Great class turns up the heat on Weis
Elite crop of recruits means more pressure on Irish coach to win
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Hiring former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta to replace retired assistant head coach/defense Bill Lewis is another one, and just as significant.
“Jon Tenuta is one of the few assistant coaches who can make an immediate difference in a program,” ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry said. “You saw another one of those in the Super Bowl. His name is Steve Spagnuolo (defensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants).”
But the real difference-maker still must be Weis the rest of this offseason and beyond. He has to blend what makes sense from his past with new ideas -- all into a template that’s foreign to him and outside his Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick comfort zone.
He has to forge his own footprint. And he’ll have to do it without a safety net.
Already in the spotlight
In the coming weeks and months, Michael Floyd will likely separate from the Notre Dame football recruiting pack -- but hardly by his own volition.
Based on a mishmash of conjecture, YouTube footage, drooling recruiting analysts, and the fact the 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver fills a desperate need, Floyd’s reputation will grow exponentially as he simply finishes high school at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul, Minn.
Subsequently, so will the pressure.
"He's an unbelievable athlete," marveled Irish quarterback recruit Dayne Crist, who teamed up with Floyd on the West squad in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio last month. "He's very gifted, very complete, runs great routes. He does all the little things that really separate him from the rest of the pack. Truthfully, I see a lot of Jerry Rice in him. They have similar body types. They catch everything. He's the one guy here who really sticks out to me."
And he’s one guy in Notre Dame's consensus top-three class, unveiled officially Feb. 6, who seems to have the right perspective to handle early pressure.
Working hard to realize a dream
As the youngest of five children in a single-parent home, Floyd is used to deferring the flashy things in life but not his dreams. Football is a small slice of those. His 59 catches for 1,247 yards and 17 TDs last season at Cretin-Derham Hall, 497 rushing yards on 43 carries, and his 23.3-yard average on punt returns suggest why CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming has him ranked as the No. 12 prospect at any position nationally, but they don't define him. Nor does his 24.3 points-per-game average for the 14-2 Raiders basketball team.
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"What makes me strong, what makes me who I am are things like a service trip I went on over spring break last year to Venezuela," he said. "The part we went to, those people didn't have anything, but they smile all the time. I mean, looking at that made me not want to take anything for granted. It made me feel blessed with what I've got."
So did the talks with his mom, Theresa Romero, about how her lack of appreciation for education at her son's age came back to bite her later in life. Like when Floyd wanted to attend Cretin-Derham Hall, but the tuition fees were so daunting she initially was reduced to tears.
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Together, though, they pulled it off. Floyd did his part, funneling his wages from a part-time job into his tuition bill.
"I like to be pushed," Floyd said.
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