JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Aug. 3, 2024

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Aug. 3, 2024

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Eric Hansen

1:13

Patrick, thanks for labeling my prediction as "bullish" and not another combination of those letters with one additional letter. I don't think I'm too out of step with most people nationally or on the beat. I am back on the AP voting panel, and I actually think my outlier pick is going to be Utah when the preseason poll is released next Thursday at noon ET. I had Notre Dame at No,. 6. But why is your question ... (more)

Patrick from Los Angeles

1:08

Hi Eric, I saw your prediction of an 11-1 record. What areas of improvement/development have you seen since the Sun Bowl that lead to your bullish prediction, and how much does the hiring of Mike Denbrock factor into your optimism for the season? Lastly, what player has surprised you the most in terms of his improvement from last season? Thanks.

Eric Hansen

1:05

Hi Ryan. I was near Mars, Pa., last month. ... Donovan Hinish has looked pretty good in the three practices we've seen, and DC Al Golden said as much on Friday. He's going to play and contribute. Chris Terek is developing nicely but is not a player who's expected to contribute this season as a third-string guard. Classmate Sullivan Absher has moved over from tackle and jumped Terek on the depth chart, for instance.

Ryan Mars PA

1:02

Eric with camp started How has Chris Terek and Donovan Hinish Looked GO IRISH ☘️☘️🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

1:02

but there was no NIL money, no transfer portal then, so perhaps the dynamic would be different. Kids still want to play early and often. But it may give the powers who can and will fully fund football depth advantages. ... And lastly, even with a judge's approval, there may be additional legal challenges. The good news is Notre Dame is already in the throes of how it will address it if it does indeed come and come soon,

1:00

Hi Jordan. The proposal to the lawsuits involving the NCAA — which still must be approved by a judge — does include a bump up in scholarship/squad limits in many sports, including football. And your math is right. It would go from 85 to 105, but that also would be the squad limit. There wouldn't be additional walk-ons you could add beyond this, How these larger scholarship limits played out in the stone age, when I was just getting started as a sports writer, was the haves would stock up on players they wanted to keep from the have-nots. And there was less parity in college football then. Remember when the Big Ten actually had just 10 teams and it was referred to as the Big 2 and the Little 8? The scholarship limits played into that. (More)

Jordan South Bend

12:55

Hey Eric, a couple chats ago you mentioned the 85 scholarship rule was going away. I have since heard it's going to be increased to 105. Is this in line with what you've been hearing? Do you think that would help or hurt ND recruiting? Perhaps give more of an advantage against the "have nots" but widen the gap again with the Georgias, Alabamas, and OSUs?

Eric Hansen

12:54

He came in as a defensive end and is changing hid body and mindset to be a defensive tackle. All the traits that made him look like a high-four-star prospect are still in his wheelhouse. But he has to refine his skill set to excel at DT. That's going to take time. I think the telling year of whether Vernon is going to rise or tread water is 2025.

12:53

The two who have surfaced beyond that and have a chance for smaller rotational roles are Armel Mukam and Cole Mullins, neither of whom were as touted as Vernon coming out of high school. But that happens sometimes, Howard Cross, an All-American, was a three-star high school prospect. So where does Vernon stand? (more)

12:44

Hi Jeff. Thanks for showing up on a Saturday. It's pretty cool to see how full the question queue is today. I was thinking the very same thing you are about Brenan Vernon, and so my questioning to Al Golden on Friday when we had availability with him was right along those lines. Who's stepping up in Rubio's absence? How does he feel about the interior line depth? And what about Brenan Vernon? So the short answer to the first two is Donovan Hinish and Jason Onye have stepped on well as the reserves behind starters Howard Cross III and Rylie Mills. (more)

Jeff from Phoenix

12:40

Hey Eric, its a nice surprise to have a Saturday chat. With the injury to Rubio and fall camp competition, I thought the name Brenan Vernon might come up with Al Golden or in the general 2-deep discussion. I realize the d-line has depth, but Vernon was the #66 player overall out of high school (Rivals rank), but we havent heard much about him. What to you hear about his development? Thanks-

Eric Hansen

12:40

I think one of the questions a lot of you had if whether Landow would be as strong as Balis in the team-building/leadership aspect. Landow is getting high marks for that too so far, but let's see how it plays out this season.

12:39

Both Balis and Landow are/were effective and embraced by Marcus Freeman and the players. While there is plenty of overlap, there are differences as well. And maybe Balis would have evolved in that direction had he stayed. But Notre Dame football leans into sports science more than ever before. And Landow's workouts for players are much more position-specific. Without comparing it to Balis, one common theme you get from players when asked about Landow's approach is that they say the workouts translate very well to movement required on the field, (more)

12:35

Denny, thanks for the compliments. The next beer and/or coffee is on me. ... Matt Balis resigned on the eve of training camp last season and to my knowledge is still contemplating his next move. There is no denying how central he was to the renaissance of ND football following a cratering to the tune of a 4-8 record in 2016. Fred Hale took over on an interim basis, and then Loren Landow took over as the permanent director of football performance with the January winter workouts. So his impact is much less than a year but still very impactful. (more)

Denny from Beaverton

12:28

Preseason Greetings Eric; Maybe I am mistaken but wasn't it about a year ago that the very well thought of Strength and Conditioning Coach resigned just before fall camp and I was wondering what ever happened with him. I believe the new coach had pro experience and brought in a somewhat different philosophy in this department. With a years experience now how do you think the team has developed with this different method? This time of year is so exciting but thank you for bridging the gap over these long months with your insightful perspective.

Eric Hansen

12:27

Jordan Faison and some of the other slot and boundary receivers do bring consistency, so they're being cross trained at different positions. This week Faison was the best option outside at the field receiver. That may change over time, And I don't necessarily think it's permanent, but I do think it will be intermittent enough to list him there.

12:25

Hi Beave. In putting together the depth chart, we do so with the understanding that it's very fluid at this time of year, And our updates will reflect that fluidity. Unfortunately, it's formatted not to include a lot of annotations. So, I am glad you asked the question. In talking with OC Mike Denbrock Thursday, I asked him about how the wide receiver rotation would be constructed, and his answer backed up my instinct. The coaching staff would love for Kris Mitchell to emerge as the No. 1 field receiver, And he may at some point. He has the speed. But so far, he does not have the consistency. Again, so far. (more)

The Beave. Grand Rapdis

12:20

Eric: Thanks for getting us football-ready by moving this week’s chat to Saturday! Never too early to create game day conditions. You reported Wednesday that ND was experimenting with WR Jordan Faison at the field receiver. Your 2-deep depth chart moved Faison to #1 field receiver after Wednesday’s practice. What did you see Wednesday to (1) make you think the “experiment” is permanent and (2) put Faison to the head of the talented field WR options?

Eric Hansen

12:20

The more balance ND can strike with its offense, the less predictable the offense becomes on certain downs, and that mitigates the advantage Texas A&M's front might have in this matchup. ... I think Marcus is confident in the O-line group and realistic that it's going to be a work in progress, And he should feel confident that process will play out. There are coveted highly recruited players on that line. And Freeman was able to bring in an O-line coach he really wanted, in Joe Rudolph, after Harry Hiestand retired. AND he was able to hire one of -- if not the best -- offensive coordinators in college football, in Mike Denbrock, And if he isn't confident under those circumstances, I'm not sure what would have been an appropriate response. Cowering?

12:15

Kevin!!!!!!! Thanks for bringing the multiple exclamation points today. I think how Notre Dame's offensive line fares at Texas A&M is obviously and certainly one of the key components in determining who will win the game on Aug, 31 in College Station, Texas. But there are other elements that will come into play. Remember, A&M -- and offense that ranked 48th last season -- will have to move the ball against an ND defense that has depth and All-Americans and ranked fifth nationally last year and might be better this year. I don't think there's a magic formula that will spit out a number of rushing yards required. It's more about being able to run when you want to and have to. (more)

Kevin-Sleepy Eye, MN

12:08

Eric!!!!!!! Let’s talk offensive line. Our offensive line will dictate whether we win at college station. Agree? If so how confident are you? How many rushing yards do we need to win this game? Lastly: MF seems confident; it’s his approach. I feel he’s perhaps too confident with an unproven group of offensive linemen. What are your thoughts? Do you feel he should be as confident as he is going against Elko’s defensive front??

Eric Hansen

And we're off ...

12:06

We're going to suspend all the rules this week except those pertaining to 17-part questions and manifestos, None of either of those, please.

12:04

As far as this week's chat, please remember to include your NAME and HOMETOWN along with your question(s).

► Finally, we’re all in on Notre Dame football preseason camp. And Darin Pritchett and I are together each week on Wednesday and Thursday on Weekday SportsBeat (96.1 FM, 960 AM, live streaming at wsbtradio.com). The re-emergence of the show on 96.1 FM was new last week. The weekday shows run from 5-6 p.m. ET. You can download episodes as podcasts.

► The Inside ND Sports Podcast is finally back. On the most recent Inside ND Sports Podcast, Tyler James and I shared what we saw in portions of Notre Dame football's first three practices of preseason camp. We shared their top three takeaways from the first three practices, the most interesting things they heard from offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and defensive coordinator Al Golden and played a game of "Hot or Not" with predictions for the 2024 season. The podcast can be listened to via SoundCloud or on your preferred podcast platform including: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podbean and Pocket Casts.

12:03

► If you missed the last episode of our aspiring-to-be-viral Notre Dame Football YouTube show, Football Never Sleeps, it keeps its shelf life long after the live presentation. We are moving back into our normal Monday at 7 ET time slot. Remember, if you miss the live show, you can catch up anytime on YouTube.

► The chat is back in weekly mode, and we’ll move back to the regular Wednesday at noon ET time slot next week.

Some quick programming notes:

12:02

Welcome to a special Saturday edition of Notre Dame Football Live Chat.

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