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"Wood looks like he was shot out of a cannonWood plays for a small school and suspect competition, but regardless, his numbers are just silly at 14.7 yards per carry and 50+ yards a kickoff return. Top Gun running back coach Lorenzo White (Michigan State) added:
"Cierre is a good kid and he's strong. He's got some great feet and some explosion. He also has some great hands and many skills. Cierre Wood has a bright future
Under White, it seemed as if Notre Dame was constantly scheming new marketing and revenue generation methods that brought in small dollars at the expense of the Golden Goose. What Notre Dame's incoming Athletic Director has to understand is that Notre Dame's market value is ultimately found in the uniqueness of Notre Dame. So, yes, we absolutely need someone who "gets it."
This is home because this place defines who I am. Don't let my last name confuse you. The other three names that contribute to my family heritage are Comie (phonetic), O'Brien and McGuiness. It is an Irish heritage, and a pretty typical one in that regard: Irish Catholic immigrants who came to this country in the late 1800s seeking a better environment, a grandfather who became police commissioner of New York's second largest city. I grew up steeped in the tradition of this university, at least as steeped as you can be in it in a family that never got within 800 miles of it.
We also need someone who understands what that means in the larger, changing landscape of college football and our other sports. Whomever the new AD is, he (or she) will have to be able to navigate an increasingly factionalized world of athletics dominated by superconferences, which means the new AD will have to bring a very CEO like level of skills to the table (after all it is akin to running a small company.)
Along with that understanding of Notre Dame and its place in the landscape and competence in athletic administration, the new AD will have to quickly build credibility both within Notre Dame and in the larger NCAA community in order to wield influence. As we've seen before, the blunt hammer doesn't work and neither did the "let's all be friends" approach of White. That's why being able to bring credibility into many situations is a key component in this equation. Arrogance is not an asset, but neither is acquiescence.
My experiences have run very deep in the sports world. They started in the Olympic movement, working with a number of national governing bodies, consulting with an Olympic Games, running Pan‑American games, most importantly from my perspective, to help athletes achieve their Olympic dreams. It extended in the past decade to be focused much more heavily on intercollegiate athletics, a special form of athletics in the United States where the goals of education and sport are so directly intertwined. Those experiences have given me insight into the nuts and bolts of collegiate athletics.
But perhaps more importantly they've helped me build the relationships which I think are critical to success in this job. I am proud to count among my friends and colleagues many of the leaders in college sports in America today and I know I can count on them to continue to be friends and allies in the years ahead. The challenges here are significant. I would argue to you they're even bigger than those. But they're challenges of the best kind. They're challenges born not of problems, not of shortcomings, but of great striving, of high goals. I believe that I accept this job on the threshold of extraordinary change in intercollegiate athletics in America. I have my theories, as Father suggested, about what that change may entail and where the industry is headed. But I think it will be enormous. I think there's much about this industry you won't recognize in 10 years. We must be at the forefront of that. We must participate in leading that change. Notre Dame cannot have that dictated to it. And I love the challenge of accepting the responsibility for trying, with the other members of the athletic team, staff, coaches, student‑athletes, to be part of shaping that future.
In a recent seminar I worked on with executives we focused on the differentiating factors of great leaders. In the world of credibility, character and competence are of course paramount, but the key differentiating features for credibility were courage, emotional intelligence and the ability to influence others.
We need athletic administration competence, someone who gets Notre Dame, understands the strategic landscape now and where we're headed in the future, changing media and marketing and someone who will be viewed at as a leader both internally at Notre Dame and externally in the world of college athletics.
How can Notre Dame help dictate that change to the rest of the intercollegiate athletic world?Finally, not a point missed by NDNation watchers, Swarbrick embraced and indicated that the University has embraced, The Three Pillars concept as outlined by NDNation posters in the 2004 letter to the BOT.
JACK SWARBRICK: I think it's essential we play that role. And that's not being hubristic. It's the importance of schools that have Notre Dame's values leading that change. I don't mean to suggest by that that we would lead it alone. But I hope we will lead it with other institutions that share our values, share a view of how intercollegiate athletics ought to be fully integrated into the academic mission of a university. I'll stay away from the specifics of the crystal ball, other than to say I would suggest to you they're a convergence of forces. It's hard to imagine them playing out without change, significant change, happening. Part of that's what's going on in the world of broadcast and media, the grand experiment that is in the NCAA Network and the incredible significance I think that has for college sports down the road. I think the issues surrounding the financing of college athletics in the United States, a clear division among schools as to ability and approach to that topic. I think shifting allegiances and alliances among schools and conferences. So I think it's a very dynamic list of factors.
Father Jenkins and the executive team and the trustees have set out on a mission, a grand experiment that has never been attempted before. They are committed to building an institution which is at the very top rank of academic institutions in the world, not just a great place to educate young people, but a great place for research, for discovery, for intellectual curiosity. They are committed to do that at the same time they intend to stay true to the core mission of the university: to advance the Catholic faith. And, finally, they are committed to do those two things while continuing to be among the finest and most successful athletic programs in the country.Good start and best of luck to Jack Swarbrick.
I'm not here to just do sports right. I love the competitive environment of sports. Don't step on the field if you don't want to win. We want to win. We want to be a great academic institution that furthers research in this country. We want to be a place of faith. And we want to be a place that wins on the athletic field and turns out extraordinary student‑athletes.
In the three legs of that stool I think there might be a tendency to treat sports as the stepchild. I think that nothing could be further from the truth. Sport is an integral, not a secondary, part of that success. It is integral for two particular reasons. One is sport is how you celebrate the success of the university. It would be great to gather 70,000 people to cheer an important patent, but it's not going to happen.
But we can bring our community together to celebrate what we are on a football Saturday or on a basketball evening. We can gather around our television sets and share the common bond of watching the remarkable journey of the hockey team this year or the women's basketball team when it went to its national championship. Sport allows you to build community and celebrate all that's great about the school, not just sport.
As I'm taking a hiatus, I thought CJC on Rock's House did a nice job of summing up the thoughts of many around our new Athletic Director. Personally, I like the fact that he's got a name out of a Clancy novel. In all seriousness, at the very least we're not going to be Chester at the BCS bargaining table next time around.Color Me Impressed by Jack Swarbrick's resume and accomplishments.In case you were wondering, Chester was the little dog who jumped around in the Looney Tunes Cartoon and said over and over again "hey spike we're buddies ain't we spike, we're pals,ain't we spike, huh, huh, huh?"
But the piece of paper in which I'm most interested is not Swarbrick's vitae, it's the job description for Notre Dame's athletic(s) director.
Once upon a time, numb from the disaster that was Michael Wadsworth, I took Kevin White's hiring as a very encouraging sign. I reasoned that a man with such an impressive resume, currently holding a rather prestigious position at an institution seemingly with great potential, would be highly unlikely to take a position as a lackey to Malloy, as Wadsworth had done.
Obviously, I couldn't have been more incorrect.
Swarbrick's prerogatives will be constrained by his superiors, as had been the case at Notre Dame for at least 55 years. It seems that most here believe that's a good thing, as calls here for complete autonomy for Notre Dame's athletic director are about as common as admonitions for Across and sprack to "get a room."
The most important question remains in what ways the powers-that-be will constrain Swarbrick.
The second-most important question is how Swarbrick himself envisions Notre Dame football. While the immediate die is already cast, including the newly-extended NBC contract and its provision for seven home games in addition to a neutral-site prime-time game, the athletic(s) director has the opportunity and responsibility to be an internal advocate.
The saga of Gene Corrigan and Gerry Faust well illustrates the limitations upon the athletic director and the imperative that the athletic director be creative, decisive and effective notwithstanding those limitations.
When Corrigan was unable to convince Fr. Hesburgh and Fr. Joyce that retaining Gerry Faust beyond his third season was not in Notre Dame's best interests, Corrigan made sure that when the opportunity to replace Faust did arise, he would be prepared to do so swiftly and effectively. Not only did Corrigan identify Holtz (not necessarily a big deal), but he suggested the out-clause in Holtz's Minnesota contract (apparently at the suggestion of Moose Krause) and just as important, timely persuaded Fr. Hesburgh and Fr. Joyce to authorize Holtz's hiring.
I choose to hope that in addition to his impressive record, Swarbrick does not believe that the football program and the entire University are best served by our current scheduling philosophy, and that he can bring his seemingly considerable talents to bear upon changing the thinking that is reflected by the NBC extension.
Phone calls to Stanford, Purdue and Michigan State in the next 60 days would go a long way toward convincing me that my dreams might come true. - CJC
"Usually comes off the ball low and hard, with a flat back. Rarely gets too high. Packs a lot of punch and is a great finisher. Keeps his legs driving like pistons. Shows excellent footwork. Gets into his block without losing leverage, and doesn't try to turn his man until he's knocked off the line of scrimmage. Has the athleticism to reach the second level with good body control. Can even get to the third level and find a safety to block. Pulls and turns upfield with no loss of motion or balance. Puts his hat on a defender and locks on like a pit bull."It also puts the Irish in the running for its best recruiting class along the offensive line in years if Notre Dame can persuade Xavier Nixon, another Five-Star recruit, to join the Irish. If Notre Dame can somehow get Nixon, it would set the stage for the dynamic offensive line, one that Notre Dame desperately needs to compete at the top level.
We know Orsini was a finalist for the position, but there appears to be a complicating factor in the new hire proceedings, a separation of church and state so to speak. Likely in response to criticism of Kevin White and his role at Notre Dame, whoever the new Athletic Director is will likely have diminished power over football. In other words, we're seeing a separation of control of the football program from the rest of Notre Dame athletics."Eifert is a big, productive high school wide receiver, but he'll be better suited to tight end in college. He lacks the speed to accelerate and separate from college cornerbacks. Possesses good height and a projectable frame, but definitely needs the benefits of a college weight program to add bulk. Displays soft hands and the ability to pluck the ball. Eifert's main contribution to a college program likely will be as a pass-catcher, especially initially. He has the frame and hands to be a chains-mover."
And a Little blurb from gridirondigest.net
"I'll tell you someone who COULD be a great TE from the Ft. Wayne area is Senior-to-be Tyler Eifert from Bishop Dwenger. At 6'5" and 210+ lbs. this kid's true calling may be at the TE spot in college. He currently plays WR and CB in Dwenger's Cover 2 package. Very physical. Very athletic. Great hands. Good speed for a TE, average speed as a WR. Defensively, nobody could throw his way in the Cover 2, unless you had a speedy wideout with good feet off the ball who could squeak by on a hard slant. If the kid stays healthy, and I already know he is a workout machine, he will turn many ppl's head next year around the state! "
"Tyler Eifert (6-5, 215), Tight end (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) Reminiscent of Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark, Eifert may be falling under the national radar because he is a tweener currently lacking the great bulk to project well as an in-line tight end and the speed to create consistent separation as a college wide receiver. Tweener or not, this kid is a darn athletic tight end with a great set of hands and a knack for getting open. He was an extremely difficult matchup for some of the camp's better linebackers during one-on-one passing drills and just showed a knack for creating separation and making the difficult grab. The most
exciting part about this kid is his potential for physical development. He looked a shade under his listed height of 6-foot-5 but has a long frame with broad shoulders. He should see his 220 pounds quickly become 250 once he attacks a fulltime college weight training program. He might not possess prototypical TE measurables but could use that to his favor if a team decides to use him creatively as an H-back."
"He is tall, very lean but pound-for-pound a strong, explosive kid. Quick-twitched athlete who excels at breaking on underneath balls with good initial speed and force. Reaches top speed quickly when closing vertically and is a strong yet sound open field tackler. Bottom line, Pollard's great initial burst and nose for the football as cornerback can't be coached; the bulk will come when he attacks a college weight training program."Rivals Video Review of Pollard
