JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Dec. 17, 2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Dec. 17, 2025

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Rich-Key West

12:40

Did Jack Swarbrick have a vote in the approval process for the CFP structure? If so, did he vote to approve the current structure? It seems like it would have been very apparent to anyone involved that conference teams would have an unfair advantage. Five automatic bids to conference champions leaves a lot of room for lower ranked teams to get in. Looks like we may have better representation going forward if that was the case.

Eric Hansen

12:40

There are a couple of things that come to mind, just spit-balling here. One would be to have a coaching friend come in and give things a second look on how to attack potential weaknesses. Al Golden, Urban Meyer come to mind. I like the analyst part of it and I think Matt Jansen does some of that but maybe could be asked to do more, along with Anthony Treash. I think those are good starting points.

12:38

Hi Jeff. I eat a lot of eggs, but not a lot of nog. ... Thanks for the compliment on the article. I mentioned this concept to Robby Toma last night on The Notre Dame Football Show on YouTube and he pushed back a little bit on who hard it is to replicate game reps in practice. But I think Notre Dame needs to be innovative enough to push past what hasn't worked in the past and you offer some interesting ideas. (more)

Jeff from Phoenix

12:35

Hey Eric, I'm not heavily into the egg nog yet (I LOVE that stuff) so wanted to weigh in today. In your excellent article that looked at the areas for the team to address in the off season to result in a better 2026, you listed "build a more effective self-scouting component". My question is around specific ideas. Do you think ND should use their football staff analysts like Matt Jansen and Andy Buh to work with OC/DC/assistants? Or, should they use external analysts, similar to a Fortune 500 company bringing in consultants to review and make recommendations? I'm not implying ND does not have a highly skilled analyst staff, just that, well, I know I am not the best at identifying my faults that are more obvious to others. Thanks!

Eric Hansen

12:35

Let's slot ND in the 9 seed spot, which is where I think was fair to have them, playing the highest-possible seed at each step, ND would have drawn Oklahoma, Indiana, Texas Tech and then Ohio State. Those four teams are ranked this way in the national pass-efficiency defense stats: 16-12-7-0. The five teams ND faced in November, in comparison, were 126-118-78-117-112. A couple of other names who could have benefited tight ends Cooper Flanagan and James Flanigan. On defense, linebacker Madden Faraimo would be my pick.

12:31

Roger!! I feel like I owe you one. You always have really thoughtful questions, and it seems like sometimes we're in the lightning-round portion of the chat near the end by the time I see them. So let's get you front and center right away. I actually think the answer on offense is CJ Carr at QB, and I'll tell you why, but I'll offer some other names as well. While Notre Dame's defense saw an inordinate amount of prolific passing offenses, the Irish offense had an inordinate amount of bad pass defenses on the schedule. I think CJ facing some elite pass defenses would have been incredibly beneficial for his growth. (more)

Roger from Peoria

12:24

Eric: Anticipation for the upcoming playoffs for this Irish fan is far less than anticipation for last year's playoffs. But, there is value for possibly 4 more games to lead to a Championship not only for fans, but also for players who will return for the following season. What player on offense and what player on defense with eligibility remaining for 2026 do you believe would have benefitted the most by playing in the playoffs this year? Thank you for your insights and GO IRISH!!!!!!!!

Eric Hansen

12:24

As far as news coming the other way — incoming guys, Notre Dame has tried to be a little more stealth with those names. Now, agents don't always cooperate. But keeping it quiet until there's an agreement theoretically helps tamp down the competition.

12:23

Happy Holidays, Dave! We're already starting to see that at least on the outgoing end with the announcements of QBs Kenny Minchey and Anthony Rezac to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Jan. 2. Even though schools can't contract them directly, there's a mile-wide loophole when it comes to agents and third parties, and a lot of these guys are going to want to have their destination set sooner than later so they can enroll at their new school when spring semester classes start. (more)

Dave from Columbus

12:20

Hey Eric, happy holidays! Do you think ND fans will learn about which players are leaving and which players are arriving through the transfer portabl before the portal actually opens?

Eric Hansen

12:20

That's why I think, for instance, you've got to get an experienced backup QB who is willing to be a Plan B but who also is valuable in the QB room watching film, etc. Another position is kicker. Erik Schmidt may be a future All-American at either kicker or punter, but you can't let an injury derail a season this promising. And competition is a great thing. So that kind of exacting roster management for me is the No. 1 key.

12:18

Merry Christmas, Jack. I wrote a column about some of those elements earlier this week ... if you'd like more depth on the topic: Notre Dame football’s path forward: Three offseason keys to getting 2026 right ... For me the No. 1 challenge is building enough depth/wiggle room into this roster to withstand key injuries. I really think all of the elements are there between returning players and incoming freshmen. And the portal is really key. Since there is no spring portal this year, you've got to get it right in January. You can't add in the spring if someone gets hurt or doesn't develop in the spring as you've planned. (more)

Jack, Strongsville, Oh

12:10

Hi Eric. First of all and most importantly, a Merry Christmas to you and your family! What is the biggest challenge Notre Dame faces to reach the CFB playoffs in 2026? Thanks for your great work.

Eric Hansen

12:10

OK, off we go ...

The only one that's in effect actually is No Bare Feet, and only because it's too cold to get away with that here, even indoors.

Here are the rules.

12:09

12:08

PLEASE include your name and hometown along with your question(s). Optional, you can tell me if you've been naughty or nice this year, but for a lot of you, I think I can guess.

As far as this week's chat ...

Kidding. Sort of.

12:07

Finally, we are going to have a chat next week, but we'll move it to Tuesday, Dec. 23 at noon, to avoid the Christmas holiday. That's also a good day to start my Christmas shopping.

12:06

► The Inside ND Sports Podcast has been rebranded as the Third & Gold Podcast. Going forward the pod will be available on all the podcast places you found us before as well as our YouTube Channel. On our most recent episode, we caught up with former Notre Dame offensive lineman and current college football media personality Mike Golic Jr. The next episode will drop later this week.

► If you missed the last episode of our aspiring-to-be-viral Notre Dame Football YouTube show, Football Never Sleeps, what are you doing with your life? Seriously, the show keeps its shelf life long after the live presentation, so you can catch up now or later on our YouTube channel. We’ll be back next week and every week, Monday at 7 p.m. ET, for another presentation of Football Never Sleeps with Tyler James co-hosting with me. And check out some great shows on the Blue & Gold YouTube channel as well, including the Notre Dame Football Show, live on Tuesday nights.

12:05

12:04

► On July 1, Tyler James and I made the move to the On3 network and blueandgold.com and joined some amazing teammates. It’s proven to be a great move for us and, I believe, for our subscribers as well. And if you’re a potential first-time subscriber, we have a great deal — 50% off your first year with an annual subscription. With that, you get all of our premium content, plus all the value you get from a national team of writers and content creators, as well as access to every team site in the On3 network and a full year of The Athletic. Check it out at: https://www.on3.com/teams/notre-dame-fighting-irish/join/.

First, some quick programming notes:

12:03

Welcome to Notre Dame Football Live Chat. It's the it looks like I'm drinking eggnog but I'm not edition..

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