We went to the National Championship Game last year with the youngest, most injured team in the country. And a QB that was good but not elite. There’s plenty of evidence that suggests Marcus is building a legitimate program that ND hasn’t seen in decades.
I was in a bar near the University of Cincinnati as we were going to a game there that night. When Fuller broke free I stood up and cheered and knocked over my beer and broke the glass. Didn't care. The crowd around us was cheering for the upset so fuck them.
I think we on average are about at optimistic as Ive seen TMB ND fanbase for this time of the year. Keep in mind that weve had months to stew in insecurities and think about everything of this team that isnt elite. Typically june/july are the least optimistic months (unless you play USF week 1)
I actually forgot one of the biggest reasons I'm most excited about the future, our AD is a legit fan like one of us. If you haven't heard one of his interviews yet, he literally sounds like one of us speaking about the team (except professional and grown up like)...it's clear he's going to give Marcus everything he needs to win the natty
sorry to hear about all of that but this is the way and how I always try to live my life my wife says I'm the most optimistic person she knows and that I should be more of a realist but I'm just not wired that way...growing up pretty poor and in a huge family, you learn to value everything you have pretty quickly and you know what's important and what's not. It's easy to appreciate the bad things that happen in life because it can help you down the road, even if it doesn't feel good at the time i'm here to spread joy one article/intel piece at a time :)
He’s an ex ND football player. And our University President grew up a subway alum in Indiana. The stars are aligned for a revival. Marcus just needs to be the guy to get us over the top. And there are a lot of signs suggesting he can be the person to get us there. TLDR - most exciting time for Notre Dame football since 1993
Plus this isn’t a one year thing like the Kelly teams. Freeman and the university are building an actual program where the expectations are raised going forward. This is how true elites have been for their runs.
Ya, but if you watch tape on Noah Grubbs, he sucks. The only chance he has of succeeding is if he plays 12 games a season against the shitty defensive linemen we're recruiting. Also, Joey O'Brien is the only safety in american and he is going to Penn State. We're doomed.
I’ve always thought Grubbs was kinda meh. Better than Angelli as a prospect but less than what we should be targeting - especially early in the cycle - given where we are as a program. Im glad they seem to really want to hone in on an elite QB for 2027.
I’ve always said you need an Angelli type every three years or so. Just a guy who learn the offense and execute it in case of emergency. I alsondo t get paid 8 million dollars (adjusted for inflation) to evaluate QBs, so I’ll trust the staff. They are big game hunting for next year and I also trust that.
Agreed 100%, though Devil’s Advocate in the Portal era is that you can likely grab a competent backup in most years. So should you be constantly be big game hunting in recruiting QBs at this point? I honestly don’t know, but it’s an interesting question
I never factored that in. I agree. You can get a guy that whiffed somewhere else if you see something. I want to be done with 5’10 stopgaps being the guy for three years.
I thought there was a poster from Grubbs' area that used to come in here and tell us how underrated he is? Also, QB recruiting is a random af. He's got good size and upside. This isn't Drew Pyne. Budding signal caller with a loose arm and a projectable frame. Has a chance to exit high school as a four-year starter after earning a starting role as a freshman in one of Florida’s largest classifications. Cleaner mechanics allow him to get the ball to all different levels of the field. More of a touch thrower at this stage, but can ramp things up when needed and challenge tight coverage windows. Has proven to be a rather fluid mover in the pocket with some of his best shots coming off play action. Put up big numbers as a sophomore against inferior competition, but turnovers and mistakes were more frequent when opponents cranked up the pressure. Should be viewed as an athletic pocket passer with developmental upside that has what it takes to win at the Power Four level if he can keep progressing as a decision-maker. This is a perfectly acceptable prospect profile.
that was one of the few good point Mike Frank made lately, always go up side at qb. For the reason you just said but also because the high floor low ceiling guy will always leave like angeli did because he got beat out by one or two(in this case) high ceiling. Every single year you go upside. This is also where Kelly was hurting nd, he thought he was so smart that he could win with the rees of this world that just follow his system perfectly. I am fine with a grubbs in the class but you need to kick the tires on another high ceiling in this class and definitely do it next year also.
Seems like a relatively weak QB class and they didn't get much traction with the top end guys aside from Dia Bell who they ghosted for whatever reason. I am fine with Grubbs but they need to hit out of the park with the 2027 class so I understand them taking their time with offers
This seems to be the case, though the one update sounds like Bourque is way less of a sure thing than previously thought. But there’s like 4 or 5 other top 100’ish QBs with huge interest in ND in that class
my like is for you to finally spell Bourque how it should be in this thread. Not sure why borque Makes sense for non nhl people hockey culture
From D3 regarding JOB He announced tonight he’s moving his commitment to June 20th. That was supposed to be when he visits Notre Dame. My understanding is he plans to move ND up a week to the weekend of the 13th and cancel his Tennessee visit. All my sources around Notre Dame still feel confident he ends up at Notre Dame. Penn State has always remained a major player and I think Clemson has done a great job with him in the last month as well. So based on my sources they think after his visit they’ll get it done. Maybe they do, we’ll see. My personal opinion is I think that Joey’s support system likes Notre Dame, but I’m not sold on him feeling the same way. He worked hard to get his ND visit date moved, and now with this announcement I have a weird feeling that it’s Clemson forcing the process to be sped up, and I have a feeling he’s going to surprise some folks and pick Clemson. So my intel and my personal read are different. The visit on the 13th will be make or break for Notre Dame, if that’s when the visit gets moved to. Will let you know if I get more.
They hype on JOB has swung a lot in recent months. I'm going to let the visits play put before freaking out. If he's really canceling Tennessee to move up ND and keeping that his last visit, that's a positive. At least they'd have that last chance to work if he's truly feeling Clemson at the moment. I actually think he's one to watch beyond a summer commitment - good or bad. He'd suck to lose, though. The upside is through the roof. Overall, DB will be OK, but it would be better with him.
D3 and some of the other insiders have implied that ND leads for Khary Adams as well...obviously the dream is to land both Adams and JOB but one or the other makes this a great DB class (assuming Reddish or the safety from Frisco is the other safety)
With CMF and the staff I’m still confident it can end up going our way. JOB is my favorite recruit in this class so it would suck if he doesn’t come to ND but I stopped worrying about DB recruiting years ago.
A lot of factors can influence the strength of a position group by specific class. I won't freak out over one group because they don't happen in a vacuum. Current roster, transfer portal, and future classes all come into play when judging a group. The current roster, recent portal hits, a strong incoming group in 25, and a prolonged track record allow me to not worry about this group even if we miss on the likes of JOB. It's when the classes stack up weakly that positions get in trouble. In recent years we've seen the impact at QB and WR especially. There was even a weird span during the Quinn/Heistand/Rudolph transition where things didn't align right and Rudolph has had to restock, but that's clearly fixed. I defended the 25 DL class because I really believe there are some good useful roster pieces to develop there, but there was still a danger if the next layer of the "stack" didn't improve, which is clearly happening. If they can land a couple more of the WRs they're high on, the recent stack of WR classes, and portal guys, while not turning the position to an elite group, should at least stabilize the room and provide a solid foundation for continued improvement. Oddly, the group most in danger of holes now is TE. But otherwise, with the current outlook and projection for this class, I'll be less worried than I've been in a long time about the dangerous impact of a down year at any single position. Especially at DB, where there's very talented youth, a lot of reason to trust staff evals over websites, and a nice recent run of plugging in very reliable guys via transfer.
I am seeing a psu fan lurking, PSU12 stop taking screen shots so you can laugh at our optimism later please
It feels like clemson, so like we all said, this won’t be over until the fat lady sings. He seems very impressionnable edit- and I just remembered that Tom allen is at clemson now, that makes sense
Sounds like the 27 QBs working out at camp this week are impressing. Hopefully there's clarity on a hierarchy and offers soon.
ziegler was given #1 for camp today. He ran well. QBs were outside and dline was inside so I didn’t really see him throw. Humble brag my son won probably 60% of his 1 on 1 reps.