Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2017

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2017 7 FAN FORUM cheat and observed NCAA stan- dards, Faust would remain through- out the duration of his contract. Now we see that cheating can oc- cur, mediocrity has returned and yet Brian Kelly and athletics director Jack Swarbrick remain in power. Notre Dame football had more arrests this year than victories. This sadly signals the end of the Hesburgh legacy. Dan Kearney '69 Knoxville, Tenn. UPLIFTING MOMENT I found this entire season depress- ing. I found the inflated ticket prices depressing. I found Brian Kelly's statement "if I had to do it over would have thrown it more" after the Virginia Tech debacle the most depressing statement he could make. I found Todd Burlage's column (December 2016 edition) on senior cornerback Cole Luke very uplifting. His attitude epitomizes the way this group has laid it on the line every week. These kids deserve better. Tony Ardizzone Indianapolis LOW MOMENTS There were two very serious class- less acts of stupidity by Jerry Tillery against USC. With a USC player on the ground, the victim of targeting, Jerry kicks the player in the head. Later in the game with another USC player on the ground, Jerry intentionally steps on the player's foot. Brian Kelly ap- pears to chew him out on the side- lines, but keeps him in the game. His butt should have been on the bench. I hope Kelly suspends Jerry for the first game of 2017. Six Notre Dame players get ar- rested, and Tillery is out of control. If Kelly is going to recruit "SEC-type individuals," then we should see "SEC-type play" on the field. Notre Dame is extremely fortunate to have coaches Mike Brey, Muffet McGraw and all of their assistant coaches. I am now a proud graduate of a basketball school. Go Irish! John Krauss '69 Rockaway, N.J. Mr. Krauss, those actions by everyone stunned many, and Tillery has apolo- gized publicly. As for the SEC, other than Alabama, 13 of its 14 teams this year did lose at least four games — although only Mis- souri was the only one to match Notre Dame's 4-8 mark. STAY THE COURSE I'm glad to see Mr. Swarbrick is supporting Brian Kelly. One bad year shouldn't doom him. He's 59-31 (.656) at Notre Dame, the best coach since Lou Holtz. The last three coaches — Bob Davie, Ty Willingham and Charlie Weis — were 91-68 (.572). This should propel the 2017 recruiting class! He's made Notre Dame relevant again. Tom Krigner Oxford, Mich. TARGET AUDIENCE Has a Notre Dame opponent ever been penalized for targeting when playing the Irish? Terry Naglewski Westmont, Ill. Mr. Naglewski, Ohio State All-Amer- ican defensive end Joey Bosa was ejected early in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl for his targeting call on Irish quarterback De- Shone Kizer. Other than that, we have a tough time recalling any other such incidents since the targeting rule was first implemented by the NCAA in 2013. This has been a sore spot for Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, especially this year when two potential such calls could have gone in his team's favor in the loss to Virginia Tech, plus the hit in the end zone on Torii Hunter Jr. by Texas safety DeShon Elliott in the opener. Notre Dame players we know of who have been ejected include linebacker Ben Councell (Oklahoma, 2013), line- man Stephon Tuitt (Pitt, 2013), safety Max Redfield (Purdue, 2014), linebacker Nyles Morgan (Louisville, 2014), safety Elijah Shumate (Temple, 2015), and safe- ties Devin Studstill (Syracuse, 2016) and Nicco Fertitta (USC, 2016). BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH FAN CUSTOM FOOTBALL JERSEYS ORDER ONLINE AT NDCATALOG.COM OR CALL (574) 631-7199 CUSTOM FOOTBALL JERSEY LINK AT BOTTOM OF WEBSITE LEEP VARSITY SHOP ® PURCELL PAVILION

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