JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Dec. 16, 2021

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Dec. 16, 2021

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Stosh from Canton

1:29

Eric, are you surprised at the number of high profile quarterbacks who have entered the transfer portal? What is causing this: a) an instant gratification generation, b) seeking the best NIL deal, c) coaching turnovers, d) an unwillingness to compete for a starting spot at their current school, or e) just a natural development from the new "free agency" in college football?

Eric Hansen

1:28

Lorraine, it looked like it was going to end with the pandemic in 2020. Coaches took pay cuts. Sports were cut. Schedules were altered and regionalized for non-revenue sports. I can't tell you how many columns I read about how this was going to take years, if not a decade, to recover from. And then we all got whiplash in the past month of so. I'm not smart enough myself to tell you where it ends. I do believe college football can still be a great sport with all the changes going on around it.

Lorraine from South Bend

1:22

As a St. Mary's College alumna, I love cheering for Notre Dame football, but I am growing concerned about whether college football is becoming too consumed with greed. Coaching salaries (even for assistants) are in the millions and more and more players are looking to cash in on lucrative endorsement deals offered by college donors and boosters. Where does it all end, Eric?

Eric Hansen

1:22

Not necessarily. I think you'll see a blend of formations and personnel, especially if Lorenzo Styles turns out to be as good as I think he will be and if Kevin Austin returns.

Leo from Auburn, NY

1:21

Eric, on signing day both Freeman and Rees mentioned their philosophy was orienting the offense around the strengths of its personnel. As I evaluate the roster, I see strengths at offensive line, running back, and tight end and weaknesses (and lack of depth) at quarterback and wide receiver. Given that, I expect to see in 2022 the same kind of power running attack that we saw in 2020 with a lot of two tight end formations. Do you agree?

Eric Hansen

1:20

Williams was concerned about the offensive style and structure. Walker was just kind of a head case. He was flirting with other schools right after he committed and it never ended. I don't think he was honest with the ND coaching staff. So I'm not sure there's someone to blame here. But I think Del Alexander could have been part of the solution.

1:17

Hi Chuck and Merry Christmas. Let's unpack your multiple-part question, piece by piece. 1) I think Notre Dame has been diligent with its existing staff in monitoring the portal, even though it has not led to excessive use of it. Part of being portal-proficient is knowing when to pass on a particular player. 2) I think it would be easy to blame the loss of the head coach for C.J. Williams and Amorion Walker's changes of heart, but they were restless before Brian left to LSU. (more)

CHUCK from CLEVELAND

1:14

Hi Eric, Merry Christmas! Great job by MF & Staff to preserve a Top 10 Class with all of the distractions. IMHO, Signing Day will become more & more anticlimactic. The Football Rosters will be subject to the same pressure as BB: in BB, they leave for the NBA early, in FB, they are leaving early for the Portal. So....my question is this: Do you envision any enhancements (MF word) to the Portal opportunities? ( earlier recognition & contact, Director Of Portal Recruiting?).Losing 3 star athletes like Walker & Devin Moore are easily replaceable with players who now have the college & academic experience from the Portal. Lastly, in losing 2 formerly committed W/R's, does the blame fall upon Del A., Tommy Rees, scheme or loss of a Head Coach. Thank you so much, Eric, for your tenacity in providing insight to we mortals!

Eric Hansen

1:13

Buddy, it was mitigated a bit by the fact that Kelly himself was pretty accessible, and generally a pretty good interview consistently at those access points. But as a journalist, you want to tell the story in the most complete and accurate way possible. And the limited access to assistant coaches made that more of a challenge for both the media and, I think, ND telling its own story.

Buddy from Oakland, CA

1:10

Eric, Tommy Rees has given a number of in depth interviews this week on national radio programs. This seems to be a departure from the Kelly era where the Head Coach was the sole coaching spokesperson for ND. I learned a number of very interesting things about Rees from these interviews. He is an engaging and intelligent man. As a journalist how frustrated were you by Kelly's policy of giving limited press access to his coordinators and assistant coaches?

Eric Hansen

1:10

Andrew, I think that's a really good question, though Rivals.com has two ACC teams in the top 15 -- No. 9 North Carolina and No. 12 Florida State. In a vacuum, the could be an issue if the ACC continued to trend that way over time. But in reality, ND plays Clemson and Ohio State in both 2022 and 2023. And North Carolina in 2022. So which ACC teams matters as well as the rest of the schedule. Miami might be pretty good in 2024 under Mario Cristobal, for instance when the Hurricanes rotate back into the schedule. If not, the Irish are playing Texas A&M that season and in 2025 — with a road date at Arkansas too. In 2026, the Wisconsin game at Green Bay reappears. And by then we should be looking at a 12-team playoff (if not before), so schedule dips might not be as much of an issue, other than seeding.

Andrew from Munster, IN

12:57

With schedule strength being a major factor in playoff selection and Notre Dame playing 5 ACC teams per year, is it a bad thing for ND that only one ACC team pulled in a Top 15 recruiting class?

Eric Hansen

12:56

Hi Sean, and thanks for sharing your story. I need to check up in Justin, but I believe he is putting his Notre Dame degree to work on working as a financial advisor.

Sean from Summit, NJ

12:55

Thanks very much for this chat, the best Wednesday afternoon entertainment for this 80+ old ND graduate. I came to ND ~ 60 years ago from South Korea. In the first football game I watched, I thought that this sport is quite hard sport for a Korean to compete in. In last week's chat you mentioned that Coach Freeman, Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Buchner, and Jordan Bethalo all have Korean ancestry. The first Korean football player at ND is Justin Yoon. Do you know what Justin is doing these days? Very proud of all of them. Go Irish!

Eric Hansen

12:51

So the portal is the most viable option, but ND could still sign a player or two in February from the high school ranks. You've got to look beyond this season. Even if all four of the older receivers come back, they're not going to be here in 2023. And the portal guys might not either, so you'd need a huge 2023 wide receiver class AND more portal bodies. I don't think they'd want to move Xavier Watts back to offense. He's got so much promise at safety, and the Irish need qualities safeties. There are 11 cornerbacks on the roster for 2022 at the moment and perhaps one of them would be a fit. So lots of questions but lots of potential good answers.

12:47

With the wide receivers, here's your puzzle. You could have as many as eight wide receivers returning if all four seniors/grad students come back — Kevin Austin Jr., Joe Wilkins Jr., Braden Lenzy and Avery Davis. The talks to convince those guys to return are ongoing. I asked Marcus Freeman about that on Wednesday. Even if they all do come back, you're going to need to add numbers. The others on the roster are the three freshmen — Lorenzo Styles, Deion Colzie and Jayden Thomas -- along with just-signed Tobias Merriweather. (more)

12:43

Thanks and Happy Holidays to you, Tim. There's a bunch of questions in the queue, it looks like, that related to wide receiver depth. So let me kind of bundle all those issues in my response to you. ... First the coaching staff question. I would anticipate that process lingering into January, after the bowl games. Once, those are over, Marcus will have time to move quickly. There are two jobs open -- defensive coordinator/linebackers coach and special teams coach. There are two more that might be open -- offensive line coach and wide receivers coach, given the men currently holding those positions have not been given an offer yet to coach beyond the Fiesta Bowl. (more)

Tim Vancouver, WA

12:38

hello Eric and Tyler, I really appreciate you guys. I wish you and yours a Blessed and very Merry Christmas. I have two questions; when do you expect Coach to complete his staff? (I think that might have been an issue w/Amorion Walker). Secondly, do you expect ND to bring in a transfer (or two) at WR?

Eric Hansen

12:36

It's not impossible to get the transcripts to align. Dara Mabrey, for instance, was able to come in from Virginia Tech, for instance, in women's basketball. But it's not the pure free agency for Notre Dame that it is for most of the other schools. As far as limited transfers, the NCAA does has a rule in place. Click on the hyper link for more info. So in this cycle teams can sign up to 25 high school players and then add up to seven more transfers to replace players who may have transferred out -- as long as the schools stay within the 85-scholarship limit.

12:29

Marie, thank you. I have fully recovered and am shifting into bowl mode and defensive coordinator search mode. And I appreciate your consistently provocative questions. Keeps me on my toes. ... I'm not so sure ND can't do well with just the grad transfers, because of how well they are recruiting and developing talent. Even if that wasn't a sufficient formula, there's not a lot Notre Dame can do to accommodate underclass transfers who don't have transcripts that will stand up to admissions. And remember, it's not just about getting someone into ND. It's about them being able to compete in the classroom and stay at ND. (more)

Marie from Atlanta

12:20

Hi Eric, I hope you’re recovering from a busy signing day. Do you think in the future it is possible that ND will consider addressing the hurdles of getting non-graduate transfer football players into the school. It seems like the transfer portal is going to become a very big part of building the roster for the top tier teams. They will just cherry pick who they want to fill their weaknesses much like Saban did with Jamison Williams this year. It seems in order to keep up with the top teams, pulling from the non graduate portal will likely be necessary. Also, do you anticipate any regulation of use of the non-graduate transfer portal. For example could the NCAA limit How many players a team takes from the non-graduate portal per year? As always, thanks for your fantastic insights. The work you do is greatly appreciated.

Eric Hansen

12:19

Most QBs in the portal are there because they want a great chance at starting at their new school, so that's a delicate dance. You don't want a portal pickup to push Drew Pyne into mulling his future with the Irish.

12:17

If top seed Alabama wins this year's national title, it'll be nine out of the last 13 led by first-year starters. Provided Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne head into spring fully healthy, ND believes it has QBs it can win with. And Buchner got a lot of snaps and got much more of the playbook later in the season. Just-signed Steve Angeli will be enrolled for spring semester, and that helps. So ND can either sign another high school QB in February or browse the transfer portal for depth. (more)

12:14

Happy Holidays, Dave and family. At least when Brian Kelly was the head coach, there was less concern about experience in the QB room for 2022 and more concern about numbers. That's why the Irish tried to flip LSU commit Walker Howard and kicked the tires on a few other committed QBs in the 2022 class. I still think with Marcus Freeman now the head coach, numbers is more the concern than experience. If I were running the show, it would be the same thing. Here's why. First-year starters have done quite well for themselves at Notre Dame and elsewhere. Eight of the last 12 national champions were led by first-year starters. The other four? Second-year starters. (more)

Dave from Ponte Vedra

12:06

Happy Holidays to you and family. I’m curious how active the Irish might be in getting an experienced QB from the transfer portal. With very limited experience at the D1 level on the roster, I’m greatly concerned about that position in 2022. It seems risky going into next season with a starter with very little playing time who last played a full game in 2019 against extremely weak HS competition.

Eric Hansen

Please include your name and your hometown along with you question.

12:04

Here are the rules.