2024 College Football Thread: Ohio State advances to play unbeaten hypothetical SEC team (1 Viewer)

[Chadstroma]

ND is going to be a force again next year. They have a lot of starters staying and a lot of players coming back from injury. I am interested to see how they spend that $20 million they got that they don't have to share with a conference. That and the culture Freeman has built along with the success of this year should pull some transfer portal talent on top of a solid recruiting class.

What do you think about Chad Bowden leaving for USC? He seemed super successful at getting the most out of ND’s NIL dollars (a budget much less than their peers as I understand it).

USC offered him a million a year from his $250K a year at ND. ND could have matched it but decided against it.

 

[Chadstroma]

Chris Ash expected to be hired to be ND's DC.

Also...

Four-Star IOL Tyler Merrill has Committed to Notre Dame,
The 6’5 320 IOL from Mechanicsburg, PA chose the Fighting Irish over Alabama, Clemson, & Penn State

In related news, Pat Coogan, IOL transferring out of ND to Indiana. A big part of the push to the National Championship game and huge locker room presence. He was slated to be pushed back to a reserve role. Big gain for Indiana.

 

[bigbottom]

ND is going to be a force again next year. They have a lot of starters staying and a lot of players coming back from injury. I am interested to see how they spend that $20 million they got that they don't have to share with a conference. That and the culture Freeman has built along with the success of this year should pull some transfer portal talent on top of a solid recruiting class.

What do you think about Chad Bowden leaving for USC? He seemed super successful at getting the most out of ND’s NIL dollars (a budget much less than their peers as I understand it).

USC offered him a million a year from his $250K a year at ND. ND could have matched it but decided against it.

Yeah, I heard triple the salary. Easy to understand the move. (Also no more South Bend winters.)

USC/Bowden also hired away Notre Dame’s Director of Player Personnel and Illinois’ Director of Player Personnel.

With dramatic NIL improvements, a new GM, an improved recruiting department, and one of the best coaching staffs in college, Riley is pretty much out of excuses. If he doesn’t make the playoffs in the next two years, his goose is cooked and his career prospects may be irreparably damaged.

 

[Instinctive]

ND is going to be a force again next year. They have a lot of starters staying and a lot of players coming back from injury. I am interested to see how they spend that $20 million they got that they don't have to share with a conference. That and the culture Freeman has built along with the success of this year should pull some transfer portal talent on top of a solid recruiting class.

What do you think about Chad Bowden leaving for USC? He seemed super successful at getting the most out of ND’s NIL dollars (a budget much less than their peers as I understand it).

USC offered him a million a year from his $250K a year at ND. ND could have matched it but decided against it.

Yeah, I heard triple the salary. Easy to understand the move. (Also no more South Bend winters.)

USC/Bowden also hired away Notre Dame’s Director of Player Personnel and Illinois’ Director of Player Personnel.

With dramatic NIL improvements, a new GM, an improved recruiting department, and one of the best coaching staffs in college, Riley is pretty much out of excuses. If he doesn’t make the playoffs in the next two years, his goose is cooked and his career prospects may be irreparably damaged.

To be fair, he's a victim of the Peter principle.

He's an outstanding, like potentially best ever offensive coordinator. But he's been promoted to the level of his incompetence as a head coach. IMO.

 

[bigbottom]

ND is going to be a force again next year. They have a lot of starters staying and a lot of players coming back from injury. I am interested to see how they spend that $20 million they got that they don't have to share with a conference. That and the culture Freeman has built along with the success of this year should pull some transfer portal talent on top of a solid recruiting class.

What do you think about Chad Bowden leaving for USC? He seemed super successful at getting the most out of ND’s NIL dollars (a budget much less than their peers as I understand it).

USC offered him a million a year from his $250K a year at ND. ND could have matched it but decided against it.

Yeah, I heard triple the salary. Easy to understand the move. (Also no more South Bend winters.)

USC/Bowden also hired away Notre Dame’s Director of Player Personnel and Illinois’ Director of Player Personnel.

With dramatic NIL improvements, a new GM, an improved recruiting department, and one of the best coaching staffs in college, Riley is pretty much out of excuses. If he doesn’t make the playoffs in the next two years, his goose is cooked and his career prospects may be irreparably damaged.

To be fair, he's a victim of the Peter principle.

He's an outstanding, like potentially best ever offensive coordinator. But he's been promoted to the level of his incompetence as a head coach. IMO.

Time will tell, but seems very possible you are correct.

 

[Instinctive]

ND is going to be a force again next year. They have a lot of starters staying and a lot of players coming back from injury. I am interested to see how they spend that $20 million they got that they don't have to share with a conference. That and the culture Freeman has built along with the success of this year should pull some transfer portal talent on top of a solid recruiting class.

What do you think about Chad Bowden leaving for USC? He seemed super successful at getting the most out of ND’s NIL dollars (a budget much less than their peers as I understand it).

USC offered him a million a year from his $250K a year at ND. ND could have matched it but decided against it.

Yeah, I heard triple the salary. Easy to understand the move. (Also no more South Bend winters.)

USC/Bowden also hired away Notre Dame’s Director of Player Personnel and Illinois’ Director of Player Personnel.

With dramatic NIL improvements, a new GM, an improved recruiting department, and one of the best coaching staffs in college, Riley is pretty much out of excuses. If he doesn’t make the playoffs in the next two years, his goose is cooked and his career prospects may be irreparably damaged.

To be fair, he's a victim of the Peter principle.

He's an outstanding, like potentially best ever offensive coordinator. But he's been promoted to the level of his incompetence as a head coach. IMO.

Time will tell, but seems very possible you are correct.

Yeah I mean I watched it happen for five or so years at OU. His game management is awful. He can't recruit anything but QB WR RB which is great and all but defense and lines matter.

 

[bigbottom]

ND is going to be a force again next year. They have a lot of starters staying and a lot of players coming back from injury. I am interested to see how they spend that $20 million they got that they don't have to share with a conference. That and the culture Freeman has built along with the success of this year should pull some transfer portal talent on top of a solid recruiting class.

What do you think about Chad Bowden leaving for USC? He seemed super successful at getting the most out of ND’s NIL dollars (a budget much less than their peers as I understand it).

USC offered him a million a year from his $250K a year at ND. ND could have matched it but decided against it.

Yeah, I heard triple the salary. Easy to understand the move. (Also no more South Bend winters.)

USC/Bowden also hired away Notre Dame’s Director of Player Personnel and Illinois’ Director of Player Personnel.

With dramatic NIL improvements, a new GM, an improved recruiting department, and one of the best coaching staffs in college, Riley is pretty much out of excuses. If he doesn’t make the playoffs in the next two years, his goose is cooked and his career prospects may be irreparably damaged.

To be fair, he's a victim of the Peter principle.

He's an outstanding, like potentially best ever offensive coordinator. But he's been promoted to the level of his incompetence as a head coach. IMO.

Time will tell, but seems very possible you are correct.

Yeah I mean I watched it happen for five or so years at OU. His game management is awful. He can't recruit anything but QB WR RB which is great and all but defense and lines matter.

Yeah, game management continues to be putrid for sure.

 

[Zeppelin]

As a Michigan fan, I am happy that Ryan Day will be back.

Even better, they hired Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator!

 

[Chadstroma]

Notre Dame football goes to the NFL and has found its next General Manager​

Story by Michael Chen , Fighting Irish Wire

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman wants the best in South Bend and he has done that by going to the NFL to find his next general manager, Mike Martin.

The Irish tried to lure away Texas Tech’s James Blanchard, but he opted to stay in Lubbock. While Freeman didn’t get his first choice, his next in Martin should be viewed as a home run hire.

If you haven’t noticed, the Detroit Lions have been one of the best teams in the NFL over the past few season, a big reason for that has been Martin’s ability to construct a roster. He will bring over an NFL mentality to South Bend, one that will surely pay big dividends as the Irish try and break its long title drought.

Martin brings a ton of NFL experience with him, as his four years in Detroit was after an 11-year stint with the Houston Texas, and four years before that with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He started as an intern with the Tennessee Titans after his playing career at Vanderbilt concluded in 2002.

Freeman has once again went out and not only filled a hole on his staff, has improved on it as well.

 

[Capella]

FSU and Clemson settled with the ACC. Apparently at least 15M more a year for both and the buyout to leave the acc after 2030 drops to 100M. It’s said to be 500M presently. That’s when the Big 10 tv deals can be re-negotiated.

 

[Chadstroma]

Chad Bowden hired away the ND Director of Player Personnel

https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-chad-bowden-usc-nabbing-zaire-turner-away-from-notre-dame

 

[Chadstroma]

FSU and Clemson settled with the ACC. Apparently at least 15M more a year for both and the buyout to leave the acc after 2030 drops to 100M. It’s said to be 500M presently. That’s when the Big 10 tv deals can be re-negotiated.

If they leave, that has got to set off another set of domino's all over the country. Is the ACC at risk of ending up like the Pac-12?

 

[Sparky Polastri]

FSU and Clemson settled with the ACC. Apparently at least 15M more a year for both and the buyout to leave the acc after 2030 drops to 100M. It’s said to be 500M presently. That’s when the Big 10 tv deals can be re-negotiated.

If they leave, that has got to set off another set of domino's all over the country. Is the ACC at risk of ending up like the Pac-12?

More like the B12. I don't know about the dominos to follow. The SEC and B1G seem to have everything they want now.

 

[Chadstroma]

Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role​

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

 

[bigbottom]

Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role​

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

Losing Bowden is seeming to be more of a blow than originally thought. Maybe the new staff can right the ship, but Trent Mosley committing to USC when he is a double ND legacy (dad played for Lou Holtz and mom was female soccer player of the year) was a bit of a surprise. Trent is committing to ND if Bowden is still there I think. That said, it’s Notre Dame, so they’ll be just fine in the long run. And who knows, Mosley could change his mind, along with others that ND have been after.

 

[Chadstroma]

Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role​

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

Losing Bowden is seeming to be more of a blow than originally thought. Maybe the new staff can right the ship, but Trent Mosley committing to USC when he is a double ND legacy (dad played for Lou Holtz and mom was female soccer player of the year) was a bit of a surprise. Trent is committing to ND if Bowden is still there I think. That said, it’s Notre Dame, so they’ll be just fine in the long run. And who knows, Mosley could change his mind, along with others that ND have been after.

I mean, a whole lot of players go elsewhere than their legacy school. Are you basing his decision on something reported or just a guess based on Bowden going to USC and him being a legacy?

But 100% it hurt and 100% they will be ok. Freeman's star is rising and having a marquee HC holds a ton of weight in drawing top talent. Plus, the new GM needs to learn the recruiting side but he is likely much stronger, or at least more experienced, in all other aspects of the job where I think most school's GM's are still learning. NIL has turned the GM role much more like a pro team than it use to be almost all about recruiting.

 

[bigbottom]

Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role​

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

Losing Bowden is seeming to be more of a blow than originally thought. Maybe the new staff can right the ship, but Trent Mosley committing to USC when he is a double ND legacy (dad played for Lou Holtz and mom was female soccer player of the year) was a bit of a surprise. Trent is committing to ND if Bowden is still there I think. That said, it’s Notre Dame, so they’ll be just fine in the long run. And who knows, Mosley could change his mind, along with others that ND have been after.

I mean, a whole lot of players go elsewhere than their legacy school. Are you basing his decision on something reported or just a guess based on Bowden going to USC and him being a legacy?

But 100% it hurt and 100% they will be ok. Freeman's star is rising and having a marquee HC holds a ton of weight in drawing top talent. Plus, the new GM needs to learn the recruiting side but he is likely much stronger, or at least more experienced, in all other aspects of the job where I think most school's GM's are still learning. NIL has turned the GM role much more like a pro team than it use to be almost all about recruiting.

I’m basing it on Bowden’s reported track record of success in recruiting blue chippers to ND from the GM spot, including California kids like Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa that USC was all in on. Notre Dame was winning all those battles with Bowden largely credited for the effort. I think shoring up So Cal recruiting is precisely the reason they went and got Bowden (by tripling his salary). When ND didn’t appear to even try to retain Bowden, I figured USC was overpaying for someone who wasn’t a difference maker. But now USC for the first time in a decade is absolutely killing it in SoCal recruiting, including a double ND legacy who everyone expected to go to ND. Things may very well equalize over time (USC could easily lose their current 2026 commits) but at least at the moment it’s hard to argue with the results. Bowden and his handpicked team (grabbing talent from other front offices including additional folks at ND) may not be solely responsible for the current success, but their fingerprints are all over it.

 

[bigbottom]

Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role​

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

Losing Bowden is seeming to be more of a blow than originally thought. Maybe the new staff can right the ship, but Trent Mosley committing to USC when he is a double ND legacy (dad played for Lou Holtz and mom was female soccer player of the year) was a bit of a surprise. Trent is committing to ND if Bowden is still there I think. That said, it’s Notre Dame, so they’ll be just fine in the long run. And who knows, Mosley could change his mind, along with others that ND have been after.

I mean, a whole lot of players go elsewhere than their legacy school. Are you basing his decision on something reported or just a guess based on Bowden going to USC and him being a legacy?

But 100% it hurt and 100% they will be ok. Freeman's star is rising and having a marquee HC holds a ton of weight in drawing top talent. Plus, the new GM needs to learn the recruiting side but he is likely much stronger, or at least more experienced, in all other aspects of the job where I think most school's GM's are still learning. NIL has turned the GM role much more like a pro team than it use to be almost all about recruiting.

Yeah, Freeman combined with the ND cachet will be more than enough for continued recruiting success. But Bowden really seems like a star. Given what has happened during his very short tenure at USC, I am now a believer. But if Riley craps the bed again with another mediocre season, it will be really hard to keep those 2026 commits.

 

[Chadstroma]

Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role​

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

Losing Bowden is seeming to be more of a blow than originally thought. Maybe the new staff can right the ship, but Trent Mosley committing to USC when he is a double ND legacy (dad played for Lou Holtz and mom was female soccer player of the year) was a bit of a surprise. Trent is committing to ND if Bowden is still there I think. That said, it’s Notre Dame, so they’ll be just fine in the long run. And who knows, Mosley could change his mind, along with others that ND have been after.

I mean, a whole lot of players go elsewhere than their legacy school. Are you basing his decision on something reported or just a guess based on Bowden going to USC and him being a legacy?

But 100% it hurt and 100% they will be ok. Freeman's star is rising and having a marquee HC holds a ton of weight in drawing top talent. Plus, the new GM needs to learn the recruiting side but he is likely much stronger, or at least more experienced, in all other aspects of the job where I think most school's GM's are still learning. NIL has turned the GM role much more like a pro team than it use to be almost all about recruiting.

Yeah, Freeman combined with the ND cachet will be more than enough for continued recruiting success. But Bowden really seems like a star. Given what has happened during his very short tenure at USC, I am now a believer. But if Riley craps the bed again with another mediocre season, it will be really hard to keep those 2026 commits.

That is the thing that gives me pause to give him credit... he has been there for what? 2 months? You are telling me that some young kid is making a decision on where they want to go with only a short amount of contact with him and his staff? And from what I have heard his strength was more transfer portal than HS recruiting.

I am not saying he wasn't involved and maybe he helped get it over the finish line at the end but it is hard for me to think wins like that are his doing.

USC paid him three times what ND did. I think it came down to resources. ND wanted to put that money elsewhere in the program.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Former UM QB Coach/Co-OC Matt Weiss Indicted

https://x.com/realtonygarcia/status/1902784804938010722?s=46

https://x.com/wxyzdetroit/status/1902787803315884359?s=46

 

[Peak]

Former UM QB Coach/Co-OC Matt Weiss Indicted

https://x.com/realtonygarcia/status/1902784804938010722?s=46

https://x.com/wxyzdetroit/status/1902787803315884359?s=46

I thought we would've heard from NCAA on Cheating scandal punishments before this came out. But I guess dominoes are starting to fall.

 

[Peak]

If anyone's interested, here's a link to the full indictment for Matt Weiss. The full scope is listed as 2015 to January of 2023, accessing accounts of more than 3,300 individuals. Weiss "kept notes on individuals whose photographs and videos", had "notes commenting on their bodies and their sexual preferences", "obtained access to [Keffer Development Services databases] through compromising the passwords of accounts with elevated levels of access such as the accounts of trainers and ADs", "downloaded [encrypted passwords]", and "cracked the encryption protecting the passwords through open source research".

It calls out that he targeted females, but also athletes across multiple universities and schools nationwide. This wasn't just with UM, but also during his time with the Ravens. Yet, UM said he was fired for not attending a meeting to discuss his computer habits. It's actions like this that have the phrase "lack of institutional control" following UM lately. You have Weiss (PC Crimes), Stallions (Cheating Scandal), and Yood (Soliciting a minor) , all working under Harbaugh's watch/tenure at UM.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

If anyone's interested, here's a link to the full indictment for Matt Weiss. The full scope is listed as 2015 to January of 2023, accessing accounts of more than 3,300 individuals. Weiss "kept notes on individuals whose photographs and videos", had "notes commenting on their bodies and their sexual preferences", "obtained access to [Keffer Development Services databases] through compromising the passwords of accounts with elevated levels of access such as the accounts of trainers and ADs", "downloaded [encrypted passwords]", and "cracked the encryption protecting the passwords through open source research".

It calls out that he targeted females, but also athletes across multiple universities and schools nationwide. This wasn't just with UM, but also during his time with the Ravens. Yet, UM said he was fired for not attending a meeting to discuss his computer habits. It's actions like this that have the phrase "lack of institutional control" following UM lately. You have Weiss (PC Crimes), Stallions (Cheating Scandal), and Yood (Soliciting a minor) , all working under Harbaugh's watch/tenure at UM.

It goes with the program .

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

2 former UM athletes sue ex-Michigan coordinator, accuse him of stealing 'intimate' photos

 

[Sparky Polastri]

Some of the NOA has started to leak out. There is rumblings that the entire document will come out prior to Saturday's games. Information that has been shared thus far:

This entire investigation - both the computer access crimes and the impermissible advanced scouting scheme - began with "unprofessional and inappropriate conduct" by Matt Weiss inside the football facility. Based on witnessed behavior, Weiss' university-owned devices were seized and he was put on leave.

University IT brought in a cybersecurity firm to gain access to Weiss' encrypted devices.

Objectionable content discovered falls into two categories:

- Sexual content: including content stolen from the iClouds of UM students as well as pornographic images of unknown origins. This piece was handed over to the FBI, and there is an ongoing investigation into Weiss. However, it was noted that all students were over the age of 18.

- Football content: Evidence of an advanced video scouting scheme, video recordings of opponents' sidelines, mockups of opponents playsheets, and a spreadsheet schedule of games to be scouted, including assignments and logistics details.

Each of these two "buckets" of content were referred to separate legal firms at the behest of UM to determine next steps.

At some point, a third firm became involved and obtained much of the same advanced scouting scheme evidence as discovered by the UM-contracted firm, but also went on to "close the loop" with irrefutable evidence of tickets being purchased, assignments made, games filmed, video materials prepared and uploaded, and ultimately the scouting videos and ancillary materials being accessed by UM coaches. This group is the one that sent investigators into games knowingly being scouted to gather video evidence of the UM operatives. This firm notified the NCAA of its findings.

This specific loop is laid out step-by-step in the NOA: /game scheduled/ > /tickets purchased and assigned/ >/ game scouted, operatives photographed at venue by investigators/ > /video scouting and game materials prepared and uploaded/ > /video materials accessed by multiple members of UM coaching staff/.

The NOA also alleges that UM knew of the advanced scouting scheme as first uncovered by university IT and the cybersecurity firm they hired to get into Weiss' devices. Despite this awareness UM administration did not notify the NCAA, nor did they make any necessary personnel changes "to uphold their responsibility of integrity to the Big Ten conference and the NCAA" (quoting a source's paraphrasing here, for clarity's sake).

Based on the NCAA and NOA providing all of their evidence to UoM, it explains Warde's change of direction from "We're going to fight" to "if we do do things against the rules that we know are against the rules, we need to admit it and move forward and deal with it." during his interview yesterday. As AD, he's seen the NOA and knows what the NCAA has as far as lack of institutional control. This has moved beyond Harbaugh and a rogue staffer into something that is going to impact the institution itself.

The conspiracy theory was half right eh? By all accounts Weiss is a degenerate. They were right to ####can him. Just not because he was cheating as told us by all those preparing for the "hammer" to drop. Should be happening any day now.