JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Feb. 26, 2026

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Feb. 26, 2026

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1:12

Tony from Lexington, KY, by way of Somerset, PA, also the hometown of ND baseball coach Shawn Stiffler - Howdy howdy, Eric !!! At this time next week, we will be only 6 months out from college football season ! I hope that you can get some rest before then ,,, ! But as we are in the doldrums of the football off-season, I have three non-ND football questions: (1) women's basketball - what are the odds that Cass Prosper will return for another year at ND? (she could be the key to a major run next season); (2) NFL - what are the odds that Carson Towt will get signed as a free agent by an NFL team (did he play high school football)?; and (3) ND baseball - when do you think that Brandon Logan will finally see the field for ND? The possessor of such important answers will be rewarded with Coronas with lime !!!

Eric Hansen

1:11

Hi Ryan. I think the pecking order will look different at the start of the season than it will at the end of spring, because Ian Premer isn't here yet and this is a position group where quite a bit of growth and development is expected. At the end of spring, I'd say the order would be James Flanigan, Cooper Flanagan and Ty Washington. On Sept. 5 in Green Bay, I think 1-2 stay the same with Ian Premer as No. 3. Strong, deep group.

Ryan Frankfort Illinois

1:07

Good afternoon Eric who will be the number one tight end in the spring i know i asked in a past chat i think it should be copper Flanagan it will be nice to see him back on the field also Ty Washington and James Flanagan and the upcoming freshman GO IRISH ☘️☘️🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

1:07

Jeremy, I think I might need a beer rather than my perfectly brewed coffee from my Keurig machine to be creative enough to come up with a good answer here. Not sure how shocking, but let me make some bold, non-alcohol-enhanced predictions: 1) Mylan Graham will shock people with how hard he is to cover. 2) ND's offensive line IF fully healthy will be a finalist for the Joe Moore Award and maybe even win it. 3) Teddy Jarrard will be ND's No. 2 QB by October. 4) No one will be bitching about the kickers this year.

Jeremy from Goshen, IN

12:57

HI Eric!!!! Happy Thursday!! today is not throwback thursday.. looking into your crystal ball for the season what the surprises you are predicting that few see coming? for example, I don't think anyone predicted that the 2025 defense would struggle early but it did. What do you think?

Eric Hansen

12:56

4) I think Elijah will keep developing and will be a strong rotation player. Right now, I think the clear top four are Onye, Brewu, Tionne Gray and Hughes. Wildest of wild cards is Christopher Burgess Jr.

12:54

Hi Tom. It is forgotten! 1) Sure there may be a dime package when you see those three ... or even Joey O'Brien with Shuler and Johnson. Or Ethan Long. 2) I think Marty Biagi will cast a wide net and usually does. I like Golden more on punt returns, but maybe this would work. Ayden Pouncey, Aneyas Williams, one of the freshman RBs, Mylan Graham. Those are some names that come to mind for me. If I had to be, I'd bet on Aneyas. 3) I haven't studied Freeling a lot, but I know ND tried to recruit him. From what I've read, scouts love his traits and feel like his best football is ahead of him. (more)

Tom F, Kennesaw, GA

12:47

Hi Eric, forget the other message. Sorry. Here are my questions: 1) Can you see Shular, Johnson and Talich all on the field at the same time in some situations?? 2) Potential kick-off returner: Tae Johnson, Dallas Golden, speedy frosh WR. Your thought. 3) Monroe Freeling of UGA is a projected 1st round draft choice. ND ran circles around him in '24-25. What is your take on that?? Were our guys that good? 4) Lots of talk about the incoming DL transfers but what kind of season do you think Elijah Hughes will have this year?? He seemed to come on late last season so some positive vibes for '26??!!!?? Thanks for keeping the Chats going, of course it is probably tough for you to get around with all the snow. Go Irish!!!!!

Eric Hansen

12:46

Hi Len. Oops. LEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There we go. You're right. It would be a guess at this point, because he doesn't even know. Spring will be a big time of experimenting and trying new things and getting to know his personnel well. He intentionally didn't overinvest in watching old film, because he wants his impressions to be fresh and be his own. Because of his familiarity with Chris Ash's system and his comfort in pushing back and collaborating both, yes I could see some new wrinkles as you suggested, like maybe Bryce Young inside on passing downs. I'll be able to give you a much better answer say early April once he's messed around with some different concepts.

Len from the Jersey Shore

12:42

Hello Eric!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe Charlie Partridge will be a great asset to the D-line. Any guesses to any changes he will bring to use of players? As an example could Bryce Young become an inside pass rusher on certain downs?

Eric Hansen

12:40

Hi John. It certainly was a priority at one time for Tommy and might be in the future. Currently, he is back in Chicago as the head coach at St. Patrick High School. No. he was not on the radar for the opening. As much fun as it would be to have Tom Zbikowski on the staff and as bright of a coaching future as he appears to have, he is not as seasoned as the coaches Marcus Freeman hired in this cycle. So the timing isn't right. I think he would fit well in the current college culture, because he understands the econmics part of it but he's also old school when it comes to values, and I think he would blend that well.

John - Elkhorn, Ne.

12:33

Hi Eric - I remember reading somewhere that Tommy Zbikowski would someday like to return to ND in a coaching capacity. Was he anywhere on their radar for the latest openings? How do you think he would fit within the current culture? Thanks!

Eric Hansen

12:31

Charlie Partridge: Old school, new ideas.
Aaron Henry: High energy, not shy.
Brian Jean-Mary: I meet him next week.

12:30

Don! I'd day this is like a haiku, but I'd probably get made fun of by people who actually know what haiku is, and I only have a vague idea. But I will play along:

Don in Scottsdale

12:29

Eric, Hope all is well with you. In 5 words or less for each can you share your thoughts on the new coaches? Thanks, and keep the off-season stuff coming!!!!!

Eric Hansen

12:29

Hey Jack, thank you. Yeah, I think keeping Carr injury-free would top my list too. And getting back all the key pieces on the offensive line and keeping them healthy would be huge too. Beyond health-related issues, it's getting all the new defensive coaches on the same page (which I expect) and finding the right personnel to create a pass rush without having to rely so heavily on blitzing (which I think is possible).

Jack, Strongsville, Oh

12:27

Hi Eric. If you are Marcus Freeman what is your biggest concern heading into the upcoming season? Mine would be keeping CJ Carr injury free. Thanks as always for your great work.

Eric Hansen

12:26

OK, to keep the chat moving, I need to go quick on the other topics in this. Having spoken recently with longtime recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, I like Champ Monds from Vero Beach (Fla.) High the best, based on my conversations with Lemming. He has seen all of them in person and feels like Monds could be an All-American at the college level. At the first practice, which won't be in pads and won't have contact, you're really looking a speed and size of the players, how they move, just very basic first impressions and yet sometimes those can be very telling.

12:22

And Texas Tech got a bye and a high seed playing a non-con schedule of Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Kent State and Oregon State. So if you're Texas Tech, why play Oregon (which they did in the playoff and got drubbed), when you can play Oregon State? So again, I see this as more of a college football problem than a specific Notre Dame problem. And I like that you suggested a way to maybe fix it, but I don't like the Quadrant thing for football or basketball. (more)

12:18

To me, as an AP voter, Texas' 14-7 loss actually helped the Longhorns in my perception of them. And if Miami doesn't play and beat ND, they don't make the playoff. Period. Texas didn't miss the playoff because of the Ohio State loss. It missed it because it lost to a bad Florida team, was not competitive at all with Georgia and struggled to beat mediocre Miss St. and Kentucky teams. But then you saw a very good IU team win the title with a non-conference lineup of Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State. (more)

12:13

Hi Marie, thanks for holding it under the forbidden 17 parts but bringing quality to the quantity. Let's start with the scheduling question. I think this goes beyond Notre Dame. There seemed to be a fairly popular takeaway from the last playoff that it doesn't pay to play stiff outside competition if you're a Power Conference team. Texas, in particular, was vocal about it. Why play Ohio State, they felt, when you can schedule Ohio and have two losses instead of three and still make the playoff? To me, it's a flawed argument, but college football's leaders and the playoff committee haven't definitively incentivized the tougher schedules in the 12-team format. (more)

Marie from atlanta

12:07

Hi Eric, I hope you’re having a great week and surviving the return of the cold. Can you give your thoughts on the three quarterbacks ND is recruiting in the 2027 class. Which one do you like the best and why? Are you at all concerned that some of the upcoming home and home series for example against Texas and Alabama might be dropped by Texas and Alabama in order to soften their schedules? If that becomes a pattern, do you think that will force Notre Dame to join a conference? Do you see the playoff committee developing a system similar to the NCAA basketball committee with its one through four quadrants in which wins from quadrant one count more and losses from quadrant three and four would be more detrimental, as a way to encourage teams to continue to schedule tough and continue to schedule Marquee matchups? With the first spring practice just around the corner, what three things will you be looking at the most at the first practice that you are able to attend? As always thanks for hosting the chat!

Eric Hansen

Off we go ...

12:05

Only the no bare feet and no spitting rules will be strictly enforced.

Here are the rules:

12:04

Please include your name and hometown along with your question(s).

As far as this week's chat ...

► The Third & Gold Podcast is available at all places where you find podcasts, as well as our YouTube Channel. On our most recent episode, we caught up with recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of the Prep Football Report. The next episode will drop Friday with special guest Pete Nakos from On3.

12:03

► 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, 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 live Notre Dame Football Show, on Wednesday nights.

► 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 — take a test drive for $1. 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/.

12:02

First, some quick programming notes:

12:01

Welcome to Notre Dame Football Live Chat, Late February Edition.

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