JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Dec. 10, 2025 | 12/10/2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Dec. 10, 2025

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Eric Hansen

4:23

OK, still a very full queue, but I went almost 90 minutes overtime, so I'm going to have to end it here. Amazing questions and opinions. I'm spoiled. And we'll be back to do it all over again next week, Wednesday at noon ET.

4:21

Ciao, Paul. I would expect someone who speaks Italian to tell the committee: "Sei un'oca!" Which implies that they are foolish, when corrupt might be more appropriate. Literally, you know it means you are a goose, and perhaps a female one at that. But that's just a hypothetical. But to your question, which is a really good one, I think this is where you value Marcus Freeman as a leader. Because the players are watching how he reacts. And how he reacts is very different than how say Pat Narduzzi at Pitt might react. ND 2025 didn't deserve this, but ND 2026 will funnel the bad into something to be feared.

Paul from Knoxville

4:16

Ciao Eric: Non ho parole...other than the playoff committee appears to have lost any semblance of logic. I suspect you'll be getting all manner of comments and questions on this issue, but I'd like to approach it from another angle: How do you think not going to the playoffs might influence players with remaining eligibility and who may be considering moving on, if at all? I'm also wondering whether there's any potential value in trying to use the committee's decision as a means of motivation for next year? I recall something similar happened to the ND MLAX team in 2022, which then proceeded to win the NC in 2023. Thanks for hosting the chat under trying circumstances.

Eric Hansen

But I don't want to rile you up.

4:15

Cowboy Mike. I think we were aware of that.

Cowboy Mike Jefferson Georgia erson Ga

4:15

Eric - Does anyone realize the head of the CFB is also the Arkansas AD. The same Arkansas that Notre Dame trounced so badly the AD had to then fire the football coach that he had hired. Payback Irish Nation. Payback,!

Eric Hansen

4:14

Happy Holidays Pete. I'll put this in the allowable manifesto column.

Pete from Erie, PA

4:14

Hellooo Eric! Thanks for the chat! 2024 was a lot of fun! 2025 the opposite, ending tragically with a very trumpian "screw you Notre Dame" right in the face, even though it's obviously ridiculous. Don't like it? join a conference. This year was unlucky for ND to be just fringe enough that the powers-that-be (ESPN, SEC, CFP committee) thought they could get away with it, so they did. Unlucky that 9 teams finished with 1 loss or less (last yr there were 4). Unlucky there was very little chaos in November as usual. ND got to #12 after USC with 5 g/6 wks to go and barely moved because no upsets. There were some close calls but no help for ND to get to safety from the conspirators. I can't be entertained by bowls or this debacle of a CFP (the F is for fiasco!) so moving on to hoops! for me. More so than ever, I hope ND keeps their independence, or, how about ND start their own conference? Make their own rules, play 7 games so you're still flexible. Thanks Eric! Happy Holidays!

Eric Hansen

4:13

Q. To follow up on that, in the last two games, Alabama won a close game at Auburn, a team with a losing record, and then lost by a big margin against Georgia. How would the committee justify moving Alabama up one spot in the rankings over the course of the last two weeks based on the results of those games?
HUNTER YURACHEK: Yeah, last week I spoke about the committee felt strongly that when you're comparing each week, the debate between Notre Dame and Alabama was strong and robust with arguments from the committee members on both sides. Great respect for both of those teams, but felt like last week going to a rival Auburn and the way Alabama played, especially in the first half of that game and then finding a way late in the fourth quarter to win that game was a feather in their cap above Notre Dame's going out to the West Coast and playing in a less hostile environment and doing really what they should have done against Stanford.

4:12

Q. I was curious, you guys dropped BYU after losing the conference championship game, but you didn't drop Alabama. I was just curious, why were those situations different?
HUNTER YURACHEK: The biggest difference in those two situations was the fact that Alabama had already beaten Georgia at Georgia earlier in the year. BYU had that same opportunity at Texas Tech earlier in the year, and BYU did not perform and look great in either one of those games versus Texas Tech, the one that was played about four weeks ago and then of course yesterday's game. That was the biggest difference is Alabama had that big win at Georgia, which is arguably the best win of any team this season.

4:11

Straight from the horse's mouth in a teleconference with the media after the "show."

Chad from Tucson (by way of Goshen)

4:09

Hey Eric! Thanks again for doing these chats! To me, Miami jumping ND in the final rankings and the conversation surrounding ND vs. Miami/ACC detracted from the committee's most egregious act: the handling of Alabama, and specifically Alabama becoming the first team to not drop at least 1 spot after losing their CCG. That is the question I found myself wanting addressed in the immediate aftermath on the rankings reveal broadcast. Do you know if Hunter Yurachek has been asked or addressed this question in the days following the final rankings? How could they justify "punishing" BYU (and every other CCG loser up to this point), but not "punishing" Alabama, especially given their performance against Georgia? Thanks again!

Eric Hansen

4:08

Thanks Donnelly, Man, I better not take a day off. I might get Wally Pipp-ed by one of your guys. Strong writing skils, buddy..

Donnelly Bridgeport, CT

4:08

Thanks, Eric, for this forum. No question, just a comment. I feel most sad for Coach Freeman. He is a true gentlemen who always acts with character and class, displaying intelligence and patience. He teaches his players to work hard…that delayed gratification is worth the grind. To see how he and his team were treated by the selection committee, the ACC, and ESPN makes you wonder how those young men can view that message without questioning its worth. However, I am confident that with Coach Freeman as their coach, they will navigate their pain, anger and disappointment with the same class and dignity he exhibits. Stay warm, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. Go, Irish 💚☘️

Eric Hansen

4:07

Kevin you make great points that are not going to make a dent in what happened now. You can't out-logic a gaslighter.

Kevin from Orlando

4:04

It is my understanding that Notre Dame lost two games by a total of four points to top ten teams. The coach's poll seems to show that Miami's two losses were both to teams outside the top 25. Based on all others receiving votes, Miami lost to SMU (30th) and Louisville (37th). How many teams in the top 25 did Miami beat? ND beat both USC and PItt! And then there is the statistic that as of the Sunday morning before the announcements were made Vegas had a 92

Eric Hansen

4:03

Rich, thanks for the suggestion and it was already waived. Maybe I should have made it a requirement to drink? Kidding of course. Not kidding about putting the best 12 teams in, but the conferences wanted to ensure they'd be represented. And this allows for that in down years, which the ACC seems to be having a lot of lately. There's going to be a sentiment with a 16-team format that it's five conference champs and the 11 at-large teams.

Rich Pieslak, Robbinsville NJ

3:39

Hi Eric!!!! First please suspend the no drinking rule today! I really feel the whole CFP process is a sham with Alabama getting in as well as Tulane and JMU. It should be the BEST 12 teams regardless of conference affiliation. I think back to the A&M game which we should have won but A&M had help from the SEC officiating crew. Who decides where the officiating crew comes from? I would think if both teams are from the same conference they would use that conference's crew but if the teams are from different conferences (ie ND vs Texas A&M) they would use an independent or non-affiliated officiating crew.

Eric Hansen

3:39

And the Gibberish that came out of Hunter Yurachek's mouth? I would think less of you if you believed it.

3:38

Hi Matt. Thank you for your question and your delusion that I might get more free time LOL. Fewer 15-hour work days, I'll give you that. One thing I will point out in ranking teams, since I do it every week and manage to tick off a few fan bases or at least the troll population within those fan bases. Sometimes circumstances aren't parallel so the consequences don't align in similar instances. Let's say your team is in the top 10 and loses to an unranked team. If a whole bunch of teams behind you also lost that week, you're not going to drop as much. The next week a different top 10 team loses to a team at the bottom of the Top 25, but no one or few behind that team loses. You are going to fall farther. So things don't happen in a vacuum. Having said that, the conference championship games as are as close to a vacuum as you're going to get (more)

Matt from Muscatine

3:32

Hi Eric!!! I will dispense with the outrage, since I’m sure others will have covered it. Can you (and I do mean “can” as in “is it actually possible for you”) help explain the various dubious pieces of logic from the final CFP rankings? 1) BYU drops when they had a very similar result versus TT as they did earlier. 2) Alabama doesn’t drop when they get thumped by a team they beat by 3 early in the season, which, in my eyes, nullifies the strength of that early victory and shows that they are not an improving team. 3) Not seeming to care about the 5 stats that have been predictive of national champions for decades, which you routinely site. 4) Any others I’m missing? Thank you, and enjoy whatever extra free time comes your way without a bowl game!

Eric Hansen

3:30

Ryan, thanks some of my colleagues are working on those stories. In the chat, I don't like to volunteer players for the portal, unless I know for sure they are. Someone specifically asked me about Hobbs, so I gave my opinion. As far as the draft, the only sure one is Jeremiyah Love, with quite a few others with tough decisions to make. ... Aamil Wagner, Billy Schrauth, Jadarian Price, Drayk Bowen, Jaylen Sneed, Josh Burnham, Adon Shuler, Christian Gray are among them. What makes it more complicated is it's easier now to make the decision to stay another year, because of the money that's available for college kids. We'll dive deeper into both of these story lines sooner than later.

Ryan Frankfort Illinois

3:25

Good afternoon Eric who else enters the transfer portal and who will enter the NFL draft GO IRISH ☘️☘️🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

3:24

Fred, I don't see a question in there. I'll let you comments stand, not that I'm cosigning on all of them, but you deserve to vent.

Fred from Richmond

3:24

Eric, Merry Christmas Eric from snowy Richmond. As all ND fans I was blindsided by the playoff snub. It was without a doubt an ESPN and SEC coup to allow Alabama in the playoff, it was set up as soon as they moved them ahead in the rankings. I believe that the A&M game was a precursor for us not to make the playoffs. The failure of an SEC ref to make a blatant missed holding call on Hinish which would have resulted in a sack and a Notre Dame victory was indicative of how the SEC refs are favoring their league and not calling a fair game. The ref who missed the call had the nerve to say it was not holding to tackle an offensive lineman from behind. We saw this in the playoffs last year so it's hardly a surprise. I did not like our AD calling out the ACC, it makes us look bad to many people. It's always been us against the rest of college football and the blowback has been bad. I do not like Miami, but let's face it we were scared to throw the ball in the first game, and it may have cost us a victory.

Eric Hansen

3:23

Hi Tom. The Fighting Irish Media team will do a great job with that, but Jeremiyah has great instincts as well. He wouldn't like have played in a bowl game but would have played in the playoff. I think he will represent ND and his family very well.

Tom F, Kennesaw, GA

3:21

Eric, glad J. Love is invited to NY for the Heisman presentation. You know he is going to be asked (nay I say grilled) about the team's bowl decision. Do you think the Administration is helping to prepare the best way to deal with this?? Hate to see a 20 year old young man in this situation. J.Love, Thanks for the memories!!!!!!!

Eric Hansen

3:20

Hi Patrick. You're on top of things. Karson Hobbs played 108 snaps over seven games this year on defense and another 8 pm special teams against Miami. Of those 108 snaps, 77 of them came against Miami and Texas A&M, so while he did see cameos in three November games, they were very limited. Given what's coming back, the high ceilings of the freshmen and the studs coming in the door in January, it's a tough climb for Karson. He has talent, but he's now in a numbers game and starting over somewhere else might make more sense. Out of the 48 players who saw action on defense for the in 2025, he ranked 48th.

Patrick, Fort Wayne, IN

3:15

Good afternoon Eric, I am going to take a right turn from the content of the day and ask you about Karson Hobbs. Since the first couple of weeks in the season, he has been a no show on the field. With all the recruits and current members of the young DB backfield, do you think he has a future at ND?

Eric Hansen

3:10

Hi Tom. I have been pondering different solutions and scenarios and the play-in concept is something I conjured up as well, so of course I love it. But if they go to 16 teams, do we need a play-in? And unless there's integrity in the system, then the play-in stage could be flawed too. But if they stay at 12, I love the play-in WAY WAY more than the conference championship games.

Tom in Evanston

3:07

Hi Eric. I am not a fan of the playoff - I actually liked the ambiguity of the bowls. And the nonsense that came out of the playoff committee was no better. However, the playoff is here to stay, it seems. Why not have a play-in game for the last spot or two? It seems like it typically comes down to just a few teams every year.

Eric Hansen

3:07

Lorne, thank you and happy holidays to you, and that's a great way to channel the heartache. Agreed!

Lorne

3:06

Lorne from Reno. As always, thank you for the chats. With regard to the debacle, the Alabama flip after Auburn/Stanford was the canary in the coal mine. The team should follow the example of the lacrosse team that had a bad start a few years ago, finished strong, and got shafted at tournament bid time. They won the next two national championships, with the second being an incredibly dominant run. The snub burned, but inspired. No question, just comments and wishes for a very happy holiday season.

Eric Hansen

3:04

OK, we have hit the bewitching hour and the queue is still very full and lots of great questions. And the live audience is huge, so we're going to forge ahead for a while. Let me take a quick phone call, and then we'll continue.

3:03

Denny, I am stunned you remember about the Xmas tree staying up through the end of the playoff and then extended into the WBB team's win streak. Funny enough, it's not up yet, but will be up by this weekend. Wow, what a memory, you really have been following the "no drinking" rule. .. You're right so much of the schedule is done in advance. And yet maybe Miami AND Texas A&M was too ambitious and should have been spread out? I think it's worth hashing through, but remember if Notre Dame had beaten Miami, that acted like a end-all, be-all data point. The losses to SMU and Louisville didn't matter. Again great discussion point do dig into for Pete Bevacqua but one that doesn't need to be answered in the next few weeks.

Denny from Beaverton

2:58

Hi Eric; My question to you in this seasons first chat had to do with scheduling. I said Oregon opened with Montana State at home and ND opened on the road at Miami. I suggested ND would be better off in the long run. You thought correctly that it would depend on the year which way to schedule because of maybe a new QB. Ohio St and Texas was an exception for almost all the teams in the top 12. Many had several easy games to start the season. eg. Indiana. Obviously loosing early season games has put ND in dire straits but schedules are mostly finished years in advance. Do you think this years debacle will affect ND's scheduling in the future? I guess you probably will not keep the Christmas tree up for very long this year. Dang it !!!!!

Eric Hansen

2:57

Off the top of my head I can't remember the last time every staff member stayed from one year to the next. Either by their choice or not. Marcus Freeman's assistants will be highly sought after, but they are well compensated, love Marcus and love coaching at Notre Dame. so it would take a special opportunity. Having said that, I think there would be at least one change, but I don't think it would be Ash this soon.

2:54

Hey Terry. Chris Ash is very, very guarded, yet when he was introduced, he mentioned that he was very happy in the NFL and wasn't looking and this was just too good of an opportunity to turn down. And given how the year played out, it likely will eventually give him more avenues .. specifically either to be an NFL defensive coordinator or a college head coach, two things that seemed longshots before the ND job. As far as the staff in general ... (more)

Terry - Miami

2:46

Hi Eric, What does your crystal ball tell you about Chris Ash’s future at ND? Any other thoughts about which coaches might be leaving?

Eric Hansen

2:46

Oh Jeff. I think I've rubbed off on you and not in a good way. I am truly sorry.

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