I know that these girls are very real. How? Because they got me grounded for an entire year once. twitter.com/TheSubwayDomer…

— The Subway Domer (@TheSubwayDomer) April 24, 2013

Welcome to the IBG on Subway Domer! The group is getting a little bigger this year and we welcome Mike Coffey (El Kabong) of NDNation.com into the fold. Notre Dame's official blogger,Josh Flynt is moving on, but his replacememnt should be intact in June. 

This time around I got the chance to ask the newly engaged Ryan Ritter (NDTex) from Her Loyal Sonsa few questions and he it's obvious that he just kept typing words for words sake- even when just asked to fill in the blank. God bless him.

Be sure to check out NDNation.com for their IBG and Keith Arnold has my answers (which of course are like the word of god). Let's get going....

Now that spring football is out of the way and Notre Dame has its new "The Shirt" we can collectively move on to other things- well... kind of.

Now, before you start throwing One Foot Down's fantastic "The Shirt" post in my face, please know that this has been in the works for a few weeks and this is also very, scarily real.

You can purchase these by following this link to the Subway Domer store. The shirt is available for both MEN & WOMEN and is only $16.00.

NOW HOW IN THE FUCK CAN YOU TURN THAT DOWN YOU GOT TO BE BAT SHIT CRAZY LIKE A MOOSE ON CRANK YOU GOD DAMN....

We love Brian Kelly. LOVE him.

Thanks to Philly Kelly (there's some awesome irony here) for drawing this bad boy.

Welcome to the anti-preview for the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold game. It's been a loud spring but also a quiet one for the Irish. The three transfers (Kiel, Neal, & Ferguson) certainly made a whole lot of noise, but that's really about it. Sure, there are curiously closer looks at players like Cam McDaniel, Jarrett Grace, Elijah Shumate, and others- as well as the team starting to form its identity for 2013 and developing its leadership hierarchy. Sure.

In all seriousness, the spring game (and spring practice itself) is more like a cheatsheet written by a dyslexic friend. Most of the pieces are there- but not all of it. It's also in a weird and almost cryptic order. Good luck guessing what it all means. 

Despite ALL of that- we love spring football. Why? IT'S FOOTBALL! Let's get this anti-preview rolling and cozy up to some Notre Dame football...

2013 Notre Dame Returning Starters

• Offense: 5

• Defense: 8

What you see above will be a featured section in nearly every 2013 College Football Preview magazine in America. This information is standard protocol and usually serves as a jumping off point for analysts to start their annual projections. The second stat line should pop out to even the most casual fans - Notre Dame returns 8 starters from the defense that finished the regular season as the country's top scoring unit. From goal-line stands to savory memories of sending away offseason Heisman "contenders" from the State of Michigan - the Fighting Irish defense earned every regular season accolade and compliment that came their way. Surely with 8 of the 2012's first teamers back in South Bend, another banner year of shutouts and touchdown-less streaks lies ahead, right? Irish fans know it's not that simple and a recent chat with Kapron Lewis-Moore revealed similar sentiments from the former captain. A starting line-up consists of 11 members, but to say Notre Dame "only lost 3" is to aggressively understate the team's own reality in favor of basic math. Those three, each just days away from NFL paychecks, were Manti Te'o, Zeke Motta & Lewis-Moore - a trio who formed the unquestioned leadership council of the 2012 defense and individually guided the three separate levels on their side of the ball. Who is stepping up in their absence on and off the field is not just the storyline of the 2013 Blue & Gold Game - it's the story of the 2013 Notre Dame Football offseason. Here's Kapron's take on these developments and other notes on who and what to look for on Saturday:

Welcome to the new world order of college football. That's a pretty far-reaching statement, but it's also one that could have been said when Nebraska ditched the Big 12 for the Big Ten, and perhaps it could have even been said when Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College left the Big East for the ACC. Hey, I bet we can even go back to the formation of the Big 12 and the death of the SWC. I'm sure it was said when Notre Dame abandoned the CFA and made its own television deal with NBC. As a matter of fact, you can probably take that statement back to 1982 when the Oklahoma Board of Regents sued the NCAA over television rights.

You see, for over 30 years, the landscape of college football has changed so much, in such a small amount of time, that Al Gore is probably going to make a documentary about it soon to conserve and save college football.

Gunner Kiel will enroll at Cincinnati and Davonte Neal enroll at Arizona, thus ending one of the weirdest recruiting duos in Notre Dame football history. We all know the stories about both players and the journey to the dome and their eventual exit from there, so I'll save you the history lesson. 

WR Davonte' Neal transfers from Notre Dame to Arizona, Dad Luke says

— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) April 10, 2013

Former ND QB Gunner Kiel will enroll at Cincinnati

— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) April 10, 2013

What we can focus on, is just how Notre Dame and Brian Kelly plans on filling the void of 3 transfers this spring (Ferguson is expected to go to a Florida school). I'm curious as to which players that weren't offered or have a "non-committable" offer in hand are now more serious players. Logic would suggest 3 WR's, if you're looking at it from a pure numbers standpoint.

The recruiting cycle is still very, very early so we may have to wait until mid-summer to start seeing more tangible effects. Until then, good luck to both and keep this in mind if you're a fan of the Rajun Cajuns...

Completes pattern of jumping from "nicknames for a group of people" to "big cats." RT @etruthsports: Hoosier, to Tiger, to Irish to Bearcat.

— Rachel Terlep (@eTruth_Irish) April 10, 2013