Notre Dame Enters The 2018 Season Ranked 12th

It’s fast shaping up to be a great season for the Fighting Irish, with a recent AP preseason poll giving the team a much-deserved 12th rank.  If anything, the news is a huge psychological boost for coach Brian Kelly’s wards, as this development practically ensures that all of Notre Dame’s opponents for the regular season are lower seeded.  The team likewise took the same 12th spot in the Amway Coaches Poll. 

It’s the Irish’s 55th time to rank in the preseason top 25 teams of the AP and it’s also the fourth most overall.  It’s a huge upgrade in the rankings, given that the team started the past season unranked, before climbing up to 11th in the concluding AP poll after having finished with a 10-3 overall record.  

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This development makes the Irish’s opening game versus the Michigan Wolverine the most important and certainly most anticipated by fans this season, as Michigan is ranked just two tiers lower at 14th.  All in all, Notre Dame will get to play with four teams ranked in the top 20 of the initial polls within its three-month season between September and November: Michigan, Stanford (13th), USC (15th), and Virginia Tech (2oth). 

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Again, the ranking is well-deserved for an Irish club that had a superb showing last year.  But it nevertheless puts a lot of pressure on the team, especially because, in a huge way, this makes its first match versus closest-in-rank Michigan team essentially a must--win.  

My name’s Tom Colton, a University of Notre Dame student. Football season is almost here, and I’m going all out to support our Fighting Irish team. For related football posts, visit this page.

Ranking the best coaches in Fighting Irish football history

The high expectations on current Notre Dame coach (and now official Dodd Trophy watch list inclusion) Brian Kelly is more than understandable, given the school’s rich and long-running tradition of having had some of the most decorated and respected coaches in college football. Hereunder are the most revered coaches in the Fighting Irish program.

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Knute Rockne To say Rockne is the face of college football is no exaggeration. Between 1918 and 1930, he guided Notre Dame to a mind-blowing winning percentage of .881, ending up with a career record of 105-12 before his untimely and tragic passing.

Frank Leahy Leahy helmed the Irish before and after World War II, from 1941 to 1943 then from 1946 to 1953. His .864 winning rate is the second-highest in the history of the program. Some of his most renowned achievements include six undefeated seasons, four national championships, and even a record-setting win streak of 39 games.

Ara Parseghian Coach Ara led the Fighting Irish for 11 years (1964-1974), continuously managing to improve the team in each year of his stay. Just consider this stat: before Parseghian took over, the Irish were 41st and 76th in the national rankings. In just his first two years with the program, he already led his teams to 4th and 6th. He brought two national championships to Notre Dame.

Lou Holtz When Holtz took the helm for Gerry Faust, the Irish could get no higher than a 27th ranking. He was able to lead Notre Dame to nine major bowls in his 11 seasons, including a national championship in 1988. Now among the current faces of ESPN college football coverage, Holtz finished his coaching career with a 100-32 record.

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My name’s Tom Colton, currently attending the University of Notre Dame. I’m an avid supporter of Notre Dame sports, particularly the school’s Fighting Irish football team. For more of my writings on college football, check out thiswebpage.

The short and forgettable era of Gerry Faust

Gerry Faust coached the Fighting Irish for four years. He was Dan Devine’s replacement, and expectations were high given that he had an incredibly impressive record coaching the Moeller High School football team. In 19 seasons with Moeller, Faust garnered a staggering 174 wins, with only 17 losses, and 2 ties. 

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Another reason Notre Dame fans were excited was that Faust would have nine of his former players from Moeller in the Fighting Irish. Many of the Notre Dame faithful thought that their chemistry in high school would translate onto the college level. But things in South Bend didn’t go as planned.

Faust never really met the expectations of Notre Dame fans. His success was both limited and mediocre. In his first year as coach, Faust managed to lead the Irish to a dismal 5-6 record. The following season would see only a slight change, with Notre Dame finishing at 6-4-1. His third and fourth years though were better as his team finished with a 7-5 record for both years. In 1983, he would lead Notre Dame to the Liberty Bowl, and the Aloha Bowl the following year. 

After a crushing defeat at the hands of Miami (58-7), Faust retired and moved to Akron where he became head coach. 

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Tom Colton here, a student at the University of Notre Dame. It almost goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of Fighting Irish football. More Notre Dame football reads here.

How Notre Dame Basketball Players Increase Their Vertical Leap

An explosive vertical leap is one of a basketball player’s main arsenal. You’ve seen high-flyers in the NBA with much success. The same goes for college players. The higher the vertical leap, the bigger the chances of getting to the ball quicker, shooting over opponents, and getting easier shots off.

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Let’s look at some of the plyometric and strengthening exercises Fighting Irish basketball players do to increase their hops. 

Calf raises: Since the calves are extensively used when jumping, basketball players do it to strengthen their calf muscles. 

Jump squats: Jump squats are plyometric exercises that strengthen almost all the leg muscles, especially the quads and calves to give the player an explosive jump from a squatting position. Repeating this movement tears and rebuilds leg muscles, making them stronger. 

Box jumps: Box jumps can be done on just about any platform. It’s a variation of a jump squat except that the player jumps on a different level. As he gets stronger, the level of the platform gets higher. Sometimes, athletes vary the movement by jumping on a single leg.

For both the jump squats and box jumps, many Notre Dame basketball players attach ankle weights to their legs to make them heavier and add resistance to the movements. 

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Hi! I’m Tom Colton, a University of Notre Dame student. I’m a big fan of Fighting Irish sports teams. For more on Notre Dame sports, visit this blog.

Was History Unfair To Joe Kuharich?

Joe Kuharich was the head coach for the Chicago Cardinals and Washington Redskins before he returned to his alma mater in 1959. It was the realization of a dream in which he could coach the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame. He was supposed to coach three years earlier, after one of the worst seasons in Fighting Irish history, but his predecessor, Terry Brennan, was allowed to coach on. 

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Kuharich brought a sense of professionalism to Notre Dame football, adding shamrocks on helmets and shoulder stripes on jerseys. However, this was where the positive discussions end. He would go on to coach Notre Dame for four seasons and not have a single winning record in any of the seasons. Overall, Kuharich gathered a 17-23 record, the only coach to ever have a losing record in the school’s long history. The Fighting Irish’s eight-game losing streak in 1960 was one of the team’s darkest periods. 

But what was it really that contributed to such a collapse of an otherwise magnificent football program? Some sports analysts had mentioned that Kuharich took the reins a team that suffered from the de-emphasis of football in Notre Dame when the school focused on things they deemed more relevant. Other football experts noted that Kuharich never acclimated completely to college football from his professional career. There were rules and methods in pro football that just didn’t work in the college setting. 

Kuharich resigned in 1963 due to the mounting pressure. 

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Hello, I’m Tom Colton, a student at the University of Notre Dame and a huge fan of the Fighting Irish. For more on my hobbies and interests, check out this blog.

A Look At The Insane Success Of Pro And College Football

Since we’ve been discussing a lot the Fighting Irish and Notre Dame football in general, let’s broaden our scope and take a look at American football. It’s no secret that American football has been the most popular sport in the country for quite some time now. Here are three jaw-dropping facts on America’s favorite sport.

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• A survey of 2,000 American adults showed that 35% preferred watching pro football over any other sport, while at little under 12% chose college football. That’s almost half of the sample group.

• Pro football’s biggest spectacle, the Super Bowl has averaged over 110 million viewers for the past eight years. That’s more than any other show on network TV.

• More than 50 million rabid followers attend college football games, while 210 million watch the games at home. NCAA bowl games attract 120 million viewers across the nation.

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With those numbers, it’s easy to assume that football is a great part of American pop culture, what with films and TV shows being based on it. Many Americans are in it for the thrill and the brutality mixed in with sportsmanship, physical talent, and amazing, innovative strategies. Football is a game of men at their peak trying to penetrate and defend with coaches marshaling all of them in a spectacle for the ages.

Hello, I’m Tom Colton, and I’m currently a student at the University of Notre Dame. I absolutely love the Fighting Irish and college football in general. For more on the stuff I love, follow me on Twitter.

Players That Should Have An Immediate Impact On Notre Dame Football In 2018

With the departure of several key players, Notre Dame football recruitment went into overdrive this offseason. Hereunder are top freshman prospects who may find themselves getting quality playing time in 2108. 

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Houston Griffith 

Griffith is the 64th-ranked player to enter the 2018 class. His talent alone should make him a shoo-in for getting playing time, especially if he can move to safety from cornerback. Safety has been a weak aspect of the Irish’s game lately, and his development should help fill in the void. 

Jack Lamb 

With the news of the departure of linebackers Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini, Lamb should have an open spot to land a starting role and show his wares. Drue Tranquill and Coney will most likely start at the Rover and Mike positions and with Lamb finding himself a likely Buck. 

Jayson Ademilola 

Though Notre Dame’s defensive line seems to be getting crowded, Ademilola might be a good player to add to the depth of the interior. Especially given coach Kelly’s history of giving past freshmen players like Kurt Hinsh and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa such defensive spots. 

Derrik Allen 

Allen could factor into the safety position immediately, bolstering Notre Dame’s poor back end play. If Griffith is Notre Dame’s highest-ranked recruit, Derrik Allen, the 70th overall prospect, is the school’s most important.

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Hi and thanks for dropping by. My name is Tom Colton, a University of Notre Dame student. I’m a big fan of Fighting Irish football. For more on Notre Dame sports, visit this blog.