It’s Christmas Eve. If Notre Dame’s roster can do the favor of not forcing any issues in the next few days, then this space will be taking off the next two days.
The audacity!
In the meantime … Let’s start with the video of Irish head coach Brian Kelly announcing the winning of the Joe Moore Award by the Notre Dame offensive line, naming it the most outstanding such unit in the country. Offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and his charges deserved the honor, and there appeared to be rather genuine emotion upon realizing the news.
Coach Kelly had a surprise for Coach Hiestand and the offensive line today - the @JoeMooreAward, honoring the best O-line in the country.
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 21, 2017
What's not surprising? There's no group more deserving than these young men.#GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/Je1LfL5oQA
ON BRADEN LENZY’S COMMITMENT Expect to see Lenzy’s essay for “The Players’ Tribune” cited repeatedly in these parts. The points it makes need to be pounded into the heads of far too many college football fans. Upon decommiting from the Irish in June, Lenzy said he received messages from fans wishing him ill will to the extent of death threats.
“It got to where I would cringe every time my phone buzzed,” Lenzy wrote. “… I wish I could say I just brushed off the negative messages, or that I was big enough to just ignore them entirely. But that wouldn’t be true. I did read them. And I thought about them a lot.”
Lenzy overcame the influence of those idiots and signed with Notre Dame on Friday.
“I want to make clear not only to those people who sent me those messages directly, but also to every other high schooler who has experienced the same thing: Negative people exist everywhere, but you can’t let them dictate how you live your life.”
Credit to Lenzy for a well-written essay. Credit to Lenzy for making a tough decision. And credit to Lenzy for having ten times the maturity than many Irish fans.
OUTSIDE READING — LSU will play Citrus Bowl without Arden Key, 2 other linebackers, Ed Orgeron says
— LSU preparing for ‘great challenge’ in Notre Dame running game
— 10 takeaways from the new early Signing Day and the Class of 2018 — “Lost amid all the excitement that came on Wednesday will be what assistant coaches will end up changing jobs. It happens every single year after the normal signing date in February and nobody quite knows if that will be the case again after the December period closes.”
— 5 things to know for college football’s new early signing period — “The biggest unintended consequence of the new early signing period will be an industry-wide flurry of assistant coaching movement. Nearly one-third of assistant coaching jobs in college football could turn over the upcoming weeks. In other words, there’s a one-in-three chance the assistant who has been courting a high school prospect the past 18 months will be slipping on a new polo shirt soon.”
— Former Notre Dame RB commit Markese Stepp finds new home at USC
— Jerry Kill reveals details of how he fought to finish at Rutgers: ‘I loved the staff I worked with’
INSIDE THE IRISH READING ON RECRUITING — Monday’s Leftovers: Early signing period basics and Notre Dame’s likelihoods
— Notre Dame’s 12 defensive signees: Brian Kelly’s takes
— Notre Dame’s eight offensive signees: Brian Kelly’s takes
— Friday at 4: Context shows Notre Dame succeeded in the early signing period
— With four spots remaining, what recruits is Notre Dame still chasing?
ON SUSPENSIONS & INJURIES — Claypool injured & out
— Notre Dame suspends WR Kevin Stepherson and RB C.J. Holmes
— Shoulder surgery sidelines Notre Dame TE Brock Wright
— Notre Dame announces Alizé Mack suspension
— Brian Kelly on suspensions, Notre Dame’s fifth-years’ timetable
OTHER — Friday at 4 Bowl games are fun, but little else, even for Notre Dame vs. LSU
WHERE NOTRE DAME WAS/IS — Running Backs
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