The Hits Keep Coming

Today's big news was the commitment of five star, defensive end recruit Ethan Johnson. Johnson is a 6'4", 265 pound defensive end who is said to be a bone crushing hitter with a lightning quick first step. Johnson picked ND over Michigan making ND 10-0 against the skunkbears this year. I wonder if Corwin Brown has had anything to do with that. Somewhere, manboobs is weaping.

Slaughtering the Opposition

ND has landed yet another defensive recruit in Georgia cornerback Jamoris Slaughter. Slaughter, a four star prospect, stands six feet tall and weighs 185 pounds and is said to be a viscious hitter. His high school coach, Franklin Stephens, said, "He's an explosive hitter...when he hits ballplayers, they go back." Tom Lemming commented, "It's unbelievable. They've never done this well this fast this early."

He has a point. Traditionally, even under Lou Holtz, the Irish have always been a late player in recruiting. Typically, other schools, such as Texas and Penn State, would have full classes before ND started landing recruits, but this has changed under Weis. The Irish have sixteen commitments thus far, and it is still June. Nine of the recruits are defensive recruits, which is a serious need area. It is safe to say that the future looks bright for the Irish.

Getting Defensive

What is in store for the Irish in the immediate future? The Irish will try defense on for size. With the recent addition of Robert Blanton, the Irish have eight defensive verbals to fit into coach Corwin Brown's new3-4 scheme. This is a major turn of events in a Charlie Weis era best known for a Pac-10 style of play in which defense is only a suggestion.

With defensive hopes looking up, the next task for Weis and company is to improve the special teams, specifically the kick return team. The Irish have been attrocious on kick-off returns under Weis and his predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, alike. As best I can recall, the last kick-off successfully return for a touchdown by an Irish returner was Vontez Duff's return against Purdue in Bob Davie's last game as Irish coach. This seems exceedingly pathetic to Irish fans used to the Holtzian returns of Tim Brown, "Rocket" Ismail, Clint Johnson, Michael Miller, and "Awesome" Rossum. Perhaps improved recruiting can help in this area as well. Irish fans can only hope.