Hello Zips fans, I am a Notre Dame fan who has followed the careers of each of these guys listed. I would like to chime in with my 0.02.
While at ND, Ianello was an amazing recruiter. He was also the WRs coach who helped develop some of the best WRs to ever play at Notre Dame. I think he deserves a bit of a leash.
The list of players rumored to possibly transfer to Akron have some very good potential. These guys are not failures who never saw the field because they couldn't play; many of them were recruited for a system that doesn't fit their style, and thus were pushed aside for players who were more in profile.
When Brian Kelly took over as Head Coach, the offense went from pro-style to spread-no huddle, and the defense switched from 4-3, to 3-4.
I'll give you a quick background/history on each of these players:
Dayne Crist was a 5-star QB
The best player, with the most upside out of the entire bunch here. Two major knee injuries have sapped his mobility. He has a cannon for an arm, and has prototypical size and tools for a pro style offense. He is way more talented than anybody on NDs QB depth chart, but he has problems with short routes and accuracy eludes him at times. Unfortunately, these two areas of 'weakness' can make or break a QB in Kelly's version of the spread. Most people at ND believe he should have never lost his job to the much less physically talented Tommy Rees.
Anthony McDonald was a 4-star LB
Was 1 of 2 starting ILBs last season beating out a plethora of other 4 star LBs in camp and lost his job to injury right before the '10 season started. Since then, he's been passed up by younger more healthier players. He may be banged up, but there's some real upside here. He's not some scrub who has been buried on the depth chart his entire career.
Dan McCarthy was a 4-star DB
Hasn't really seen the field due to injuries. He's a good team/locker room guy though based on various reports over the years.
Deion Walker was a 4-star WR
Two coaching staffs have pretty much ignored Walker. He's gotten very little playing time and has been to date one of the teams biggest busts in terms of the type of hype he got coming out of HS, to actual performance on the field. He was highly rated out of HS because of his athletic prowess, but none of that has materialized into football production for Notre Dame.
Brandon Newman was a 4-star DT
Many looked at Newman as a potential impact player once he physically matured. But once Brian Kelly was hired in '09, Kelly brought with him a defensive philosophy that put Newman on the outside looking in. Kelly likes tall interior defensive lineman (6'3 to 6'6), Newman is closer to 5'11 than his listed 6'1 on recruiting sites. This simply wasn't a fit, and because of that, Newman hasn't really had an opportunity to show what he can do.
David Posluszny was a 3-star LB
His brother is an NFL linebacker, and many thought he would follow in his footsteps. But Posluszny has been injured and ineffective his entire college career. This is a guy who has rarely been mentioned since his recruitment/commitment to the team. Basically, he's been a non factor at a major FBS program like ND.
Lane Clelland was a 4-star OL
Has been a career back up at OL and plays on special teams. Last year he played quite a bit of reserve minutes but has since been passed by younger more athletic lineman that fit Kelly's spread.
Hafis Williams was a 3-star DT
Is the #3 NG right now but not really in the teams regular 2 deep rotation. He played last Saturday in garbage time and looked ok. ND is stacked at DL though, with many 4-5 star talent recruited for the 3-4 scheme at the position. He's simply been passed up by younger, more talented FBS players, with NFL futures.
I'm sure you could do worse than some of these players.
* Dayne Crist could be a star. He had a very nice 2010 season before losing his job to injury (knee).
* Hafis Williams and Brandon Newman could be good regulars at defensive tackle. Their skills are better suited for the 4-3.
* Clelland isn't very mobile, but he's strong. He's another guy who fits better with Akron's offense, than a no huddle spread like NDs. He could find a niche and be a good role player for you.
* Deion Walker has all the tools to be a star. A change of scenery/late bloomer situation isn't out of the realm of possibility.
If I were a fan of the team, I would be really excited about a rumor like this. A few of these guys are extremely gifted athletes/nationally rated prep stars/NFL pedigreed players, who have been jammed out of a job due to scheme changes and injury.
