Tag: Tyler Buchner

Opinion: Jack Coan is not the answer for Notre Dame at quarterback

On man’s opinion on the Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan, who seems to be in line to lead Notre Dame in the 2021 football season.

We all saw the news last night with former Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan committing to Notre Dame and will be eligible immediately as a graduate transfer.

I for one am not overtly excited about this addition. A few weeks ago, I opined that Brian Kelly’s best option for his 2021 starting quarterback was in the transfer market, and personally, Jack Coan wasn’t even on my radar.

This move does absolutely nothing for me. I’m actually a bit disappointed by this decision.

It’s become clear that Notre Dame, or any school that wants to compete for a national championship, has to have a difference maker at the most important position in all of football. Jack Coan is not that guy.

Coan is a game-manager, not a game-breaker. He is Ian Book-lite and we all saw what the outgoing Irish quarterback was capable of. Both of them will win you the games your supposed to, but when it comes to winning big games, neither is that dude.

Book over his career went 8-5 against top 25 competition, which is a solid record but one of those games he didn’t start, and of those 8 wins, three of them were to teams that went on to finish unranked by the end of the year.

Coan has garnered a 3-4 record, obviously worse than Book. This just isn’t very encouraging in my eyes.

The new Irish quarterback has throw for 300-yards in a game just once in his career. He’s not even close to the same kind of runner Book is, Coan has -11 rushing yards on 76 attempts. Yeah, sacks are included there, but Book had 1,518 rushing yards including those sacks as well.

I get what Kelly is doing with this addition, he needed a veteran presence at the position. With Drew Pyne, Brendon Clark and incoming freshman Tyler Buchner having virtually no collegiate experience between them, taking a transfer made all the sense in the world.

To me, Jack Coan isn’t that guy. Already, outlets like ESPN are predicting the Irish to have a “down year” in 2021. If that is going to be the case, why not get your younger players the ever valuable experience that quarterbacks need.

I would much rather see one of the young guys get their opportunity to see what they can do with the bullets flying. But that’s just my honest opinion on the situation.

Former Wisconsin Quarterback Jack Coan Transferring to Notre Dame

Notre Dame fans already missing Ian Book may not have too miss him for too long.

Notre Dame fans already missing Ian Book may not have too miss him for too long. Sure, the Irish already have Brendon Clark, Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner competing for the starting quarterback job, but what’s a little more competition? Enter former Wisconsin quarterback and graduate transfer Jack Coan:

Coan, who is recovering from a broken foot that cost him the entire 2020 season, was 12-6 in 18 starts for the Badgers, most of which came as a junior in 2019. In three seasons, he completed 68.0 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,278 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran for five touchdowns.

The journey to South Bend is a long time coming for Coan. Before choosing Wisconsin, he originally committed to Notre Dame as a lacrosse player. Now, he’ll have a shot at revenge on the Badgers when the Irish meet them Sept. 25 at Soldier Field. Talk about coming full circle.

Boom or bust for Notre Dame incoming freshman QB Tyler Buchner?

With the early signing period fast approaching, 247Sports gave out QB superlatives and Notre Dame’s Tyler Buchner was included.

At one point during this odd recruiting cycle, Notre Dame quarterback commit Tyler Buchner was a consensus 5-Star prospect. Without having a senior season, California opted to play in the spring and Buchner will be enrolling in January, Buchner’s ranking fluctuated a good amount.

Today, 247Sports looked at superlatives for the 2021 quarterback group and Buchner was given the boom or bust designation. Barton Simmons wrote that “the California native is an enigma. He missed his sophomore season due to injury. He dominated his junior season but it was against subpar competition.”

Buchner then just had camps to show his talents off but “he brought high expectations into the Elite 11 Finals and laid an egg.” It wasn’t all bad news however, as Simmons believes that Buchner will be more on the boom side of things than the bust. “Given his ranking, we expect the first scenario (Heismans and national championships) is more likely,” which gives plenty of hope for the signal caller.

It may take Buchner a little while to get acclimated to the fast paced collegiate game, which is why I suggested yesterday that going into the transfer portal and finding a quarterback with some experience would be a smart idea for head coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

Buchner will be in South Bend soon, with many eyes watching his every more. It’s way too early to know what he is and the trajectory his career will take. Hopefully the 2021 season see the return of spring football, and a glimpse of what Buchner could be.

Notre Dame news about future of quarterback position

It may be a bye week for Notre Dame but Monday brought a bit of news regarding their future at the quarterback position.

Brendon Clark isn’t a name Notre Dame fans have heard much this year, aside from the sophomore quarterback getting into a couple of games in mop-up duty.

Clark is listed as the second-string quarterback and during Brian Kelly’s media availability on Monday, we were tipped off to what will figure to be one of the biggest storylines regarding Notre Dame this coming off-season as the Irish will have to replace record-setting Ian Book.

Clark was seen with a knee brace Saturday against Syracuse and Kelly was asked about it.

“Brendon had ACL surgery in high school and that knee has been cranky, so the knee brace is to give him more stability through the rest of the season. Then he’ll get evaluated at the end of the season as to whether there needs to be a procedure cleaning it up or a reassessment as to where he is with that knee.”

That creates an interesting storyline in regards to who eventually takes over at quarterback for Ian Book.

Clark entered the year second on the quarterback depth chart and has battled back and forth with freshman Drew Pyne at that spot throughout the year.

Entering next year as a recruit will also be highly-touted Tyler Buchner of California who once had a five-star composite rating on 247Sports.

Then there are some that would like Notre Dame to expand further in the transfer game and pursue an experienced quarterback who may be looking for a new home like Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Miami, and others that have benefitted from recently.

Related:  Ranking Notre Dame’s quarterbacks entering 2020 season

 

Notre Dame Football: Meet the 2021 Recruiting Commitments

Find out more about Notre Dame’s stars of tomorrow right here in the 2021 recruiting class commitments!

Notre Dame had big dreams of their 2021 recruiting class and despite not hitting a home run on their most desired playmaker and one of the nation’s top receivers dropping his commitment, the Fighting Irish still stand in pretty good shape.

The Irish have 20 commitments in the 2021 class and are ranked 11th nationally according to 247Sports. Although it’s not what Brian Kelly had in mind when he stated his goal was to land a class in the top five, it’s one with a bunch of high-side potential players who offer a lot of versatility where they can line up.

Here are the commitments in Notre Dame’s 2021 recruiting class. Be sure to check back often and see who has been added or removed themselves from the list.

Midweek Recruiting Update: Johnson offer, latest on Colzie, and more

A look at the latest recruiting news for Notre Dame Football.

It’s safe to say that it’s been fairly quiet on the recruiting trail for the Irish. The coaching staff changed that last night, as they offered Northwestern commit Theran Johnson.

The instate cornerback has been committed to the ‘Cats since May 3 of this year, Johnson is a very solid prospect. He stands six-feet tall and weights 170-pounds. The offer should catch Johnsons attention as aside from Northwestern, every other one of his offers are from non-Power Five schools.

I love this offer, Johnson is a player that might take some time to develop, but getting some of the better talent in Indiana to play for the Irish is a positive development. Almost all of the top 25 players in the state are heading off to a Power Five team, the Irish only have a commit from Blake Fisher. Yes, he’s a big one, literally and figuratively, the top overall player in the state.

Looking ahead at what’s to come for the Irish, the potential for Georgia wide receiver Deion Colzie to rejoin the class is looking better and better as we inch towards his commitment date on the 28th of this month.

Tom Loy, of Irish Illustrated, changed his crystal ball pick to the Irish. That gives me a ton of confidence that as of right now, Colzie is trending to rejoining Lorenzo Styles Jr. as the wide receivers in the 2021 class.

Right now the class consists of nine players on offense: quarterback Tyler Buchner, running back Logan Diggs, Styles Jr., Fisher, offensive tackle Joe Alt, guard Rocco Spindler, center Pat Coogan and tight end’s Mitchell Evans and Cane Berrong.

The defensive commits are a group of nine as well: defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio, defensive ends David Abiara and Jason Onye, linebackers Prince Collie and Will Schweitzer, and defensive backs Philip Riley, Ryan Barnes, Chance Tucker and Justin Walters.

The group of 18 players ranks 12th at ESPN, 13th at 247Sports and 11th at Rivals. Brian Kelly has a solid group of three players committed in the 2022 class: offensive tackle Joey Tanona, tight end Jack Nickel and safety Nolan Ziegler.

It has been a bit slow, but with Colzie’s timeline to recommit set and spatula being brought out to flip Johnson, there could be some positive movement for the Irish. Stay tuned to Fighting Irish Wire for the latest in Notre Dame Football recruiting.

Notre Dame commits move in updated Rivals Top 250

Plenty of Irish commits saw movement with Rivals updated Top 250 prospects in the 2021 recruiting class.

We knew yesterday that Notre Dame commit Blake Fisher had earned the coveted 5th star, but what we didn’t know what where the rest of the Irish class would land in Rivals updated Top 250.

We know now where they landed and here is their movement, the ranking on the left was prior to the update.

Offensive tackle Blake Fisher 22 -> 18

Wide receiver Lorenzo style Jr. 39 -> 41

Quarterback Tyler Buchner 46 -> 80

Offensive guard Rocco Spindler 56 -> 59

Defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio 99 -> 100

Cornerback Philip Riley unranked-> 240

The majority of Notre Dame commits stayed in about the same range except Buchner, who fell 34 spots. Mike Farrell, Rivals national director of recruiting, explained Buchner’s fall as he “clearly changed his throwing style and gave us pause but we didn’t want to free fall him.” It wasn’t a free fall, but dropping that far in the rankings is still concerning.

Fisher made just a three spot move up, but enough to get him the 5th star. Farrell said this about the offensive tackles upward movement on their rankings: “Fisher was my call for the most part as I love his size and aggressive nature. He’s thinned down some and if he add some flexibility he could be the next great offensive lineman at Notre Dame.” Pretty high praise for Indiana’s best prospect.

It was also nice to see cornerback Philip Riley get some love. He looks like a prospect that is still rated way too low at this moment.

Even with this update, the Irish did not move much inside the team rankings, as they checked in at 11th nationally. With 18 commits, there might be room for a few more prospects that will be added to the 2021 class. Either way, Brian Kelly should be fairly happy with the recruiting effort in ‘21.

Notre Dame Football: 4 commits named to SI99

Sports Illustrated is getting more involved in the college football recruiting game. See their top 99 rankings for the 2021 class here.

Sports Illustrated has gotten more involved in the recruiting game of college football and has started the SI99, where they rank the 99 top high school senior football players.

They have released the 99 names to make that list and ranked them 1-99.  Although Notre Dame doesn’t have as many commitments in those 99 like the 10 Ohio State offers, the eight from Alabama, six from Clemson or five from Georgia, the four future Fighting Irish rank the Irish high on the list for most representation.

Here is where the Notre Dame commitments were ranked:

Y-TE Cane Berrong – 44th

QB, Tyler Buchner – 55th

DT, Gabriel Rubio – 66

OL, Blake Fisher – 68

Berrong checks in as the top rated tight end, one spot above Thomas Fidone, Jr. who is yet to announce his college decision.  Tight End U continues to be loaded not just today but in the years to come.

Buchner is ranked as the seventh quarterback on the list as he checks in at 55 overall.

Rubio checks in as the seventh overall interior defensive lineman in what appears to be a very strong class nationally at that position.

And Blake Fisher, fresh off getting his fifth star from Rivals, checks in 68th overall, 50 spots lower than he appears on the overall Rivals rankings.

Notre Dame is joined by Michigan, Oklahoma and Tennessee as having four commitments on the SI99 list.

College football scholarships for 2021 class officially offered August 1

Welcome to August, college football fans. As we await what will happen with is the first Saturday of college football four weeks from now we’ve reached a significant date on the recruiting calendar. August 1 is the first day that teams can make …

Welcome to August, college football fans. As we await what will happen with is the first Saturday of college football four weeks from now we’ve reached a significant date on the recruiting calendar.

August 1 is the first day that teams can make official, written scholarship offers to players in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

Notre Dame, along with the rest of college football created graphics and sent them to their ’21 pledges to share on social media.

Four-star quarterback Tyler Buchner’s post:

Plenty of the rest of the class of ’21 shared the same personalized posts to acknowledge the official offers.

Notre Dame currently sits with 15 commitments in the ’21 class after tight end Mitchell Evans and running back Logan Diggs both made their announcements this past week.

Irish Commit to miss Senior Season, Enroll Early

With Maryland canceling their fall and winter sports, a Notre Dame commit announced his intentions for this coming season.

With many states opting to change their high school football schedules, rising seniors have to make changes to what they might do this fall. Do they play if their state moves football to the fall, do they transfer if football is canceled all together?

Notre Dame commit Ryan Barnes has made his decision after his home state of Maryland on Tuesday canceled their fall and winter sports and will have virtual learning for the first semester. He will not transfer to another school, focus on his academics with the intention of enrolling early in South Bend as Rivals has reported.

This is not how Barnes saw his senior season playing out, but that is one of the unfortunate side effects of the nation continuing the battle with COVID-19. Maryland is not the only state to make adjustments as Virginia has canceled their fall sports, California and Washington have postponed their seasons to the spring, and Texas has made adjustments to their fall schedule. We can not stress how much this hurts not just the athletes but all senior high school students who will miss out on big milestones.

We will continue to monitor the situation as more states make their decisions and student-athletes make theirs as well. Of the states to make their fall schedules known that have Irish commits are Californian’s Tyler Buchner, quarterback, and newest Irish commit cornerback Chance Tucker and Texas’ defensive end David Abiara have yet to make their decision public. Once they do, we will fill you in on their intentions.