JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Jan. 21, 2026

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | Jan. 21, 2026

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Eric Hansen

1:41

HI Bill. Thank you. And I know I've been teasing the eventuality of a WBB chat. We just haven't gotten through the run of big football news. I hope to commit to one soon. In the meantime, in fairness let me answer your questions quickly now, I have been following WBB but have only been to a few games myself, but I feel I have a pretty good handle on the bigger picture. I know much much less about the men's team. Jack and Tyler James do such a great job on that, and I don't have the bandwidth to follow more than peripherally. I have met and interview Micah Shrewsberry, and he reminds me of the old school Big Ten coaches I covered in the 80s/90s. So it's not culture shock to me. Does it play well in the 2020s, not sure. Now to WBB ...

Bill from milford ct

1:25

Hi Eric// thanks for helping us who suffered thru the treatment of the Irish prior to the playoffs. I know you haven’t started coverage of women’s basketball but I’m curious to hear your evaluations of both teams.ive watched all men’s games when on tv & noticed coach Shrew tends to get volatile easily . What say you ? And 2. What’s happened with women’s recruiting the last few years including 2026-27. There appears to be a large fall off in talent and coach Ivie uses a lot of word salad excuses after these losses. Is there a problem there? Thanks for answering my concerns & I understand you may have to hold these questions until you address basketball

Eric Hansen

1:24

Lorne. I love your preamble, because it didn't venture into manifesto territory but yet made some interesting points. Your question surprised me, given the buildup to it, but it's one that I am happy to take a stab at. I'm going to go with safe pick Jordan Faison for receptions and I'll be daring and go for Quincy Porter for receiving yards.

Lorne

1:21

Lorne from Reno. Thank you so much for the chats. While starting fast is important, CMF is right to emphasize that you only have 12 guaranteed games, and all are important. Don't forget about the coach plagued by slow starts who focused intensely on game 1, beat the #4 team on the road, ... only to be run out of Baton Rouge on a rail 2 months later. This is a great team on paper, but transfers and NIL mean that every top team is going to be solid from top to bottom, and ND is circled on every schedule. We need to be ready every week. So (finally a question) who do you think leads the team in receptions and (if different) yards receiving this year?

Eric Hansen

1:20

Hi Jack. I would make a terrible casting director. I don't even know who I'd pick to play me. Not that there's a movie worth making about me. That's a fun question for someone who knows the acting pool way better than me. At least I know the two guys you mentioned. As far as the Big Ten's push for 24 teams, none of the reasons make great sense to me. And yeah it would water down the regular season. The one aspect that makes sense is the concession of eliminating conference championship games. But the auto qualifiers and all the rest of the reasons to me are not in the best interest of college football.

Jack, Strongsville, Oh

1:15

Hi Eric. Who is going to play Curt Cignetti when the sequel to Hoosiers comes out? Gene Hackman is unfortunately unavailable. How about Tom Hanks? On a more serious note. Why according to reports is the Big 10 insistent on having in the next round of the CFB playoffs including 24 teams in the mix? Won't that dilute the importance of the regular season? Thanks for your great work.

Eric Hansen

1:15

Dave, I stumbled over this question last night on Football Never Sleeps as I was multitasking some breaking news. So let me gather myself and give a more coherent answer. If everyone is healthy, my starting five would be from RT to LT: Guerby Lambert, Anthonie Knapp, Ashton Craig, Will Black, Charles Jagusah.

Dave Poter

1:08

From Toms River NJ. Who do you have as our starting Offensive lineman?

Eric Hansen

1:08

As far as portal shopping for a QB in 2027, that is not the blueprint, but in this day and age, you've got to be nimble and pivot if circumstances dictate.

1:07

Mike/Mo !^!^! Great question. Let me address your premise. I do think a home-grown QB can and will again win a national title at some point since JJ McCarthy did at Michigan in 2023. Pass-efficiency, whether it's a home-grown guy or a portal QB, is critical. The lowest a team has ranked in team pass efficiency in the last 10 seasons is 18th. The lowest in the last seven years is 8th. Notre Dame was 4th in team pass efficiency, which is a great sign for the 2026 Irish. As far as Grubbs and Jarrard, each of them has a lot to take when to comes to high ceiling. Grubbs has flat our continued to disprove his doubters. The whispers about who Jarrard can become are louder.

Mike AKA Mo from Maumee OH

12:58

Hi Eric !^! Seems like recruiting a high school QB and having him stay at this original school while leading his college to the CFP finals is becoming the exception as opposed to the rule. The last two seasons, the four opposing QB's were all portal transfers. It certainly looks like CJ Carr could break that tendency. My (eventual) question is this: Carr certainly seemed to pass the "eye test" as well as the the analysts' scores as to his high school performance & projected success at the next level. Grubbs & Jarrard will most likely be Carr's backups- do either of these two young men also pass that "eye test" that may put one or both at the skill level of Carr when he came out of high school? Or might ND be portal-shopping for a proven elite QB for the 2027 season? Thanks!

Eric Hansen

12:56

The peak Lou Holtz Era teams.

Matt from Va All Day

12:56

This is the most impressive ND team on paper since?

Eric Hansen

12:55

John, I think it's interesting, given those final coaches ballots are made public. Not sure what kind of statement they were trying to make. It's interesting that the coach who voted Notre Dame the highest, from what I could discern, was Indiana's Curt Cignetti. He had the Irish No. 7. Marcus Freeman had ND at 9. I voted them 8 in the AP poll. I want to go back over those when I have more time. I think if you have Notre Dame even as low as 15, it could be a difference of opinion. But to have than at 25 or not in the poll at all is some sort of statement.

12:53

For those who want to check out all the ballots of the coaches, here's the link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/01/20/college-footbal...

12:47

Give me just a second to look those over.

John from Chatham, NJ

12:45

Erik-Hope you're keeping warm!!! What do you make of the coach ballots submitted by Jim Mora of U Conn (ND 25th) and Scotty Walden of UTEP (ND not ranked in top 25!!). Seems like ND haters exist everywhere.

Eric Hansen

12:44

5) The contracts Notre Dame players sign (and most everywhere) are one-year deals. And the rare multi-year deals can be bought out by another schools, so really they are all one-year deals.

12:43

3) I think some people have forgotten. I guarantee the coaches have not. 4) When I think of the ones who would benefit the most, you tend to think of rehabbing players, young players and players who could benefit from transformations physically. So let's just take the last category there to keep this short enough for a chat. You're talking Keon Keeley, Loghan Thomas, Christopher Burgess Jr., James Flanigan and Ethan Long. You could put every freshman on the list too. (more)

12:38

Hi Tom. Thanks for being part of the chats and for the great email you shared the other night. ... to your questions ... 1) Notre Dame finished 2026 so early (well kind of, they keep adding) that they were able to get a great start on 2027 and are well-positioned to land another top class. So the portal doesn't really figure into it other than seven of those guys have multiple years and theoretically you wouldn't have to replace any of them. However, we're in an era of one-year contracts, so you never know. 2) He has talked about that. And next time we have him in front of us, we can drill down on that a little more. But they have started those steps and should have a much more finished plan when we get to March. (more)

Tom F, Kennesaw, GA

12:33

Hi Eric, thanks for these Chats to keep us on top of all Irish fb happenings. Great news on Onye!!! With him and other new players, the DL should be a strength in '26. Now my questions: 1) with so many portal players having more than just 1 year of eligibility, do you think that will allow the coaches to concentrate on their TOP HS targets for '27?? 2) What do you think MF will do differently to prepare for the start of '26 season so we get off to a strong start?? 3) Have we forgotten how Really good Greathouse is since he hasn't played for so long?? 4) What players do you think will benefit the most from the Strength/Conditioning work between now and the start of fall camp?? Keeley, Gray, Black??? 5) Are NIL deals only 1 year deals??? After reading some of the stupid comments on social media about MF's appearance on College Game Day, I now have a better understanding why many celebrities don't look at that stuff. As always, thanks for your great insight, talking with us Chatters. Go Irish!!!!!!!!

Eric Hansen

12:31

As far as playing more than two backs, Irish RBs coach Ja'Juan Seider has said he can get four ready. That's his max. So if there are three who could help, and that might be the case in 2026, I would expect to see them all. I would not count out any of the five, but right now I'd go with Aneyas Williams for sure in that group, with likely Kedren Young and Nolan James Jr., but I am impressed with the freshmen as well. TEs in order, I'll go 3 deep with James Flanigan, Cooper Flanagan and Ian Premer. With WRs, I would project the top four in the rotation to be (in no order) Jordan Faison, Quincy Porter, Jaden Greahouse and Mylan Graham, with the other 10 fighting to get into that rotation. Of the group, I am intrigued most by Micah Gilbert, Cam Williams and Kaydon Finley. You may see ND go four-wide at times. You may see three tight ends at times. My thoughts on a 24-team playoff? &###@(*&^###!!!!!!

12:22

Busy week? Yes. Cold week? Brrrrrr. Great week? Yeah, that too. Thanks. As I watched the College Football Playoff, I'm pretty confident Notre Dame -- swapped into the 10 seed spot -- would have made it to the title game. And consider the Irish would have been able to add back in injured players Billy Schrauth, Gabe Rubio, Jaden Greathouse, Tae Johnson and Noah Burnette. So, you would have a really good version of this Irish team. But as far as taking down either Miami or Indiana on Monday night, the way those two were playing, I'm not sure. I'm not confident that would have happened. I am confident the Irish would have been competitive. I am more confident about the ceiling of this team in 2026 if it largely stays healthy. (more)

Marie from Atlanta

12:18

as always, thanks for hosting the chat and all your great insights.

12:17

Hi Eric, I hope you’re having a great week. After watching the game Monday night if Notre Dame would’ve played either of those teams in that game, how do you think it would’ve gone? I know Seider typically only likes to play two backs, however, if he had three backs that were all very close in talent level, do you think he would utilize more of a rotation next year? Who do you think those three backs would most likely be? Can you give your way too early two deep for the wide receiver position, and the tight ends? Finally, what are your thoughts on a possible 24 team playoff?

Eric Hansen

12:17

Hi Ray, I had to use my phone-a-friend lifeline on this and contacted Mike Singer from our Blue&Gold staff. Now that the all-star games have all taken place, it could by anytime in the next two weeks. Mike says Notre Dame could have as many as seven five-star players, when you included all of the recruiting services. The Irish currently have five. Most likely number is six.

Raymond S. Pietrzak

12:15

When do the final recruiting rankings come out? How many 5 stars do you expect?

Eric Hansen

12:15

Manny!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are really two layers to the answer here. The first is, the had the option for the first time in the Transfer Portal Era. And the administration giving the green light for an exponentially deeper pool of potential transfers is a game-changer. For this particular class, the only one-and-done of the eight is Colorado CB DJ McKinney. But when you look at the other seven, there's only one you could argue, Michigan CB Jayden Sanders, who doesn't have a chance to start or be a key rotational player. And Sanders could end up in that group. So you really have the best of both worlds -- production and potential. I give the class an A+.

Manny from San Pedro

12:09

Eric!!!!!!! Hope you are staying warm with these fireside chats and ignore these cool temps. Why did Notre Dame choose to go with potential in the transport portal over players that have produced?

Eric Hansen

OK off we go ...

12:07

Since Scott from Greenville used such a clever Caddyshack reference in his question last week, all five of those rules are rolled back for this week.

Here are the rules:

12:06

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

As far as this chat ...

12:05

► 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 Blue & Gold’s own Mike Singer, talking Notre Dame football recruiting and about the transfer portal backstories. It’s our most-watched episode ever. The next episode will drop on Friday.

► 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.

12:04

► 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/.

12:03

First, some quick programming notes:

12:02

Welcome to Notre Dame Football Live Chat for Jan. 21, 2026.

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