Tag: Texas am

An Update on SEC Football in 2020

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t hiding from the reality of the world like some thought he’d do in order to do everything possible to save football for his conference in 2020

Perhaps it’s because of their own saying that “it just means more” that many believe the SEC will be the last conference to make any changes to their 2020 football plans.

Word was that the SEC was not happy whatsoever that the Big Ten announced their plan to play only conference games last week and one can assume they felt the same when the Pac-12 followed suit.

What will the SEC ultimately do?

We got a peak into that a little bit on Monday when the conference athletic directors met in person for the first time since March.

Today’s meeting took place in the SEC offices in Birmingham, Alabama and the most notable takeaway is that conference commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t hiding from the reality of the world like some thought he’d do in order to do everything possible to save football for his conference in 2020.

“It is clear that current circumstances related to COVID-19 must improve and we will continue to closely monitor developments around the virus on a daily basis,” Sankey said. “In the coming weeks we will continue to meet regularly with campus leaders via videoconferences and gather relevant information while guided by medical advisors. We believe that late July will provide the best clarity for making the important decisions ahead of us.”  -SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on July 13, 2020

It might not be earth-shattering but the sole fact that the head of the SEC went as far as to say things need to improve as clearly as he did came across as more revealing than I was anticipating the SEC leading on.  Just like the ACC, the SEC will wait until late July until announcing any decisions on the 2020 football season.

Notre Dame is currently scheduled to host Arkansas on the second Saturday in September.  The trip would be the first for the Razorbacks to Notre Dame Stadium.

Perhaps the Pete Thamel piece from earlier today made the obvious more real or maybe it was just common sense showing up in a place we don’t always expect it to.

Whatever exactly it is, it’s starting to feel like we’re going to need a sports miracle in order to pull off a college football season anytime soon.

Related: What Notre Dame’s 2020 Football Schedule Might Look Like

College Football: How appealing is Notre Dame job?

Just how appealing is the job of head coach at Notre Dame? It’s a big time job but clearly not for everyone, even the great ones.

Remember the video game, “NCAA Football” that was put together by Electronic Arts?

I miss that game.  I miss starting as a head coach at a small school and working my way up the ladder to the more prestigious football programs.

In that game each football program would be given a star rating in terms of the caliber of job it was.  The truly elites like Alabama, Ohio State, USC and a few others, usually Notre Dame included, got the maximum star rating.

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN put together a similar ranking recently as he put the FBS head coaching jobs in different tiers based on their level of appeal for a head coach.

In those rankings, Notre Dame didn’t reach the highest of tiers as that was reserved for Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas.

If it’s based on recent accomplishment I’d have a problem with it but it’s not.  It’s a ranking built on the job and the difficulty, or lack-there-of to win big with regularity.  Everything from assistant coaches pay to practice facilities and the amount of local talent to recruit are factored in.

With that in mind it’s nearly impossible to have an issue with any of the eight teams he listed in the highest of tiers.  Just because teams don’t win big doesn’t mean their programs aren’t in a great spot to succeed.

Notre Dame came in ranked in tier-two.  Joining them were Auburn, Florida State, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M and Washington.

I’d actually argue that Auburn and Texas A&M should be in tier one based on endless resources in regards to facilities, home-base recruiting and boosters with deep pockets.

If you’re ranking the jobs that bring the most attention, no doubt Notre Dame is on the shortest of lists.  When you discuss the most-appealing though, it’s clear that it’s not a place that your standard good college coaches are going to have major success.

Notre Dame Football: Stream All 2000 Home Games

2000 was a surprise season that saw Notre Dame go to the BCS. Relive all six home games online NOW!

I have been a passionate Notre Dame football fan for as long as I can remember.  Most kids in my class grew up loving everything in regards to the Chicago Bears but that has never quite been the case for me as I’ve always enjoyed the college game and specifically Notre Dame football more.

I was a freshman in high school in the fall of 2000 and had never been to a game before.  My sister was starting her freshman year at St. Mary’s College that same fall which meant my fandom went from “strong” to “obsessive”.

Maybe I’ll write more about that season in the not so distant future but in the meantime I’ll let you know that all home games from the 2000 Notre Dame football season are available to stream.

Week One:  vs. Texas A&M
Notre Dame is coming off just a five-win season in 1999 but starts the 2000 season right with an impressive showing against Texas A&M as the Aggies make their first-ever trip to Notre Dame Stadium.

Week Two:  vs. No. 1 Nebraska
For the first time since 1993 the top-ranked team in the country came to South Bend.  Seemingly 50,000 Nebraska fans made the trip to see two Notre Dame special team scores and Bob Davie play for overtime.  Whoops.

Week Three:  vs. No. 13 Purdue
After Arnaz Battle broke his hand against Nebraska, Gary Godsey was called upon to help get the Irish a win.  Their defense and special teams helped out as Nick Setta’s game-winning field goal as time expired sent the Irish to 2-1.

Week Six: vs. Stanford
After a loss at Michigan State two weeks earlier and coming off a bye, Matt LoVecchio made his first start for the Irish in what would be the first of seven-straight wins to close the regular season.  Of just as much importance, this was the first Notre Dame football game I ever attended.

Week Nine: vs. Air Force
Following a pair of wins over both Navy and West Virginia, Notre Dame returned home at 5-2 to take on a pesky Air Force team.  Thanks to heroics from Glenn Earl and Joey Getherall, a stunning upset was avoided.

Week Eleven: vs. Boston College
Following the thriller over Air Force, Notre Dame enjoyed a bye week before welcoming Boston College to South Bend for Senior Day.  The Irish controlled things for the duration in this one, winning 28-16 and finishing the home season 5-1.

Notre Dame would go on to beat Rutgers and USC on the road, finishing the season an unlikely 9-2 and earning a berth in the BCS for the first time where they would get run out of the building by Chad Johnson and No. 5 Oregon State.

Four-Star ’21 Safety Lists Notre Dame in Final 12

Kendal Daniels is a top defensive back in the ’21 recruiting class – announced his top-12 schools Tuesday. See who Notre Dame is up against

The hunt remains on for Notre Dame and their 2021 recruiting class as it currently sits seventh nationally in the 247Sports rankings but the Irish remain in play for several key targets.  Although still probably a bit of a long-shot to land his commitment, Notre Dame made the top 12 for safety Kendal Daniels today.

Daniels, a four-star recruit from Beggs, Oklahoma, announced his 12 finalists on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon.

Notre Dame joins five SEC schools including Alabama, Georgia and LSU while home-state Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both also made his cut.  Clemson and Florida State both made it from the ACC while the only Pac-12 school listed is Oregon.

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Daniels’s athleticism sticks out on tape but so does his instincts.  I’m not saying he’s Ed Reed when I say this because pretty much nobody ever has been but his ability to read a play compared to everyone else on the field is noticeable – just watch the tape and notice him headed to where the ball will soon be headed, it’s impressive.   Daniels also has the speed to make plays which is clearly obvious above.

Whoever ends up getting him is going to be getting a player that certainly seems to have the football IQ to make an early impact.