Jerome Bettis Grille 36

Bettis

Former Steeler and Notre Dame Fighting Irish Bettis' restaurant, opening in May, is part of a surge of development expected around the stadiums this year

Report: Tapes could confirm Bush received gifts

SAN DIEGO -- The existence of taped conversations between Reggie Bush or members of his family and an investor in a failed sports marketing agency could confirm the New Orleans Saints running back received cash and gifts while playing for Southern California, Yahoo.com reported Wednesday.

READ IT HERE

Robert Hughes

Chicago Sports

Watch the announcement.

Great kid, well spoken, good choice Robert.

Robert Hughes

Williams Stock Increases

Notre Dame and Charlie Weis have made some inroads to a better Defense. In Our opinion A DL is where it will all start. Two commits that were projected at OL will now play DL. We discussed this in prior postings. Now Ian Williams speaks about the chance to play, what he is expecting and the ND team of 2007.

As national signing day approaches Ian Williams’ value to the Notre Dame football program increases. The standout from Lyman High School is the lone commitment the Irish have from an interior defensive lineman in the 2007 recruiting class.

Scout Insider members, CLICK HERE

Everyone else, Read On!

Is there any prospect in the Notre Dame recruiting class that is more important than Ian Williams? The big defensive lineman committed to Notre Dame in December, sending a wave of relief to Irish recruiting fans. Since that time Notre Dame has seen it’s other options along the defensive front disappear.

“I saw that [Will] Blackwell committed to LSU today. We could still get Jason Peters, but I’m doubting that,” Williams responded when asked about Notre Dame’s defensive line recruiting. “It isn’t a big concern. I know that I’ll have to step up a lot more, but it is kind of a concern.

“I look at it like an opportunity, but I also I want to have guys to compete with. I do want to come in and start, but I want to have a team atmosphere. I don’t want to be the only guy. I want to go two and three deep so that we’ll be able to rotate guys in. I know in the college game that nobody is able to play the whole game. If anything happens to me, we’ll have to have someone to step in.”

Notre Dame still has time to add players to this recruiting class, and Williams still has six months until he reports to Notre Dame. His life hasn’t change much since he committed to the Irish, but he doesn’t miss the recruiting calls.

“Right now I’m just enjoying life, and relaxing,” Williams said. “I finally have my nights back. It’s become a lot less hectic. I don’t get all the calls from all the recruiters any more and I don’t get all the calls from Scout and Rivals. I got use to it but I don’t miss it.

“I’m basically lifting and get ready to go to Notre Dame in June. I work out with my teammate; he’s always in the weight room so I just work on with him. I need to work on getting faster and stronger. It’s going to be a different speed in college so I want to improve that. I have a lot that I need to work on, my strength and my agility, but I’m not worried about it. When I get up there they’ll put me in their strength and conditioning program and I’ll get much better.”

The Notre Dame coaches expect Williams to help improve their defense. He has stayed in touch with his recruiting coach and Ian has discussed the changes with the Irish coaching staff.

“Yesterday I spoke with coach Parmalee,” Williams explained. “We talked about getting Corwin Brown as the defensive coordinator. He seems like a hard-nosed guy so I think we’ll be all right. II think he’ll turn the defense around.

“Coach Parmalee is just introducing me to what is going on at Notre Dame and what I should expect. I’m getting to know him a lot better. He doesn’t really preach to me about recruiting since I’ve already committed. He’s just become a real good friend and I think the next couple years that we’ll become really close.”

Top Prospects. Who's Left?

There are still some possible recruits left that are interested in coming to South Bend.

Top Prospects

RB--- R. Hughes(Possibility of getting this back after Darius declared

CB--- R. Johnson(Looks like UM or MSU, but ND is still in the mix. He will announce on signing day)

S--- M. McNeil(Don't see us getting this guy)

WLB--- M. Smith(Still interested. Says that distance is not a factor which is good. He has a brother that just left USC, not so good. last minute possibility)

S--- M. Wright(He is in South Bend this weekend. Why would he visit ND in January if he wasn't serious. I like our chances)

The Rest of the available players:

CLICK HERE

News 1/18/07

Robert Hughes Is ready to make his decision. He will decide between ND and Illinois. He is from Illinois, but Darius Walkers decision has shifted his thought process. At this time Hughes plans to announce his intentions at his high school on January 23rd at 6 p.m. Hopefully he can come to a solid decision between now and then between Illinois and Notre Dame.

Big lean towards the Irish.....

Great Power Hour last night. Wednesday's Power Hour was another great show. Mishawka (Penn), Ind. offensive lineman Braxton Cave joined the show to talk some recruiting. Then we had one of our board coaches, Terry, come on the show and talk about the possibility of the 3-4 defense. We also took your calls and answered some e-mail. Don't miss the show! Terry gave a great lesson on the 3-4 defense.

Power Hour

2007 Schedule

Notre Dame has needs on both side of the ball, but their need along the defensive front may be greater than their need at offensive guard. Emeka Nwankwo (6-foot-5, 270 pounds) will be happy no matter what position he plays, but he would like a chance to play defense.

“I’d like to play defense. I haven’t heard a final word on it yet, but it’s looking good,” Nwankwo responded when asked which position the Notre Dame coaches want him to play. “Me and Ian [Williams] would probably dominate. Florida’s got the speed, we’re all about speed.”

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Running Back

As the spring season gets closer, the running back situation is stil a little fuzzy. Darius Walker left for the NFL and nobody showed a lot of promise last season.

Travis Thomas may need to move to the other side of the ball this season. He brings a nice burst of speed and an extra gear that Walker lacked. He also hits the hole quickly, something Walker had been criticized for not doing in the past. Thomas also appears to be much more physical in his running style, which I think has been lacking recently at the position. If anything, he probably needs to work on his hands and becoming more of a playmaker out of the backfield.

James Aldridge is the choice to grab the position. Aldridge came to Notre Dame as a Scout.com five-star running back last January, but knee injuries have slowed his development, and Aldridge only managed 37 carries for 142 yards and 3.8 yards per carry this past season. Aldridge seemed to be finding his confidence at the end of the season. Irish fans have to hope that he can continue on that path this spring.

Munir Prince is another freshman back we saw in the backfield numerous times over the 2006 season. Prince’s game is speed, and he has a lot of it, but we haven’t seen that translate to productivity yet. In fact, Prince carried the ball 15 times last year and amassed just 21 yards (1.4 yards per carry). He is a guy that needs to ball in his hands to make things happen. You have to put up with the 2 yard carry to get the 60 yard break away.

But with a guy like Prince, you need to keep giving it to him if you’re going to play him because while he’ll get you the two-yard carry, he’ll also get you the 60-yard home run. If the sophomore-to-be can work on his size, strength and hands, he could go a long way in helping replace Walker.

If Prince cannot get it doneArmando Allen can fill that void. At 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, Allen has similar size and speed. The Hialeah, Fla. native recently enrolled in Notre Dame and is expected to participate in spring practices, and that’s good news for Irish fans.

He’s got that “wow” factor that the great backs have, and more importantly, he’s got 4.38 speed.

Unfortunately, like James Aldridge before, Allen enrolled at Notre Dame injured. This time it’s an ankle, and Allen said he should be 100 percent by the time spring practice rolls around. It’s important for Allen to get some quality reps this spring if he wants to contribute this fall. Learning the offense, working on pass protection and receiving this spring should give him a leg up once fall camp rolls around.

A fifth player could factor into the equation in combo back Luke Schmidt. Schmidt would certainly bring some down hill running to the Irish backfield if given the chance. At 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Schmidt is certainly a load, and I’m going to guess he’s north of 230 pounds at present time. The Jasper, Ind. freshman was recruited to play both halfback and fullback.

Spring should be an exciting time for Irish fans and for watching the competition at halfback. Charlie Weis likes to use one player as his main back because he doesn’t like to tip his hand on offense. He doesn’t like to have a guy whose only job is to catch the football or only runs and never stays in to pass block. By having such a player, you’re tipping off the defense as to which type of play likely is coming—run or pass.

Considering the Irish will replace three starters along the offensive line for next season, running lanes might be few and hard to find. I’m guessing the guy who can run physical, yet still find the creases, can pass block, catch, and most importantly, hold onto the football will win the job. I can’t name that guy right now, but I’m going to guess one of the bigger backs has the best shot to start, as long as he can catch and hold into the football.

Whoever does win the job needs to get the ball up and down the field with consistency. The young quarterbacks will appreciate that immensely.