Either Or

Probably not many fans are more happy to have the previous season behind them than Irish fans. The past few weeks, I have probably read as many articles and news stories about Notre Dame football and college football than any other time of the year. Nothing is more speculative than a preseason preview from anyone - especially a beat writer, blogger, or even a coach. 


Brian Kelly addressed the media last Friday before the first day of practice - his press conference detailed in this Chicago Sun Times piece from Rick Morrissey. Pay attention to the "Simply Being Realistic" section. Kelly details what he thinks are some strengths, but also candidly details some vulnerabilities. After the past 3 seasons, everyone knows the Irish have some weak points - but with a new regime and system, not everyone knows what they are (besides overall talent of course). Kelly gave what appears to be an honest assessment of the Irish weaknesses - first being the obvious lack of experience at QB, but also depth along the defensive line, consistency in the secondary, and consistency at kicker. 


The most important of all those vulnerabilities is easily experience at QB. Dayne Crist has played in just 4 games, and only attempted 20 passes. Certainly he will be in a spread offense that is QB friendly, but his play will be critical. Depth on the defensive line, while important, becomes less important as the Irish shift back to the 3-4 defense the majority of the defensive players were recruited for (not to mention there's only 3 spots now). Kicking consistency is also important, but in my opinion such a lesser issue. Kicking is scrutinized more on bad teams - which the Irish have been the past few years. The kicking question is more reflective of all the close games the Irish played in the last two seasons. 


Secondary consistency is the key question for me, beyond QB play. The old defensive adage of stopping the run first is certainly still valid, but to a lesser extent. Teams kill you with the pass now - while the run is merely an accomplice. Bob Diaco (Irish defensive coordinator) hopefully worked his butt off all summer trying to answer the question - how can we get better at defending the pass? I don't have the answer, but I can help him in this regard: the Irish cant get much worse than 76th in FBS at 228 yards per game. Improvement is likely with any new scheme. But don't get too excited - as Cincinnati ranked 78th in the country last year in pass defense. 


Last year's defense had nothing to hang their hat on - as Weis used to say. You cant be bad against the run - 89th in the country - as well as bad against the pass. Hopefully Diaco & co are figuring out a way to at least be solid in one area. If the Irish can defend either or, they should be in good shape to at least have a chance at the Vegas over/under 8 win total. But then again, nothing's more speculative than a blogger in August. 

Color Commentating

Mike Mayock

NBC replaced the vacated color commentator seat on its Notre Dame telecast with Mike Mayock - former Boston College star and current NFL Network analyst. The seat was previously held by Pat Hayden, who recently departed to take the clean up job as the USC Director of Athletics. Good articles in the South Bend Tribune here, and also a more in depth article at Blue Gold here going into Mayock's background, which included 25 years of football broadcasting at the college & pro levels. 

Pat Hayden did a good job providing balanced commentary and was even accused of being biased against Notre Dame at times. NBC clearly wanted to keep the color commentary seat as objective and unoffensive as possible. Two candidates I would have preferred - Joe Theismann and Chris Collinsworth - both have very strong qualifications, but also very strong ties to Notre Dame (Collinsworth's son Austin is a freshman WR, Theismann is obvious). These guys are very opinionated and naturally pro Irish. Each of these guys, while very educated and articulate about the game, likely would alienate a few viewers - particularly non-Notre Dame fans.

While I would prefer that NBC would have hired to please the Notre Dame fan base first, I get what NBC is shooting for. We're always going to watch the Irish play on NBC - but the fringe fans, or the opposing fans, are the ones that NBC doesn't want to piss off. Hiring a Boston College or USC grad is a solid start, and ensuring the hire is not overly offensive or unlikable is the key. NBC did that with Pat Hayden, and I presume so with Mike Mayock. From the looks of his qualifications (25 years in broadcasting), I would say he is going to be very familiar with both the college and pro game, and should be a very professional, likable, and down the middle hire. He might not be as entertaining for Notre Dame fans as Theismann would have, but he is probably going to be better for NBCs ratings in the casual viewer base. Now we all know the easiest way to increase NBCs ratings - lets hope Brian Kelly and Co. are working on that now, as fall camp opened yesterday. Best of luck to Mayock this fall. 

Scheduling Chess

Notre Dame announced its second major scheduling addition in the past month, as the Irish have inked a 4 game home and home series with Texas. The Irish will host the Longhorns in 2015 and 2020, while Texas is at home for 2016 and 2019. This comes after a 3 game agreement with the Miami Hurricanes earlier this summer (Soldier Field in 2012, then home and home in 2016-17). Both of these games will be fantastic opportunities for the Irish, and definitely will get the TV ratings any network will enjoy.

Compared to the Irish 2010 slate of home games versus Western Michigan, Tulsa, and Utah, new Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick is clearly reverting back to the old ND “play anyone anywhere” scheduling philosophy. Traditionally, ND always played a schedule that was above reproach, giving the Irish a baseline of respect with college football fans and conferences. Lately, weakened traditional opponents and a watered down scheduling philosophy by the former athletics director Kevin White have helped put Notre Dame in a weaker position at the BCS / conference realignment discussion table. Certainly losing has hurt our position the most, but the knocks on our schedule have personally been almost as difficult to handle for many Irish fans.  

Lets assume the Irish will always be relevant, with a large, national following. In order to remain independent and in a position of strength with conference realignment and the BCS, the Irish first and foremost need to win more. A close second is that we schedule a competitive slate of opponents. Opponents of Irish independence have long thought that the exception made for Notre Dame was unfair. Weak scheduling will only give them more leverage, pointing to the Irish having an even easier path to the BCS. Scheduling powers like Texas and Miami is a step in the right direction of taking back the ground we’ve given up with our scheduling.

With a tough slate of games giving the Irish some respectibility, the Irish will have one less thing to worry about when it comes to the future of the BCS and conferences. Whether we will be independent in 10 years, I don’t know. But when we remain included in the next BCS, or we join a conference, a strong schedule can only validate what we do on the field. Speaking of that, with the upcoming schedules for the Irish, now we just have to win football games. We all know how difficult that’s been the last few years. 

Hating Clausen

Jimmy Clausen signed his NFL contract with the Carolina Panthers Wednesday morning, just in time for training camp. Signing at the last minute is common for NFL draft picks - particularly a quarterback with a high profile like Clausen. No doubt that the Panthers are a great situation for Clausen - a team with no proven quarterback, a solid running game, a conservative approach, and a coach friendly with the Weis system (John Fox). The contract is standard in guaranteed money ($2.4M), but with plenty of incentives should Clausen earn the starting job early in his career. Sounds like a pretty fair deal for both parties. 


Clausen is a polarizing figure in recent Notre Dame history among Irish fans. While its normal for non-Irish fans to hate the Notre Dame quarterback, Clausen was different because many inside the family did not care for him much. Certainly some of the resentment among ND fans towards Clausen is due to the record his team's had while he was the Quarterback (16-18 as the starter). I understand that quarterbacks are ultimately judged by wins and losses than any other athlete. Even though a baseball pitcher's ERA always seems to validate his performance despite a bad win/loss record, this is not the case for a quarterback - who is expected to lead and win no matter what the circumstances. 


Those Notre Dame fans that resent Jimmy because of his lack of wins I believe are too stubborn to look at the details. Whether you like Clausen or not, we all know that the 2007-2009 teams were some of the worst defensive teams ever at Notre Dame - giving up 29, 22, and 26pts per game, respectively. The 2009 team was finally talented enough, but was unable to close out games, losing 6 games by a total of 28 points. Certainly the offense could have done more in those games - but not much more. In those 6 losses of 2009, the offense averaged 29pts/game, while Clausen threw 15 TDs against only 2 INTs - completing over 65% of his passes. Its easy to see that Clausen performed well, and its even easy to acknowledge that the win loss record isn't the only way to evaluate a QB's performance. Why do many Notre Dame fans still resent Jimmy Clausen then?


The resentment of Jimmy Clausen within the Notre Dame family, as well as outside of it, was created by the circumstances of his arrival more than anything else.  When Clausen announced his intentions to attend Notre Dame at a press conference in May of 2006, the event was nothing short of a disaster. A limousine with an entourage, spiked hair, and a show & tell of championship rings were all involved - each of which is towards the top of any PR person's list of don'ts. Clausen's announcement created the same overblown expectations and resentment as Lebron's recent "The Decision" - meaning only a national championship or 3 would restore him to the graces of many. Later, as the Charlie Weis era fell apart, Clausen became a symbol of the departing regime, embodying the player version of Charlie Weis - no doubt talented, but unable to win at the college level. 


Obviously, I am a Clausen supporter. He made some initial mistakes as an 18 year old, creating a bad first impression he could never undo - just like Charlie Weis. No matter what you think about Clausen, you have to admit he is starting out on much better footing in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers than at Notre Dame. Clausen has had a quiet summer by all accounts, working hard in Charlotte and building a rapport with his new coaches and teammates. His expectations are helped by the fact that he's a 2nd round draft pick instead of a first, and since he plays in a mid-market city on a team that is expected to be average. I don't know whether Clausen will be a good NFL quarterback - but he isn't doomed for failure from the start like it seems he was at Notre Dame. I like to think he has taken his medicine and learned something from his Notre Dame experience as he starts a new chapter in his career. We'll see. 

First Post of 2010

Sadly, this is the first post of 2010 here at Vatican Smoke. Happy New Years I guess? The Pope took a sabbatical of sorts, taking time off to handle moving from Memphis, TN to Pittsburgh, PA, starting a new job, buying a house, and getting married. On top of all that, I've been decompressing from the heart break of the Charlie Weis era. It's been a busy 6 months, but I'm back with a new focus, and some hopefully entertaining takes on the upcoming 2010 Notre Dame football season.


Since the blog is starting up after a layover, now's a good time to define what Vatican Smoke is. The blog is not a reporting outlet with any inside knowledge or information; nor am I someone who is in the mainstream media (or media at all). I don't know more than the next guy, and I am certainly biased in my opinions (despite my burning desire to be objective). My writing skills are average, and I have no journalism pedigree. Why should you read this blog? Passionate sports fans need to commiserate with one another after a loss, celebrate with someone after a win, and work through a process of understanding why something incredible or terrible happened to their team. ESPN can't give you the community you need - (hopefully) Vatican Smoke can help. Especially after the last few years, every Notre Dame fan needs a bit of therapy. So enjoy some free, unlicensed treatment, here at Vatican Smoke.


In addition to a renewed purpose for the blog, here are a few specific goals & improvements for Vatican Smoke this season:

• Shorter posts  -  I'm not an expert and this is not must read material for anyone. I appreciate the readers' time, and will be challenging myself to deliver something entertaining or at least stimulating in fewer words.
• Minimal usage of bullet points and numbering  -  Damn. Of course this is delivered via a bullet point. Numbering and bullet pointed are writer's crutch, more appropriate for communicating facts, not opinions on a blog.
• More relevant outside articles  -  The Fighting Irish have a lot of great beat reporters that follow the team closely with well written analysis. These guys provide great coverage, which is a great starting point for more blog posts. 

So thats the plan for the 2010 season. As always, I'd love to hear what you think, positive or not. With practice starting 11 days from today, not to mention an exciting new coach, get ready for plenty of "therapy".