Anyone who covered Notre Dame basketball when [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] was coach will tell you he’s a pretty easygoing guy. The way he spoke at times, you wouldn’t mind if he pulled up a seat next to you at the bar and just start telling you one coaching story after another. That’s just who he is.
If Brey felt his team was being put at a disadvantage though, he wasn’t afraid to tell it like it was. Such was the case when he criticized the officiating after the Irish lost a close game at Florida State in January 2020. The ACC responded by fining Brey $20,000.
Nearly five years later, Brey has left college basketball, but ACC coaches across all sports continue to be fined for being critical of officials. Pittsburgh football coach Pat McMurphy was just fined $5,000 for it.
However, Brey seems less bothered by McMurphy’s fine than the apparent inconsistency in the amount for which coaches are fined:
Pitt fball coach gets 5000$ fine from ACC for talking about the refs…mine was 20k!?!? https://t.co/bhaGaAX8m6
Look, we’re not going to pretend to know what goes into determining how much coaches get fined for things. But if one coach is losing four times as much money as another for the same action, it might be time to reevaluate your practices. Otherwise, it’s pure chaos.
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But if you were hoping for any accountability or explanations of the debacle against the Tigers from head coach Mike Norvell, that’s not going to happen.
Not because Norvell didn’t show for his postgame press conference, but because the fire alarm went off in the middle of it, forcing everyone to clear the building.
Apt metaphor for the temperature of Norvell’s seat aside, it sure seems like there a number of people around FSU who would prefer no one ask any questions about the state of the program.
Now, we’re not saying the alarm was pulled on purpose under fraudulent circumstances. It would be highly inappropriate to suggest such a thing. But if that were the case, these suspects would be at the top of the list:
Florida State Athletic Director Michael Alford
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit — though he’s got a pretty good alibi after picking FSU to win today
Florida State’s lawyers, who are trying to help the school escape the ACC because the rest of the league is holding the football team back(???)
Mike Norvell, because you’ve always got to suspect the person at the center of any crime, and because no one wants to talk about this season less than him.
Jameis Winston, on prior history in Tallahassee alone
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, who has to at least be enjoying the chaos at FSU just a bit
Whoever convinced Florida State that the transfer portal QB they needed was DJ Uiagalelei and not any number of significantly better options, should never work in football again.
Notre Dame has been a hotbed for offensive line talent in recent years. While there are concerns about that unit in 2024, the future always seems bright these days. Hopefully for the Irish, that future will include 2026 recruit Ben Nichols.
Nichols, Michigan’s No. 3 recruit in the 2026 class according to 247Sports, has received offers from 19 Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The Irish made their offer on St. Patrick’s Day this year. Now, he’ll be making a visit to campus when the Irish open their home schedule against Northern Illinois.
Nichols took to social media and expressed excitement about his upcoming trip to South Bend:
The Irish have some stiff competition to try and win Nichols’ services. Alabama made the most recent offer in late August. Others aiming for him include Purdue, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Illinois.
Good luck to the Irish in landing Nichols. They just might need it.
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UGA freshman, former FSU commit turned down “at least” $200 more in NIL money from other programs to attend Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs true freshman defensive back K.J. Bolden, a former five-star recruit, made an immediate impact in Week 1 for Georgia. Bolden finished the Clemson game with four tackles, which was tied for the second-most on the team.
Bolden had a highly contested recruitment. He had been committed to Florida State from August into December 2023 before flipping to the Bulldogs. Auburn was also a factor in his recruitment. He had a strong offseason and started the opening game against Clemson, turning in and impressive performance including a crucial third-down stop on the first drive.
The recruiting landscape has changed greatly over the past few years with the introduction of name, image and likeness licensing. However, program reputation remains a prominent factor in the recruiting process, something that Kai Bolden gave insight into this week in an interview with On3’s Phillip Dukes. Kai Bolden is the father of K.J.
“Did he (K.J. Bolden) really get $2 million to go to Georgia?” asked On3’s Phillip Dukes.
“Nah, man,” Kai Bolden said. “Actually we could have went to other schools and got more money. It just actually came down to where he wanted to be, and the team he saw that gave him the best possibility to play on Sundays. But, nah. Georgia definitely did not offer him the most money.”
Kai also estimated that K.J. turned down “at least” $200,000 in NIL in order to attend Georgia over other schools.
“Georgia is gonna put 10 other elite athletes out there with you,” Kai Bolden said. “When you go to a school like Georgia, you just gotta do your job. And, you know, it makes it easier for you as a DB when you’re playing with a great defensive line.”
If we’re being polite about it, the preseason polls across college sports are typically nothing more than educated guesses.
Experts like to think they know what a team is going to look like when it takes the field, but until schools face actual competition, there’s no way to know. Games aren’t played on paper.
That’s starting to hit home this week for a lot of teams — and we’re not even talking about Florida, LSU or Clemson (yet). After Weeks 0 and 1, there are at least five fanbases who likely aren’t feeling as confident in their “soft” schedules anymore.
Let’s sort through them.
Missouri Tigers
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
This is not a knock on Mizzou at all. The Tigers looked pretty solid in their Week 1 victory over Murray State. We saw the expected fireworks from Brady Cook and Luther Burden before the back-ups polished off the 51-0 win. But there’s no question the Tigers’ schedule looks significantly more difficult today than it did a week ago. Week 2 against Buffalo shouldn’t be a challenge, but Mizzou follows that up with games against Boston College, at Vanderbilt and at Texas A&M — two teams who stunned their opponents in Week 1 and another in the Aggies who don’t look too far away from becoming a player in the SEC.
Those games were supposed to be the tune-up portion of the calendar for the Tigers before a pivotal two-game stretch at Alabama and versus Oklahoma at the end of October. No one is brushing off those early matchups now. In fact, they might be some of the more interesting Power 4 games of the next month.
Florida State
This one is pretty obvious, but let’s go over it again, anyways.
Florida State went undefeated in the regular season last year before quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury. That kept FSU out of the College Football Playoff. Folks in Tallahassee went scorched Earth and joined Clemson in begging the courts to let them leave the ACC for supposed greener pastures. Then, after spending all offseason trashing their conference and retooling its roster, No. 10 Florida State opens the season with a concerning loss to Georgia Tech in Ireland before an absolute meltdown at home against Boston College — two of the least consistently competitive schools in the ACC.
You think it’s bad now? Up next is a matchup with Memphis — FSU coach Mike Norvell’s former program — followed by Cal, SMU, Clemson, Duke, Miami (FL), UNC and Notre Dame.
North Carolina may be without starting quarterback Max Johnson for the rest of the year, but they still have Mack Brown as head coach and a talented backfield led by Omarion Hampton. There are no more gimmies for Florida State. Apparently there weren’t any to begin with. As for a regular season finale against Florida? Well, perhaps this sums it up best:
Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles throws a pass against Florida Atlantic during the first quarter on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
New Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith may get this program turned around sooner than later, but that doesn’t mean Year 1 is going to feel any better than last year’s disaster did. While Smith works on building the foundation in East Lansing, the Spartans schedule won’t do them any favors.
What seemed like mildly concerning road trips to Boston College and Illinois when the MSU schedule was released now appear much more daunting. That’s to say nothing of home games against Rutgers, Purdue and Indiana.
At least the Spartans get Prairie Valley A&M in Week 3.
Virginia Tech Hokies
Lee Luther Jr.-USA TODAY Sports.
The popular ACC sleeper pick this August is deep in a REM cycle after a loss to *checks notes…checks notes again* Vanderbilt.
The Hokies never really got their offense in gear — and we’ve seen enough of quarterback Kyron Drones in the past to know he’s for real — so the question is more about whether or not Virginia Tech can avoid dooming itself with slow starts again.
They’ll have prime opportunities to prove the Vandy loss was a fluke against Marshall and Old Dominion. But any lingering struggles could become much larger problems when the schedule picks up against Rutgers, Miami (FL), Boston College, Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Oregon Ducks
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel throws the ball during the Oregon Ducks’ Spring Game Saturday, April 27. 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.
Let’s assume the first game of the Dillon Gabriel Era in Oregon won’t be the norm. The preseason Heisman favorite put up 380 yards and two touchdowns during a mostly meh debut for the rest of the Ducks in a 24-14 victory over Idaho.
If that’s what it’s going to take the Ducks’ offense to put away an FCS team in Autzen Stadium, what’s going to happen when they face teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Purdue?
But let’s be honest, the schedule itself is less concerning on paper than the reality of the situation. Oregon has one of the most punishing travel schedules of any team in the country, having to fly a combined 6,277 miles. If the Ducks can’t be counted on to put away teams at home, this year is going to get very, very challenging.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. I hope you had a fantastic holiday weekend.
This one goes out to you, Florida State fans. I know these last few weeks — no, actually — these last few months have been a nightmare. But, you know, it gets bett– Nah. Actually. Let me not tell you things I don’t know to be true.
The truth is since Jordan Travis went down with his torn ACL last year before the most crucial part of FSU’s season, things have been going downhill. The ugly ACC championship win, the College Football Playoff snub, and now, this. Whatever this is.
It’s not just that Norvell’s Florida State team has lost two games — it’s that they’ve lost two games they really had no business losing. The first one to Georgia Tech was bad, but you could at least reason around it. The game was in Ireland against a Tech team that should actually be pretty solid.
But this Boston College loss? Yo. Come on. It wasn’t even close.
DJ Uiagalelei looks like he doesn’t know this offense. FSU’s defense was supposed to be elite up front, but it’s as soft as Charmin. Boston College and Georgia Tech have rushed for a combined 453 yards in two weeks against this team.
That’s not supposed to happen. A fan literally has to eat poop now because of how egregiously bad this team has been. He has to eat POOP. And everyone knows it, too!
How do you explain that away to the boosters? If it’s one thing unreasonably rich people don’t love, it’s being embarrassed. And this is embarrassing.
That’s why it might be pretty hard for Mike Norvell to come back from this.
Norvell had an incredible year last year that was derailed by the worst injury possible at the worst time possible. But this is college football. That’s not going to buy him any grace.
Look, I’m not saying he gets fired today or tomorrow. He might not even be fired a month from now. But this was supposed to be a top-10 team this season. They’re supposed to have a shot at the CFP playoff. Right now, this team looks like it’d be lucky to make the Pop-Tart Bowl.
That’s unacceptable. And, if it ends up happening, Norvell’s days as FSU’s head coach are probably numbered already.
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Going 50/50
Shohei Ohtani is on the brink of history. The Dodgers star registered 45th and 46th stolen bases against the Diamondbacks on Monday night.
He’s four stolen bases and six home runs away from the first 50-50 season in MLB history. Guys. Major League Baseball has been around, technically, since 1876 when the National League was founded. It is so rare for someone to accomplish something that has never been done before in this league. There’s always some “Tungsten Arm” O’Doyle sitting on every record in the league’s existence.
Not this one. This would be the first time this has ever happened. Ohtani has 24 more games to get it done.
Let’s see it.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall
(Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images)
The early upsets at the US Open kept coming over the weekend. On Friday, Carlos Alcaraz shockingly went down in the second round after losing to Botic van de Zandschulp.
Two more stars exited the tournament, too.
— Novak Djokovic lost to Alexei Popyrin on Friday after only managing to pull one set against the ATP’s No. 28 ranked player.
— Coco Gauff also bowed out of the tournament on Sunday, after falling to WTA no. 13 Emma Navarro. Gauff’s loss means that Serena Williams still stands as the only woman since 2014 to repeat as US Open champion.
There are still names to watch. Iga Swiatek (No. 1) is still at the top of the class on the women’s side and Aryna Sabalenka (No. 2) isn’t far behind her. This is also a chance for Navarro to continue to make a name for herself after losing in the first round of the US Open last year.
On the men’s side, Frances Tiafoe just made the quarterfinals for the third year in a row. Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras are the only other American men to make it to at least three US Open quarterfinals since 2000, according to Al Jazeera.
Some of the stars might be out, but will still be an interesting finish. Make sure you’re tapped in.
Quick hits: Joey Chestnut is still the glizzy GOAT … Caitlin Clark MVP chatter … and more
All of a sudden, Notre Dame’s game against Florida State in November looks far less intimidating. No other conclusion can be reached after the Seminoles lost to Boston College, 28-13.
With this loss, the Seminoles have made some dubious recent history. Ranked 10th in the AP Preseason Poll, they’ve become the fourth program in the past 10 years to be ranked in the top 10 and drop their first two games. The most recent team to do that? The 2022 Irish.
We’ll see what happens with the latest poll, but when the 2022 Irish lost to No. 2 Ohio State on the road and then Marshall at home, they dropped out of the rankings entirely and didn’t get back there until November. Even then, they never got higher than 13th.
The Seminoles don’t even have the excuse of dropping to one ranked team to begin the season. One has to think Mike Norvell is on the hot seat now for what’s happened to a team that had College Football Playoff aspirations. The pressure is on now to right the ship.
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Highly-touted transfer QB D.J. Uiagalelei’s draft stock sputters in Florida State’s loss to Georgia Tech in Ireland
D.J. Uiagalelei took over as the quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles with some hope that he could quickly establish himself as one of the top quarterback prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft. Unfortunately for the well-traveled Uiagalelei, his performance in the Seminoles loss to Georgia Tech in Week 0 showed he’s got a very large hill to climb.
Uiagalelei completed 19 of his 27 passes against Georgia Tech, but he posted just 193 yards. Facing some consistent pressure from the Yellow Jackets defense, Uiagalelei almost exclusively checked down and worked the short margins until late in the game. His yardage was boosted by some nice YAC work by RBs Lawrance Toafili and Roydell Williams on a great screen play up the left sideline, but the stats show Uiagalelei had a net negative air yards per attempt in the first half.
Two impressive fourth-down conversions helped boost up “DJU’s” stock a little, showing some strong-armed accuracy and some ability to move around in the pocket to get a throwing angle. But overall, this was not the showing Uiagalelei or Florida State wanted in his third collegiate stop. His Georgia Tech counterpart, former Texas A&M QB Haynes King, looked like a better NFL prospect in the game in Ireland.
As we begin the superconference era, Notre Dame remains an independent. The tradeoff for that is devoting a large portion of its schedule to the ACC, and fans of teams in that conference really might have to root against the Irish this year in order to have a chance at the College Football Playoff.
In an appearance on the “GoJo and Golic” podcast hosted by former Irish [autotag]Mike Golic[/autotag] and [autotag]Mike Golic Jr.[/autotag], ESPN analyst Roddy Jones gave his insights on what the ACC would have to do to get the most teams possible into the playoff. He said that depends on how well the conference takes care of the Irish:
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL 🆚 ACC FOOTBALL
"The ACC is a two-team league with the potential for three, but to feel good about getting three teams in, the ACC has to take care of Notre Dame. With 5 ACC games on their schedule, the ACC has to have its hand in eliminating Notre Dame from… pic.twitter.com/DlsqealJUK
Looking at the Irish’s schedule, Florida State and possibly Louisville really are the only ACC opponents who could give them problems. With little room for error themselves, they’ll have no concern for the ACC’s playoff aspirations. They’ll be giving it their all every week, as they should.
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