Commitment #13, Spencer Boyd!

As was widely speculated, Spencer Boyd gave his verbal commitment to the University of Notre Dame on Friday afternoon, choosing the Fighting Irish over Michigan and Georgia. Boyd becomes the 13th commitment for the Domers and third that will make up Notre Dame's defensive backfield in the future.

Boyd is listed as a three star recruit from Cape Coral, Florida. It was there that he compiled 30 tackles and one interception as a junior in 2008. He also carried the ball 102 times for 620 yards and 6 scores but will be used only on defensive by head coach Charlie Weis.

Tight Ends coach Bernie Parmalee was responsible for the recruiting of Boyd as he continues to show his strength in recruiting the most southeastern state in the nation. Parmalee has also successfully recruited the likes of Armando Allen, Emeka Nwankwo, Ian Williams, Zeke Motta, and Jordan Cowart to the University of Notre Dame. Parmalee continues to have four more targets from the Sunshine State listed in his name on Rivals.com, all four having a four star ranking.
Back to Boyd, he brings a tad bit more size to the Irish secondary as he currently weighs 18 more pounds than counterpart Lo Wood. Although I can't guarantee it, with Boyd having a slightly quicker 40 yard dash time, I suspect the strength of Boyd is a hair greater than Wood's as well.

Boyd's commitment moves the Irish into 10th place overall in the current rankings of the class of 2010. Stanford remains the only regular on the schedule ahead of Notre Dame, coming in at 8th overall. Once again, its tough to make a whole lot of sense of where teams are ranked in these type of things until more of the "elite prospects" make their announcements.

Enjoy Spencer Boyd's highlight video from his junior season at Cape Coral High School. From all of us at Domer Sports Report, welcome to Notre Dame, Spencer!

Article Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Why I Don't Want Urban

Brian Dascenzo, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Editorial

This has nothing to do with Urban Meyer as a coach, that would be stupid. This has to do with where Notre Dame football is right now and what would be best for it. It has to do with the last two years and most of the years between Holtz and Weis. It has to do with not wanting a do-over on rebuilding and not wanting to lose underclassmen who bolt because of a system change again, although this time they might be pushed out by Urban instead of leaving of their own accord.

I want Notre Dame to be successful under every coach, I get sick and tired of losing, I get fed up with not being competitive with USC or Michigan and not being able to beat Michigan State. I want Charlie to succeed, I need Charlie to succeed. The last two years have to mean something to this program other then a waste.

The turning of inexperience to dominant is what I want to see. This is the programs last chance with who is in place, I believe Swarbrick would have made the change last year if Charlie couldn't talk a good game. I need to see it in action rather than just hear about it.

The offense will probably be a pass dominant issue again, whether it's because of Armando Allen and Robert Hughes not being able to carry the load or Michael Floyd, Golden Tate and Kyle Rudolph (among others) just exploding for 150 yard games each consistently and that would seem to fit Weis' gameplan.

Notre Dame has to succeed next year because this is what we have been waiting for. As fans we are willing to look past the last two years (kind of) if this year means great success. As a fan who has seen the teams Notre Dame has lost too in person get worse and worse (from the Dowdell led Spartans to Air Force during the 3-9 debacle to Syracuse last year I personally have hit rock bottom) it has to be for something.

I have a belief in Notre Dame football that is insane, there is little reason to believe in Charlie. Sure, he's had some great recruiting classes and he turned a 6-7 team into back-to-back BCS teams, but there are questions about all of it.

Winning with Ty's players (wish Ty would have brought in players his last one and a half classes like he did the first two) or not being able to develop the players that came in during his first one and a half classes (one of those shared with Ty).

This is the show me year, Custer's last stand as you will or else we are looking at starting over again, and the cupboard won't be bare. Instead, people will be looking for Urban immediately but his contract isn't up until 2013 so the next coach will have Urban watch even worse then Charlie does. Tommy Tubberville could probably withstand that and build a program but could a less experienced coach like Brian Kelly? I don't know and the I don't know future could be worse then the Charlie past/present. Here's to hoping Urban isn't necessary to fix the last 12 and that the answer is right beneath our noses.

Follow me on twitter @dascenzo and see my thoughts on sports that don't involve UND at my blog.

Moore Makes it a Dirty-Dozen!

Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2010 grew by one more on Saturday as linebacker Kendall Moore gave word of his verbal commitment. Moore is the twelfth prospect to commit to the growing class but only the fifth to come in with a ranking greater than three stars by Rivals.com (Scout.com ranks Moore as a 3-star prospect).

Moore comes from Raleigh, NC where he is getting for his third and final season on the varsity roster at Southeast Raleigh High School. In his two previous seasons he has a combined 230 tackles and six sacks. He also caught thirty passes last season, good for seven touchdowns but he will be used exclusively on defense at Notre Dame.

Moore is listed at 6'3''/232 lbs with a forty time around 4.6 seconds. He has also squatted 500 pounds and bench pressed 320. Room to grow but a great starting point in his strength.

Moore chose the University of Notre Dame over several southeastern schools but Florida State and North Carolina State sound like they were the closest competitors for his commitment. As of now it is not certain whether Moore will play on the inside or outside but he will remain a linebacker when he makes his way on campus.

Notre Dame now has 12 commitments and is currently ranked as the 9th best class in the nation according to Scout.com. There is still a lot of time left on the recruiting trail for the class of 2010 and the Irish remain a player in the game for several top ranked recruits. Keep it locked on DomerSportsReport as we will break it all down for you along the way.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Kendall Moore!

Article Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Irish Gain 10th and 11th Commitments

Notre Dame has received their tenth commitment in a growing class as Justin Utupo has given his word to the Fighting Irish staff. Utupo doesn't come to South Bend with a ton of praise from the national recruiting sources but he did choose the Fighting Irish after getting offers from all over the land, including Oregon State, Oklahoma State, Utah, Colorado, and BYU.

Utupo becomes the third defensive end in the class, joining Chris Martin and Blake Leuders. He stands 6'2'' and weighs 240 lbs. Of the three commitments at defensive end, Utupo comes in as the lowest rated by the national sources.

Utupo may offer something that most other commitments/recruits are not able to do before they take a class at Notre Dame. Utupo is the high school teammate of both blue-chip quarterback Jesse Scroggins and 4-Star safety Dion Bailey at Lakewood HS in California.

Scroggins seems to be headed to the SEC in the form of a Gator, Vol, or to Southern Cal. Bailey on the other hand lists Notre Dame high on his list with USC, Tennessee, Washington State, and Southern Methodist all also included on that short list. I'm not saying its going to happen but it sure would be nice to see.

Utupo picked up six sacks as a junior at Lakewood High while also being responsible for 70 tackles on the year. He joins the growing list of 3-star commits for the 2010 class of Fighting Irish.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Justin Utupo!

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame can now add an eleventh name to the list of 2010 commitments as Tommy Rees of Lake Forest, Illinois gave his word to head coach Charlie Weis this week. Rees becomes the eleventh commitment as well as the second at the quarterback position for the class of 2010, joining Andrew Hendrix of Ohio.

Rees was not a highly touted recruit nationally but did receive offers from Tennessee, Stanford, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, and Miami (Ohio). As he gave his verbal commitment he stands 6'3'' while weighing in at 192 pounds.

I have doubts that Rees is ever going to be the "next great thing" amongst Irish quarterbacks. Per rivals rankings, this is the seventh of eleven verbal commitments to have a ranking of three stars. It is starting to seem that this class of new Fighting Irish may not have the same star rolls in the future but are used more to add depth to a team that loses likely 24 scholarship positions after January.

Even if Rees is able to simulate what the oposition is going to do by running scout team in the future it is good to add to the class. Don't expect him to compete for a Heisman like most quarterbacks that commit to ND but still...

Welcome to Notre Dame, Tommy Rees!

Irish Class Grows to Nine

On Monday the Fighting Irish picked up their ninth commitment in the recruiting class of 2010 when former Stanford commitment Chris Badger made a visit to campus thanks to the work of defensive line coach Randy Hart. Badger was quoted as saying he was "blown away" by what he saw on his visit to Notre Dame and was surprised how quickly he was able to change his mind on Stanford.

Credit is owed to one of the Irish who is yet to play in an actual game as Manti Te'o was very helpful in recruiting aspects. Both Te'o and Badger are Mormon and attended a church service together over the weekend, something that sold Badger on the University.

Badger becomes the second defensive back to commit to the Fighting Irish with the other being Lo Wood and occurring just days ago. After bringing in zero defensive backs in the 2009 recruiting class it is of utter importance that the Irish do well there this year. With both Lo Wood and Chris Badger now commited the Irish are off to a solid start at the postion. Both players are touted as three star recruits so adding both more numbers as well slightly more touted players would be ideal in Notre Dame's case.

Although the 2009 recruiting class failed to pick up any defensive backs the 2008 class is shaping up to be very solid at the position. Robert Blanton has shown signs of brilliance in one year on campus as he had a pick-6 against Purdue as well as what was called an "outstanding game" by Charlie Weis against USC. Dan McCarthy and Jamoris Slaughter were both also in this class but did not see any game action in 2008.

Badger has a body size of 6'0'', 178 pounds while his forty time is listed at 4.65 seconds. For comparisons sake Lo Wood checks in at 5'10'', 165 with a forty time of 4.58. Badger will be a safety for the Fighting Irish in the future. His videos show him to be outstanding against the run while be able to deliver the big hit on recievers.



Welcome to Notre Dame, Chris Badger!

Jimmy Clausen: Bust After Only Two Years?

Ryan Williams, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Editorial

Is Jimmy Clausen a bust or is he a maturing superstar? I will save my opinion for the comment section and let you, the reader make the call.

Clausen's sophomore stats looked like this: 268/440 60.9 percent for 3172 yards, 25 TDs, 17 ints, 132.49 rating.

Let's take a look at the second full season of some of the more high profile QBs of the last five years.

Let's start with a couple Heisman Trophy winners.

We all know of Tim Tebow's accomplishments. He has been one of the biggest game-changing players at his position. He seems to be able to put his team on his shoulders and will them to victory. See Tebow's speech after Ole Miss loss last year. Tebow's sophomore year was phenomenal. It was his Heisman winning year. His stats on the year read like a one man show.He completed 217 of 317 passes for 3132 yards. He threw 29 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 833 yards and 22 TDs. This gave him a ridicules passer rating of 177.8.

How about Matt Leinart? Leinart's third year in the system but second as a starter was a National Championship winning year for USC. It was also Leinart's Heisman Trophy winning year. Leinart completed 269 passes out of 412 attempts for 3322 yards. He threw 33 tds with only 6 interceptions. He had a well above average 156.5 QB rating.

Those two are examples of the best of the best. Now let's take a look at a couple mere mortals.
Mathew Stafford had a very good collegiate career. Good enough to garner the first overall pick in last years NFL draft. Stafford’s sophomore campaign netted him a completion percentage of 55.7 by completing 194 passes out of 348 attempts. He threw for 2523 yards with 19 TDs and 10 interceptions which netted him a rating of 128.9.

And last but not least lets compare Notre Dames own Brady Quinn. Brady’s sophomore season saw him complete 191 passes out of 353 attempts for 2586 yards. He had a completion percentage of 54.1 Quinn threw for 17 TDs and 10 interceptions which led to a passer rating of 125.78.

These are strictly individual accomplishments and take into account none of the value of the surrounding team they played on.

Clausen is bested in every category by the two Heisman Trophy winners. He bested the other two QBs in every category with the exception of the interceptions.

So I ask you: Bust or Maturing Superstar?

Irish Class Continues to Grow, Welcome Lo Wood!

In what has turned into a very good week for Notre Dame on the recruiting front, defensive back Lo Wood of Apopka, Florida took the Irish coaching staff by surprise on Friday afternoon when he showed up unexpectedly to announce his verbal commitment to the University of Notre Dame.

Wood becomes the eighth verbal commit for the Fighting Irish in the 2010 class, a class that has nearly doubled in size over the past two days. As late as the morning of this past Thursday rumors were flying that Chris Martin was not going to end up at Notre Dame after all and that many on message boards felt that this years class would be lucky to crack the top 25 when it is all said and done.

Don't get me wrong, there is a ton of work still left to do for the Irish but at least things are seeming more on track with where they need to be compared to where they seemed to be headed just a few short days ago.

So who exactly is Lo Wood and football wise what is he going to be able to do at the University of Notre Dame?

Wood comes in listed at 5'10'' and weighing 160 pounds, "room to grow" is how we will put it with him. His height is about where you expect a solid cornerback to be at this level but he will have to add some muscle before he gets any playing time for the Irish. His forty time is listed at 4.58 seconds and although there is plenty of room to improve, its a solid starting point.

Wood chose the Fighting Irish over rival Michigan with many from Michigan thinking that Wood was leaning their way until just recently. From everything I have read and heard, Corwin Brown is what made the difference in getting Wood to come to Notre Dame.

With the talent the Irish have started to bring into the secondary it is seeming more and more that all defensive backs will have to battle in order to get on the field. Wood has decent enough size and enough speed that he should be in the mix for playing time in the future, just don't expect a lot out of the gate with all the talent Notre Dame already has in the defensive backfield. Here is what I was able to find videowise on Lo:



Welcome to Notre Dame, Lo Wood!

Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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