our program was necessary. "The program will not be competing in the dual meet that was scheduled for this weekend. We will instead use this week to develop an interim plan designed to allow our student-athletes to compete this year." — Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick on the announcement that Notre Dame swimming & diving head coach Mike Litzinger had resigned effective immedi- ately on Oct. 4 "The sign was in place for the 1986 season, representing [Lou] Holtz's ambition of restoring the luster of a legendary program that had fallen into mediocrity. The idea, he said, came from a book on Notre Dame history he had checked out from the university library over the winter break in hopes of learn- ing as much as he could about the school's proud tradition. He saw a photo featuring the sign, which was no longer hanging in the stadium. "… The sign slap became a beloved ritual at Notre Dame, as Holtz led the Irish to a national championship in 1988 in just his third season. In 1991, NBC, which had just given the university its own marquee TV deal, showcased the sign by placing a camera in the hallway that captured the players hitting it. 'It's sort of become synonymous with Notre Dame,' Holtz said last week. "That has caused outrage at Oklahoma, where football head coach Bud Wilkinson placed a 'Play Like A Champion Today' sign over the locker room door in either 1947 or 1948, according to the school. A version of the same sign has been in constant use at OU ever since; but it has never earned the same mystique that Notre Dame's draws." — ESPN staff writer Dave Wilson in his story about Notre Dame and Oklahoma's battle over "Play Like A Champion Today" published Oct. 5 PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER OF THE WEEK ➤ "I was the first one in my family to go and finish college. "I graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in the world. "I bought both my parents brand new cars at the age of 21. "At the age of 22 I bought my family and me a house. "Losing? Still never heard of her." Former Irish and current Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool (@ChaseClaypool)