3rd Annual OC Domer Player of the Year Award

The ballots are in. Actually, they've been in for a while, collecting dust as I've been too busy/distracted to count them. But the results have finally been tabulated. It's time to announce recipient of the 2009 "OC Domer Player of the Year Award." The OC Domer Player of the Year Award is intended to recognize the Notre Dame football player or players who played the best when it mattered the most. The award is based on a horrendously complex and intricate scoring system that would take too long to explain and that you wouldn't understand anyway. Suffice it to say that the primary criterion was a consistently high level of play, with significant bonus points awarded for exceeding expectations.

Past winners of this prestigious award are David Bruton (2007) and Michael Floyd (2008). Bruton is now playing on Sundays for the Denver Broncos, while Floyd had another amazing year for Notre Dame, finishing second on the team in both receptions (44) and receiving yards (795) despite missing (only) five games with a broken collar bone. Hopefully Michael will get himself squared away after his recent off-field embarrassment and will have a truly monster 2010 season in Brian Kelly's high-revving spread offense.

The OC Domer Player of the Year for the 2009 football season is: Golden Tate.



Expectations for Golden Tate coming into the 2009 season could hardly have been higher. He was expected to team up with mates Michael Floyd, Kyle Rudolph, and Jimmy Clausen as part of a prodigious offense that would lead the Fighting Irish to a 10-win (or better) season, a BCS Bowl berth, and maybe if everything fell right a chance at playing for a National Championship. Given the importance of "exceeding expectations" in the the judging for OC Domer Player of the Year, Tate had to be considered a long shot for this honor, since he was expected to be an All-American. But he didn't just play great. He amazed us. And when Michael Floyd was out with a broken collar bone and quarterback Jimmy Clausen was hobbled by "turf toe" that turns out to have really been "torn-ligaments-toe", Golden Tate carried his football team on his back. He played wide receiver, running back, quarterback, and more while willing his team to nail-biting wins with highlight-reel catches and runs to rival any in the history of Notre Dame football. Speaking of highlight reels, here is the Golden reel from 2009:

How amazing was 2009 for Golden Tate? Here's an excerpt from a recent Notre Dame press release recognizing his selection as an All-American:

The 2009 Biletnikoff Award winner, Tate recently capped off the best receiving season in Notre Dame football history. He finished with 93 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in 2009. Tate added two rushing touchdowns, one punt return for a score and totaled 1,915 all-purpose yards, second most in Irish single-season history.

Tate equaled or surpassed eight school records this year, including most catches and receiving yards in a season, tied for most touchdown catches in a season, most receiving yards in a career, most 100-yard receiving games in a season and career, most receiving yards per game in a season and tied for most consecutive games with a touchdown reception.

Tate ranks in the top eight nationally in nine different statistical categories and no wide receiver had more games with at least 100 receiving yards this year than Tate's nine. He also scored at least one touchdown in each of the final 11 contests for Notre Dame.

Tate, who recently declared his intention to enter the 2010 NFL draft, departs as the most prolific receiver in Notre Dame history. He recorded 2,707 receiving yards on 157 receptions with 26 touchdowns. Tate ranks second in career touchdown receptions and is tied for third in career receptions.

Congratulations to OC Domer 2009 Player of the Year Golden Tate! And thank you Golden for giving everything you had for Notre Dame over the past three seasons. Good luck in the NFL!

OC Domer Player of the Year Runner-up is: Jimmy Clausen. Jimmy just completed his best season at Notre Dame, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,722 yards with 28 TDs and only four interceptions in 2009. He set a school record by passing for at least 300 yards in seven games and his four fourth-quarter comebacks for victories are the most in a season by an Irish quarterback. Clausen is ranked first or second in 32 passing categories at Notre Dame, including tops in career completion percentage, completions per game for a career and tied for first in lowest interception percentage over a career. He completed 695 of 1,110 pass attempts for 8,148 yards with 60 touchdowns and 27 interceptions while starting 34 of 35 games played for the Irish. Jimmy is expected to be a first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, although his ranking by various draft pundits is quite variable. However it plays out, I hope JC's surgically repaired toe heals well and quickly, and I hope he represents Notre Dame with distinction in "The League."

OC Domer Player of Year Honorable Mention goes to: Manti Te'o. Although he arrived a little too late to save Charlie's job, Manti was easily the most highly decorated defensive player to come to Notre Dame in the Charlie Weis era (Named 2008 High School Athlete of the Year by Sporting News. Defensive player of the year by USA Today. Inaugural high school recipient of the Butkus Award, given to the best linebacker in the country. Two-time recipient of Hawaii Gatorade Player-of-the-Year award in 2007 and 2008. Sporting News rated him the top defensive player in the nation and second-best player in the country. Rated second-best overall prospect in the ESPNU150 and best linebacker according to ESPN. Et cetera, et cetera). Expectations were high for Manti, but I was surprised by how much impact he had as a true freshman. He ranked fourth on the team with 63 tackles including 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack and added one pass breakup. He played in all 12 games and started nine contests. His 63 tackles were the most by a Notre Dame freshman since 1975 and the third most all time by an Irish freshman. Te'o became a full-time starter for Notre Dame in the fifth game of the season against Washington and he ranked second on the Irish with 57 tackles over the final eight games. Te'o is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and he recently announced that he will be delaying his traditional mission trip for at least one year and possibly until later in his life, which means he will continue at Notre Dame during his sophomore year and will be a member of the Irish football team in 2010. And there was much joy throughout the land.

Who are your Notre Dame Players of the Year? I'd love to hear from you.

Michael Floyd Drinking, Fighting and Bloody in Minnesota

This is not what we're looking for when we say "Fighting Irish." Notre Dame star receiver Michael Floyd, recipient of the OC Domer Player of the Year Award in 2008, is going to have some 'splaining to do to new Irish football coach Brian Kelly. According to StarTribune.com:

Gophers football player Shady Salamon and Notre Dame's Michael Floyd were cited for underage consumption of alcohol on Jan. 8 after police were called to a fight scene involving six to 10 people at the intersection of 15th Av. SE and 6th St. SE in Minneapolis.

[...]

According to the University of Minnesota police report, two men later identified as Floyd, 20, and Salamon, 19, were seen running and getting into a vehicle driven by a young woman. After stopping the vehicle, police noticed that Floyd, seated in the driver's side back seat, had blood on his hands, feet and shirt. Floyd told police that he had been involved in an altercation with a Somali male at a house party, and admitted he had been drinking.

I would expect that Michael will get a little personalized attention at Camp Kelly as a result of his display of appallingly poor judgment. Way to make a good first impression!

Welcome Back, Nate!

It's been busy at home and at work despite it being the "holiday" season, so my blogging has suffered recently. But I wanted to bring to you one interesting tidbit that I haven't seen reported elsewhere. Reliable sources are telling me that Nate Montana, lately of the Pasadena City College, will be returning to Notre Dame for the Spring semester (which starts next Tuesday) and he will be playing football in the Spring.

I'm not sure Nate got what he wanted out of his time at PCC, but I am glad to see him back under the Dome. With Jimmy gone to the NFL (by way of the operating room) and Dayne Crist stuck on the sidelines (by way of the operating room), the Irish need some bodies in the mix at quarterback heading into Spring ball. In very limited action during last year's Blue & Gold game, Nate looked very good throwing the ball. He seems to have his dad's knack for throwing a very catchable ball, right on the money.

Joining Nate in the mix (I am assuming Crist will still be at least somewhat limited in the Spring) will be early enrollee Tommy Rees and possibly current wideout John Goodman, who has some QB experience in his background. Also on the roster at QB are walk-ons Brian Castello (6' 2" 191 Lbs. from Pittsburgh, currently a Junior) and Matthew Mulvey (6' 3" 197 Lbs. from Del Mar, CA, currently a Sophomore). With a new coaching staff, a new offense, and a gimpy Dayne Crist, you have to figure the competition at QB in the Spring will be wide open and I wouldn't presume to rule anybody in or out at this time. Who knows which guy might "get" Brian Kelly's offense first and surge to the lead? Will the smartest guy be the best fit? The mobile guys? The big-arm guys? We'll see.

Of course, everyone is still hoping that Coach Kelly will in fact get Andrew Hendrix's name on the line that is dotted come signing day. If that gets locked down Notre Dame will have plenty of talent at the quarterback position come August. Experience will be another matter entirely. We'll find out very soon what kind of coach Brian Kelly is.

At any rate, welcome back to Notre Dame, Nate Montana. And good luck!

Merry Christmas to All

It is Christmas Eve and events here at OC Domer HQ are about to start spinning beyond my control as last-minute Christmas errands are run, final presents wrapped, mass at what we think will be our new Church is attended, Christmas Eve dinner is served, etc...

We are all excited to have our daughter home from the University for Christmas break. She is already so thoroughly enthralled by Notre Dame that can't wait to go back "home" to be with all her new college friends, which is as it should be.

I will have some thoughts for you on Coach Kelly when things settle down, as well as the announcement of the OC Domer Player of the Year for 2009.

But for now I just want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Pope seems to have gotten over the whole Obama controversy

Despite all the uproar over President Obama being invited to give the Commencement Address at Notre Dame last Spring (he's pro-abortion!), it seems that Pope Benedict nonetheless respects the important role the University plays within the Church. From the South Bend Tribune:

Notre Dame associate professor receives papal appointment

Tribune Staff Report

SOUTH BEND — John C. Cavadini, an associate professor and chair of the theology department at the University of Notre Dame, has been appointed to the International Theological Commission by Pope Benedict XVI.

The International Theological Commission consists of some 30 theologians from around the world. An advising body to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, its members are personally appointed by the pope.

Bishop John M. D’Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend said that Cavadini’s appointment "brings honor to our diocese and to Notre Dame, especially to its theology department."

A member of the faculty since 1990, Cavadini also is director of the university’s Institute for Church Life.

Congratulations to Professor Cavadini!

Kelly Being Fitted For New "ND" Wardrobe

This post from ChicagoBreakingSports.com leaves little doubt that Brian Kelly will be Notre Dame's new football coach. It makes clear that Kelly has already met with representatives of Notre Dame and that he will be taking the job. The article notes that Coach Kelly has not wanted to make it public because he didn't want to distract his Cincinnati players before the game against Pittsburgh, and he didn't want them hearing about it on the news before he had a chance to talk to them at the Bearcats team banquet this Thursday night.

So it appears that we can expect a formal announcement on Friday or very shortly thereafter.

Quick Hits, Pearl Harbor Edition

Things have been busy at OC Domer HQ and I just haven't been able to write all the posts I have wanted to write lately. So here are my thoughts on recent developments in condensed Readers Digest format:

1. Coaching Search. Well, what do you know? Brian Kelly will be meeting with Jack Swarbrick on Tuesday to discuss ... well, you know. All as foretold by OC Domer.

2. Pete Carroll's Girlfriend. Do I really care if Pete "Always Compete" Carroll is (or was) living with a USC grad student in Malibu? Hell yes I care. I'm not particularly proud of it, but I do care. I'm sure the Los Angeles media is all over this story and we'll get all the juicy details real soon. With pictures. (Won't they?) I want to see if Pete is hitting a higher class of "mistress" than Tiger Woods is. But you will note that in his profuse apologies about allowing an off-the-record comment to get into print that Charlie never quite says that the underlying facts about Pete and the grad student aren't true. Hmmm. Seems very unlike Charlie to let something like that slip without any basis.

3. Tiger Woods' Mistresses. Latest count is up to nine. At what point do we get real and stop calling all these tramps "mistresses"? And don't you love how all these "hostesses" are shocked and hurt by Tiger's infidelity? "I thought I was the only hooker gold digger in his life." Hilarious. What's not hilarious is that Tiger has hurt his wife Elin, who deserved better from him. I hope a few hundred million dollars will ease her pain.

4. Jimmy & Golden. Going pro. Not a surprise. I would love to see them play at Notre Dame for another year, but they'd be crazy to. Good luck to both guys as they move the show to Sundays. I hope they each make a big pile of cash and have long, glorious NFL careers. Thanks to both of them for giving all of us everything they had for three years. I hope they find the time somewhere down the road to complete their degrees and graduate from ND.

5. Charlie to Da Bears? Rumors have the Chicago Bears as a potential landing spot for Coach Weis next season, likely as offensive coordinator. Makes great sense. I would expect that CW will try to find a position as close to South Bend as possible to remain close to the Hannah & Friends facility that means so much to him.

6. Still Recruiting. Thanks to Coach Weis and all his assistants for being completely classy and professional and working to keep all the 2010 verbal commits in the fold.

7. Bowling. I agree with the decision not to accept any bowl invitations this year. Notre Dame has a long history of declining bowl invitations. During decades when we were THE elite program in the country we won National Championships without bowl games. We have frequently declined to go bowling when the team had a sub-par season or when the invitation wasn't from a prestigious bowl. There is no reason to humiliate ourselves by playing a bowl game in Detroit against some MAC opponent. In the current context there is no real upside. More weeks practicing the system of the just-fired coach? And who is calling the plays? And how motivated are our soon-to-be millionaire offensive leaders? And what would a win get us? Have some pride and play in a bowl again when you've actually earned it and when the game would mean something.

8. OC Domer Owns Subway Domer's 2009 Pick 'em Contest. Subway Domer once again hosted a weekly Pick 'em contest for this season. Players had to pick winners for about a dozen college games each week, straight up. Bonus points for correctly picking upsets. More bonus points for picking upsets in Top 25 games. After a very slow start to the season I went on a very nice run and finished 2009 as co-champion. Final results are here. My team is "Holy Cross." Thanks to Subway for putting on the contest again this season. I really do enjoy putting my picks together each week. It makes Saturdays more interesting without costing me a wad of cash.

Golden Tate #2 on my Heisman Ballot

I received an e-mail from Shotgun Spratling at Blueworkhorse.com inviting me to cast my ballot for this year's Sports Blog Heisman Trophy. Voters are not limited to just the five players invited to New York for the presentation of that other Heisman trophy. Here is the full text of my e-mailed "ballot" as submitted:

Dear Shotgun,

Here is the OC Domer Heisman Ballot.

1. Toby Gerhart. He is most dominant player at his position, and his dominance doesn't depend on anyone else to make him look good. One-on-one, mano-a-mano he beats you down at the point of attack. Puts his team on his back and carries them to victory.

2. Golden Tate. You can't keep him from getting the ball, you can't tackle him, and you can't catch him. Once Michael Floyd broke his collar bone, everyone in the stadium knew Notre Dame and Jimmy Clausen were going to get the ball to Tate, and still nobody could stop him. Despite being double or triple covered every play, Golden still came up with huge plays time and again. Golden kept the Irish in games single-handedly for seven weeks. Without Golden Tate to throw to, Jimmy Clausen would not be in a position to make big money as a top draft choice in April.

3. Colt McCoy. My choice at the beginning of the season, he played his way down to third place during the season and especially against Nebraska.

Honorable Mention: Jimmy Clausen. He has become one heck of a quarterback. Will make Charlie Weis look like a really good coach once he starts playing and winning on Sundays.

My website is http://ocdomer.blogspot.com

I'm in the Far West.

Look forward to seeing your results!


OC Domer

What would your ballot look like?

Every Breath You Take

If you ever had any doubt that the Democrat party wants to control absolutely EVERY aspect of your life, a determination today by President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency should make things crystal clear for you. According to your Federal government, carbon dioxide is now considered a "danger to public health." And this danger must be regulated in the ongoing war against (imaginary) global warming.

Which means that every time you exhale, you are polluting the environment and endangering mankind. As are your children, your pets, and your livestock. The grass clippings you left in the yard to decompose (and fertilize)? Polluting. Your compost pile? Polluting. That can of Diet Pepsi you just opened? Polluting.

Oh sure, the government assures us that they are only going to regulate the biggest producers of CO2. For now. But if this baloney is allowed to stand it won't be long until the government starts pushing "one child" population control policies in order to reduce CO2 emissions. Before that the government will start urging us all to "eat green" and go vegetarian so that livestock populations can be drastically reduced. And you can bet the do-gooders will be after all of us to get the fizzy CO2 out of our beverages.

Is there any aspect of our lives the Democrats don't want total control over? They want to control where you live, what you drive, how you operate your business, what you eat, how you get health care, what your children are taught in school, when, where, and how you are allowed to pray, and what you say or write.

Land of the free? Really?

Narrowing the List

I recently wrote about the "Long List" of potential successors to Coach Weis at Notre Dame. My stated criteria in assembling the Long List of more than 21 names were:

1. Track record as a successful head coach at the Division I college level or the NFL. (Assistants need not apply).
2. Ability to recruit. Ideally a proven recruiter, but may have to make judgment call on the recruiting potential of NFL candidates.
3. Person of integrity and class. (This rules out Urban Meyer and Nick Saban).
4. Committed to making sure Notre Dame student athletes go to class, graduate on time, and represent the University with class. (Real students, no thugs).

Yesterday the University officially announced the firing of Head Football Coach Charlie Weis, and Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick spoke for a few minutes with the media about his decision to "take our football program in a different direction" and he gave us some clues about where the search for a new coach might lead.

Clearly, from listening to Swarbrick and reading the full transcript of the press conference, there is a very strong preference for candidates "who have demonstrated an ability to build and sustain a Division I college football program." Swarbrick used that phrase twice in his remarks yesterday. "Building and sustaining." He also indicated that, while it wouldn't necessarily be a limiting factor, he does feel that we "need to play good defense." So I won't leave anyone off the list depending upon whether they are a defensive or an offensive minded coach, but just be aware that at the and of the day that might be the tie-breaker.

Should we believe what jack Swarbrick is telling us? Is he trying to throw us off the scent while he brings in another NFL coach? I don't think so. The template for success at Notre Dame has been fairly simple. When we have hired proven college head coaches we have had great success. When we have gone off that recipe, we have met disaster. So I think we can take Jack at his word. Having just dismissed a very good NFL coach, it would be a very risky move for Swarbrick to bring in another NFL guy and expect a better result. Much safer for him to go with what has worked well in the past.

So, taking Jack at his word, we can start whittling the Long List down, removing coaches who have not demonstrated the ability to build and sustain a Division I college football program. To me the word "build" means a coach who has taken a program from whatever level it was on when he was hired and then elevated the program to another level. The word "build" means, to me, that we don't necessarily want a coach who took over as the caretaker of a program that was already doing really well and simply maintained it. The word "sustained" means we don't want a one-year wonder. We want someone who built a program up to a high level and then kept it there for some time.

Applying these standards to the Long List and being a little flexible with the definitions of "build" and "sustain", I get the following names:

• Mike Belotti (Long-time University of Oregon head coach, now the UO Athletic Director)
• Pat Hill (Long-time and present head coach of Fresno State University)
• Greg Schiano (Head coach at Rutgers University)
• Skip Holtz (Head coach at East Carolina, former head coach at Connecticut)
• Brian Kelly (Head coach University of Cincinnati, former head coach at Grand Valley State and Central Michigan)
• Jim Harbaugh (Head coach at Stanford, former head coach at University of San Diego. Has beaten USC two of last three years)(Might be too short-lived to meet "sustain" requirement)
• Mike Riley (Head coach at Oregon State, former head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Perfect 5-0 record in bowl games. Beat USC in 2006 and 2008)(Nobody is talking about him, but he is a great coach)
• Pat Fitzgerald (Head coach at Northwestern)(Pretty young still. Might not meet "sustain" requirement yet).
• Randy Edsall (Head coach at University of Connecticut)
• Chris Petersen (Head coach at Boise State)(Didn't really "build" the program. Took over a really good team from Dan Hawkins).
• Gary Patterson (Head coach at TCU)
• Kyle Whittingham (Head coach at Utah)(Did not really "build" the program. Took it over from urban Meyer).
• Kirk Ferentz (Head coach at Iowa, former head coach at Maine)
• Bob Stoops (Head coach at Oklahoma. Won one National championship and 6 Big XII titles. Not sure if he is really interested as reported, or if he is just angling for a raise from OU)(I have some reservations about Stoops' integrity and the quality of player he recruits).
• Butch Davis (Head coach at North Carolina, former head coach at Miami and Cleveland Browns. Personally, I'd have difficulty accepting a former Miami coach at ND)(Did not "build" at Miami, but has "built" at UNC).
  
• Tommy Tuberville (Former head coach at Ole Miss and Auburn)

Can you think of anyone else? Add them in the comments below and if they fit the criteria I'll put them on the list. I am a little curious about the Division I-AA option, a la Coach Jim Tressel at Ohio State. I'm not sure Swarbrick would take the risk of bringing in a Div I-AA coach, but if you know of any really strong candidates from that level I'd love to hear about them. Jack said he was looking for Division I experience, but he didn't specify Division I-A only.

Eliminating the guys listed above who I think may be a little short on either the "build" or "sustain" criteria, my personal favorites from the shorter list are, in approximate order of preference:

• Brian Kelly
• Kirk Ferentz
  
• Mike Riley
• Mike Belotti
• Randy Edsall
• Butch Davis
• Tommy Tuberville

I think any of these guys would be outstanding hires. Who do you like?