Sights, Sounds and Thoughts From Day One

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(Notre Dame Football News) – I don’t think anyone’s under the illusion that you can learn an awful lot from a snippet of the first fall practice, but with NDNation hungry for information and insight, I’ve gathered some sights and sounds from different media sources.  The main themes are “tempo” and “constant coaching.”

Some players surprised.  There were rumors that Michael Floyd may have been out of shape, but Tony Alford (and a quick eyeball) cleared that up:  Alford said, “he came back in great shape, he’s making plays. He’s being a leader. He’s pushing himself to get better. What he has to do this fall is do all that every play, every day.”

Among the players that stood out from an eyeball perspective, in addition to Floyd, were: Manti Teo, Ethan Johnson, Dayne Crist and Chris Stewart.  I was actually surprised by the defensive backs, the normally skinny Darrin Walls and Robert Blanton are looking much less so.

Lou Somogyi over at BGI broke down the camp depth charts on offense and defense.  The only minor surprises were Dan Wenger jumping Braxton Cave at center and Theo Riddick jumping Tailer Jones on offense.

Here are the sights, sounds and thoughts from day one:

Sights and Sounds

Thoughts

Tony Riccio: I am very pleased to see the how good the team looked physically. The DL (Except Nix) looked great. They really got bigger/stronger (I must to play in the 3-4)   I loved the tempo of the practices. It was both fast and intense (Something that was lacking in the past) I loved how the coaches (Longo included) really pushed the players.  The following players looked good to me…   Click here for more

Coach D from ISD: I have read as many stories as everyone else about the tempo that is employed by this staff.  I thought I was prepared for it, but even with the advanced awareness of their practice style it still caught me off guard.  Everything about practice is fast.  They practice fast, they move between drills with a quick pace, and the coaches coach very, very fast… Click here for more

From Ryan O’Leary at BGI: First-year head coach , looking noticeably more trim than during the spring, peered out from under his visor as the team went through stretching drills, then offered some opening words after his players had huddled around him… Click here for more

From Todd Burlage at BGI: Picking up right where it left at the end of spring ball, the entire team huddled at midfield Saturday at the start of practice for a quiet and serious moment lead by head coach . The huddle broke, and no more than 10 seconds later, the first-team offense was lined up and working its way down the field in breakneck fashion… Click here for more

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4 thoughts on “Sights, Sounds and Thoughts From Day One”

  1. terry says:

    Prediction – 10-2. Beat Purdue 38-10. With their conditioning they will win games in the 4th quarter they weren’t supposed to win, among them USC. Most important IMO – they will approach EVERY game EXPECTING to win, not hoping to win. They will get more confident as the season goes on.
    Weis is a good man, he was a good recruiter, he did his best, but he was NOT a college football coach. He left plenty of talented players for Kelly who IS a college football coach.

    Kelly is the right man in the right place at the right time, and the fact that Grace Kelly will be attending ND home games this year makes me smile.

  2. Joe Eichman says:

    Coach D from ISD fantastic job of keeping us up to date. Sounds like we’ve got us a strong team.

    Alot of information in one spot. I loved it.

  4. Bob '67 says:

    I certainly remember “Ara stop the snow.” Also remember standing in snow to welcome him to campus.

    Am very surprised to see Riddick jump Jones. Jones was a beast in the Spring game. Floyd needs to be in great shape or those two could outshine him. We don’t lack quality WRs, that’s for sure!