Rakes Report #207: The holly green, the ivy green, the prettiest picture you've ever seen
~optional musical accompaniment~
Good morning, folks, and happy Christmas week. Wanted to begin by wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and again thanking those who have donated to Christmas Giving. We passed the stretch goal and now have raised more than $8,000 for the Center for the Homeless in South Bend and I cannot express my appreciation enough. While it’s too late for them to arrive for gifts this weekend, a reminder that all proceeds from December TeePublic purchases also go to the CFH, so if you want to plan ahead for next year or grab something for yourself, now is the time. (Free shipping on orders over $80 if you go big.)
Long one with three distinct sections today: First, we’ll have some news and notes with the football team as we sit here on the morning of early signing day. Usually I try to wait until everything is settled but then too much piles up and I’m writing about stuff a month-plus old so we’ll knock out a few things now. Second will be a look at some of the Christmas Giving tributes and the third and final section will be a transcript of my podcast interview with Notre Dame basketball head coach Niele Ivey. Got it? Great. Let’s go.
I) Football news and notes
Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey are skipping the bowl as they prepare for the NFL Draft. If you’re likely to be picked within the first two days of the draft and your team isn’t playing for a national title, that seems like a sensible decision, even if you didn’t set school records at your position as both of these gentlemen did. Thankfully the Gamecocks have attempted to balance things out a bit, with their leading rusher, two tight ends and starters at corner and defensive tackle opting out of the proceedings in Jacksonville. They also lost their offensive coordinator, who took the same job at Nebraska.
After watching exactly one quarter of The Bahamas Bowl last week my enthusiasm for Notre Dame’s postseason game increased quite a bit and I’m really excited to see what Tyler Buchner can do behind an offensive line that’s playing much better than the last time he was able to take a live snap. Tommy Rees has spoken highly of his work in practice so far and Buchner said he’s feeling good. Enjoyed this piece from Matt Freeman at Irish Sports Daily about where Buchner’s head is at, as he attempts to find the silver lining after missing most of the season in focusing on what he learned in the booth. Regardless of how Buchner plays the Irish are going to need to bring in a transfer quarterback, but his quality of production will be inversely proportional to the amount of panic we feel about the addition. Considering how up and down Spencer Rattler has been all season, a great deal of unknowns awaiting us under center next Friday.
Speaking of quarterbacks, Drew Pyne committed to Arizona State. Going from South Bend to Tempe will be quite a culture shock but it’s an interesting situation, with a new offense-first head coach in Kenny Dillingham, some talent at wide receiver and an apparent competition at quarterback* unless promises were made. Whether Pyne exhausts his remaining three years of eligibility in the desert (this doesn’t seem like a bad way to spend one’s early 20s) or gives it a one-year go before transferring to a lower program that would be happy to have him as a sure-fire starter remains to be seen. If he ends up playing, I would love to add the Sun Devils to the top of the Saturday television rotations – good luck to him.
* Arizona State returns a starter who wasn't a big-time recruit and shares a similar stature to Pyne (listed at 5'11", 185 pounds) as well as adding a transfer from BYU who was a low four-star recruit and has slightly more size.
Speaking of transfers, the Irish picked up two more specialists, with kicker Spencer Schrader coming in from South Florida and All-Ivy punter Ben Krimm arriving from Penn. Not that Notre Dame should permanently eschew a focus on undergraduate special teamers, but this seems like a really viable path going forward: You can be a quality college kicker or punter with a narrow or nonexistent path to the NFL, making a Notre Dame graduate degree quite appealing. Any time you’re totally reliant on the transfer portal you risk busting, but this seems like it could be a relatively safe gamble, particularly if coupled with some preferred walk-ons.
As far as non-specialists in the portal, still waiting. The Irish seem in good spot with a couple position players and are shall we say taking their time at quarterback so we’ll have to sort out this mess in the coming weeks. Looking at the college football calendar, having early signing day smack in the middle of peak transfer portal season and the bowls seems less than ideal?
In regards to guys leaving Notre Dame’s program, I expect we will see far more in the wake of the bowl, but right now we’re at Pyne, freshman corner Jayden Bellamy, sophomore tight end Cane Berrong and senior defender Osita Ekwonu. So far all the assistants have stuck, but we saw a lot of movement on that front after the bowl last year, so nothing set in stone. We did get news that Matt Salerno will be returning for his sixth year, a nice piece of depth for a receiver room that should be more robust.
Let’s also wish congratulations to Lance Taylor, who parlayed his time in South Bend and one year at Louisville into the Western Michigan head coaching gig. Chuck Martin remains at the helm at Miami (Ohio) so some quality Irish seasoning in the MAC.
II) Taxonomy of Giving
Earlier this year, I was forcing a friend to discuss the newsletter and they suggested I could do a better job of pointing out some of the very creative GoFundMe messages that come along with Christmas Giving donations here in the newsletter. While I have referenced them here in the past, most of the highlighting came on Twitter. Because many people were not on Twitter, more have left and it’s a barely functioning service at this point*, I wanted to list many of them out here.
* I’ll be going down with the ship, don’t worry.
There were a few that didn’t fit into this system, be they general positivity or compliments or slightly too random so I encourage you to scroll all of them. I also want to stress that no one should feel obliged to leave a comment, the money still goes such a long way toward helping so many people even without. And again I’ll use this opportunity to thank everyone who has given, I know budgets can be tight this time of year and every buck helps.
Offense
Daniel Avants: One for every Buchner passing yard in 2022 so far (to be supplemented following the bowl!)
Michael Daley: $15 to #FreeTobias and $19 for the team's final ranking in the AP Poll. Great things await!
Stephen Raymond: 10 cents for every all-purpose yard Tim Brown had while at ND
Nina Steigerwald: A dollar for each rushing yard against Clemson this year
Zach B: $44 = 54 for yards of first play of season minus 10 for times ND twitter falsely told me the white hoodie would be available
Patrick L: Michael Mayer career receptions (180) + career touchdowns (18)
Patrick Sullivan: Multiplying the touchdowns scored by the offense's two beefiest boys at the skill positions (11 TD for Estime * 9 TD for Mayer = 99), adding the % of Jon Sot's punts downed inside the 20-yardline (49) and then adding the number of rushing TDs from Drew "Dual Threat" Pyne (2)
Patrick McManus: $1 per Matt Salerno receiving yard this year
Jamie Uyeyama: 128, the combined yards after contact for Logan Diggs and Audric Estime in the Clemson game. "That was an ass kicking, period." - Dabo Swinney
Brian Mann: Drew Pyne's completions + completion percentage + passing TD's + rushing TD's. Thank you for saving the season, Drew
First Down Moses: In honor of our two quarterbacks this year, #10 (Drew Pyne) plus #12 (Tyler Buchner), times 10 for the 10/10 upstanding dude that Marcus Freeman is. God bless, and Go Irish!
John Fitter: Michael Mayer receiving yards v BYU ☘️
Michael Tresnowski: $150 for each time a player was reminded to do his job on national TV, and subsequently started doing his job.
Andrew Weymouth: Joe Alt's jersey number (76) + Number of All-American teams (5)
Defense
Dillon Allie: a dollar for every beautiful yard of Benjamin Morrison's pick-6 vs. Clemson.
David Kelly: $265.00; $10 for every sack in our beloved Isaiah Foskey's career, and then $0 for every championship won by Bo Schembechler as coach of Michigan
Leah Miller: 74 tackles by Bertrand + 5 interceptions by BenMo + 7 blocked punts + the approximate number of hugs I gave to folks during the Clemson game
James Laskey: $10 for every sack this season by a NJ native!
Oscar Garcia: Gabriel Rubio had 5 solo tackles x 3 tackles for loss x 6 TFL yards for $90. He also had an additional +10 assisted tackles for a total $100 in honor of Gabriel Rubio!
Michael Bryan: Career tackles (146) and pass break-ups (13) for TaRiq Bracy, one of the best and my favorite guys to watch this year after being written off for a few bad games earlier in his career, what a final chapter at ND
Special Teams
Allison Irish: 7 blocked punts x 5 game streak with a blocked punt.
Patrick Rigney: $75 for Jon Sot's longest punt of the year, a monster 75 yarder vs. Ohio State
Jessica Smetana: 7 for 7 blocked punts in '22 + 5 for Benjamin Morrison interceptions. 75 is also Jon Sot's longest punt yardage of the season.
Michael Dowdall: Blake Gruppe's extra point conversion percentage 100% + Jon Sot's average punt yardage of 43 + 1 Broyles Award stolen from Brian Mason
Basketball
Joe Schueller: An additional $73 for the sad KenPom ranking of NDMBB :-( [ed. note: This has gotten so much worse - we will address in the new year]
Mike Laskey: Olivia Miles’ averages so far this season (16.4/7.1/6.4/2.6)
Elijah Grammer: $21 for Olivia Miles' 21 points to beat Yukon
Sam Werner: 89 for each point Notre Dame scored in its First Four win against Rutgers + 1 for each bottle of Jameson Mike Brey enjoyed on the flight home afterwards
General Notre Dame Things, Wrong Predictions and Trolling
Daniel Hatfield: in honor of the 45th anniversary of the 1977 Green Jersey/Trojan horse game win over USC and our march to the National Championship! $45 for 45 years, $49 for the 49 ND points, and $6 for the ranking difference - ND#11, SC#5. The most enjoyable ND win I ever saw as a student.
Joe Schueller: I wanted to be the one who hit Baby Gronk's total... trying to dream up the next stretch goal!
Michael Dupuis: I've got 99 problems but USC in the playoffs isn't 1 [99 + 1 = 100 #math]
Andrew Smith: $100 to equal unranked ND's % postgame win expectancy vs. the #4 Clemson Dabos
Daniel Schafer: Half of my wedding date. GO IRISH!
Steve Burton: My grandfather, who was a ‘49 grad and the reason I’m a ND fan, spent his adult life as a pediatrician helping those in need, so this is for him.
Tyler James: $10 for every one of my incorrect ND game predictions this season.
Allan Joseph: 1 cent for every time I've been made fun of for publicly picking ND to beat Alabama in 2013 in the pages of The Observer. No regrets.
Christine Becker: 11 Shamrock Series games multiplied by 11 Shamrock Series game wins
Jacob Wenger: $1 for every point in ND's 2022 regular season point differential ☘️ Not as fun as last year's 204, but still fun
Fun Facts About Music, Gambling and Cinema
Joseph Sposato: Runtime of the 1999 cinematic masterpiece The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.
Andrew Pauwels: The rank, according to Acclaimed Music, of Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone? on the list of best songs of the 2000s. Cheers to NDs greatest songwriter, Ted Leo.
Brian Dowdell: $180 = the payout for a $20 bet on the hard eight
III) Niele Ivey interview
This was conducted on Friday, December 9, following Notre Dame’s win over UConn but before they beat Merrimack and earned another Top 10 win in Blacksburg. If you listened to the podcast, there’s nothing new here. (If you want to listen instead of reading, you can do so here.) It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
I would love to start with the big win against UConn. You lose the heartbreaker to Maryland, you have three days to turn it around and face the big rival. What's the message to the team, what's the mood in practice? You're installing new defenses, you're making sure everybody's focused, what was that like?
I talk to the team about this a lot but there's always lessons in losses so we just really had to really focus on the game plan, but also kind of focus on the areas that I felt like we kind of came up short defensively against Maryland. There were a lot of things that we did that were really good, a lot of positive things that we did, but it obviously came down to one last defensive stop, one last defensive possession. And so we really focused on that and focused on making sure even after the game, I didn't want them to hang their heads, I really wanted them to be able to acknowledge what we need to fix, what to work on, and then just really move on to UConn. So that was kind of like my message right after the game and my message for the upcoming days, it was a lot of information because preparing for a team like UConn, you have to scheme, there's so many things you have to be prepared for offensively and defensively. So I thought they did a great job of really staying locked in and really being focused for the game plan.
There were a lot of cool moments during the games, a couple cool moments after the game. You addressed the crowd and you said this was this was one of the reasons you came back to your alma mater. I'm curious, you take the job in April 2020, not the most ideal time for travel or recruiting or really anything. Sweet Sixteen last season, Top 10 so far this year, what did that win mean as far as establishing what this program is going to look like under your leadership?
Honestly, the reason why I even grabbed the mic is I just looked around and knowing this is such a historical moment for me personally, another great moment, big moment for the program. I just wanted to show my appreciation for the crowd, my gratitude for being in this moment. It's something I dreamt of, something that I would say that I manifested, like I always visualize being in front of a sold out crowd, winning a really big game, obviously it just happened to be UConn, but just being a part of that moment just was really overwhelming for me. I was so excited, so happy.
I said there's a reason why I came back is because I want the team to experience what I experienced. Our first sell out when I played was in 2001, January 15, and we beat UConn for the first time. And so me coming back I just want them to experience those type of moments, those types of historical wins and be etching themselves in history books and for it to happen in year three is just such a blessing, but it's a credit to my staff. It's a credit to this amazing group of women, that I get a chance to coach every day and also, you know, the support of the community and Notre Dame.
Are there any plays from the game that are going to particularly stick with you when you think back on it?
There are so many moments. I think Olivia Miles had so many electrifying moments in transition. She played so well, but there's a couple of moments of transition where she just either got the steal or just went coast to coast. There was one right before a timeout I think it was in the fourth quarter that really electrified the crowd. Dara Mabrey hit a three. Sonia Citron's layup. Soni had a drive to the right side, got the and-one and had just a fantastic finish. I just think that I'll always remember because of the energy of the moment and how the crowd reacted to the play.
One of the other cool moments after the game, I saw a photo and video of this was as you're walking off the floor you You hugged Muffet McGraw. What is your relationship like with her and has that changed at all since in the last two plus years?
Well, I mean, she's not just my former coach. I look at her as a role model, a mentor and a friend, just having coached under her for 12 years. It was so cool. I knew that she was coming to the game, she shot me a text before and she'd come to practice a couple of weeks prior, right before the season started but she was the first person I saw in the tunnel right when I stepped off the court, it was such a special moment. It's just kind of shows the connection that we have and the support that she's always given me as a player, as a coach, as a mom, and, of course, as you know, taking over this program. She was so excited, so I felt like in that moment. I told her taking over I just want to make her proud and I knew that in that moment, seeing her face that she was proud of me and that was special.
This is a little bit of a windup so I want to apologize, but I just want everybody to understand how unimpeachable your guard credentials are. You were point guard on a national championship team and played professionally. You have coached All-Americans, WNBA Champions, gold medalists and an NBA Rookie of the Year. You have raised a son who was a top five NBA draft pick and is having a heck of a rookie year himself. This is all a preamble set up: How much fun is it the coach Olivia Miles?
It is so fun. She is one of those type of guards, like you mentioned, I've been blessed to been exposed to some great talents, and especially phenomenal point guards and being able to coach her, her being my literally my first recruit. I always tell her, I tell her all the time, like we're always gonna be connected for life because she believed in me, she believed in the vision, and I've had the opportunity to kind of build this program around her. She's just one of a kind. She's a one of a kind of talent. But she's also even a better person off the court, energy is amazing, she's so coachable, she's just so gifted, and she's just a joy to be around.
You mentioned in the UConn postgame press conference how you're just starting to scratch the surface with her. What is the challenge for you as as a coach with a player with these kinds of abilities to try to get her to her peak performance?
Yeah, you know, I'm always challenging her. I watch a lot of film with her, you know, this year, she has a lot of experience under her belt just by being in the fire so I feel like she's still blossoming, which is amazing. I think she still has so much room to continue to grow. And I always just try to be very transparent with her, I try to have a lot of communication with things that I see. We have a great relationship. And so I bounce ideas off of her, I allow her to use her voice, I'm always asking her questions, trying to figure out what she needs to make her feel it's not just me dictating, it's a collaboration between us. And that's what I love about her.
I honestly, I think that the sky's the limit for her, I say it a lot. But like, there's so much, there's so much potential for her to continue growing. And that's what I'm excited about, that she's at this place in her career as a sophomore and she still has so much untapped potential that's still gonna continue to get she'll continue to get better at so many different areas. And she's doing so well right now so it's really exciting for me as a coach.
You noted some of the plays when you were reestablishing the lead against Connecticut, but particularly with Olivia at the helm, what kind of a weapon can the transition game be for this team the rest of the way?
Such a huge weapon. I really have been stressing, trying to score quickly, pushing pace. And she does such a great job because she has such a vision of finding of either getting to the rim herself, getting downhill or just making spectacular plays, making plays easier for teammates. But I think pace is huge. I think when we're going at a fast rate, and we're getting out and running in transition, I think we're really hard to guard and I think that's our strength. So when we're playing that way, we're playing fast. It's definitely to our advantage and she does such a great job of creating that pace for us.
That seems to be her brilliance, there was a great Katie Barnes article on ESPN where she talked about how she was trying to build up her endurance to keep coming so she can push it but it's not reckless though I imagine that's got to be a huge motivator for defense. Hey, if we get a stop or turnover or quick outlet here we're going and this is going to be a lot of fun.
Absolutely. And that's another thing I talked about after Maryland we gave up 17 offensive rebounds, they slowed us down and it was more of a half court game. So I really stress we have to play defense, we have to get stops and we have to rebound in order for us to play the way we want to play. And I felt like that's really what ignited our the game. It was it was our defense. Now obviously we did I thought a good job just scoring, offensively we were playing the way I like to play in our style but all ignited from our defense and that's what really helped Olivia get going. I thought Sonia and K.K. Bransford in particular did a phenomenal job of guarding [UConn star] Azzi Fudd unfortunately before she got hurt. With their shooters, we were denying we were helping, we were really locked in defensively you know, and I felt like that events really helped create the pace that we played with that day.
I want to ask about the Mabrey sisters. You have coached three of them, one is now on your staff. What what have they meant to Notre Dame basketball? I mean I'm very excited for the future of the program but it's very sad to contemplate watching this team without a Mabrey bombing threes and talking trash every game.
[laughing] I know, It's crazy that it's coming to an end. Just a phenomenal family, I'm very close with their family. Was recruiting coordinator with Michaela, bringing the first Mabrey from Jersey, and just the legacy that they've created with all three generations. It's so amazing. It's a sister bond. You know, again, just being able to carry that legacy and that torch for three different generations. It's just really cool and really, really awesome to be a part of it. And they've all made such a positive impact in our program. I have had, you know, I had the opportunity to bring Dara in for my first three years, and I always will remember her as well, because outside of Olivia, she was another, Sonia and Dara were who I brought in my first year. So always have a special place in my heart, but they're just a phenomenal family, they work so hard. And again, they're such as positive, successful family that has really contributed for such a long period of time here at Notre Dame. So I'm really grateful for the entire Mabrey family and the support that they've all given this program and myself.
I'm curious as we approach the start of conference play how you're looking to get your rotation set. You have four players (Miles, Mabrey, Citron, Maddy Westbeld) who played so much on last season's team and then you have new faces, be they transfers, you mentioned KK coming in as a freshman, you have Natalija Marshall who was recovering from an injury last year, She's in the mix now. What's your goal here as you sort of try to figure out what the what the rotation is going to look like going forward into the new year?
I think it's great having a shorter roster, because I feel like I've had a really great opportunity to give pretty much the whole team great opportunities in different areas. You know, we had a couple games where we had a couple of you know, foul trouble, which gave Jenna Brown more opportunity which gave Natalija Marshall more opportunity, also K.K. Bransford. So, in any given given moment, with the versatility that I have, I think it's an opportunity for everyone to make a really positive and strong contribution. It's what I kind of tell the team all the time, you just never know what the opportunity, you never know what the game is gonna unfold, and just staying ready and being ready for any type of endgame adjustments, but I definitely feel like everyone has a vital role communicated on our teams. Just a lot of communication. I'm always kind of telling the team and individually the things that I need the things that I'm looking for and trying to prepare them for every moment.
I want to close just asking a little bit about the NBA draft in June. You were there with your son Jaden, I cannot imagine the level of pride and excitement. But on top of that, it was really cool just watching as there was a Notre Dame women's basketball flavor to the night that you do not normally have during the NBA draft that was referenced to some of the players that influenced him, Arike Ogunbowale sent the video in. What was that experience like to sort of see all your various worlds combined?
Yeah, it was an incredibly magical evening, it was almost like a blur. It was something that I will always remember. But it was just a special moment leading up into that that night, the particular moment where he was drafted. Something that I've watched for years, I've always watched families' lives change and, and dreams come true with these young athletes. And for me to be sitting in that room and listening to my son's name being being called on that stage was something I've always hoped for for him because I know that was something that he wanted and it's just a blessing that you know that the Lord has blessed our family and blessed him in such a magical and powerful way. It was really special also just to see how the night went. I thought Jaden did just a phenomenal job of showing who he was, you know, showed his emotion he showed his passion and his love, but he also paid homage to women's basketball that raised him, for me that raised him, so it was just a special moment and I know that that connected with a lot of people because I got a lot of positive feedback from it. But you know, just to see him on that stage was just a complete blessing, nothing but God.
It was so cool to see. Well, you've got to get going before I let you go I was wondering, I know your Decembers are busy but are there any Christmas traditions movies, songs, what are what are the what are the go-tos in your household?
Well, it's a little different so now I'm just by myself with Jaden has a dog Gigi, so Gigi is with me. So this year Jaden plays on the day after Christmas so I'm going to probably split, be in South Bend and then go up to Detroit and get a chance to kind of see him play and spend time with him on Christmas on something a little bit different because this is my first year with him not coming home, so I have to not have to rearrange my life to get up there. But I'm just big on family you know, Jaden and I always just kind of spending time with with close family and friends, whoever's in the area but I just want to be safe have a safe and healthy Christmas and hopefully get a chance to spend time with Jaden, spend time with you know, my closest relative closest family members. So nothing too much. I don't really cook so hopefully I can find some food somewhere.
I feel like you're gonna manage, I feel like somebody somebody's gonna step up in that regard for you.
I think I might have to have somebody come over and bring food. I'm a homebody so I like being at home
Love it. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on, this is a real honor, we're huge fans. Best of luck the rest of the season. Thank you for your time and for your excellent work with the Irish.
Absolutely. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Happy holidays.
And that’s it! I assume this has to be the longest newsletter we’ve ever done, but over three thousand words of that was a transcription so relatively easy lifting considering. If you’ve made it this far, bless you, and have an extra awesome Christmas. With the bowl game falling on Friday, the review will come Monday. Here’s the link for Christmas Giving one final time, and one for the shirts. I’ll leave you with the final two paragraphs of “A Christmas Carol,” because it’s so important to remember that Gonzo isn’t embellishing the narration at the end but simply emphasizing what Dickens wrote in the original text.
Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!