4 ND Football Players Dismissed From Team

Submitted by EconClassof14 on

Kevin Stepherson - Jr. WR: Was a starter and very talented player, previously suspended 5 games this past season

Deon McIntosh - So RB - Figured to challenge for the starting RB role after Josh Adam's NFL departure. ND now only has 3 scholarship RBs on the roster. 
 CJ Holmes - So RB 
Brandon Tiassum - JR DT - not expected to be in the DL rotation 
 
Tough news for the our 1st opponent of the year, but ND does deserve some credit for holding their players to a higher standard than schools down south. 

https://247sports.com/college/notre-dame/Article/Brian-Kelly-dismisses-…

tspoon

January 17th, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^

Wimbush struggled so much down the stretch (once teams realized he really was that terrible at passing) that he got benched in their bowl game.  His replacement (Ian Book) is a very good passer ... he came in and led them to victory over LSU.  He's also not a statue ... not Wimbush, but certainly a reasonable threat to run.

Officially they will have a QB competition in Spring and Fall, but I think the Domers expect Book to start and Wimbush to be the backup.

 

 

DrMantisToboggan

January 17th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^

I'm not too worried about their offense in general, with a chunk of their line, St. Brown, Adams, and Smythe gone, plus the possibility of a new coordinator, I would expect our defense to dominate the day. Stepherson is a big loss because that is someone that they could have used to attack our safeties from the slot and theoretically could have taken the top off our defense. However, as tspoon said, Wimbush had been replaced by Book, who is a better passer. I still don't think they'll be able to stack up with our front 7 and 2 elite corners, however. Our offense just has to show up.

skegemogpoint

January 16th, 2018 at 10:13 PM ^

3 of those guys wouldn't have had much an impact anyway. Maybe
Stephenson would've. The fact that Tillery Coney and Tranquill all decided to forego NFL and return to ND is much bigger news and means their defense will be very good.

The Fan in Fargo

January 17th, 2018 at 12:48 AM ^

Notre Dame deserves zero credit. They are Michigan's little brother in the arena of football. The majority of Indiana residents I've talked to don't even like the school. That goes for the majority of the state from what I understand now days. The only reason they've ever had a national audience is because of their catholic beliefs. The majority of their fans are from the bible belts of the country who know of no one else to be a fan of over the past 60 years except for the team that prays to and acknowledges the lord. They played that card well, it's all they've ever had going for them. I believe in a higher power and I'm Catholic, I sure as hell am not going to pull for a bunch of arrogant dipshit pricks though.

Perkis-Size Me

January 17th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^

I dislike ND, and I dislike even more that Manuel dropped an SEC home-and-home to put these guys back on the schedule. But I do commend them for standing behind their values and booting punks off the team who do not deserve to be there. They really do hold their players to a higher standard than most other programs. 

uferfan

January 17th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^

They should animate Touchdown Jesus and put orange traffic controller iights in his hands to direct all of these guys from the campus out toward the front entrance.

pdgoblue25

January 17th, 2018 at 9:35 AM ^

I don't get the attitude in this thread though.  Kelly is an asshole, but didn't he do the right thing? 

Would it be better if instead he tried to keep these kids on the team?

lhglrkwg

January 17th, 2018 at 9:49 AM ^

I don't think I'm holding a stone in my glass house here, but it sure seems like MSU and ND have suspended and/or dismissed a ton of guys for disciplinary reasons in the last few years while things seem quiet in A2. Who have we dismissed for disciplinary reasons? Brian Cole, LTT, probably some other guys I'm forgetting, but most of those seem like one-offs whereas ND and MSU seem to have broader issues with program control