Category: 2021 ND Football

Notre Dame commitment card: Joey Tanona

Homegrown!

Notre Dame wasn’t able to hold onto every 2022 recruiting class commitment after the sudden departure of Brian Kelly from the program just a few short weeks ago but they held onto the majority as the early signing period began on Wednesday.

Notre Dame’s advanced media team knocked it out of the park with their videos of each player this year as cameos are made from former Notre Dame star football players, professional wrestlers, reality TV personalities, and plenty more before Marcus Freeman ultimately delivers the good news for Irish fans.

Here are some fast-facts about offensive lineman Joey Tanona Jayden Bellamy, who was the fifth Notre Dame player to send his national letter of intent in on Wednesday:

Name: Joey Tanona
Position: Offensive Tackle
High School: Zionsville, Indiana
Size: 6-5, 280 pounds
Stars: Four stars on both 247Sports and Rivals
Rankings: 131 nationally, 13 position, 2 in-state
Original Commitment Date: July 25, 2020

Related:ย  Notre Dame football 2022 recruiting class tracker

Notre Dame Commitment Card: Nolan Ziegler

Gold and blue through and through…

Notre Dame wasn’t able to hold onto every 2022 recruiting class commitment after the sudden departure of Brian Kelly from the program just a few short weeks ago but they held onto the majority as the early signing period began on Wednesday.

Notre Dame’s advanced media team knocked it out of the park with their videos of each player this year as cameos are made from former Notre Dame star football players, professional wrestlers, reality TV personalities, and plenty more before Marcus Freeman ultimately delivers the good news for Irish fans.

Here are some fast-facts about prized linebacker Nolan Ziegler, who was the second new Notre Dame player to send his national letter of intent in on Wednesday:

Name: Nolan Ziegler
Position: Safety
High School: Catholic Central (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Size: 6-4, 205 pounds
Stars: Three stars on both 247Sports and Rivals
Original Commitment Date:ย  August 22, 2020

Related:ย  Notre Dame football 2022 recruiting class tracker

Longtime Notre Dame commitment flips to Michigan

Even though it’s hardly a shocker it’s not the news anyone wanted Wednesday morning.

Amorion Walker had been a verbal commitment to Notre Dame since early-March and for a while sat as the only wide receiver commit in the 2022 Fighting Irish class.

The early signing period officially opened on Wednesday and Walker, whose commitment had very much been up in the air, declared he’s now headed to Michigan.

This is hardly a shocker as we’ve been wondering if he would flip to Michigan for a few months now but it certainly still stings.ย  The wide receiver class that felt so strong just a few short weeks ago lost commitments from C. J. Williams and now Walker, leaving only Tobias Merriweather in the class.

As a result you can expect Notre Dame to try and get help at the position through the transfer portal and perhaps by offering a late scholarship to a high school senior before February.

Who has signed? Notre Dame’s official 2022 recruiting class tracker

12 most-watched college football games of 2021

How many of these 12 did you tune in for?

The college football regular season has officially come and gone after Army and Navy’s annual battle last Saturday and we now know which games brought the highest viewership in.

Despite Alabama and Georgia’s meeting in the SEC Championship being the only battle between two eventual College Football Playoff teams this season, it actually didn’t take home the top spot.

Notre Dame showed up on the list just once this season after being included in a few of the very top spots a season ago.

So what else made the list and what game ultimately took home the highest viewership?

Here are the 12 most-viewed college football games of 2021 according to Stewart Mandel of The Athletic.

Marcus Freeman reviews first week, talks Fiesta Bowl

Marcus Freeman has spoken again…

Marcus Freeman has officially been Notre Dame’s head football coach for 10 days and already seen a ton.ย  The whirlwind that was going from defensive coordinator to head coach and essentially the circus that came with it, an introductory press conference that looked more like a coronation,ย  recruiting trips to seemingly every corner of the United States, and two of the best to ever do it for the Fighting Irish declaring for the NFL draft all occurred for Freeman in under two weeks.

Also check out:
Notre Dame’s top 10 plays of the 2021 season
Best photos from Notre Dame’s upset of No. 10 Kentucky
Watch – Behind the scenes of Marcus Freeman’s hiring (longform)

We all saw and raved about Freeman’s first press conference as Notre Dame’s head coach, so how did his second one go?

Freeman spoke Sunday following practice and ahead of the Fiesta Bowl on January 1.ย  Here are some of the key things he had to say:

Watch: How Marcus Freeman defines ‘players coach’

What does it mean to you when you hear someone is a players coach?

College basketball analyst Jay Bilas has for years done a quick interview with usually a player or basketball coach during games he calls for ESPN.ย  On Saturday you could tell he was at a football school, or at least a school that just hired a brand new head football coach, as Bilas opted to interview Marcus Freeman instead of someone associated with Notre Dame basketball.

It’s linked below and in it you’ll find out some fun facts about Freeman that you haven’t probably heard yet.ย  Ones that aren’t football related whatsoever.

The money part of the interview however is when Bilas asks Freeman what kind of coach he sees himself being now as a head coach.

“What I hope people say is that I’m a players coach. What does that mean?ย  It means I love my players,” Freeman said “I know the success we have will beย  because of the players so I’d take that with the upmost compliment.” – Marcus Freeman

Check out the full interview here and you’ll hear how Freeman never lost to Michigan as a player or a graduate assistant at Ohio State and he’ll even admit to having a favorite or two of his six children.

Related:

Best photos of Notre Dame’s upset win over No. 10 Kentucky

Tommy Rees: “I wanted to fight for Notre Dame”

Everything Marcus Freeman said at his Notre Dame introductory press conference

Best images from Marcus Freemanโ€™s introductory press conference at Notre Dame

Tommy Rees talks all things Notre Dame football and Fiesta Bowl

Tommy Rees: ‘I wanted to fight for Notre Dame’

This could have gotten ugly real quickly if not for Tommy Rees

The way things went down with Marcus Freeman being hired by Notre Dame less than a week after Brian Kelly up and vanished it’s becoming more clear just how close the entire coaching staff was to being blown up.

Freeman spoke during his press conference about how close

We know how it all turned out now but how close was Rees to joining Kelly at LSU?

Does Rees think Kelly could have handled things differently in order to talk to his team?

Rees joined The Ryan Russillo Podcast and spilled the beans on how everything went down, just how close he was to being LSU’s offensive coordinator.

“I was all in, the GA (graduate assistant) is single and he was all in, the girlfriend was all in,” Rees said, “I had Zillow’d Baton Rouge!”

Rees eventually compared the Notre Dame situation to feeling like he was in a sense, protecting the Alamo.

“I wanted to fight for Notre Dame” Rees added.

It’s worth listening to the entire interview to hear more about everything that went down after the Stanford game and how Kelly acted in the hours leading up to the decision.

The biggest takeaway to me is how if Rees wasn’t proactive in telling Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick that he needed to meet significantly sooner than Swarbrick planned that all hell could have broken loose.

There is a ton more to take away from here as Rees wasn’t nearly as certain to return to Notre Dame as we may have previously believed.

Take a listen to the interview in full by clicking play below:

 

Related:

Everything Marcus Freeman said at his Notre Dame introductory press conference

Marcus Freeman already out visiting five-star recruits

Best images from Marcus Freemanโ€™s introductory press conference at Notre Dame

Tommy Rees talks all things Notre Dame football and Fiesta Bowl

Watch right now: Notre Dame releases Freeman Era longform video

Ladies and gentlemen, the #FreemanEra is upon us. Use one word to describe your feeling for it:

If you’re a Notre Dame football fan whatsoever and you haven’t yet seen the eight-plus minute video that advanced media team put together that recaps Marcus Freeman getting the Notre Dame head coaching job then stop what you’re doing right now, put your phone on silent, give your dog a bone to play with for a few minutes and tell your kids they need to go lay down.

Now enjoy the next eight minutes and fifteen seconds because you are going to want to run through a brick wall by the end of it.

Why did everyone want Marcus Freeman to be Notre Dame’s head coach so badly?ย  Why after he was interviewed for the job did Jack Swarbrick not feel the need to talk to anyone else?

Watch and you’ll quickly understand.

I’ve been watching Notre Dame football since the early nineties and I’d be lying if I said I was ever as excited for it at any point, and that includes for a 2006 team that I thought would be capable of winning a national championship.

Freeman has something that can’t be taught and isn’t the easiest thing to explain but for certain it’s there and I can’t wait to see the heights he brings the Notre Dame football program to in the coming years.

Related:

Everything Marcus Freeman said at his Notre Dame introductory press conference

Marcus Freeman already out visiting five-star recruits

Best images from Marcus Freemanโ€™s introductory press conference at Notre Dame

Tommy Rees talks all things Notre Dame football and Fiesta Bowl

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Notre Dame lands big-time Wisconsin commitment

Notre Dame lands a massive offensive lineman recruit!

The first Notre Dame commitment during the Marcus Freeman head coaching era is in and it’s a big one.ย  Interior offensive lineman Billy Schrauth of St. Mary’s Springs (Fon Du Lac, Wisconsin) announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Friday morning making him the 23rd commitment in the class.

Schrauth chose Notre Dame over a couple of midwest powers as Ohio State and Wisconsin were viewed as the other top contenders.ย  Schrauth is rated as a four-star prospect according to 247Sports and as the nation’s ninth best interior offensive lineman this cycle.

Schrauth is listed at 6-5, 300-pounds and was named to the All-American Bowl roster earlier this year.

Related:ย Notre Dameโ€™s 2022 recruiting class commitments

Pair of Notre Dame stars forego Fiesta Bowl and enter NFL draft

Two absolute greats have played their final downs at Notre Dame…

Two of the most exciting players in the last quarter century of Notre Dame football have officially played their final downs for the Fighting Irish.ย  It doesn’t come as much of a surprise but Friday saw both Kyle Hamilton and Kyren Williams officially opt-out of playing in the Fiesta Bowl and declare for the 2022 NFL draft.

Some fans may get upset about it and sure that’s your right.ย  If it’s not the College Football Playoff however, I have no problem whatsoever with a pair of guys who likely aren’t going to gain much by playing in what is essentially an exhibition game to close the 2021 season.

We all remember what happened to Jaylon Smith in the Fiesta Bowl and lord knows nobody wants to see that happen to anyone.

Next:ย  See Hamilton and Williams statements…

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