Tag: NCAA Sports

When Will NCAA Allow College Sports to Return?

Will we have college football in 2020? The NCAA released a plan for a return to the playing field for college sports in 2020.

We sit here on May 7 with plenty wondering when we will get sports back.  Sure, NASCAR hits the track in ten days in front of an empty crowd but when might we get college sports back?  The NCAA has finally given at least a hint of that.

The NCAA has released their three phases of re-socialization which we’ll examine a bit here as the organization offered a premise for resuming practice and competition.

First:  Core principles of resocialization of collegiate sport

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Notre Dame Releases “The Shirt” for 2020

Usually a former star player or the current head coach helps unveil “The Shirt” on the Friday night before the spring game as part of something that has almost become a ceremony.  With the spring game cancelled on the world taking countless precautions in the fight against Coronavirus, this years unveiling was held just like the vast majority of our work meetings anymore:  online.

One of Notre Dame’s unique football traditions happens each spring.  Each Friday before the annual Blue-Gold Spring Game, the release of “The Shirt” is made as the tens of thousands that flock to campus to treat their football fever.  Each year thousands upon thousands of “The Shirt” are sold in all ages and sizes as proceeds benefit Notre Dame students in a few different ways.

Usually a former star player or the current head coach helps unveil “The Shirt” on the Friday night before the spring game as part of something that has almost become a ceremony.  With the spring game cancelled on the world taking countless precautions in the fight against Coronavirus, this years unveiling was held just like the vast majority of our work meetings anymore:  online.

See the shirt below and if you want you can purchase it here.

Version 31 of “The Shirt” is now available for all to purchase.  Here’s to hoping the 2020 football season will get here soon and we’ll all be packed in the Joyce Lot on a Saturday morning enjoying brats, libations and some college football while watching thousands of folks in “The Shirt 31” walk by.

NCAA allots more virtual meeting time for division one coaches, athletes

Coaches can now require up to eight hours of virtual meetings per NCAA ruling.

The NCAA’s latest COVID-19 determination is a big one for Mel Tucker and Michigan State football.

The NCAA has announced an increase in how much time coaches can spend meeting virtually with their players, starting next week.

“Division I coaches in all sports will be allowed more virtual connection with their teams beginning Monday, April 20, and continuing through May 31, the Division I Council Coordination Committee determined Wednesday,” reads the opening paragraph from an NCAA release. Committee members, “voted to allow teams in all sports to require up to eight hours per week of virtual nonphysical countable activities like film review, chalk talks and team meetings.”

Athletes will be required to have at least one day off per week. Required physical activities are still prohibited as they require a sports-safety certified staff member to be present at all times.

Previously all sports were considered to be “out of season” once the NCAA canceled the entirety of the spring sports schedule. That put all coaches and teams in offseason mode, which limits the amount of time coaches and players can be in contact.

For programs breaking in new coaching regimes, like Tucker’s Michigan State team, this move is especially important as it will allow more time for the staff to hold positional and team meetings, install new plays, and get to know their new players. It should help alleviate some of the catching up thrust on a new coach hired a few weeks before a global pandemic would shut the sports world down.

The coordination committee will be reevaluating the access in mid-May to determine whether to extend of amend the current rules.

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Former Notre Dame Receiver Transfers to Cincinnati

Michael Young will have two years of eligibility remaining when he starts play with the Cincinnati Bearcats football team this fall.

Graduate transfer Michael Young has officially left the Notre Dame football program and found a new home at Brian Kelly’s previous stop, Cincinnati.

Young announced the decision on Easter Sunday and will have two years of eligibility remaining for Luke Fickell and the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Part of the selling point to Young was that the man that recruited him to Notre Dame is now the Bearcats offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock.  Young said of Denbrock to 247Sports:

Also, can’t forget to mention the connection that I had with coach Mike Denbrock. From recruiting me to Notre Dame, to now being my offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, it means everything. The relationship we’ve built from high school up until now played a significant factor in my decision.”

In three seasons at Notre Dame, the former top-50 receiver nationally as a recruit played in 27 games and pulled down 17 receptions for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Notre Dame Football: Quarterbacks Get Insight From Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner followed through his plan promise earlier this week to sit down with the Notre Dame quarterback room including Ian Book.

There aren’t a lot of stories that are better than the sudden rise of Kurt Warner from grocery store clerk to NFL and Super Bowl MVP in 1999.  He came from nowhere and would eventually end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a stop with the New York Giants and leading the Arizona Cardinals to a Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XLIII.

Since retiring Warner has become a part of both Westwood One and NFL Network’s coverage of the game.  This week Warner followed through on a request made from Notre Dame tight ends coach and former Cardinals staffer John McNulty.

McNulty shot his shot and landed Notre Dame quarterbacks a chance to visit with Warner earlier this week and that has apparently happened.

Nobody offered much information as to what advise Warner had to offer but he did appear to have a good time.

Notre Dame starting quarterback Ian Book took to Twitter to briefly describe the experience as well.

Here’s to hoping whenever we get football again that Ian Book leads a Notre Dame offense that becomes the 2020 version of “The Greatest Show on Turf”.

Rothstein Reports Winter Athletes Unlikely to get Extra Eligibility

In a report by CBS Sport’s Jon Rothstein, the NCAA most likely will not grant an extra year of eligibility to winter sport athletes.

The NCAA wants to do what’s right for their athletes after canceling the remainder of the winter sports and all of the spring season. Immediately there were rumors that the springs sports would be given an extra year of eligibility, which has yet to become official, with the winter athletes still waiting on a decision.

It seems though, as CBS’s Jon Rothstein reports, that the winter sport athletes will not be given an extra year of eligibility. The winter sports consist of men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s hockey, will not get another opportunity to suit up for their respective schools after the NCAA stopped all athletics amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Although this is an extremely tough decision, it seems like it’s the right one to make. For instance, John Mooney, Notre Dame’s senior basketball star finished his career with some very impressive career statistics. Would it be fair to former ACC stars for Mooney to get a full extra year to make a run at some of their career records? The answer is no, although Irish fans would love to see Mooney’s name atop the list of some impressive stats, it is not what the NCAA should allow.

It was not the ending any of the winter sports would have liked to see, but the simple fact that they played the majority of their season, as opposed to spring sports who played less than half of their regular season. It’s a difficult pill to swallow, but the correct move if true by the NCAA.