W C Monds just committed. Watched him on McAfee … seems like a good kid.

Pat McAfee is like nails on a chalk board, but I enjoyed hearing from Champ and the family. I assumed he was held back like many parents do with their children so they can excel in sports, but at just 16 that does not appear to be the case. Champ see seems confident, but not cocky. Can’t wait to see him in the gold helmet.

Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gKUn7sGqVCg

1. Vero Beach High School is in Vero Beach and many miles from Pt. St. Lucie. If you watched the video, the line at the bottom says VBHS is in Port St. Lucie.
2. Historically, the football program at VBHS is consistently strong. It is also the alma mater of former ND standout safety Zeke Motta, a 2012 ND alum.

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What an improvement.

A knock on Kelly not the players.

The QB recruiting has dramatically improved under Coach Freeman.

Looking at the current QB depth chart, all of the QB's are capable of making throws to all areas of the field, and all of them seem to have the ability to make WR progression reads.

None of our guys can be called "noodle armed" and they're all solidly built, and all of them are at least decently mobile.

No more 5' 9" QB's, no more lead-footed "statue" QB's.



Too many Brian Kelly's QB's were deficient in several aspects.

Tommy Rees - Noodle arm, could only make short range throws. Having Michael Floyd and later, TJ Jones, along with NFL tight ends, prevented the offense from completely stalling. That, plus he couldn't even outrun a police officer he kicked in the junk.

Everett Golson - This is a tough one to list, since he could actually make all of the throws, but his decision making never sped up to the point where he could reliably command the offense, even in 2014. Having Will Fuller covered up a lot of deficiencies in 2014.

Malik Zaire - This is a bit unfair to include him here, due to that freak injury, but he couldn't make WR progression reads. Having Will Fuller available in 2015, along with a very good offensive line, masked this. He looked absolutely lost in the woods in 2016.

Brandon Wimbush - Could make all of the throws, but couldn't make WR progression reads, accuracy was barely mediocre at best (best season was sub 50% passing), and got a bad case of Steve Blass Disease in 2017 as the year progressed.

Ian Book - This is another tough one to list, since he was an amazing competitor, and an extremely smart gunslinger. Couldn't make long range throws, and even throws between medium and long range were questionable.

Drew Pyne - Anything beyond short to medium range throws were out of the question. Couldn't / wouldn't look to the left or over the middle. Having Mike Mayer prevented 2022 from being a disaster. No mobility.

Tyler Buchner - Had the arm to make all of the throws, but decision making was flat-out terrible. Having "studied" under Tommy Rees as his QB coach for two years didn't help his development.


Crist, Kizer, and Coan were the only passers who could exploit all areas of the field, and in Crist's case, Kelly's boneheaded playcalling cost him his other knee, making him become a spread-option running QB, instead of using that strong arm of his as a downfield passer.

Maybe Gunner Kiel or Phil Jurkovec could have been more complete packages, but Kelly never gave them a shot.

Maybe did not land Dollar, but could JJ Jr be next?

WR recruiting has improved.

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