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2011 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	2011
team	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
sport	football
image	Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo.svg
image_size	150px
conference	Independent
short_conf	Independent
record	8–5
head_coach	Brian Kelly
hc_year	2nd
off_coach	Charley Molnar
oc_year	2nd
def_coach	Bob Diaco
dc_year	2nd
off_scheme	Spread
def_scheme	[3–4](3-4-defense)
stadium	Notre Dame Stadium
captain	Harrison Smith
bowl	[Champs Sports Bowl](2011-champs-sports-bowl)
bowl_result	L 14–18 vs. [Florida State](2011-florida-state-seminoles-football-team)

The 2011 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Brian Kelly and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. They compete as an independent. They finished the season 8–5. They were invited to the Champs Sports Bowl where they were defeated by Florida State 18–14.

Preseason

Coaching changes

Kerry Cooks took over the cornerback position after coaching the outside linebackers the previous season. Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, who also coaches the inside linebackers, will coach the entire linebacking corps moving forward. Chuck Martin will focus solely on the safeties, while presumably assuming his role as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Player changes

Departing players

Star tight end Kyle Rudolph chose to forgo his final year of eligibility, and enter the 2011 NFL draft. The Irish also lost a number of important seniors, including four-year starter defensive lineman Ian Williams, linebackers Kerry Neal and Brian Smith, cornerback Darrin Walls, running backs Robert Hughes and Armando Allen, Wide Receiver Duval Kamara, and offensive lineman Matt Romine and Chris Stewart, all to graduation. Redshirt junior quarterback Nate Montana left the program in early February 2011, and transferred to the University of Montana. Junior guard Alex Bullard transferred to his hometown state of Tennessee and will play for the University of Tennessee, citing the desire to be closer to home following the loss of a family member.

Recruiting

With his first full recruiting class, Brian Kelly added 23 prospects to the football team, including the addition of five early-enrollees: defensive end Aaron Lynch, outside linebacker Ishaq Williams, offensive lineman Brad Carrico, quarterback Everett Golson, and kicker Kyle Brindza. | access-date = 2011-07-08

Outlook

Award candidates

The following players were announced to award watch lists prior to the start of the 2011 season:

Braxston Cave – Rimington Trophy
Dayne Crist – Davey O'Brien Award, Maxwell Award
Tyler Eifert – Mackey Award
Michael Floyd – Biletnikoff Award, Maxwell Award
Zack Martin – Outland Trophy
David ruffer – Groza Award
Harrison Smith – Nagurski Award, Thorpe Award
Manti Te'o – Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Lombardi Award, Nagurski Award,
Cierre Wood – Doak Walker Award

Schedule

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Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year at Notre Dame	Alma mater (Year)
Brian Kelly	Head coach	2nd	Assumption (1982)
Bob Diaco	Defensive coordinator/linebackers	2nd	Iowa (1995)
Charley Molnar	Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks	2nd	Lock Haven (1984)
Chuck Martin	Safeties /recruiting coordinator	2nd	Millikin (1990)
Mike Elston	Defensive line / special teams coordinator	2nd	Michigan (1998)
Ed Warinner	Offensive line	2nd	Mount Union (1984)
Mike Denbrock	Tight ends	2nd (second stint)	Grand Valley State (1987)
Tony Alford	Wide receivers	3rd	Colorado State (1992)
Tim Hinton	Running backs	2nd	Wilmington (1982)
Kerry Cooks	Cornerbacks	2nd	Iowa (2000)
Paul Longo	Strength and conditioning	2nd	Wayne State University (1981)

Roster

2011 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
[2011 Notre Dame Fighting Irish roster from the University of Notre Dame Athletic Site](https://web.archive.org/web/20111021052129/http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/nd-m-footbl-mtt.html)

Game summaries

South Florida

Game Captains: Trevor Robinson, Robert Blanton South Bend, IN

Michigan

Game Captain: Zach Martin (Michigan – Notre Dame rivalry game) Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan State

Game Captain: Ethan Johnson (Megaphone Trophy) South Bend, IN

Pittsburgh

Game Captain: Taylor Dever Pittsburgh, PA

Purdue

Game Captain: Tyler Eifert West Lafayette, IN

Air Force

Game Captain: Jonas Gray South Bend, IN

USC

Game Captain: Manti Te'o, Cierre Wood South Bend, IN

Navy

Game Captain: Chris Salvi South Bend, IN

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20111031232640/http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=313020087

Wake Forest

Game Captain: Robert Blanton Winston-Salem, NC

Maryland

Game Captain: Darius Fleming (Shamrock Series) Landover, MD

Despite the game being played only 12 miles from the Maryland campus, both end zones read "Notre Dame" and the majority of the fans in attendance were supporting the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame wore their green jerseys along with large green shamrocks on their side of their gold helmets.

Boston College

South Bend, IN

Stanford

Game Captain: Taylor Dever Stanford, CA

Florida State

Main article: 2011 Champs Sports Bowl

Game Captain: Michael Floyd Orlando, FL Rod Gilmore (Color Analyst) Holly Rowe (Sideline)

Rankings

Awards

National awards

Biletnikoff Award :Michael Floyd (semifinalist)
John Mackey Award :Tyler Eifert (finalist)

All-Americans

Notre Dame Fighting Irish	color=white	border=0}};font-size:88%"	†denotes consensus selection. NCAA recognizes AP, AFCA, FWAA, SN and WCFF 1st teams for consensus selections

References

(2011-02-15). "Nate Montana to transfer from Notre Dame to Montana". usatoday.com.
(2011-01-07). "Notre Dame lineman Alex Bullard transferring to Tennessee after death of father". govolsextra.com.
(2011-07-15). "More Notre Dame Football Players Selected To Preseason Watch Lists". UND.cstv.com.
(2011-07-05). "Trio Of Irish Players Make Maxwell, Bednarik Watch Lists". UND.cstv.com.
(2011-07-06). "Tyler Eifert Named To John Mackey Award Watch List". UND.cstv.com.
(2011-07-08). "Notre Dame Players Littered On Preseason Watch Lists". UND.cstv.com.
(November 26, 2011). "Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Stanford Cardinal Box Score". ESPN.com.
"Notre Dame Football Official Schedule :: Notre Dame Football :: UND.COM :: The Official Site of Notre Dame Athletics".
[http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/090311aab.html "No. 16 Irish Drop Season Opener To USF, 23–20."] UND.com. Retrieved 2011-10-21.
"Notre Dame vs. Purdue - Game Recap - October 1, 2011 - ESPN".
"Maryland vs. Notre Dame - Game Recap - November 12, 2011 - ESPN".
(15 November 2011). "Floyd named Biletnikoff semifinalist". ESPN.com.
"Tyler Eifert Named Finalist For John Mackey Award". und.com.
"Athlon's 2011 College Football All-America Team". athlonsports.com.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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