JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Dec. 19, 2019

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Dec. 19, 2019

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Mike from Rochester NY

12:47

Hi, Eric, first please pass along a thank you to Carter for the great chat he led during Signing Day, very informative and interesting. My question regards the commits who aren’t coming to campus until summer. Can Matt Balis start working with them now on strength and conditioning or does he have to wait until they’re on campus? It sounded like at least some of the commits are going to need some time to get strong enough to be competitive at the college level.

Eric Hansen

12:47

RK, thank you. 1. If Notre Dame is invested in being in Orlando and not wishing they were somewhere else, the Irish are the better team. although I think Iowa State is much better than its record. 2. I don't think that will happen without a surprise departure. 3. I think ND is good enough as a team potentially to make a run to the playoff. Book is part of that equation, and it would have to be an improved version of himself. In fairness to him, the running game and offensive line need to improve as well. As opposed to Clemson, ND needs a lot more things to kind of fall into place that a team like Clemson does.

RK from Duluth, Minnesota

12:43

Eric, love your columns! I also love this recruiting class. Question 1: will we get a bowl win? Question 2: will we get any more recruits this cycle? Question 3: will Book lead us to Natty next year? Thanks, man! Go Irish ☘️

Eric Hansen

12:42

Tim, do you have room on your couch for a visitor? I think there are too many to name, actually, and Notre Dame is not alone there. We had 247Sports National Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong on Weekday SportsBeat yesterday, and essentially he said it's a huge factor in teams' "hit/miss rate." Look at a lot of the players who transferred from Notre Dame in recent years (and were not pushed out), who then have trouble getting on the field for a Group of Five school or even an FCS school, and you have your answer. It's not just skill players either. A lot of VanGorder recruits check that box.

Tim

12:37

Tim from Bangkok (it’s 82 degrees here at 10:15 PM!). With all of the discussion on signing day of verifiable speed, it made me wonder if there were some players in the past few years whose speed was not as touted before their arrival at ND. Any feeling for who those might be? Stay warm! Tim

Eric Hansen

12:37

WR Jordan Johnson is a Rivals five-star. RB Chris Tyree is a 247 composite five-star. Those services will add more before the cycle ends in February. OT Tosh Baker, TE MIchael Mayer and DE Jordan Botelho are are possibilities to join them.

V j John weiler. 58

12:34

Why no 5 stars

Eric Hansen

12:32

I addressed some of that today in my analysis piece. Keep in mind, recruiting rankings, team and individual, is an inexact science. Also keep in mind the size of ND's class suppressed its overall ranking. And the class had to be smaller because of scholarship numbers this cycle. I think ND's new commitment to "verifiable" speed will help. It exposes overrated five-stars and shines a light on overlooked prospects. ND's 2021 class is also off to a very good start, so those two developments are encouraging. Player development, how the pieces fit together, etc., still matter. Those schools you mention do have a larger margin for error in the games they play. No doubt.

Lee from Lancaster, SC

12:32

Hi Eric, the recruiting services rank Notre Dame's incoming class at 14th or 15th. As usual, Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State are are considered to have the best recruiting classes. If those schools continue to get the best players. how can Notre Dame close the talent gap and compete for a national championship?

Eric Hansen

12:25

MIchael was considering a transfer before Michigan week,though not long before. I think you might be connecting too many dots. We're talking about a player with a handful of career catches but with some promising upside about to be overtaken on the depth chart by Braden Lenzy. We're not talking about a player entrenched on the field and in the locker room as a leader on an indispensable asset. Nice kid, but not essential to the success of the team. ... as to your second part, I would not rule that out as part of the equation and have heard rumblings to that effect. But until I hear it from Michael himself, I think it's unfair to paint that as an absolute in the decision.

Bob Loganville, GA

12:19

Seems much of ND’s season is perceived from the Michigan loss. How much did the timing and decision of Michael Young’s transfer announcement attribute to that? Also how much of the Chip Long “issue” contribute to Michael Young’s decision?

Eric Hansen

12:18

Chilly New Mexico? My condolences. I think that's an easier question than who would play against Navy in the opener in Ireland, but still tough. I'm going to eliminate guys who might play as one of their four redshirt games, so these would be the players who have established roles of some kind. ... RB Chris Tyree, WRs Xavier Watts and Jordan Johnson, TE MIchael Mayer, LS Alex Peitsch, DE Jordan Botelho, DL Rylie Mills and grad transfer S Isaiah Pryor.

Jim

12:12

Hello from chilly New Mexico. Which signees can be expected to play in next season's game against Clemson. What is their likely impact?

Eric Hansen

12:11

No, that's the whole point of the portal, that you can freely gauge interest from other schools. If there is no interest or not the kind the player was looking for, he can come back to his original school. However, there's no guarantee his scholarship will still be there if he wants to come back.

Michael from Chicago

12:06

Can a player considering transferring make contact with another school to gauge their interest before entering the portal and vice versa?

Eric Hansen

12:04

Per usual PLEASE include your name and hometown along with your question.

12:03

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