Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/259072
UNDER THE DOME "I have been blessed with the amazing opportunity to live my dream and play in the NFL. Due to a number of knee injuries, it is time for me to move on and hang up the cleats. It has been a great ride and I would like to thank everyone for the amazing support over the years. I have accepted an opportunity to be a graduate assistant coach for Notre Dame football. I'm extremely excited to start the next chapter of my life and help this incredible program reach its goal of winning a national championship." — Former Irish safety Kyle McCarthy (2005-09), announcing on his Twitter page that he has retired from football and accepted a position with the Notre Dame football program "When I put the film on, I like our players' intensity. You can see their body language and enthusiasm. They're all in, and so that's the most important thing is you build scheme and all those things moving forward. But that's what I like. I like their enthusiasm and their commitment to excellence and they represent Notre Dame, so that's the way it should be." — New defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder on his impressions from watching film of the Irish defense OF THE WEEK @ShowtimeTate: "Went to bed a champion and woke up still a champion. I love this feeling. 12s we bringing the party to seattle right now" Former Irish receiver and Super Bowl champion Golden Tate after his Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII Current Notre Dame junior linebacker Jarrett Grace will need the most time to recover among Notre Dame's walking wounded from the 2013 football season, according to head coach Brian Kelly during a Jan. 31 meeting with the media. Grace moved ahead of graduated fifth-year senior Dan Fox for the starting role against Michigan State, Oklahoma and Arizona State before suffering a fractured leg Oct. 5 against the Sun Devils. The plan is to get him to do some light running this spring, but he will be sidelined from partaking in the practices. "He broke that bone in four places, so that is a little bit slower in developing … a very complicated fracture," Kelly said. • The two players making the best progress were junior linebacker Ben Councell and junior center Nick Martin, although they too will take it slower until next August. Councell, the backup to freshman Jaylon Smith at Dog linebacker, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Navy on Nov. 2. Martin incurred a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL) late in the first quarter against Brigham Young Nov. 23, leading to classmate Matt Hegarty starting the last two games at center. "If they walked through here right now you would not know they had surgery," Kelly said of Councell and Martin. "They are well ahead of schedule, so we are very pleased there." • Shoulder surgeries ended the 2013 season before they even began for sophomore safety Nicky Baratti, freshman outside linebacker Doug Randolph and freshman center/guard John Montelus. The staff will proceed slowly with Baratti this spring, erring on the side of caution. NOTRE DAME'S INJURY REPORT UPDATE