JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Feb. 14, 2024

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Feb. 14, 2024

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Eric Hansen

3:06

OK, that's going to do it for this week. Thanks for all the great questions (and compliments). We'll be back to do it all over again next Wednesday at noon ET.

3:05

Sean, you are doing great with being focused with your questions. And I GREATLY appreciate it. The short answer is, Notre Dame may join a conference full time at some point, and then that disadvantage goes away. I'm not sure Swabrick saw this as a complete sacrifice, but a tradeoff of ND getting an extra week rest before the first playoff round and not having to put a possible playoff spot on the line with playing in a conference title game. Your points are good. But again, this might not be forever. And the irony is, if the Big Ten and SEC become so dominant their No. 2 and 3 teams are better annually than the ACC and Big 12 champs, THEY may push for a format that wouldn't subject at-large teams to being seeded no higher than 5.

Sean, Schaumburg IL

3:00

Great Somogyi story. Thank you. As for the 5+7 model-Swarbrick as the architect has the feel of a martyr to me-apropos for us Catholics on Ash Wednesday-Good on Swarbrick for thinking about the "greater interest of college football". I don't think the Big Ten/SEC et al have the greater interest of college football in their top 2/3 priorities. My point is-Why should ND be doing the heavy lifting for the greater good(especially the scorn/envy ND deals with as an independent-that NC State game in the remnants of a hurricane is a prime example of the ACC sticking it to ND/that year when all ACC schools facing ND had a bye week prior to playing ND) when all these other schools are looking to consolidate their power/influence in college football? Football independence is great. But, with USC joining the Big Ten. Hockey team already part of the Big Ten/lack of conferences caring about the greater good. Why should ND be the flag-bearer? Am I reading this wrong? I know this was long. 2024 commit to being concise.

Eric Hansen

3:00

It's a time to do deep developmental work too. And not every position group is the same. Mike Mickens at cornerback has a lot better idea of what he has than say Mike Brown at wide receiver.

2:59

Tom, the 15 bowl practices is kind of a myth that perpetuates itself. Depending on when the bowl is played, I'm not sure that's even an average, But let's look at the spirit of your question. Because of all the opt-outs in recent years and now the expansion of the playoff, there will be even less uniformity from year to year and campus to campus with regard to the bowl practices. I would say this year Marcus really wanted his team to buy into winning the game, that it was NOT meaningless exhibition, so that was emphasized. Early bowl practices in that cycle usually focus on taking a look at younger players and maybe even playing around with a positional switch here and there. The closer your get to the bowl game, the more it becomes opponent specific. Spring is about installing or tweaking your offensive and defensive schemes. It's about figuring our where your depth chart is going and if you need to move players to a different position and/or add from the portal post-spring. (more)

Tom Kennesaw, GA

2:54

Eric, there are 15 practices allowed for both the bowl prep and spring practice. How do the two time frames differ in terms of what the coaches hope to see and accomplish??? Thanks. Go Irish!!!

Eric Hansen

2:52

I don't think the 2023 team was undisciplined. I think most of the penalties were more operational than a lack of control or discipline. Frequency of penalties is important, but doesn't always affect your bottom line. Michigan tied for first in fewest penalties, but Washington reached the title game being in the bottom 10 ... as one of the country's most penalized teams.

2:50

To question 4. How much audibling a QB is doing and how he does it depends on the play caller and the QB's experience level. But to your question re linebackers, I believe JD Bertrand had the latitude to make adjustments but not change calls. I think Jack Kiser, will likely have some of those responsibilities this year. 5. Notre Dame ranked 38th in fewest penalties per game and 47th nationally in fewest penalties yards per game out of 130 FBS teams in 2023. In 2022, those rankings were 19th and 21st, respectively. In Brian Kelly's last year (2021) the Irish ranked 51st and 50th. (more)

2:47

When you're talking about quality depth, the positions to me with the most question marks are field end, field receiver, safety and offensive tackle. But there may be some pleasant surprises at some of all of those positions this spring. 3. Love kicker questions. Shame on you. Mitch Jeter, I believe was 3-of-5 at South Carolina on FGs of 50+ and 20-of-20 from inside 50. His belief is that Loren Landow and Marti Biagi can make him more powerful without messing with accuracy, so maybe his high end is 55 and cross your fingers? (more)

2:44

OK Matt, here we go. 1. Yes it's a battle for the best five ... kind of. Tosh Baker is not going to play an interior position but tackles Aamil Wagner or Charles Jagusah could (but unlikely). Ashton Craig isn't just competing against other centers, but the guards as well to be the starting center, but he's not going to play tackle. Nor are most of the guards. But Harry Hiestand had one O-line of all former tackles in it, and it was awesome. 2. That's a question better asked and answered after spring practice and the spring transfer portal season. ND is four over the limit right now. And there could be attrition at a certain position group. Right now RAW numbers aren't a problem anywhere. Transfers and injuries could change that. (more)

Matt (KC)

2:32

Quickfire Five: 1. Is there an OL battle for the top 5, or is it just a matter of who plays what spot and the top 5 really have distanced themselves? 2. What position group are we the thinnest in depth wise heading into next season? 3. Kicker (I am sure you love kicker questions) but legitimately what is the new kicker's range? 4. General football Q, but QBs can call audibles usually are middle LBs allowed to audible defensive calls? 5. Overall, how do you feel ND has performed from a penalty standpoint under Marcus Freeman, fairly disciplined or do we need to see some improvement this year so we don't stall drives? GO CHIEFS!!!!

Eric Hansen

2:31

Then in 2022, I think following Mike Elston and how beloved he was by the players was a tough task. Meshing with Al Golden and Golden reorienting to college football complicated things. But all those tumblers lined up in 2023, and I give him credit, Al Washington worked his butt off to take full advantage of that.

2:29

Hi Denny. Keep in mind Al Washington is a BC grad, so the interest in him as a head coach at this stage of his career may be unique to that school. Coordinator would seem to be the next logical step. I think there are several factors though in him making significant progress in both the player development realm and recruiting ... and recruiting certainly benefitted from a step up in PD. To me, people I talked with in the coaching business were skeptical of how good of a linebackers coach he was. He was a college D-lineman, but in 2016 coaches LBs at Michigan and the same for Ohio State from 2019-21 ... and then not retained. (more)

Denny from Beaverton Or.

2:19

Hi Eric; I was very surprised when I learned last week that Al Washington had been a candidate for the Head Coaching job at Boston College. It was just a year ago before the 2023 season that I believe you had serious reservations in regards to his coaching and the defensive lines performance in his first season. There was a great improvement this year. What are you thoughts on how this happened? Are you aware of changes he made e.g. in philosophy or teaching technique or maybe it was just becoming much more comfortable with Al Golden's system. Please do not give up coverage of Notre Dame football for Lent!

Eric Hansen

2:19

You NEVER say never as long as the coaching carousel is still spinning, but there is nothing imminent at the moment. The start date of March 7 of spring practice makes you feel pretty good about Al Golden.

Ralph Camden, NJ

2:17

Do you think with O’Leary leaving that we have seen the last of changes to Freeman’s staff? Or is it likely that other assistant’s leave for better opportunities in coming weeks?

Eric Hansen

2:17

Hi Jules. Our recruiting writer, Charleston Bowles, did a nice breakdown a little while ago before Elijah Burress committed. If you're a subscriber, you may want to check that story out. But I can give you a more summarized answer. Talyn Taylor is the highest-ranked by Rivals WR target on ND's board. Daylan McCutcheon, Donovan Olugbode and Michael Terry are also ranked among the top 102 prospects overall. Olugbode and Terry are offers that have come since Brown took over. The Irish like Derek Meadows and Jerome Bettis Jr. a lot too. A couple of current three-stars who will rise and who are intriguing are Shaun Terry and Lex Cyrus. ... And thank YOU.

Jules, Joliet, Ill

2:10

It seems that since Coach Brown has become the wide receivers coach we are hearing a lot of new names being recruited. With one commitment on board can you identify the top four or five targets for the remaining WR openings. As always, thanks for your fine efforts.

Eric Hansen

2:05

Mike. Great question and one I didn't dig deep enough on when I asked him the question recently about building culture. I know Marcus Freeman likes them, and Loren is taking his cues from Marcus. So, I am pretty confident those will stay intact, but I will get a stronger answer for you in the days/weeks ahead.

Mike from Rockville, MD

2:05

Hi, Eric, thanks for these chats! Do you know if Landow will continue programs like the squads during the "off-season"?

Eric Hansen

2:03

Tom. I am glad you asked the follow-up. And yes, I do. Jayden Daniels in his two years at LSU came light years from his days at Arizona State. Desmond Ridder developed very well at Cincinnati when Denbrock and Guidulgi coached together there. Even though Denbrock was the WRs coach (and play-caller) in 2015 and 2016 at ND, I think DeShone Kizer would say he was very instrumental in him rising to be a second-round draft choice (who should have stayed another year). Yes, I am more optimistic about this QB development potential than almost any time during the Brian Kelly Era.

Tom in Evanston, IL

2:00

A follow up, if you have time. Having an inexperienced OC last year may have been the main culprit in Hartman having some games in which he didn't look like he progressed much from his prior years. Coan also had some limits. Do you believe that ND now has the ability to develop the position better (and that's what I was trying to point to in the prior question).

Eric Hansen

2:00

Hi Ryan ... the media isn't permitted to watch those workouts in person, and the coaches are very limited, so the feedback we get is very anecdotal and pretty superficial. So for me, I really try to tamp down the urge to share that without all kinds of disclaimers. We will get to see a full practice on March 7, the first day of spring football. We'll have all kinds of things to share with you after practice that day and throughout the spring. As far as Hinish and Terek, I think there's a real opportunity for Hinish to compete for a larger role in the D-line rotation with Rubio out this spring. His versatility helps. I am optimistic for him. Terek has much more competition to get into the two-deeps. He's talented. I need to see how he practices before projecting too much here.

Ryan Mars PA

1:55

Good afternoon Eric with workouts starting and with practice starting soon how has Chris Terek and Donovan Hinish looked GO IRISH ☘️☘️🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

1:55

Hi Ced. Coaches are allowed to watch, I believe, two hours a week of winter workouts. So, that's workouts beyond stuff in the weight room, but it doesn't involve a ball. So like competitive drills like Tug of War, etc. Again, a limited amount, and remember the coaches were out on the road recruiting a lot during the week during January and into early Feb. There are voluntary/unsupervised workouts that are player-run that involve more football activities that the coaches can not attend. I hope that helps. It also ties into the next question.

cederickwalker

1:52

ced walker saginaw michigan I notice deion sanders & coaching staff watch winter workouts at colorado I thought they are not allowed to watch winter workouts until after national singing day How often do marcus freeman and coaching staff watch winter workouts at notre dame here come the irish trust the process the golden standard rally we are nd god country go irish love thee notre dame our mother pray for us

Eric Hansen

1:51

Is a good thing. I do think combine invites and draft picks tell a story about player development and evaluation within your program, but not the whole story. ND has a MUCH larger class of player with expiring eligibility this year than last, so the number should be bigger next year if the Irish do it right. ... And thanks for the kind words.

1:49

Hi Tom. Happy VD and Ash Wednesday to you. I was thinking about giving up sushi for Lent, but that would be cheating. since I refuse to eat bait under normal circumstances. (Just kidding for all you sushi lovers). The math is a little hard to calculate at this point, because 1) It makes my head hurt, and 2) these prospects are going to move up and down a lot. ND only has two three-star prospects at the moment and I it's hard to imagine Will Blake and Ko'o Kia finishing the cycles as three-stars. Some of the four stars may move up as well, like Own Strebig and Chris Burgess, for example. As far as uncommitted prospects, there's some very good ones in the LB and WR groups, which is where the Irish still need to pull in multiple commits. So think of top prospects like Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, Talyn Taylor and Anthony Sacca, who would boost the class. As far as the combine, eight is a nice number. It could have been 12 had Mills, Cross, Watts and Kiser all come out. That they're staying and ND has "only" 8

Tom Kennesaw, GA

1:32

Hi Eric, Happy Valentine's Day and a blessed Ash Wednesday. Please do not give up the Chats for Lent!! There is a lot of optimism around the fb program right now. Key transfer pieces, a great 2024 recruiting class with many already on campus and of course a great start to the 2025 recruiting class. However, to finish in the Top 5 classes on signing day we need to be around 2800-3000 rating points. I think that we are at 1700 or so now. Is ND in good shape with enough 5-star or high 4-star recruits to put us up in that poiint range to finish in the Top 5??? If so, who might they be? To get 8 players invited to the Combine is a big jump from the past couple years. The top teams looked to have 12 or more invited. How many Irish players do you think might be in line to be invited next year? Is that enough to get us in the Playoffs? Thanks to you and your crew for all the great work that you do. Go Irish!!!

Eric Hansen

1:31

Notre Dame has invested in Gino Guidugli to develop QBs and invested in Mike Denbrock to install and run an offense top QNs will want to play in. The GOAL is to not hit the portal next cycle, but some of that is dependent on who stays around to compete to be the 2025 starter. Now if you have pre-portal era criticisms of Notre Dame's inconsistent QB development, those are fair and would work well with your Bears perspective.

1:29

They've actually brought in three. Jack Coan was the starter in 2021. I would not look toward the Bears in your comparisons, but look at college football around you. Of the teams that finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll, five started transfer quarterbacks and a sixth, Alabama, brought in one who got beat out by one of their own. All three Heisman finalist QBs were transfers, including winner Jayden Daniels. It's not whether or not you can develop a young QB, it's whether you can take a chance on an inexperienced QB, as ND did in 2022, when you're likely going to have to complete against more accomplished QBs in the playoffs. (more)

Tom in Evanston, IL

1:21

Hi Eric. When I take a step back and think about ND football, the fact that ND brought in 2 QBs through the portal and one started, with the other likely to start, what in the world happened? No issue with taking advantage of the portal, even if I don't like it. But how could ND ever be in a spot that it doesn't have the most important position figured out better? Did ND catch something from the Bears?

Eric Hansen

1:20

So maybe later in the cycle, that calculus changes.

1:19

Hi Andrew. Tom Lemming a couple of weeks ago on the podcast mentioned CJ May and Deuce Knight as the two that seemed most precarious among the commits, in part because of their geography and the strong allure of schools in that deep South. May ended up decommitting shortly thereafter. Adam Gorney, from our national team, talked to Knight this week. And while he said he's "Notre Dame all day" and continues to recruit for the Irish, he's still talking to some competing schools on a daily basis. The two safeties in the class, Ethan Long and Ivan Taylor, each reaffirmed their commitments after safeties coach Chris O'Leary took an NFL job, but I'd keep an eye on Taylor until he gets back up to ND and gets the complete lay of the land. As far as going after committed players in other classes, the Irish have done so well in securing their top targets, it's almost too early to go down that road right now. Now, there are prospects they like who are leaning strong in another direction but are still uncommitted. (more)

Andrew from NWI

1:06

Any 2025 commits that we should have our eyes on as potential flips to other schools, and any commits to other schools that ND might be working on flipping?

Eric Hansen

1:05

Hi Dan. I see your point, but not winning the grad rate title but being near the top (as Notre Dame was in many years) should count for something, right? I'm not defending any particular school, just wondering if you're painting with too broad of a brush.

Dan, Granger, IN

1:04

Comment on the list you posted last week of the graduation rates over the years...after totaling the numbers. Notre Dame had 10 first places. The entire Big 10 had 11, but the odd thing about the 11 is they were all Northwestern, so apparently Michigan is not the academic institution they profess to be and the SEC had 8 but 5 of them were Vanderbilt. I conclude that the 2 conferences controling college football now and well into the future consider graduation an after thought. To them its all (maybe only} about winning football games. Sad reality.

Eric Hansen

1:03

That's a brain twister, Chris. But since the major bowls are incorporated into the playoff structure, in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, I would say a quarterfinal win would seem to be the best equivalent. So if Notre Dame is the No. 5 seed, beating No. 4 in the quarters would end that streak.

Chris from Dunmore, PA

1:00

Notre Dame’s winless streak in a major bowl is now at 30 years. In the 12 team playoff era, what would it take for the streak to be considered snapped? First round win? Second round? What are your thoughts?

Eric Hansen

12:59

Thanks, Frank. The beauty of the offensive tackle situation is that there are 15 spring practices ahead to determine exactly where the Irish stand in terms of depth/starting talent. And keep in mind, a huge talent walks in the door in June in Guerby Lambert. Not saying he's ready to compete to start, but that's a young tackle prospect who will be on a faster track. Unless there are injuries, I don't share the depth concerns on the D-line, especially if Gabe Rubio returns in the spring or for training camp. There's 19 players to man four positions with experience at the top of the depth chart at all four.

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