Tag: irish

Notre Dame Offers Two ’21 Defensive Backs

Notre Dame Football offers CB Dreyden Norwood and S Khari Gee.

The eleven o’clock hour this morning saw two offers go out to defensive backs, first Arkansas CB Dreyden Norwood. Having already held offers from Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Irish are getting in the mix for the 6’0” hundred- and seventy-pound corner.

Although Norwood played quarterback this year for Northside High School, he projects to play on the other side of the ball. Norwood looks like a natural with the ball in his hands, so when he does move over to defense, look for him to be able to take turnovers to the house.

It was safety Khari Gee’s turn a short time after Norwood, as the 6’3” 185-pound Georgian also has an impressive offer list. Clemson, LSU, and Michigan are a few of the offers Gee had prior to today and at the moment there is a lot of ground Brian Kelly will have to make up.

Gee released his Top 10 schools just last week, but this was clearly prior to the Irish offering the talent prospect. If Brian Kelly and his staff are able to convince Gee to visit, the Irish very much could sneak into the safety’s recruitment. The defender likes to come up and hit his opponents, often lineup up in the box and making plays You can see Gee do just that right here.

The Woodward Academy star is definitely a playmaker and with Notre Dame offering him a scholarship, hopefully he changes his Top 10 in the Irish’s favor.

49ers Super Bowl Berth Earns Pair of Notre Dame Products Trip to Big Game

Sheldon Day and Mike McGlinchey will be wearing the red, gold and white of the 49ers when they meet the Kansas City Chiefs on February 2 in Miami.

When the San Francisco 49ers finished their domination of the Green Bay Packers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, a pair of Notre Dame alumni earned their first trips to the Super Bowl.

Sheldon Day and Mike McGlinchey will be wearing the red, gold and white of the 49ers when they meet the Kansas City Chiefs on February 2 in Miami.

Day is in his fourth NFL season after spending a year and a half in Jacksonville before being waived in 2017 and picked up by the 49ers.

Day played in all 16 regular season games for San Francisco this season, making 15 tackles and recording one sack this year.

Day played on Notre Dame’s defensive line from 2012-15 and was a valuable rotational piece in the the 2012 year that finished with a 12-0 regular season. He had 32 tackles for loss in four seasons at Notre Dame.

Joining Day in Miami will be Mike McGlinchey who reaches the Super Bowl in just his second NFL season.

McGlinchey was a key part of why Notre Dame won the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s best offensive line in 2017 as he and Quenton Nelson of the Colts were both drafted in the first round the following spring.

McGlinchey was key in the 49ers dominating run game as the right tackle was part of the reason they ran for 285 yards and attempted just eight passes all day.

The 49ers will meet the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV as the Chiefs have no active former Notre Dame players on their roster but do feature former Irish tight end Alize Mack on their practice squad and former Notre Dame offensive lineman Andy Heck who has coached Kansas City’s offensive line since 2013.

Cole Kmet Headed to NFL Draft

Do I wish he was back at Notre Dame? Yes, the Irish would be a better football team with him being there. But what else does Kmet have to prove in college?

Way back in October we shared a conversation with you here at Fighting Irish Wire with Eric Edholm, the lead NFL Draft analyst at Yahoo! Sports.

It was an interview in regards to Cole Kmet and how quickly he might be soaring up draft boards even though he missed the first couple of games in 2019 and had limited tape.

Eric pointed out the lack of tape isn’t a bad thing if a ton of it is good. Well, that was the case for Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet who he gave a first round grade to even then.

Despite Kmet saying late in the fall that he intended on coming back to Notre Dame for his senior season, the tight end declared for the draft today.

I get people will be upset that he said one thing and then did another. He’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last.

Do I wish he was back at Notre Dame? Yes, the Irish would be a better football team with him being there. But what else does Kmet have to prove in college?

But football is an incredibly violent game that physically humbles even the greatest of players eventually.

I don’t blame Kmet one bit for going to the NFL – he’s got a limited window to make money for his insane talents and he’s good enough that another year in college wasn’t going to do much to improve his stock, but instead would most likely only hurt it if change it at all.

Thanks for the tremendous season, Cole.

Now go knock them dead in the NFL like so many Notre Dame tight ends before you have.

Interview (Listen) – Always Irish Podcast

John was kind enough to invite me on his show and discuss the state of Notre Dame football and how close they are to catching the next level of teams that are always contending for national championships.

In preparation for the Camping World Bowl I was asked to come on the “Always Irish” podcast with John who is about as passionate of Notre Dame fan as you’ll ever meet.

You can follow him on Twitter @jkznd4 where he shares his love for Notre Dame football, animals and battles general stupidity on a daily basis.

John was kind enough to invite me on his show and discuss the state of Notre Dame football and how close they are to catching the next level of teams that are always contending for national championships.

The recent recruiting class, Camping World Bowl and offensive coordinator search are all discussed as are some just real general Notre Dame topics. Hope you enjoy and if you’d ever like to have me on a similar show feel to reach out and I’d be happy to.

Here is John’s latest episode of the “Always Irish” podcast with my appearance.  I hope you enjoy:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk06sb8n_c0&w=560&h=315]

Irish in the NFL: Boykin Shines Again in LA Coliseum

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

With the Baltimore Ravens playing on and owning Monday Night Football this week it meant for a chance for the nation to get a closeup of MVP-frontrunner, Lamar Jackson.  Before we get to the Notre Dame connection to this game let me just say that his meteoric rise to super-stardom makes me incredibly happy to be wrong about what he might be able to do in the NFL.

He’s not only the most exciting player going this season but he’s also got to be the favorite to win the MVP award after doing what he did to the Patriots a couple weeks ago on Sunday Night Football and again for his five touchdown passes and complete domination of the Rams on Monday Night Football.

Now to the Notre Dame side of this game:

Miles Boykin must have a thing for the Los Angeles Coliseum.  In last year’s regular season finale you may remember what he did to spring Tony Jones, Jr. to the end zone to clinch a 12-0 regular season.

Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0EX041dKQw&w=560&h=315]

Well, Boykin was at it again Monday night as the Ravens embarrassed the reigning NFC Champs on their home field, 45-6.

It may have been out of hand at this point but its remarkable to me how Boykin’s highlight catch tonight occurs in almost the exact same spot as his block, nearly exactly a year to the day, that sent the Fighting Irish to their first College Football Playoff appearance. (Shoutout to Austin Hough of The Goshen News for pointing that out to me on Twitter).

I also wouldn’t be doing my proper work if I didn’t send mad-praise the way of Ronnie Stanley who has been an absolute monster for the Ravens and is a huge reason their downright nasty rushing attack works as well as it does.

The Ravens now sit at 9-2 on the season and atop the AFC North standings.  Along with Boykin and Stanley, former Notre Dame corner back Bennett Jackson, Jr. is also currently on the Ravens roster.