sports

Football: New boss, new job? No problem

By The Observer · Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010

Tony Alford may have a different post on the new Notre Dame staff, but some things will never change. "I'm going to yell at [Armando Allen] every day," he said. "Armando will never get too far away." Alford, the only constant from the staff of former coach Charlie Weis, has spent all 15 years of his coaching career teaching running backs. However, he will move to wide receivers coach this season. "When you take a coach that's only coached that position, he becomes almost a specialist in one area," Irish coach Brian Kelly said at a press conference Friday. "I don't want specialists. I want great teachers and great educators that can communicate across the board." Alford admitted that he will have some studying to do in order to make a successful switch. However, he said his approach is no different from before. "You roll your sleeves up and you go to work," he said. "I like to pride myself and think I'm a good teacher. I want to lead the men the right way. At the end of the day it still comes out to working hard, putting in a good day's work." Weis hired Alford as running backs coach in 2009 after he had spent two years in that position at Louisville. Before that, he had also coached running backs at Iowa State, Washington, Kent State and Mount Union. The Kent, Ohio, native had a previous relationship with Kelly when one of Alford's relatives played for Kelly at Grand Valley State. Thus, he said, it was easy for him to agree to stay at Notre Dame. "When [Kelly] got the job, he gave me a call and said are you interested in staying, and of course I said yes," Alford said. He said he thinks his relationship with the current players will help as the new staff begins its work. "I think that will bode well as far as the players knowing who I am, as far as expectations," he said. "For the most part it's just about having a previous relationship with the players already in place and kind of going from there." The decision to switch to coaching wide receivers was more difficult than the decision to stay with the Irish, Alford said. But he believed it to be the right one for himself and for the team. "I didn't know what to say [when Kelly asked]," Alford said. "I thought it over, talked to some people who are very close to me … and I think it's in my best interest. Professionally and selfishly, I think it's a good move. It will expand my knowledge base and résumé, if you will, for the things I want to accomplish in my career. "At the same time, I believe that if Coach Kelly didn't believe this would be in the best interest of the football team, he wouldn't do it." In his time at Notre Dame Alford has also had a hand in recruiting, something Kelly emphasized as one of Alford's strengths. For the Class of 2010, he has recruited four-star running back commitment Giovanni Bernard, four-star defensive tackle commitment Louis Nix and four-star wide receiver and early enrollee Tai-ler Jones, among others. "He understands what it takes from my end to recruit," Kelly said. "He's a tireless recruiter, outstanding in the homes … he does a terrific job." Though Alford is excited about the amount of talent he will have to work with when he begins coaching the wide receivers, he said he has not looked far ahead. "I've been busy recruiting, and trying to finalize this class," he said. "That's kind of been the focus at this juncture." However, he said he already knows his main responsibility to star receiver Michael Floyd. "Just don't screw him up," he said.

Fencing: Fencers begin competition

By The Observer · Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010

After months of tireless practice and anticipation, the Irish look to make a statement to the fencing world with the start of intercollegiate play this weekend in New York City. In spite of stiff competition the Irish are confident that they can meet and hopefully exceed the lofty standards set by previous squads. Under the leadership of head coach Janusz Bednarski — former coach of the Polish Olympic team — they have won two NCAA titles since 2003 and have been the defending runner up in team competition for the last two years, second only to Penn State. In a sport that often doesn't receive the level of exposure as the likes of football and basketball, the Irish have a reputation in the fencing world as a consistently dominant program, boasting two former Olympians — senior Kelly Hurley on the women's team and sophomore Gerek Meinhardt on the men's. Others who have a presence in the world cup circuit include juniors Zach Avery and Barron Nydam, forces to be reckoned with in the men's saber, plus sophomore Courtney Hurley with four gold medals in the women's junior category. In addition to the aforementioned, Bednarski is thrilled with other members of the team, freshman and veteran alike, who have stepped up throughout the year. "Hayley Reese in womens foil will be showing up [this weekend], her silver medal in the last national championship was not an accident, she is growing as an athlete," Bednarski said. "We have some new freshmen who are very talented such as James Kaull and Jason Choy in sabre and Enzo Castellani." However, the tide may have already turned as Irish fencers bested their Nittany Lion rivals in just about every event last weekend in individual competition at the USFA North America qualifier in San Jose, Calif., with six fencers taking top-10 spots compared to just one for Penn State. But don't expect the Irish to rest on their laurels; they feed their drive for success by constant competition within the team, pushing one another to achieve a higher level of talent. Each school is limited to the number of fencers they can send to each competition: five per event for men's and women's for regional finals and only two per event for nationals. "It looks to be an interesting competition not only on the NCAA level but internally here: who will go on to represent us in the finals," Bednarski said, "They have to compete between themselves, not only against others but in practice which is important." It will be a long road to the top, especially since every year the level of competitiveness in the NCAA intensifies as the sport of fencing grows at the collegiate level. "Fencing in an emerging sport, like soccer, it became more and more important for some colleges especially who want to get more individual sports into the program," Bednarski said. For now, the Irish will set their sights on the weekend and use the experience to gauge themselves off of others in order to continue their quest for their first championship since 2005, and continue to be one of the most successful athletic programs at Notre Dame. "It is better to compete as the underdog but we have to look behind us because other teams are so close that there will be a lot of competition," Bednarski said.

Hockey: Golden break for Palmieri

By The Observer · Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010

While most of the Irish were home with family over winter break, one player was skating in the biggest game of his life. Notre Dame wing Kyle Palmieri was a key member of the U.S. World Junior team's magical run to the gold in Saskatchewan, defeating Team Canada in a dramatic 6-5 overtime championship game on Jan. 5. The freshman was one of 11 Division I players on the team and the 13th Irish player in team history to be selected to the U.S. World Junior team. Irish coach Jeff Jackson, who guided the 1997 U.S. World Junior team to a silver medal, expressed his joy for Palmieri's success. "It's a great thrill for all of us to know he was part of a good medal team," Jackson said. "What a great thrill for the rest of your life. You can win a championship, but when you win one for your country, you know the meaning behind it. It's the ultimate team." The tournament marked Palmieri's second opportunity to wear the red, white and blue after being a member of the U.S. National Under-18 team prior to coming to Notre Dame. "It was such a honor to play, and it was incredible to put the U.S. jersey on again," Palmieri said. "It's definitely up there as one of the top moments in my life. I was proud to represent my country and, obviously, to win a gold medal for us." In seven games for the U.S. team, Palmieri finished third on the team in points with eight assists and a goal as the U.S. rolled to a 6-1-0 record. The team's only blemish was a loss in the preliminaries against Canada on New Year's Eve. While the U.S. seized an early lead, Canada rallied en route to a 5-4 shootout win. Palmieri called the game a turning point for his team. "I think after the first few games against Slovakia and Latvia, we kind of knew we could beat those teams as long we played our game," Palmieri said. "We were surprised when we got that early lead and competed the way we did against Canada. I think that really helped our confidence. We knew they were just like us — a bunch of under-20-year-olds." The U.S. team found itself trailing early in the championship, but a goal set up by Palmieri tied the game at 1-1. The Canadians rallied late to bring the game into overtime. However, U.S. defenseman John Carlson's winning slapshot from the left circle silenced the crowd as the U.S. team poured onto the ice in a jubilant 6-5 victory. "It was a surreal moment," Palmieri said. "Playing in Canada, against a team that had five straight golds … we went in there and surprised a lot of people." Jackson gave Palmieri a week off after the tournament before rejoining the team for last weekend's home-and-away series against Michigan State. Palmieri felt the experience would energize him for Notre Dame's push to make ground in the CCHA. "I wanted to start the second half [of the season] strong," Palmieri said. "I had a weak first half in my opinion, and I wanted to bring the energy back from the World Juniors and be productive in the second half." Palmieri and the rest of the Irish will travel to Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., this weekend for a pair of games against conference foe Lake Superior State.

Football: Hinton ready to lead pack of backs

By The Observer · Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010

"You know, he's just a good ol' ball coach." So said Irish head coach Brian Kelly when introducing his new running backs coach Tim Hinton, with whom Kelly has worked since 2007. Hinton is one of nine assistant coaches on the staff, one of five on the offensive side of the ball, and one of four who came to Notre Dame from Cincinnati alongside Kelly. He replaces Tony Alford as running backs coach, who has moved to wide receivers coach. Hinton, a south-central Ohio native, hails from a family of coaching brothers. His brother Ron is one of the winningest active high school coaches in Ohio, long considered one of the most competitive states in the nation. Hinton began his coaching career at Wilmington College, where he started off as a student assistant coach in 1981 before moving to tight ends and wide receivers coaches from 1982-84. He then moved to Ohio State for two years before beginning his head coaching career in the high school ranks. Shortly afterwards, he spent three years at Ohio University before spending more than a decade as head coach at Marion Harding High School in Marion, Ohio, where he enjoyed sustained success. In 2004, Hinton moved to Cincinnati to coach under Mark Dantonio. When Dantonio moved to Michigan State in 2007, Hinton retained his spot on the coaching staff under Kelly, Dantonio's successor. Throughout his coaching career, he has served in such myriad roles as wide receivers, linebackers, defensive line and running backs coach, as well as recruiting coordinator for Cincinnati last year. "The mindset from an offensive standpoint is that we want to be aggressive," Kelly said. "It's not about anything else but scoring points." To that end, Kelly and offensive coordinator Charley Molnar will install the same spread offense they implemented at Cincinnati. The spread does not rely much on a traditional power running back, but rather on a much more versatile back, according to Hinton, who says he will coach and develop three distinct areas of play. "One, it's what God gave you … and that's running the ball," Hinton said. "Every running back wants to carry the ball and will carry the ball, even in the spread offense. Two … their ability to run as a wide receiver and catch the ball. [Three], the area that no one likes to talk about — you better be a great pass protector." To that end, Hinton will recruit running backs based on three characteristics that relate to the three areas identified: explosiveness, catching ability and toughness. Although he says that body type does not necessarily matter, it seems that the running backs of the near future at Notre Dame will look more like Armando Allen than Robert Hughes. In addition to focusing on the pass-catching abilities of the running backs, Hinton will also focus on another major aspect of the spread offense: the read option. An integral part of Molnar's attack, the read option will be new to most of the running backs on the roster; teaching it will be one of Hinton's foremost responsibilities. Hinton has not studied the current running back corps (led by senior Allen, junior Hughes and sophomore Theo Riddick) beyond what he has seen on television due to the frenzy of the recruiting season. "I've told them all, I'm going to give them a clean slate," he said. "I'm not really listening to what people are telling me about every kid, and I'm not going to watch a ton of film." He will, however, utilize now-wide receivers coach Alford, who coached this group previously, especially for motivational purposes. Hinton will also be involved in recruiting, especially in Ohio and Florida, where he has a significant amount of experience. Above all, he is excited to be at Notre Dame and work toward his stated goal of making Kelly the nation's best coach. "This is a great place," he said. "It's a dream come true."