A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 2008 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football | |
|---|---|
 | |
Hawaii Bowl champion | |
Hawaii Bowl, W 49–21 vs. Hawaii | |
| Conference | Independent |
| Record | 7–6 |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Michael Haywood (4th season) |
| Offensive scheme | Pro-style |
| Defensive coordinator | Corwin Brown (2nd season) |
| Base defense | 3–4 |
| Captains |
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| Home stadium | Notre Dame Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Navy | – | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notre Dame | – | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Army | – | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WKU | – | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2008 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Charlie Weis and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. This was Weis's fourth season as Notre Dame's head coach, who entered the season with a 22–15 record, coming off a 3–9 season after posting back-to-back BCS seasons.
The Irish started 4–1, but completed the regular season with a 6–6 record, including a 24–23 loss to Syracuse, the first time that Notre Dame had fallen to an eight-loss team. The combined 15 losses from 2007 to 2008 marks the most losses for any two-year span. Despite speculation the university might fire Weis, it was announced shortly after the conclusion of the regular season that he would remain head coach in 2009.[1] Notre Dame ended the season on a positive note, finally ending their NCAA record nine-game bowl losing streak by beating Hawaii 49–21.[2] In the process, Notre Dame scored its highest point total of the season, its highest point total ever in a bowl game, and broke 8 other bowl records.[2] The bowl win also helped Notre Dame to a 7–6 final record, its 102nd winning season in 120 years of football.[2]
Preseason
Coaching changes
Despite the turmoil of the previous football season, head coach Charlie Weis did not make many changes to the coaching staff. The one major change to the staff was the addition of Jon Tenuta, former defensive coordinator of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, as the new linebackers coach and assistant head coach.[3] Tetuna became responsible for the day-to-day operations of the team with Weis retaining responsibility only for recruiting.[4] Tenuta's addition followed the retirement of Bill Lewis from active coaching.[4] Other changes included reassignment of football duties. Weis announced that he would be turning over control of the offense, including game day play calling, to offensive coordinator Michael Haywood.[5] On defense, Corwin Brown switched from coaching linebackers to coaching defensive backs following Lewis' retirement.[5] Tenuta assumed coaching the linebackers.[5] Finally, citing the poor play on special teams, Weis made Brian Polian the sole special teams coach and announced that he would be helping Polian when needed.[5] The previous year, all coaches had a hand in helping with special teams.
Roster changes
Graduating players
Seniors tight end John Carlson, defensive end Trevor Laws, safety Tom Zbikowski and center John Sullivan were all drafted by NFL teams. Three players that were not drafted quickly signed with NFL teams as free agents following the NFL Draft: linebacker Joe Brockington, long snapper J. J. Jansen and running back Travis Thomas.[6] Quarterbacks Darrin Bragg and Justin Gillett, defensive end Dwight Stephenson Jr., cornerback Ambrose Wooden and punter Geoff Price also graduated and exhausted their remaining eligibility. Notre Dame also had several players who graduated and decided not to apply for a fifth year of eligibility: running back Junior Jabbie, cornerback Leo Ferine and linebacker Anthony Vernaglia.
Transfers
After the end of the spring practice session, sophomore-to-be linebacker Aaron Nagel transferred from Notre Dame to the Northwestern Wildcats.[7] In July, wide receiver D.J. Hord announced he was transferring from Notre Dame to a yet unnamed Division I Football Championship Subdivision school, where he would have two years eligibility remaining.[8] Once a highly touted recruit, injuries had hampered his progress and he left with 2 catches for 7 yards in his Notre Dame career.[8] It was also announced the same day that starting cornerback Darin Walls would not enroll and play football this season for undisclosed personal reasons, but would return the following spring.[8] On August, 15, several days into fall practice, reserve wide receiver Richard Jackson announced he would be leaving Notre Dame for a school closer to his home in Florida.[9]
Recruiting
The Irish added 23 players to its roster with high school recruits. Included in the class were five-star wide receiver recruit Michael Floyd, five-star quarterback recruit Dayne Crist, and five-star defensive lineman Ethan Johnson. Five-star tight end Kyle Rudolph also bolstered a class that included six four star recruits on offense, and nine four star recruits on defense. The class was named No. 2 by both Rivals and Scout. Rivals revised Notre Dame's ranking to No. 1 after factoring in players recruited by other schools that did not enroll with their classmates.[10]
| US college sports recruiting information for 2008 recruits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
| Robert Blanton CB |
Matthews, NC | David W Butler HS | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 176 lb (80 kg) | 4.5 | Jun 20, 2007 |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76
| ||||||
| Braxston Cave C |
Mishawaka, IN | Penn HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 293 lb (133 kg) | 5.09 | Mar 3, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 81
| ||||||
| Lane Clelland OG |
Owings Mills, MD | Mc Donogh HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 267 lb (121 kg) | 4.9 | May 3, 2007 |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79
| ||||||
| Dayne Crist QB |
Sherman Oaks, CA | Notre Dame HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 226 lb (103 kg) | 4.68 | Apr 19, 2007 |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 84
| ||||||
| Sean Cwynar DT |
Woodstock, IL | Marian Central Catholic HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 283.5 lb (128.6 kg) | NA | Mar 6, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79
| ||||||
| Joseph Fauria TE |
Encino, CA | Crespi Carmelite HS | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | 4.75 | Jul 24, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79
| ||||||
| Steve Filer LB |
Chicago, IL | Mount Carmel HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | 4.65 | Apr 21, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 81
| ||||||
| Darius Fleming SLB |
Chicago, IL | St. Rita HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | 4.57 | Apr 21, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 81
| ||||||
| Michael Floyd WR |
St. Paul, MN | Cretin Derham Hall | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 197 lb (89 kg) | 4.55 | Oct 21, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 83
| ||||||
| Michael Golic Jr. OG |
West Hartford, CT | Northwest Catholic HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 263 lb (119 kg) | 5.1 | Feb 19, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79
| ||||||
| John Goodman WR |
Fort Wayne, IN | Bishop Dwenger HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 189 lb (86 kg) | 4.5 | Mar 3, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79
| ||||||
| Jonas Gray RB |
Beverly Hills, MI | Detroit Country Day School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 214 lb (97 kg) | 4.40 | Oct 22, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 82
| ||||||
| Ethan Johnson DE |
Portland, OR | Lincoln HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 265 lb (120 kg) | 4.85 | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=2008_Notre_Dame_Fighting_Irish_football_team|