JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Feb. 4, 2026

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Feb. 4, 2026

Eric Hansen

3:16

OK, I am out of time. I've got to run to the next assignment. Thanks for all the great questions. We'll be back to do it all over again next Wednesday at noon ET.

3:15

Hi Matt. I am still waiting for my $10 in NIL, but at least I know where to buy pods cheap, So that helps. ... Surprises coming in the spring? I recently did a pair of stories -- five way-to-early breakout players and five way-too-early question marks. There were potential surprises on both lists. Off the top of my head and to give you more options, I think redshirt freshman O-lineman Will Black and Matty Augustine are going to surprise some people, I'll go with Cam Williams, although I don't see him as a potential starter. Ethan Long as a rotational safety. Christopher Burgess at some point as an interior D-lineman. James Flanigan at tight end, but that's probably not super surprising.

Matt from Austin

3:09

Good morning Eric, I hope you are well and warm. I also hope you received the $10 NIL money from Keurig!!! Given the early enrollees and the portal haul, can you give us a few thoughts on any surprises that you see coming this spring. Secondly, the hiring of Coach Henry seems to be very well received. Do you anticipate that, if Coach Ash departs at some point, Henry is being groomed as the next DC? Thank you always for your time in these chats....and your patience! Matt

Eric Hansen

3:08

Hi Barry, I did get your message about coffee and I will email you. I am not good at that hypothetical, because let's take for instance 2024. If the Northern Illinois loss doesn't happen, do Riley Leonard and that team transform the way they did? Do they lose the USC game instead? It is close. But the bottom line is, I believe Notre Dame did enough to be included in the CFP field even with those plays included.

Barry from Napa CA

3:05

So glad these chats are still happening, filling that void until August! As you look back on 2025, is there any one play that stands out where you say, “If that had gone differently, there might be a championship banner hanging next to the 1988 team? Buchner’s mishandle of the extra point? Adon not playing the ball against A&M? CJ’s INT on a bubble screen? It really did feel that razor close…if only. 2026…leave no doubt!

Eric Hansen

3:03

JJ - Bushwood CC (New Jersey)

3:02

Thanks, great insights... and to answer your question, a fresca sounds great. It'll be refreshing after I finish mowing your lawn!

Eric Hansen

3:02

Skip, I am going to have to defer that question for another week, as I don't have 20 minutes now to pause and do the research. My recollection is that maybe everyone but Dunham was a four-star. The recruiting services, including Rivals (On3) don't award a full complement of 32 five-stars until the end of the recruiting cycle. So there are very few five-stars who actually are offered as five-stars.

skip - Houston

3:00

It is wonderful Notre Dame has five 5-star recruits for 2026. How was each of these players rated when ND made its scholarship offer? Thanks.

Eric Hansen

3:00

Interest level is also part of the vetting process. Before extending many early offers, Notre Dame works to determine whether a recruit and his family have genuine interest in the program and are aligned academically and culturally. That groundwork helps explain the strong conversion rate from Pot of Gold Day to signing day in recent cycles.

During the January contact period, Notre Dame evaluated several dozen 2028 prospects in person to determine whether they warranted early offers. It’s also important to note that not all offers carry the same weight. Some are not immediately committable and function more as a signal of interest — a way of telling a recruit, “We like what we see, but we want to track your development.” The board is fluid and evolves as a prospect’s high school career progresses.

Film still plays a role, especially early in the process, but it is typically a starting point rather than a final decision-maker. The staff learns about underclass prospects through multiple channels: trusted high school coaches and trainers, regional contacts, camp settings and recruits proactively getting themselves on Notre Dame’s radar. Initial highlight tape can open the door, but full-game film and live evaluations are what validate a prospect. (more)

2:59

Notre Dame has had a head start on Pot of Gold Day in the 2028 cycle by already offering more than 30 recruits in the sophomore class. That’s been made possible by several of the evaluation components you mentioned, though it’s rarely an all-encompassing or uniform approach.

One defining trait of this Irish staff is its emphasis on in-person evaluations. The majority of the 2028 prospects who already hold Notre Dame offers earned them through live evals, either at Notre Dame camps or during school visits in permissible NCAA contact periods. (more)

2:58

Pat. I had to use a phone-a-friend lifeline for this question, and I think I picked a really good one. This is from Kyle Kelly, who does a great job of covering recruiting as part of our team at blueandgold.com. Here is his answer:

Pat, Philly

2:57

I believe that more than half of this year's signees were offered on the 2024 Pot of Gold Day. I'm curious what are the evaluation tools that ND staff will use to identify potential 2028 recruits in less than a month, a number of whom probably have less than 15 games of varsity football? Are they scouring highlight reels and then requesting full game tape (are there private services that gather this information for schools or do they access public highlight sites)? Do they rely on word of mouth from contacts in a region or at big time high schools and then verify size and film. Given the high hit rate from this year's class, are they vetting kids beforehand to gauge interest in ND? Thanks for the time.

Eric Hansen

2:56

But not every team is doing to try to defend you the same and not every team is going to have the same strengths and weaknesses on defense. So that factors in greatly. If teams are going to overinvest resources on t he field to mitigate Fields, do you force the ball to him? Or throw to a wide-open receiver elsewhere or hand the ball to Love? Notre Dame had the No. 2 scoring offense and No. 4 team in pass efficiency in all of college football last season. I think their formula worked for the TEAM.

2:54

One of the things he had to grow into was trusting Fields to make catches in a crowd while tightly covered instead of Carr throwing the ball away because no one was open. That eventually started to happen. Now to the bigger picture. Winning football games is about winning matchups and exploiting mismatches. Notre Dame had a Heisman finalist at running back and perhaps a first-round draft choice at WR. (more)

2:51

Hi The Beave. I don't have a dog, but if I did. I'd teach him to use the Keurig machine as well, so he could bring me coffee. I don't think Malachi Fields' upside went undetected. I spoke with an insider last June and Malachi's talent level was compared to Michael Floyd's. The question was how quickly could the Notre Dame coaching staff bring that out in him? As that evolution was going on, CJ Carr was evolving as a starting QB. And he did an amazing job on that front. (more)

The Beave. Grand Rapids

2:47

Eric: ESPN has Malachi Fields projected as a first round NFL selection. ND has had maybe 2 WRs selected in R1 since Tim Brown in 1986 (Will Fuller 2016 and Michael Floyd in 2012?). Given that talent evaluation, did ND underutilize Fields? This year’s O excelled in run/pass balance and spreading the ball between WRs, but if you have a dog don’t you have to let him hunt?

Eric Hansen

2:46

Mike and Chris, you both have homework next week, Please include your hometowns next time. ... To your question, Chris from parts unknown. ... The transfer portal is closed. And while ND could still take someone who is unsigned, I don't see that as a possibility unless there were multiple long-term injuries this spring. I'm on record as saying Noah Grubbs will likely have the upper hand going into the summer as the No. 2. And Teddy Jarrard will eventually rise to that level in camp or at some point during the season. He's a June-arriving freshman who signed today.

Chris

2:43

what is your sense on the back up QB spot ? do you think one of the young freshman can beat out Herbert for the backup or do the irish land a grad transfer who is cool with being the backup at some point this summer?

Eric Hansen

2:43

I anticipate that it will be April 25, but that is not official and it has not been announced.

Mike

2:42

Hi Eric!

What is the anticipated date of the Spring Game and when will it be announced?

Eric Hansen

2:40

JJ, you wore green so you could hide, didn't you? Love it. And probably 92 percent of this chat is confused now. But let me answer your questions. And then I have one for you. ... 1) First of all, you did a pretty good job of beginning to answer your own question ... so let me add to it. Carr's evolution is 1. Better offensive line 2, Speed on the perimeter that we haven't seen at Notre Dame in same time 3. A defensive and special teams to go with it. 4. That's the short version and a bonus as No. 5, there are some talented backs still in the room. maybe not with home run frequency of Love and Price, but very good. Now a question for you: How about a Fresca?

JJ - Bushwood CC (New Jersey)

2:35

Eric!!!!! Long time reader, first time writer. Thanks for all that you and the team do to keep ND nation informed. You are truly the best… I’m pumped with all the optimism heading into 2026, but how do we get better losing a generational talent like Love, plus Price and a few others? Is it because of the (very real) quantum leap Carr made over the course of last season, and the expected further development of him and the rest of the team? Does that offset what we are losing? Thank you very little!

Eric Hansen

2:33

Of the three who will provide the best triple threat? I would say Aaron Henry, but don't sleep on Charlie Partridge. There's kind of a Harry Hiestand quality about how he makes D-linemen better (HH was O-line of course), but the point being that technician/philosopher/demanding element that bleeds over into recruiting and culture sort of effortlessly. I may be selling BJM short, but this is the way I size it up having not met any of them yet in person. As far as the winter sports, did I tell you the no drinking rule is NOT BEING enforced?

2:29

Hey Roger. I did a peace recently of the likelihood of the college football calendar undergoing major shifts in the future, and moving the signing day back to February was one of them. ... Thanks for your thoughtful onramp to your questions. Here are my answers ... I think one thing that will help Jasper in his competition with Erik Schmidt will be that he's already deep into the culture shock part of moving to another country and getting used to those things. James was a summer arrival, if you'll remember. I've seen Eric Schmidt punt in practice, and so this should be a great competition. (more)

Roger from Peoria

2:24

Eric: Historically, this was one of my favorite days of the year, National Signing Day. Rather lukewarm in the current environment for College football. I was really happy with the punting from Aussie James Rendell. It looks like there will be a strong punting competition for the 2026 Irish. i am intrigued by the signing of another Aussie Jasper Scaife. Do you have any insight on his prospects? On the coaching front we now have Partridge and a pair added to MF's coaching tree. Last week you commented there would be plenty of interest in the DB coaching position. O, I am particularly pleased with Henry, whose hiring evidences there were more than slim pickins' to replace Mickens. Which of the three do you believe will provide the best combination of "Player Development-Recruiting-Culture Enhancement"? Thanks as always and GO IRISH!! And unrelated, but not necessarily seeking a response, what is going on with the Irish winter team sports of MBB, WBB and Hockey?

Lorne

2:21

Lorne from Reno. Thank you as always for the chats. It appears that CMF is again hitting home runs (scoring touchdowns?) with his AC hires. For people (yes, including me) who questioned Mickens not getting promoted to DC, I thought Tyler's interview with Doug Bucshon re Aaron Henry raised an interesting point: Bucshon speculated that Henry was elevated to DC to quickly, wasn't really ready, and foundered as a result, which may well have happened with Mickens. I am thankful for the contributions of the departed coaches and excited about their successors. The only one we really need to worry about is CMF -- as long as he's the coach, people will want to play for him and work with him. Do you think we can maintain this level of recruiting, coaching hires, and on-field performance in a post-Freeman era?

Eric Hansen

2:20

The three things in SPRING that will signify a national title? If I get this right, do I get a free crystal ball? OK this is for fun. 1) Some fans will overreact to growing pains. 2) Some fans are still made at ESPN and the ACC. 3) Brian Kelly gives up the game of golf. ... OK, more real ones. 1) CJ Carr looks like a better version of the already impressive 2024 model. 2) Charles Jagusah has a recovery timeline that will allow him to thrive in fall camp and the 2026 season. 3) The transfer receivers are as good as advertised.

2:11

As a position coach, he's coached in the bright lights of Texas, Michigan and Tennessee/ He spent 10 years with Charlie Strong as a linebackers coach, and at USF was his DC as well. He two early years of his career under Lou Holtz. So there's a lot to like there. As fare as meshing, the fact that Chris Ash and Charlie Partridge go back decades and Henry has been in that coaching tree (that includes NC State's Dave Doeren) is also a positive (more)

2:08

Hi Marie. Thanks for your questions and for your message (and your patience in my getting a soft spot in my schedule). I'm going to wait for my 1-to-10 rating for the new hires until they are formally announced and I have a chance to meet them and ask them questions. Fair enough? What I like about both is their experience and fit. Aaron Henry (DBs) has a history with Chris Ash. He's also been a coordinator and has coached both defensive back positions. He's a dynamic recruiter. I now less about Brian Jean-Mary at the moment, because I'm still trying to get a better feel for him as a recruiter. (more)

Marie from atlanta

that last for fun statement to be completed was: Notre Dame wins the national championship next year if the following three things happen in spring practice… Thanks so much for hosting the chat and all your great insights.

2:01

Hi Eric, thanks for hosting the chat. I hope you’re having a fantastic week. On a scale of one to 1 to 10 how would you rate the hires of Aaron Henry, and Brian Jean-Marie? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each coach? With all the defensive staff coaching turnover, are you at all concerned about the defensive staff jelling in the early part of the season next year? Obviously, the first part of the schedule is much easier next year do you think there’s enough time for the staff to adjust to each other and really start clicking when the more challenging part of the schedule begins? Finally just for fun, Complete this sentence: it’s the following two things happen in spring practice, Notre Dame will win the national championship next year

Eric Hansen

2:00

I also think some individuals contributed to the step up ... Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa was one of the best run defenders on all of college football, per Pro Football Focus (94.0) rating. ND had 14 players with ratings of 70 or better among those who logged more than 100 run snaps in 2025. In 2024, there were 11. ND's safeties were all outstanding, but Tae Johnson and Jalen Stroman, in particular, lifted the run defense. Jared Dawson on the defensive line was another difference-maker. I'd expect 2026 to be another strong group, especially is KVA plays a full season or close to it.

1:56

Bill!!!!!!!!!! You are winning the unofficial exclamation point award so far today. The grand prize? Maybe a beer with Manny from San Pedro and me, if we can get him up here. My Groundhog Day resolution was to cut way down on using the term "deeper dive" in the rest of 2026. But I do plan on doing a comprehensive scout (that sounds weird) of that later this offseason. For now, a few things jump out anecdotally. Bing an elite run defense was prioritized more by Chris Ash than it was by Al Golden. ND tended to play with a light box more under Golden and he was more concerned with preventing explosive plays. Ash found a way to do both once the defense found traction with his new system. (more)

Bill from St Joe, MI

1:49

Eric!!!! What do you attribute ND's 2025 defensive improvement in rushing defense as compared to Al Golden’s ND defenses, without sacrificing too much in passing efficiency stats...was it players, moving a safety closer to the line of scrimmage, improved linebacker play, all the above, or something else?

Eric Hansen

1:48

Hi Ryan. the running back competition will be fun to watch this spring and even more fun in training camp, when Kedren Young is expected to be back to make it a five-man competition. Aneyas Williams has staggering numbers in smaller sample sizes, so it will be interesting to see how those translate once he has more opportunities. He is the front-runner going in. Nolan James Jr., has a lot of versatility and I think he goes in No. 2. But the freshmen and Kedren Young are going to make this interesting. My sense is the rotation will be deeper than 2, which is what ND went with last season.

Ryan Frankfort Illinois

1:45

Good afternoon Eric what do you think about the play of Nolan James jr and Aneyas Williams i think they looked good last year I’m excited to see both play September who will be the Running back one on the depth Chart i think it will James Jr GO IRISH ☘️☘️☘️🏈🏈🏈

Eric Hansen

1:44

Damien!!!!!!!!!!! 10 out of 10 for including your hometown this week and bonus points for the geography lesson. I appreciate both. I think one of the reasons why Notre Dame had the nation's No. 2 recruiting class with five 5-star prospects, an impressive portal haul and is picked by some to be the preseason No. 1 team is because of the strength of the staff on both sides of the ball and on special teams. They're strong recruiters, great evaluators and great teachers. Now I would say the defensive staff has more to prove, just because three of them are new, but that doesn't make it a weakness. Just more of an unknown.

Damian Becker, Lynbrook, NY

1:32

For your awareness, Lynbrook is located in southwest Nassau County of Long Island. Now for my question: When it comes to overall strengths and weaknesses, do you consider the offensive, defensive, special teams coaching staffs strengths or weaknesses and why?

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