JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Feb. 12, 2025 | 2/12/2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Feb. 12, 2025

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Terry from Cincinnati

12:58

Hi Eric, what is your way, way too early prediction of the starting offensive line for the opener against Miami?

Eric Hansen

12:58

Hi Jules. Two Jules(es) in the same chat? I love it. ... To your question, I do think there's value in having someone steeped in Notre Dame's ways as either the general manager or in a position adjacent to the general manager. That's why I mentioned the name of assistant athletics director Dave Peloquin as someone I would strongly consider for the job itself or being part of the structure around the GM job. But I also think limiting yourself ONLY to someone with a Notre Dame background is not the approach either. Keep in mind who the head coach is and his understanding of the culture is the most critical part of this picture.

Jules De Coster, Canton, Missouri

12:52

Wouldn't it make sense for coach Freeman to try to find a General Manager who is already a "Notre Dame" man or woman who understands the culture and is less apt to leave the minute some other team dangles big money? Thanks.

Eric Hansen

I hope that gives you some insight.

12:52

“I think the 7-on-7 world has helped in some ways and hurt in others. I think it's helped identify really quality guys who can run and go get it. I don't know that it's actually taught them a lot about coverage structure, because it's so unique to 7-on-7. They go to these big tournaments and everybody's trying to win the tournament, and they're playing this style and that style. And some of that is real football and some of it's not real football. So, I think there's some good things about it, some bad things about it. And I think for him [Cam Williams] in particular, he just needs more experience. And some guys are a little bit more ready-made, based on maybe what they did in high school and then the training that they've gotten in the offseason. And some guys just need a little more maturity time. And he's one of those guys.”

12:51

Q: We've seen that with receivers here before and with some guys who went on to become NFL receivers but didn’t make much of a dent early. So, why is that not more of a universal thing, where some guys are just ready to go as freshmen and some guys are not?

"Cam continues to kind of learn the game and the details of the game. He is incredibly blessed with what the good Lord blessed him with, as far as size and being able to run. But understanding coverages and where he fits in the concept and how to route-adjust and different things like that, that process is ongoing. He's gotten better at that, so I like where he's headed, but there's still some work to be done there.”

12:50

Hi Joe. I feel Cam Williams has the right mindset, the right skill set and the right opportunity to make a move starting this spring. So if that's the case, why didn't it happen for him as a freshman, as talented as he is? Here is what offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said when I aske him posed that line of questioning during the season:

Joe H from Williams Bay Wi

12:47

Hi Eric Thanks for the pre Valentine’s Day chat My question is what do you think the chances are that Cam Williams makes a legitimate run at competing for playing time next season and if not what are the reasons why a 5 star recruit has not made more of an impact up to now

Eric Hansen

12:47

Now let's look at corner. Christian Gray and Leonard Moore are the expected starters. But in the last five games combined, you know how many plays they each rotated out for? One. They played all by one snap of the USC game and the four playoff games combined. ND needs quality depth at cornerback for rotational purposes. They also need quality depth in case Gray or Moore get injures. Golden can provide that kind of depth as a young player. So for now, that's where I would put him.

12:44

Hi Jules. Dallas Golden ... and Tae Johnson is in the same category ... is a player you could plug in, in a lot of places and get some early and lasting impact out of him. And you can always change the trajectory if there's a dire need at another position. The Irish did that with Johnson late last season, plugging him in as a backup corner when he was recruited to play safety. Johnson is expected to move back to safety this spring. So now let's look at Golden and see where he could make the most impact on the 2025 team. There will be 10 wide receivers in campus this spring and and 11th — Virginia transfer and probably starter Malachi Fields — coming in June. If Fields, Greathouse and Faison are your starters and there are a lot of strong rotational candidates ... including transfer Will Pauling and three sophomores-to-be -- then is Golden even going to be in the rotation? (and he is a June enrollee as well. (more)

Jules, Joliet, Ill

12:35

Sir: The ND defense seems talented and deep at all positions (with the possible exception of the interior DL). The offense, IMO, seems to need more playmakers. I would think that Dallas Golden could make a bigger and more immediate impact on offense. Do you have any thoughts on this idea?

Eric Hansen

12:34

And the earliest there will START to be clarity on this is April 7, nine days before the spring portal opens. What I can say about position battles is this. Marcus Freeman has a track record of being straightforward and authentic with his players when it comes to their standing on the depth chart and what they'd have to do to change that. I don't see him altering the timetable of naming starters to be intentionally deceptive.

12:32

Len!!!!! I can't speak to what schools are going to do universally. And other than Nebraska, I hadn't heard or schools strongly considering that. I also am not clear what you gain with regard to the spring portal if you cancel the spring game. Who shows anything but vanilla schemes n those games? Notre Dame -- the Blue-Gold Game -- is moving forward wit its spring game as planned for April 12. ... As far as declaring starters or not declaring starters, keep in mind ND is unofficially at 95 scholarship players committed to the 2025 roster. We think it's likely there will be a number larger than the current 85 NCAA max going forward, but that's not an absolute. So the Irish may have to add to get to the new number or lose 10 players to get to the old number. (more)

Len from the Jersey Shore

12:27

Hello Eric!!!!!!!!!!!! With the spring transfer portal will ND, as well as other teams, show even less in their spring games? I have read about schools canceling the game. What do you hear and think will be the approach? Second, are coaches less likely to declare starters before the fall wanting to maintain the competition in the roster for as many players as possible as compared to pre transfer times?

Eric Hansen

12:27

So what happened with James Blanchard. There were reports of a done deal when there wasn't one. Notre Dame had nothing to do with it. It was sloppy reporting in the interest, I suppose, of trying to get ahead of the story. It was WAY OFF. And then you have aggregators, who don't even do their own reporting, simply cutting and pasting the misinformation and suddenly you have a hijacked narrative. And some people fill in the gaps with even more info. So moving forward, you need to take account of which sources you can trust and how the process plays out and you should be rid of your confusion.

12:24

So, the media isn't going to wait until there's a press conference. And some middle ground was forged. Sources were willing to confirm a hiring long before the official announcement, provided the caveat of "upon completion of the university's hiring process" was included. Then came the official announcement. Notre Dame in recent years has closed the time lag significantly, but there still is a time lag. That's why Chris Ash was "expected to be hired as defensive coordinator" headlines came out before the university spit out their own graphic and press release days later. The same thing will happen with new RBs coach Ja'Juan Seider. (more)

12:21

So let's look at coaching announcements. The way this unfolds is a direct product of the George O-Leary fiasco that happened after Bob Davie was fired in December of 2001. O'Leary originally was hired to replace Davie. But four days after his hiring, he was fired for fabrications in his bio and résumé. And the Irish pivoted to Tyrone Willingham, but had egg on their face for hiring O'Leary in the first place without vetting him thoroughly. And they weren't going to let it happen again. So what happened? Every subsequent Notre Dame coaching hire, head coach or assistant, had to go through an EXHAUSTIVE vetting process. And not only was it exhaustive, it was protracted. Sometimes it was weeks between the actual done deal and the official announcement once the process was REALLY finished. (more)

(more to come)

12:16

Jay, this is a question that I'm glad was asked, because there seems to be a lot of confusion around this. Hopefully, I can help clean up the confusion and not add to it. I hate to say this, but a lot of the confusion regarding the current general manager vacancy, specifically, is the media's fault ... and in some cases kind of a parasitic wing of the media. I say that because our beat is blessed with some really talented content creators/journalists who operate with precision and integrity. This involved Notre Dame and it's procedures in the broader sense. So, let's separate these two elements, because the GM situation is very different ... and I wrote about this, this morning:
Fixing a broken narrative and taking a hard look at Notre Dame's GM opening

Jay - Granger, IN

12:06

WHY? why does ND continually announce they have their next position coach IE OL(last year), GM, RB, etc. and then we can't close the deal. RB hopefully comes through. Is this Freeman making the early announcement? If not who? Regardless of how this ends it is not a great optic that we continue to do this.

Eric Hansen

OK, off we go ...

12:04

As a reminder, the "no drinking" rule has been suspended indefinitely, and so far you all have not made me regret it.

Here are the rules:

12:03

PLEASE include your name and hometown along with your question.

As far as this week's chat ...

► Finally, at WSBT Sports Radio 96.1, we’re rolling through a heavy news cycle following Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff run. Darin Pritchett is back from a battle with the flu, and we’re together this week on Wednesday and Thursday, and each week moving forward on Weekday SportsBeat (96.1 FM, 960 AM, live streaming at wsbtradio.com). The weekday shows run from 5-6 p.m. ET. You can download all episodes as podcasts.

► If you missed the last episode of our aspiring-to-be-viral Notre Dame Football YouTube show, Football Never Sleeps, the show keeps its shelf life long after the live presentation, so you can catch up now or later on YouTube. We bumped out of our normal Monday at 7 ET time slot this week and next week and are presenting the live version on Tuesday night at 7 ET.

12:02

Some quick programming notes:

12:01

Now, don't get any twisted ideas. If you ask me for romance advice over football topics, do so at your own peril!

12:00

Welcome to Notre Dame Live Chat, pre-Valentine's Day edition!

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