JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat April 14, 2021 | 4/14/2021

Notre Dame Football Live Chat April 14, 2021

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Eric Hansen

OK, that's going to have to do it. Have another assignment to run to. Thanks for all the great questions. We'll be back to do it all again next week.

3:13

No one. The QB will be in the shot gun.

Tyler - Cleveland

3:12

thanks for the time Eric! Looking in to your crystal ball. It’s 2022 and ND is kicking off at OSU. Who’s under center?

Eric Hansen

3:12

I think Houston Griffith is going to make you eat your words.

Joey G

3:12

Hi Eric, I know all we are seeing are practice clips. But I’m still not sold on Houston Griffith. His unwillingness to play physical and his poor tackling skills are going to be difficult to change. He may start but I believe a true Freshman will take over. Which freshman do you think could step in? I’m pulling for Justin Walters.

Eric Hansen

3:12

Not any more than what they've seen in the first 14 practices. It all goes in one evaluation pot.

Caleb from Charlotte

3:11

Eric, when evaluating players during the spring practices, do the coaches factor in their playing performance in the spring game? We've often seen players put up great stats in the spring game and are not major contributors during the season.

Eric Hansen

3:11

Terry thanks for the kind words. I'm into overtime here, so I'll keep this concise. It starts with quarterback play. A top 15 rating is essential. Top 10 is better. Jack Coan was 19th in 2019. It's critical that ND's speed receivers stay healthy and play up to expectations, most notably Braden Lenzy and Kevin Austin. Find ways to use Kryen Williams and Chris Tyree at the same time. Oversimplified version of my answer, but this is the gist of it.

Terry from Alexandria, Virginia

3:07

Hi Eric, it's always a pleasure listening and gaining wonderful and helpful insight. Thank you for the hard work you put day in and day. If nobody else appreciates your dedication and football knowledge, just know that I do lol. Thank you again! Now, I know last year's offense was more geared to a smash mouth ball control offense, that put up some good numbers and points. But, it wasn't enough to play with the big boys like Alabama and Clemson the second time around. Now, I'm not saying that we abandon the run game and start throwing the ball 60 times a game. What changes do you think BK and TR needs to make for our offense to more effective, explosive and start put up the video game points, like Clemson, Alabama, Ohio St, and the 2019 champions LSU offense? It seems like having a good defense is enough for the regular season to get you to the playoffs. Things have changed over the years. Now, offense wins championships!!! Thanks.

Eric Hansen

3:07

I'm not sure with the current regime, but I know in the past there has been media training. That doesn't take away from some natural polish and personality of a lot of the players.

Denis fron Niagara Falls,ON

3:06

Hey Eric! Notre Dame student athletes, for the very large part, are very well spoken and polite whenever interviewed. I am almost always impressed with the quality of the interviewees. Do you know how much grooming, if any, goes on behind the scenes? Is there perhaps a small media component involved that the players participate in? Thanks very much. Hope you are allowed to see at least one practice.

Eric Hansen

3:06

We're starting to see schools around the country doing just that. I need to check back in on that, but my sense is May makes a lot of sense to try to make those kinds of determinations.

3:05

Steve from Fullerton CA. Desperately want to bring my son to his first game at ND (he’s been to several road games). Any idea when the school will announce an attendance policy?

3:04

One if they don't add a grad transfer. Two if they do. ND is at 88 currently. They need to be at 87 when school starts (85 plus the two COVID exemptions).

Joe Asbury Pk Nj

3:03

What is your over/under on how many players look to move on after Spring Practice and Offensive and Defensive 2 Deeps become somewhat clearer ?

Eric Hansen

3:01

Marie, thanks for being here. ... I still think it's most probable at cornerback if they're going to take one. Cam Hart can make that a moot point. Griffith is doing that at safety and the defensive ends are playing well. I still think it makes sense to continue to monitor things at those three positions. ... I would be shocked if they invited us to a practice before the Blue-Gold Game, though the campus known active COVID cases has plummeted since vaccinations started among the students. So ... there might be a sliver of a chance.

Marie from Atlanta

2:57

Hi Eric, Thanks for hosting the chat. Do your think ND will take anyone else from the transfer portal this Spring? I know it is hard to make any predictions right now since you are not seeing practice, but what would your best bet be for starting secondary for the Florida State game? Any chance you will get to see a practice in the stadium before the Blue Gold game? Thanks for doing such a great job keeping us updated this Spring!

Eric Hansen

2:57

Congrats, Denny! Pyne was timed at 4.7 on the 40 in high school and ran for 259 yards on 57 carries with 8 TDs as a senior. In Carter Karels' film study, he liked Pyne ability to extend plays. I haven't seen enough of Coan to compare scrambling ability. But I'll say this, Pyne has not disappointed during his first eight practices this spring.

denny from beaverton or.

2:50

Hi Eric; 2nd vaccine today! Drew Pyne reminds me when Tom Rees was Tommy Rees in his time as Notre Dame QB. Coaches son I believe, probably knows the playbook inside out, grit and desire to flourish and start at ND and I would imagine well liked by his teammates. My question is how well does he scramble compared to Jack Coan. Is he good at extending plays like Ian Book was? He may not be the QB of the future but guys with grit and football savvy are valuable and could be an excellent backup. I wish him well.

Eric Hansen

2:50

Erik, I'm going to scold you a bit. If players simply moved up a spot from one year to the next, then last year's running back depth chart would have looked like this: Armstrong, Jahmir Smith. C'Bo Flemister, Kyren Williams, Chris Tyree. If it's all about just moving up a spot, how do you create competition in practice? What's the incentive for a young player to push hard? What's the incentive from the older player to respond? It's a smart and fair way to let those decisions play out on the practice field rather than in a piece of paper in your drawer.

Erik (Granger, IN)

2:47

Thanks for being here! Since the staff doesn’t know who their best 5 linemen are yet, is that an indictment on their development so far? Should the coaches have guys ready to step up already, or is it just that there’s a chance the youngest guys are even better than the older guys and that needs to get clearer? Seems like last year’s second string should be able to just move up now that there are holes in front of them.

Eric Hansen

2:44

Jeff, when you read the entire quote, if give you more context: “There are a lot of really good players interested in Notre Dame,” Lemming said. “They’re going to run out of scholarships before they run out of great players. That’s how good they’re doing.”
So no mishandling here. The list of players who have lined up official visits for June is very impressive. I'll have more of that in this week's edition of Inside Recruiting for Thursday night's web/Friday print.

Jeff from Phoenix

2:42

Hey Eric, I have a question on recruiting. In your article on the signing of Darren Agu there was the following quote from analyst Tom Lemming "They’re going to run out of scholarships before they run out of great players. That’s how good they’re doing.” My question is first, do you agree with this? Also, is this sort of an embarrassment of riches that reflects well on the recruiting process, or has ND misplayed their hand and need to slow down and take only those players for 2022 that are the absolute best fit? Much thanks-

Eric Hansen

2:42

I can't predict what will happen with Freeman, but I do think his intention is very much to stay more than a year. ... Isaiah Pryor has been taking reps at rover. ... Haven't heard much one way or another on Henderson. Again, I'm hoping Marcus Freeman will go a little deeper than Brian Kelly was willing to do at that position group.

Stan from Rockford IL

2:40

I submitted my question with more to ask so here's three more. Regarding defense: a prediction from you is requested;will DC Freeman be one and done and move on to head coaching? Getting a second or even a third year from him would be great. His recruiting already looks good fro the long haul. Also, any sightings regarding Rover Pryor? Or CB Ramon Henderson, the guy I hoped would be the surprise among the many DBs recruited two years ago ?

Eric Hansen

2:39

Bob, I urge you to read the Inside Recruiting segments, which I've been doing every other week. The Brian Kelly part of your answer you can find here. As far as Alexander and the offensive staff, they've got a strong group visiting in June, led by two top 100 players, CJ Williams and Tyler Morris. Now, landing them is another matter, but getting them to visit is a big step.

Guest

2:33

Bob from Pennsylvania.hello to you and thanks for all your hard work keeping us informed.Is Kelly more involved in some big offensive recruits lately to start matching what Freeman and D coaches are doing at the opposite side of the ball?and do you think or see Del Alexander’s recruiting efforts gonna start to pay off?thanks and Go Irish ☘️

Eric Hansen

2:33

Don, thanks. I'm not sure there's a crossover lesson for football unless it's using the transfer portal well. One of the things I liked is that Link Jarrett wasn't afraid to move players around to different positions that he felt fit their futures more than being a part of their past.

Don Phoenix

2:31

Eric, Not really a football question but I see you are writing ND baseball stories that are good reads. What has the BB coach done to get the success the team is having and how does it relate to things the FB staff can/ought to be doing?

Eric Hansen

2:30

Don, thanks for your follow-up.

Don Phoenix

2:30

A follow up on your answer stating BK is ranked #3 by national writers. Saw a question in a chat asking what are the most attractive schools for an elite coach to succeed. As imagined, Alabama, tOSU, Clemson, GA, LSU, OK were the top with ND in the top 10. The criteria stated for the rankings were resources, support of the administration, proximity of recruiting talent, low administrative overhead. All the reasons why Urban Meyer went to FL instead of ND. Looking at Kelly as #3 at ND is a significant accomplishment. He has paved the way for future head coaches however it will be someone suited to the "ND overhead" and perhaps not the one the fans view as ideal.

Eric Hansen

2:30

Mark. Thank you. First, Phil Steele predicts each year what the AP preseason top 10 will look like six months before it comes out. He has an accuracy rate of 95.8%. He top 10 includes ND at No. 7, Cincinnati at No. 8 and North Carolina at No. 10. In virtually every way-to-early top 25, Cincinnati is a top 10 team and Carolina at top 15 team. Wisconsin and USC are the other two teams that tend to be ranked in those projections. And all four of those teams are bunched together in a five-game stretch.

Mark, Orange County CA

2:21

Hi Eric, thank you for hosting these chats and the podcasts as well. You help us fans feel very connected to the program. Regarding the 2021 schedule, what opponents do you think could be ranked in the top 25 when they play ND? Any top 10 opponents?

Eric Hansen

2:21

Keep in mind a three-star in April is not a necessarily a three-star on signing day. Gobaira was under 200 pounds when he was rated. Now at 230, he's dominating Virginia HS football in their delayed season. ND beat out Alabama for Agu. He's a three-star because he's played one year of 11-on-11 football. He is an elite athlete. Kyle Hamilton was a three-star recruit when ND extended him an offer in the 2019 class. He ended up a five-star per 247Sports (and has played like one in college). Notre Dame is aiming higher in 2022 and 2023 and that was a necessary adjustment. We'll find out soon if they can close.

2:17

Tom. Your question/complaint inspired me to pose it to a couple of recruiting analysts as part of this week's Inside Recruiting segment. So stayed tuned to that. I think you'll be surprised by their answers. I think your concern regarding some past classes had merit. Notre Dame did recruit three-star players who went on to become All-Americans, including recently Julian Love and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. In this case, I do think your off base. Every team currently in the top 10 of the nation team rankings has at least one. ND has three. I'd take at least two of those three in a heartbeat (Agu and Gobaira) and give them the benefit of the doubt on the third (Walker). (more)

Tom D./Lansing, MI

2:04

Hi Eric, thanks for taking my comment/question. I am discouraged by the number of three star commits ND is accepting. Sure, some make it big but most have mediocre careers. Three stars beat Wake Forest, but it takes five stars to beat Alabama. I know our recruiting is decent, but not elite. Will that ever change? Great job on the charts, all the best.

Eric Hansen

2:03

Had he gotten to play in the fall for La Mesa Helix High, Buchner might be in a better place to challenge those above him on the depth chart. Him making progress without moving up the depth chart is still significant. He's putting himself in position to be competitive for the starting spot in 2022. That's the best-case scenario for him. And he knows that. Very smart, very patient, very competitive young man.

2:01

Adam, we are in an age when transferring without sitting is going to make it easier and in some cases more knee-jerk reactively to transfer. But I think you're extrapolating WAY too much both in terms of 180-second snippets from practice, where we are in the process and what Tyler Buchner's thought process might be. Here are the facts. Jack Coan is running No. 1. Drew Pyne is practicing well and is running No. 2. Notre Dame needs to go into the season with a strong No. 2. Tyler Buchner played one season of high school football in the last three years. There's a lot of catching up to do. And Kelly has brought him up two weeks in a row in terms of his progress. (more)

Adam

1:56

Hi Eric! Adam from Grand Rapids MI. To me, it feels like Pyne has the edge on the starting spot so far. He looks pretty good. If that holds into the fall and he does well, how does Coach Kelly keep Buchner from transferring? I know anything can happen, but I feel like Ive seen this a lot where a highly touted recruit doesn’t want to wait his turn for 3-4 years. Thanks for everything you do!

Eric Hansen

1:56

Joe. I'm sure it's hard to keep up with all of our content. The secondary, specifically Cam Hart and Houston Griffith, were the lead to my Saturday analysis of ND at the mid-point of spring practice. If the season started tomorrow, I'd say the starting defensive backfield would be Clarence Lewis, Hart, Griffith and Kyle Hamilton, with DJ Brown as the third safety and perhaps TaRiq Bracy as the third corner. At this point, I wouldn't rule out any of the corners from eventually being in the mix, including June arrivals Chance Tucker and JoJo Johnson. I had not heard or perceived that Lewis had regressed, I've heard good thing about Riley, but Kelly didn't mention him specifically last Saturday.

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