Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1440504
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2022 13 UNDER THE DOME "No Kyle Hamilton or Kyren Williams for the Irish in this contest leaves Foskey as the top player on the PFF draft board. He's a powerful 6-foot-5, 260-pound edge defender who can be a pocket- collapser at the next level. After a breakout junior campaign that saw him rack up 10 sacks and earn a 79.8 overall grade, Foskey will have a decision to make as a likely Day 2 pick." — Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus on junior Isaiah Foskey being Notre Dame's top NFL Draft prospect to play in the Fiesta Bowl "It was a humbling experience for me to start the season. You come from Cincinnati where we had a lot of success, you feel like you really had a good spring, really had a good fall. "Then you go into the first game against Florida State, you're like, 'Oh crap, we're not as good as I thought defensively.' We didn't play as well. To- ledo, we didn't play as well. "It really made me lean on our staff and say, 'What changes do we need to make?' What small changes do we need to make to make sure this scheme fits the players we have? "What you've seen over the course of the year is trying to make small, strategic changes to our scheme to make sure it fits the players we have. Then all of a sudden, your best player, Kyle Ham- ilton, goes down. You have to say, 'How do we fit this scheme around who's the next guy in?' "This group has trusted us. The coaching staff has done a tremendous job figuring out the best way to teach these guys. We've worked as a team. The defensive staff has been a team all year. Tak- ing other people's ideas is something we've done. The ability to get to this final product we have, it's been a growing experience." — Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman on what he learned in 2021 "Where Freeman the coach has to make the difference is convincing the next Freeman they recruit to think differently about Ohio State, Ala- bama, Georgia, etc. He was one of those prospects who felt like an NFL sure thing in high school. "His journey into the NFL and out of the NFL rep- resents great recruiting material because it's proof that football ends, usually before you want it to end. Freeman should be able to sell that to more five-star recruits than Brian Kelly ever did; Kelly didn't have that personal narrative to offer. And Freeman will be more on top of these prospects with contact, too. "There are more five-star prospects out there to get for Notre Dame. But it's going to take tre- mendous work and an elite recruiting pitch to get them. Freeman feels like he can deliver both." — The Athletic's Pete Sampson on whether Freeman can start landing more five-star recruits at Notre Dame "If you watch Game 1 against Florida State, we weren't finishing as well. You put on the Stan- ford film, you see everyone finishing their blocks, straining to finish. "Coach [Tommy] Rees talks about it, it's con- tagious when you see that on film. When you see a wide receiver finishing their block, a tight end finishing their block, a quarterback extending the fake, that's really contagious for an offense. We really took that energy, and it's had a lot of momentum for us." — Notre Dame senior center Jarrett Patterson "She is in the gym early regardless. She's always working on her game, and I'm just so happy to see it come to life today. I really wanted to pound the ball inside, that was one of our game plans, and I felt like she was amazing tonight." — Notre Dame women's basketball head coach Niele Ivey on graduate student forward Maya Dodson after she scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Irish past DePaul 91-86 Dec. 22 "For us to escape here with a league win against a really good defensive team. … We had a hard time dealing with them. I have a lot of respect for our guys because it looked dim a couple of times, but they figured out how to come back and finish. I'll take it." — Notre Dame men's basketball head coach Mike Brey after his team knocked off Pitt when senior guard Prentiss Hubb hit a fall-away jumper with five seconds remaining for a 68-67 win Dec. 28 PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER OF THE MONTH DT/DE @Bgr8t has been selected as a Finalist for the HOF Class of 2022. #PFHOF22 | @49ers — @ProFootballHOF on former Notre Dame and San Francisco 49ers standout Bryant Young being named a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist for the class of 2022 THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "It's awesome. Having him as my roommate is great. He's an awesome dude and funny guy, but when he comes on the field, he's a different animal. He flies and around and makes plays. They call him 'Nuke' and I asked him why, and he said, 'Because I blow stuff up.' That's fine by me." — Notre Dame quarterback signee Steve Angeli on rooming with future Irish team - mate Jaylen Sneed at the Under Armour All-America Game in late December