Articles of Interest

...the Irish future falls on Quinn's shoulders

Source: South Bend Tribune
By: Jason Kelly
Date: Aug. 26, 2003

Posted on 31 August 2003:

SOUTH BEND -- When Notre Dame opened preseason camp, Chris Olsen looked like the future. Now he's history.

It happened that fast, optimism dissolving into disaffection in the space of two weeks, continuing a recent trend of attrition among Irish quarterbacks and prolonging their vulnerability at the position.

Olsen's transfer to Virginia depletes Notre Dame's quarterback depth to dangerous 2002 levels.

"You look at where we were a year ago and we're kind of back to that same position where you've got three guys when you'd like to have four," offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick said. "So we're back again and I think that's probably the biggest disappointment."

Starter Carlyle Holiday, freshman Brady Quinn and former walk-on Pat Dillingham -- probably in that order -- represent the present.

Speculation suggests Quinn's advanced assimilation of the Notre Dame offense inspired Olsen's sudden departure, as though he sensed an impending demotion.

Nothing in the Irish practice structure even hinted that he would not be Holiday's primary understudy, a position that almost assures the occupant significant playing time.

"Chris took the snaps with the No. 2s the entire time that he was here," Diedrick said.

That should have satisfied Olsen, a sophomore whose delayed development prevented him from challenging for playing time last year when Holiday was hurt.

During an MVP performance in the Blue-Gold Game, his evident mental and physical growth revealed glimpses of his impressive potential.

He apparently needed an emotional growth spurt to handle the challenge of increased competition.

With no known academic or social problems at Notre Dame, and every reason to believe he would play ahead of Quinn -- if only to preserve a year of eligibility -- Olsen's instinct still was to run.

And Irish fans complain about Holiday's happy feet.

In Olsen's absence, Quinn assumed a more prominent role in Notre Dame's offensive plans, ready or not.

Surrounded by an array of television cameras and tape recorders Monday after practice, he looked the part.

Tall and muscular at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, his physical presence exceeds his 18 years.

His mental approach in preparing for his introduction to college football made an even greater impression.

"I think that he's probably a little ahead of most freshmen when they come in," Diedrick said. "The one thing that Brady did was a tremendous amount of study, not only last year but over the course of the summer when he was here with the guys. I think it really gave him an extra boost coming into camp and I think he was able to compete on a very equal basis."

Already that exceeds what Olsen accomplished as a freshman, though the excitement surrounding Quinn's quick rise seems a little excessive.

Leave it to Tyrone Willingham to temper that.

"I've been pleased all camp with the things that Brady has done," Willingham said. "But as always with a freshman, it's a learning process. He's not all the way there and we don't expect him to be all the way there."

They may be willing to wait for him to arrive, but Quinn knows his learning curve accelerated as soon as Olsen pulled out of the campus parking lot.

"Obviously now there's a little bit more pressure for me," Quinn said, "... because there's a possibility of playing."

It looks more like a probability, no offense to Dillingham, whose tenacity exceeds his talent.

As Olsen's departure illustrated, preserving a year of eligibility carries no guarantee of future production.

If Quinn even approaches Dillingham's command of the offense, he will be the proverbial one play away from replacing Holiday.

Diedrick did not want it that way, but he wasted little time dwelling on a disgruntled player's departure.

"I'm tremendously disappointed," Diedrick said, "but that's past history."

As Olsen brothers' time at ND is history...

Posted on 31 August 2003:

SOUTH BEND -- In a span of 48 hours, the Notre Dame football program had the foundation of its future shaken twice with freshman tight end Greg Olsen deciding to follow in his brother's footsteps on Monday by transferring.

Chris Olsen, who would have been a sophomore quarterback at Notre Dame this season, was granted his release on Saturday so that he could transfer to the University of Virginia. Greg Olsen, a top tight end recruit out of Wayne Hills High School in Wayne, N.J., said he met with Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham on Monday and received his release.

Greg Olsen said the major reason he decided to leave was his brother's decision to transfer, but the younger Olsen said his first choice of transfer schools is the Miami Hurricanes and not Virginia.

Greg Olsen, however, said on Monday that he had not contacted the Miami program to gauge interest but that he would be doing so in the near future. But he felt strongly that he did not want to continue his career at Notre Dame after practicing with the team for just two weeks of fall camp.

Olsen, who did not begin his freshman year of classes at Notre Dame, will have to sit this season at any Division I-A program he transfers to, but he will still have four years of playing eligibility.

"Right now, I feel it's in my best interest to move on,'' said Greg Olsen, who was driving back home to New Jersey when reached by cellular phone on Monday. "Me and my family felt that it was in Chris' best interest and my best interest for us to move on."

Willingham declined to discuss the status of Greg Olsen with reporters on Monday.

"That is one of the areas that I have labeled personal," Willingham said. "Decisions are being made there, and in the future we will be able to make an announcement on what will exactly take place there."

But Greg Olsen said his decision to leave came down to his brother's decision to leave the program over the weekend.

"Without a doubt, when my brother left it took something out of being at Notre Dame for me," Greg said. "Chris was basically the reason I made the decision to go there in the first place."

When reached on Sunday night to discuss his brother's departure, Greg Olsen declined to comment. He also declined to comment on whether he would stay.

Chris and Greg's father, Chris Olsen, Sr., however, said that Greg was separate from his brother and would remain at Notre Dame when reached on Sunday night.

But now with Monday's announcement, there is a perception that the brothers were a package deal to Notre Dame. And when Olsen decided to depart on Saturday, the deal fell apart.

It's unclear why Chris left, though his father said his oldest son was not happy. Willingham said the recruiting process with the two brothers was never a package.

Each Olsen was recruited on his own merits, Willingham said.

"I'm not concerned about the perception of a package deal," Willingham said. "What you have to do is with limited number of scholarships that are now available in college football, you have to make every scholarship count. So the goal is to get young men on your squad who can help your football team. I thought in those two young men that we did that."

Greg Olsen's departure, like his brother's, likely will impact the Irish more long-term than immediate. Despite a strong challenge from freshman quarterback Brady Quinn, coaches agreed that Chris Olsen was still holding on to the No. 2 quarterback spot behind senior Carlyle Holiday before he left the program.

Greg Olsen, who is an impressive 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, could have competed for time this season but the Irish had enough talented players at tight end that he would have been brought along at a realistic pace.

What is interesting is that a position which seemed to be the strongest and deepest heading into fall camp two weeks ago perhaps now has some uncertainty. Returning starter Gary Godsey has been sidelined most of camp after re-injuring his left knee in which he tore his anterior cruciate ligament last season. And now Olsen is gone.

The Irish could be left with seniors Billy Palmer and Jared Clark as the only experienced tight ends. Sophomores Anthony Fasano and Marcus Freeman are promising but unproven prospects.

"I don't think we have announced a starter yet for that position simply because the guys are in the heat of competition for that position," Willingham said. "But we feel good about the position and feel that we will get some good players."

As for the mood of the rest of the players after the departure of two of their teammates, Willingham said they were in good spirits on Monday.

"The game of football is one that guys are constantly moving in and out of lineups," Willingham said. "Again, it is unfortunate what has happened or appears to be happening with these young men.

"But you go on. We have injuries, we have different things that force your football team to adjust and move forward."

Legends in the Making

Posted on 25 May 2003:

In 1975, seniors went to one place and one place only on Wednesday nights: Alumni-Senior Club. "Everybody knows Wednesday night is Senior Bar night," said Class of '76 president Augie Grace in a 1975 Scholastic article. Senior Bar, as Alumni-Senior Club has been affectionately called, was the place to be.

Since the late 1960s, seniors at Notre Dame have gathered at different incarnations of the club - first, in an old house just south of the stadium, later, in the current nondescript structure standing in the middle of a parking lot. But in recent years, Alumni-Senior Club has lost some of its popularity, as students increasingly prefer off-campus locations to the university's historic campus club. In an effort to revitalize its once-booming nightlife, the administration is taking the initiative to change the facility, its style and its appeal to students. A new public restaurant, called Legends, will open in August 2003 in the expanded and renovated Senior Bar building.

Prior to 1969, there was no nightclub or bar for students on campus. According to a Scholastic article from Dec. 5, 1975, each senior class decided on a specific bar at the beginning of the year and negotiated an agreement with its owner in which the class received a portion of the bar's profits and established regulations for student behavior. But seniors still hoped for an on-campus social venue.

Their prayers were answered in January 1969, when the Alumni Association founded the "Alumni Club" in McNamara House with university support and opened its doors to alumni and seniors who were over 21. The Alumni Association maintained the license for the club while seniors managed and operated it.

Students spent $3,200 on improvements to the house, including a new sound system. The first floor had three sections: a bar area, a billiard room and a "date room" with a dance floor and fireplace. Upstairs, there was a candlelit room where couples could share a glass of wine, a room for playing cards and a room with a color TV.

The club was especially appealing because of its nightclub atmosphere, low beverage prices and comparatively high number of female patrons. The 1975 Scholastic reported that on some nights in 1970 the club averaged 100 women and 250 men - possibly the best ratio for social gatherings on campus.

The club continued to succeed with the seniors, but the Alumni Association, which had envisioned a gathering place for alumni, faculty and students, withdrew its support in the spring of 1974.

The Class of '75 reopened the bar the following fall, naming it Alumni-Senior Club with the consent of the university and the Alumni Board. They put in a new music system, floors and carpets. There was a tavern upstairs that served wine, cheese, malt liquor and dark beer. There also was a coffeehouse-like room upstairs that had a small stage for performances.

"It was the neatest two-story house," says Jim Shanahan '75, the club's general manager during his senior year. "Picture a beautiful colonial home, but instead of a dining room table, we had a pool table. Instead of bedrooms, we had dance floors."

Despite its surface appeal, Alumni-Senior Club was $8,000 in debt by the fall of 1975. Managers struggled to pay for building repairs and salaries. Wednesday nights and football weekends drew large crowds that kept the club running, but eventually the house needed repairs that the club could not afford. It was torn down in 1981.

Construction of the current Alumni-Senior Club already had begun, however, with financial help from the university. For five years after opening it was run solely by students. "It was very active and very busy," says Ceil Paulsen, then assistant director of Student Activities. "There was a need to find a full-time manager, someone to be there to oversee everything."

In 1986, the university hired Larry Briggs as general manager. A former area supervisor for Wendy's in Elkhart County, Briggs "brought experience and the ability to manage that kind of place," says Paulsen. "There was a lot of stability [at the club] because they had an on-site manager."

Since the height of its popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, Alumni-Senior Club has fallen on hard times. Wednesday still is the night to go to the bar, but it frequently is the only night that the club sees any action, says Brian Coughlin, Director of Student Activities. Although football weekends draw alumni and dorms have dances there, the club usually is in use for only a few hours each week. "Business is down from previous years," Briggs says.

Senior Quinn Smith, currently a student manager of the club, blames student mentalities and the administration. "Many Notre Dame and Saint Mary's students prefer to jump on the bandwagon and go to the same bars on their popular nights of the week," Smith says. "[The administration] places many stipulations upon Alumni-Senior Club as far as what we can advertise, where we can advertise, what kind of specials we can offer, etc."

Legends will not be an ordinary nightclub in that underage students will be allowed inside. The new facility will house a full-service restaurant and a dance floor 50 percent larger than the current one. This dance floor, known as the "programming area," will be open exclusively to students. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, it will be available for live performances, such as bands, comedians and other entertainment groups. "The idea is that the space will become the hub of campus entertainment," Coughlin says.

Performances only will last until midnight, when the programming area will transform into a club atmosphere until 2 a.m. on Thursdays and 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

There also will be an actual bar area for patrons who are over 21, "separated to give students of age a place to call their own," Coughlin says.

The restaurant area, with a pub-style atmosphere, will be open until 2 a.m. on Thursdays, 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and until midnight or 1 a.m. the rest of the week. The restaurant will serve the general public, but Coughlin says the university is "going to cater to the on-campus community and those who come for campus events. We'll be doing extensive testing with the students next semester to develop food for the restaurant ... It will be completely unique," he says. "The idea is to come up with things like a signature hamburger."

There will be 10 to 15 television sets throughout the building, including one large screen in the pub area. Coughlin hopes to see patrons there on weekends watching football games or other sports and hosting pre- and post-game parties.

Legends will be decorated with paraphernalia from various university legends, including sports figures, scientists and other notable graduates, as well as university myths and folklore.

"It's all the things that make up Notre Dame history, and make up student life," says the Rev. Mark Poorman, CSC, vice president of Student Affairs, who played an important role in the plans for the new building.

Poorman looked at other schools, such as Marquette University and Santa Clara University, to see how they handle social space. He realized that the key was to have food options.

"If you create the concept as a restaurant, it allows you to put of-age and underage students together," he says. "It becomes a real successful gathering place because everyone can go there."

Briggs plans to stay on with the club after renovations are completed, though not as general manager. "I think the changes will be nothing but good for the club," he says. "We have not had the sales we need in the last few years, and with the new facility, I believe it will make a great place for the future of the club and Notre Dame."

Coughlin says he hopes to develop the club's surrounding area as well. "With this maneuver, it's exactly what people are looking for when they go off campus."

But some students like Senior Bar the way it is. "I like the casual atmosphere," says senior Kara Roche, a Wednesday regular at the club. "It's laid back and you can just hang out with your friends." She fears the bar section of Legends won't be large enough to function as a gathering place for seniors the way the current Alumni-Senior Club can. "I feel like they're taking away a tradition," she says.

Alumni-Senior Club currently is enjoying its last year as an on-campus bar for 21 and over patrons. But its doors will reopen next fall to a new crowd and a new atmosphere.

ND graduate awarded Purple Heart for service in Iraq

Posted on 13 April 2003:

U.S. Marine and former Notre Dame graduate Dustin Ferrell was awarded a Purple Heart, the oldest military decoration, after sustaining injuries while on duty in Iraq. He will be released from a Maryland hospital today.

Gen. William Nyland, second officer in command of the U.S. Marines Corps, presented Ferrell with the award March 31, one day after his arrival at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

The award is given to "members of the armed forces of the U.S. who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action," according to the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Ferrell still suffers from facial injuries caused by an Iraqi ambush south of Nasiriya, Iraq.

On March 22, Ferrell and three other Marines were traveling north in a Humvee when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the vehicle, killing the driver and injuring the three passengers. Ferrell was flown first to Kuwait after the accident and then to Germany, where he underwent a tracheotomy. Ferrell's jaw is still wired shut, but he is able to speak.

"I'm doing a lot better," Ferrell said in an interview Monday with the Observer.

He said that, while in Germany, he was barely able to move, but he has regained strength through walking and physical therapy.

Ferrell said he has forgotten most of what occurred in the Humvee because he was knocked unconscious by the grenade.

He only remembers waking up in Iraq later after the ambush.

"They were tearing my clothes off and they were stabilizing my head," Ferrell said. "It was all a blur. I do not remember what happened."

Ferrell, who is on convalescent leave and unlikely to return to combat, said doctors estimate that it would take a year to complete the facial construction and oral surgery needed after his accident.

His jaw will remain wired shut for about five more weeks.

During his stay at the hospital, Ferrell received visits from several congressmen, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert, to congratulate him on his Purple Heart and wish him a safe recovery.

Ferrell's wife, Rachael, said she is proud of her husband's accomplishments and that he has returned but she is still "taking it all in."

"It's kind of a strange feeling but definitely a good feeling," the 1998 Saint Mary's graduate said.

The couple said they are thankful for the continued support of the Notre Dame community.

"People just keep popping out of nowhere," said Dustin Ferrell.

In Maryland, Ferrell has also had support from his mother, Vicki Isgrigg, who flew to the East Coast from her home in Vacaville, Calif.

Today, the couple plans to return to their home in North Carolina. Ferrell had been overseas since Jan. 9.

His father, Richard, was also a Marine and served in the Vietnam War. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers served in the military also, one in the Army and the other in the Air Force.

Always Faithful

Posted on 13 April 2003:

The moments of greatest faith often come in the deepest despair. Such is surely the case for First Lieutenant Dustin Ferrell, a 2000 Notre Dame graduate who was injured in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A March 25 article in the Washington Post told the story of troops who suffered injuries in Iraq and were flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. One of them in particular, a member of the United States Marine Corps, had facial injuries and was on a ventilator, but still communicated to an Army chaplain that he wished to pray.

The March 27 Observer said that marine might or might not have been Dustin. But I believe it is, because that's the type of person he is.

I believe that despite the fact that I've never actually met Dustin face-to-face. Deborah Sederberg, Dustin's mother-in-law and a reporter for the Michigan City News-Dispatch, wrote that he is "bright and funny and gentle." She, of course, knows Dustin better than I, but I believe that. I surmised those qualities from the many Inside Columns he wrote for The Observer while he was a student. Well, actually, only the first two qualities; "gentle" is absolutely not the word to describe his compositions, which had titles like "Bombs away" and hit with all the force and accuracy of a bullet from a sniper rifle.

But I also learned his personality from the many e-mails we exchanged. While a majority of them concerned Viewpoint columns and idiots who deserved to be insulted therein, some of them were more personal. We kicked around the idea of meeting somewhere for a few drinks, but I wasn't 21 at the time and we could never seem to get our ducks in a row. He sent me correspondence (and praise for my Viewpoint pieces) even as late as last May when he was still a second lieutenant. He said he was "doing the USMC thing" and that he "spent some time in Bahrain but I'm getting ready to head home from Japan right now." According to The Observer last week, he wound up being deployed overseas again in January.

His orders were to "float east," eventually serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to reports, he was injured when a Humvee he was riding in overturned on March 22. I make it clear, however, that it was not a "Humvee accident" since their vehicle was being chased by RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fire.

This is a sticking point for me because my grandfather was injured in the Italian campaign during World War II. His motorcycle hit a land mine and went speeding into an apple cart, which nearly severed his left leg. So, while he was technically injured in a "motorcycle accident," I credit the land mine for his wound and not the apple cart. Similarly, I assign the RPGs the blame for Dustin's crash because it wasn't anything like the "accident" that happens when a Ford Explorer rolls over.

When the Humvee flipped, the impact killed the driver, but it crushed Dustin's windpipe. His life was saved by a fellow corpsman who performed a field tracheotomy, which sounds like a complicated medical surgery but is really a crude emergency measure consisting of cutting underneath the adam's apple and inserting a tube into the incision to allow air in and out. The medic who was brave and swift enough to accomplish that has the gratitude of everyone who knows Dustin.

After being evacuated to Kuwait, he was airlifted to Landstuhl with other injured troops, where he, I'm sure of it, was the one who communicated his wish to pray to Army chaplain Colonel David McLean. I know this because in addition to earning an accounting degree, fulfilling the service of his ROTC scholarship, being the public affairs officer for the Navy ROTC, editing their newsletter, editing Viewpoint columns, writing Inside Columns and spending time with his then-girlfriend Rachael (they were married last August in the Basilica), he somehow found the time to become Catholic while he was at Notre Dame. Father Jim Lies, his rector at Zahm Hall and the one who baptized Dustin into Catholicism, said he is "a model of all that we hope our graduates will be."

He, of course, knows Dustin better than I, but I believe that, too.

After being transferred to Bethesda Naval Hospital last week, Dustin was awarded a Purple Heart for his sacrifice and service.

I don't get as much information as those who are closer to him, so I assume he's still there. But since he is a fan of my columns, I know sometime soon he'll read this, wherever he might be: If you still want to get some drinks, Lieutenant Ferrell, they're on me.

Semper fi.

Marine Graduate Injured In Iraq War

Posted on 30 March 2003:

First Lieutenant Dustin Ferrell, a 2000 Notre Dame graduate and U.S. Marine, was recently injured in Iraq, according to reports from the Associated Press and Ferrell's mother-in-law, who writes for the Michigan City (Ind.) News-Dispatch.

The AP reported that Ferrell had to receive a field tracheotomy after a Humvee accident that caused chest injuries and broken bones. The operation involves cutting a hole in the threat to allow air to pass through.

"People that have tracheotomies, they survive," said Patti Null, a local charge nurse at Memorial Hospital of South Bend.

As of Tuesday, it was reported that Ferrell was recovering in an Air Force hospital near Frankfurt, Germany.

Ferrell's mother-in-law, Deborah Sederberg, wrote about Ferrell Tuesday for the Michigan City paper, explaining how he was injured.

"The details remain sketchy, but it looks as if Dustin and several other Marines were in an accident in a Humvee. A field tracheotomy by a Navy corpsman saved his life. His trachea had been crushed," Sederberg reported.

Sederberg also wrote about Ferrell's involvement at Notre Dame, where he was active in the Navy ROTC program, which had given him a scholarship.

"Between his academic classes and his military obligation, he seemed to be running or studying nearly every minute of his four years at Notre Dame, on his way to a degree in business and a stint with the Marines," Sederberg said in the article.

Some current Notre Dame Navy ROTC students who worked with him also referred to his leadership.

"I remember him as being a great leader, and also, he had a great sense of humor," said senior John Seiter, who worked under Ferrell when he held the position of public affairs officer in Navy ROTC.

As public affairs officer, Ferrell edited the Navy newsletter. He also wrote a series of columns in The Observer that incited student reactions during his time as an assistant viewpoint editor.

"They did elicit good dialogue," said former Observer managing editor and 2002 graduate Noreen Gillepsie, adding that, "He really wore the responsibility that they teach you in ROTC in office."

Ferrell, an accounting major originally from California, was living in North Carolina with his wife, Rachel, a Saint Mary's graduate, before he was sent to the Middle East. The two were married in August at the Basilica.

In the Air Force hospital, Sederberg reported that Ferrell has to use a ventilator to breathe.