Best of luck, Jeff

Best wishes to Jeff Samardzija in the Big Leagues next year-- he announced earlier this week that he'll play pro baseball exclusively from here on out, forsaking any chance of riding that projected first-round draft status into the NFL..

Well, remember this?

As expected..

So the press conference yesterday had one big unexpected announcement-- Darius is gone.

The announcement that was never made-- the one everyone was expecting, however-- was that Rick Minter, the Defensive Coordinator, is gone.

No word, no announcement about changes in the staff, nothing. Lots of rumors flying, lots of conjecture. But nothing concrete.

And then, all of a sudden, up pops the rumor-- supported by a published article in the South Bend Tribune, citing reliable sources, late this afternoon-- that Corwin Brown, secondary coach of the New York Jets, is about to be hired as the DC.

Wait a minute.. has Minter been fired yet?

Then I read this in the Daily News tonight--

Eric Mangini suffered six losses during the regular season, one in the playoffs and now he appears to be on the verge of suffering his first loss of the offseason.

Highly respected secondary coach Corwin Brown has interviewed for the defensive-coordinator vacancy at Notre Dame, the Daily News has learned. Nothing is official, but Brown is in South Bend, Ind., today - a strong indication that his hiring is imminent.

Brown, 36, who joined the Jets in 2004 as a member of Herm Edwards’ staff, did a terrific job with the Jets’ defensive backs, especially Kerry Rhodes. This had to be a tough decision for Brown, who is close to Mangini.

But Brown also has a relationship with Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. Brown played for the Patriots and Jets from 1993 to 1998, when Weis was an assistant in those places.

Obviously, Weis is looking for a bright, young coach who can rebuild the Notre Dame defense, which allowed 41 points to Louisiana State in the Sugar Bowl.

the Defensive Coordinator spot is vacant?
Have I missed something here?

That said, from everything I've read, if this hire happens, it's a good and exciting choice by coach Weis. Bright, young, aggressive coaches.

Rumor also has it that Ron Powlus will be promoted to Quarterbacks coach. Word is that young Powlus is a masterful recruiter.

With Darius departing and prospects for a down year next year, I guess we need a few developments like this to look forward to.

Carroll is gone!

You heard it here first.. or maybe second.
Pete Carroll is as good as gone. He's going to take the Miami job, I guaran-damn-tee it!

"I'm thrilled to be here," he said. "As I've been the whole time, I haven't
wavered. I know that being curious about it has helped me appreciate what we
have here.
"I absolutely expect to be here."

He's thrilled to be there, but...

"It was a major statement he made finding me out there," Carroll said regarding
the meeting. "In a situation where you have an alternative, it's worth finding
out what it is.
"This was the only time I've even thought about talking with
anybody [from the NFL]. Here's a situation where a guy would give a head coach
the opportunity to do anything he wanted to do. He's an awesome guy."

Huizenga is an awesome guy?
Oh, Carroll is so totally gone!

Done deal...

It's official.. Walker is gone...
But this line at the tail-end of the story on WNDU should have some ominous soundtrack playing behind it..

An NFL executive expressed surprise at Walker's decision saying that few,
if any, teams in the league had any idea that Walker was contemplating such a
move.

Is now the right time for Walker to be heading to the NFL?
Was last season really the best showcase of his talents??
Seems to me-- not like I'm an NFL scout or anything-- that Walker still has some learning and developing to do.
This all just seems a shade premature.
Is there something else going on here?

Walker to the NFL?

Well, now this was unexpected...

According to Jeff Jeffers, our old buddy (well, Galindo used to shout at him from the Student Section) at WNDU: NewsCenter 16’s Jeff Jeffers spoke to a source very close to Darius Walker.

“That source told me Darius will very likely test the NFL waters, and enter
April's draft,” Jeff Jeffers explains.

When news of a press conference being scheduled came out earlier this week, everyone in the ND Blogosphere naturally presumed (esp. since the Giants coaching deal appears to have sealed up) this would be the announcement of some coaching changes..
And those announcements may well be coming as well-- Jeffers makes reference to other items about the future of ND Football being on the agenda-- but now it appears the lead story may something different and considerably more surprising...

Press conference is at 4:00 ET...

Sour Grapes.. and renewed Playoff jibber-jabber..

Good post here from the Extra Point about the outcome of the National Championship game-- the most unlikely Florida blow-out. Just what I was wishing for-- though I have no great love for the Gators, of course. Any misgivings I have about them are far outweighed by my grave dislike for the Buckeyes...

He also makes some notes about how problematic this is for the promoters of the 'be-all end-all' Plus-One system.. and other easy fixes. So who exactly would Florida play in a Plus-one scenario? Well said.

Of course, I also throw the great elixir of the Playoff system into that category of 'Easy Fix'... it's so fashionable these days around college football to argue that a playoff system would cure all these ills. I'd disagree..

For one-- if not for the arguing, what would college football have? What would owners of sports bars do for money in the Fall?

For another-- everyone points to the NCAA basketball tournament.. does anyone actually watch regular season college basketball? and besides, college basketball is entirely too button-down, quiet, white-collar for my taste. I'll take no lesson from that sport on this question.

And finally, a distinction to draw-- are we looking for a champion? or are we looking for the best team? If we're looking for a champion-- well, by golly, the BCS gives us that. In fact, back when the Schedule Strength was a larger component of the calculation.. I think the BCS even came close to giving us the Best Team, as well. But is anyone going to argue that the 'best team' wins March Madness every year? Surely not. Any college football playoff would be rife with very familiar controversy-- arbitrary rankings, spiteful 'Top Ten teams' (albeit #'s 9 and 10) teams left out of the 'big dance'.. and of course, there's always the chance for game-changing officiating...

So what have we got?
Still the most compelling distraction for a Saturday afternoon in the Fall. So compelling, in fact, that I can't wait for next season to start.

Say it ain't so!

Coach Weis has said he won't leave.
He's built a big beautiful house.
He told Chris Myers there would be nothing to lure him to the NFL..

And yet, this morning, this little item appeared in the Newark Star-Journal, at the tail-end of an article about the NY Giants' pursuit of Scott Pioli for their GM opening..

If the Giants hire Pioli, it would add life to the rumors Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis will be the team's next head coach. Weis was the Patriots' offensive coordinator from 2000-04.

Recently, Weis has publicly stated he would not leave Notre Dame anytime soon, but the same source who discussed Pioli said the Giants have been told Weis would be interested in the job. Weis might simply be taking his public stance because he doesn't want to hurt his recruiting if he stays in South Bend.

Now, consider the source. There have been articles all over the NY papers talking about Charlie and the Giants job, as though to try to recruit him to it-- imagine that, the papers recruiting a guy to a job so they can no doubt start trashing him next season. As we all trash on coaches like Bobby Petrino (who just ran out on a 10 year contract with Louisville to take the Atlanta Falcons job), how terribly disheartening it is to read crap like this. So is this guy just trying to give Giants fans up in Jersey something to talk about around the water-cooler?

Can this be real?