Tag: Brian Polian

5 Instant Takeaways from No. 3 Notre Dame’s win at Pitt

Notre Dame got bad injury news earlier in the week but came out firing on almost all cylinders in their rout of Pittsburgh. Takeaways here.

Good vibes were not being had by many after the injury report on wide receiver Kevin Austin came out early Saturday afternoon, but Notre Dame was able to answer the bell and cruise to a dominating win over Pitt, ______.

It wasn’t perfect but it was a pretty stellar showing for the third ranked Irish, one week after they were unimpressive in their win over Louisville.

What do you take away from the team that made a Pitt team that had started 3-0 before now dropping their fourth straight game, all in ACC play?

Here are five instant takeaways from the Notre Dame win, starting with Tommy Rees.

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Irish recruiting coordinator Polian excited for next step with ‘22 class

Notre Dame recruiting coordinator Brian Polian is excited to have more access to recruits in the 2022 class starting tomorrow.

The Notre Dame recruiting class of 2021 has not yet been signed, sealed or delivered, but that isn’t going to stop the staff from going after the next group of talented prospects in the 2022 class. September 1st means that college coaches can up the contact with the ‘22 players, and Notre Dame’s recruiting coordinator and special teams coach Brian Polian is excited.

As Polian points out that Brian Kelly’s coaching staff can now text, send direct messages via social media accounts, and go old school and send mail. You might be thinking mailers still in the internet age? That’s typically an edit, where they superimpose the prospect in uniform, on campus or some other creative way.

This is very popular among recruiting circles and although a bit archaic to send mailers, it’s still a key part of the recruiting process.

Right now the Irish staff has done a great job with limited contact in the ‘22 class, already securing three commitments for a top rated class. Instate offensive tackle Joey Tanona, tight end Jack Nickel and safety Nolan Ziegler comprise the commits, the trio are ranked 4th by 247Sports, while the other two major services (ESPN and Rivals) have yet to rank the teams classes.

The Irish have offered 96 prospects in the ‘22 class and expect that number to rise in the coming weeks. As an example the ‘21 class has offered 143 players while the ‘20 class offered 161. Stay tuned for more recruiting news in the future, as Notre Dame will try and bring in yet another highly regarded recruiting class.

Notre Dame Minute Highlights Former Multi-Sport Star

Jeff Samardzija could have been a first round pick had he decided to play in the NFL. Instead he’s made over 100 million in MLB.

When I was growing up I had trouble believing that World Series hero Kirk Gibson was once a star wide receiver at Michigan State.  You mean the guy who heroically homered in Game One of the 1988 World Series used to catch touchdown passes for the Spartans?

Jeff Samardzija has never played in a World Series during his career that has seen him play for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants.  He has however made over $100 million in his Major League career while posting a career record of 80-104.

Samardzija was an elite talent at Notre Dame, setting receiving records with his incredible play between 2005 and 2006.  He joined “The Notre Dame Minute” with Brian Polian this week and shared some memories of attending Notre Dame and help sell the school/football program.

It’s scary to think about if Samardzija would have went to Purdue at that time but with the offense the Boilermakers were running I can see why it was so tempting.

Samardzija finished his Notre Dame football career with 179 receptions that totaled 2593 yards and 27 touchdowns.  Each of those 27 touchdowns and all but 327 of the yards came his junior and senior years when he helped lead the Irish to a 19-6 record over a two year span.

 

Latest Notre Dame Minute: Harrison Smith Watch and Recap

It’s a creative way to try and use in recruiting nationally is what the “Notre Dame Minute” is being used for.  I have no problems with that, especially if you’re trying to win commitments from teenagers who can’t travel to college campuses right now because of a pandemic.

The latest Notre Dame Minute is up and features one of the best Notre Dame players to put on an NFL uniform the last few decades, former Fighting Irish safety and current Minnesota Viking, Harrison Smith.

Smith joins recruiting and special teams coordinator Brian Polian for 2:14 to discuss choosing Notre Dame despite being from the heart of SEC Country.

It’s a creative way to try and use in recruiting nationally is what the “Notre Dame Minute” is being used for.  I have no problems with that, especially if you’re trying to win commitments from teenagers who can’t travel to college campuses right now because of a pandemic.

“Hey, you’re 16 or 17 and from the southeast and want to play in the NFL one day?  Well, the SEC is cool and all but here’s a guy from a town home to an actual SEC school that went to Notre Dame and has earned over $44 million playing in the NFL!”

Seems easy enough for me, although I would have liked to know more about Smith’s dogs.

Also, speaking of the man, Smith went to each of the last five Pro Bowls and was a 2017 All-NFL first team selection.  I thought he was deserving of NFL All-Decade team consideration last week but that wasn’t meant to be.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Brian Polian Misses Coaching

In a video made last night by Coach Polian, it’s clear he misses coaching the Notre Dame Football team.

You can file Brian Polian, the Irish’s recruiting coordinator and special teams’ coach, as someone who is clearly missing his job. Although Polian can still recruit, this normally would be a time where he is coaching the Irish during spring practice.

In a tweet by Polian last night, he made it clearer that being away from the game is starting to take a toll on him.

We are glad that coach Polian is itching to get back to making his players the best they can be. It seems like Polian’s family wants the same as well, especially his wife.

Notre Dame Football: Tommy Rees Spoke so we Listened

Here’s my takeaway from the brief discussion, you ready for it?

Tommy Rees isn’t an idiot.

You want good news?  We were full of good news at Fighting Irish Wire on Friday so why not end the day with some more of it?  Let’s do just that.

On a day that saw Notre Dame land a commitment from a defensive end they really like in the 2021 class and The Sporting News giving them the highest pre-season ranking we’ve seen to date, it’s a “good vibes only” type of Friday here.  As long as you can look past Kirk Herbstreit’s outlook on the 2020 season, anyway.

In the “good news” department again however, the “Notre Dame Minute” launched this week with Brian Kelly sharing with us the Fighting Irish’s plan to keep fans updated on all things Notre Dame football despite the fact none of us are allowed within six feet of each other.

In the first episode that followed it was special teams coach Brian Polian hosting and welcomed his guest, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees in a “Notre Dame Minute” that actually lasted over three minutes.

Here’s my takeaway from the brief discussion, you ready for it?

Tommy Rees isn’t an idiot.

I don’t know how many coaches on either side of the ball I’ve seen over the years claim they’re going to have their system and their system only and it’s up to the players to figure out how to fit in.

The struggles Nebraska is going through in their rebuild haven’t been helped by that thinking and if you’re a Chicago Bears fan like myself, that’s only been the case for as long as you’ve probably been watching.

Rees is clear about not trying to make players do something they’re not good at while being well-aware of the importance of developing them into more complete players along the way.

Does it mean anything beyond that he’s a smart guy who knows how to answer a question?  Not at all, but it’s not the stubborness of some coaches we’ve watched at Notre Dame before, either.

You’ll also enjoy Rees discussing being OC at his alma mater and the pressure that comes with that and the benefits he gets from being around this roster previous to being promoted to OC.

Watch the entire 3:15 of the “Notre Dame Minute” here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QlIrEpwfEE&w=560&h=315]

Oh, and wash those hands.