JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Jan. 26, 2022

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Jan. 26, 2022

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Rick from St Pete

12:45

Eric, thanks for doing these as always. I have read that Chansi Stuckey blew the staff away with his insight into the game in his interview. Any insights from you as to what it was that blew them away and how that might change WR play this year?

Eric Hansen

12:43

Notre Dame's player development model is one of the best in the country, with Matt Balis the cornerstone of that. But you are right, Notre Dame has to be able to recruit (and develop) elite quarterbacks and needs to get the kind of top-flight wide receivers that it gets in its tight ends room.

12:42

Hi Steve. There is still disparity, but at least there was progress. And with some of the individual rankings bumps, ND moved from No. 7 to No. 6 in the class rankings. They're No. 1 currently in the 2023 rankings with that class due for a re-ranking next month. They've got four top 50 players with just eight so far committed. That matches the number of top 50 players the Irish landed in 2018-21 combined. So things are moving in a really good direction. But the high school rankings are only part of the talent equation. The portal (both incoming and outgoing) needs to be taken into account. So do draftable players who return to boost their NFL stock. So ND adds a consenus All-America safety, the best returning interior offense lineman in college football (Jarrett Patterson), per Pro Football Focus, and one of the best edged defenders in Isaiah Foskey to name a few. That's like adding three five-stars to the roster, even though none of the were five-stars coming out of high school. (more)

Steve from St. Louis

12:28

Eric. Congrats on the HOF! Well deserved. In the latest Rivals 250 rankings ND has 4 top 100 players and 13 top 250 players. This is NDs best class since 2013. In comparison Alabama has 14 top 100 and 20 top 250 players, Georgia has 10 top 100 and 16 top 250 players. In your opinion is this a big disparity or can ND compete on the field in the next couple of years? 2023 class looks great so far by without a bigtime QB I have concerns about the offensive upside following Buchner. Can Rees/Freeman get one of the big QBs in 2023?

Eric Hansen

12:24

Hi Ken, and thanks. Hope you're thirsty! I think the greatest test for this team in 2022 is how it handles adversity and how well Marcus (and staff) is able to fix things on the fly. As far as a roster standpoint, the secondary, the wide receivers and the QBs all need to be in the headlines (for good reasons) this offseason.

Ken- Pensacola

12:20

Eric/Tyler - Miss you guys. Hey how goes the new venture, & I promise to join as soon as I can turn in my coke bottles. So, question what you all see as the greatest pitfall for our 22/23 team besides playing Ohio State for the 1st team on our schedule.

Eric Hansen

12:19

As far as the private QB coaches, there's a more concerted effort know than there was say in the days of Everett Golson to make sure things sync up better with what's being taught and ND and what's not. So to circle back to the very start of your question, I am optimistic about Rees in all his roles. I've seen things on all fronts that are encouraging. And that trend needs to continue.

12:16

Ian Book lauds Rees. So does Jack Coan. But what happened with Brandon Wimbush and Phil Jurkovec? You could argue the Jurkovec development falling apart was more a Chip Long thing. So again we circle back to Buchner. And he'll have to make progress with Drew Pyne and Steve Angeli as well. Remember, Rees is a young coach who puts a lot of work in the offseason to get better at all parts of his job. He visits with other coaches and does so with an open mind. I like that about him. (more)

12:12

Hi Marie and thanks. One of the most fascinating aspects of post-Brian Kelly football at Notre Dame is who does Tommy Rees become, now that he's no longer tethered to Kelly? As a strategist? As a QB developer and evaluator? As a recruiter? The current offseason, the 2022 season and the 2023 recruiting cycle are going to go a long way toward defining those things. It's difficult to completely uncouple Kelly's influence, for better or for worse in these areas up to this point. Tyler Buchner becomes the most relevant (and critical) pupil. Dante Moore or Christopher Vizzina need to end up in ND's 2023 class. (more)

Marie from Atlanta.

12:03

Hi Eric, I hope you’re having a good week. How confident are you in the Ability of Tommy Rees to develop a quarterback from a technical standpoint? I think we can all agree he is progressing well with the scheme part of being an OC but what about the technical QB piece. Some of his coaching was in the NFL and I assume the emphasis is decreased on technique by that point and more focused on scheme. Additionally we can assume BK with his mentor in this area and his track record for developing quarterbacks is not good.Also, I know these players all have private coaches. Do the private QB coaches work with Rees to coordinate a program for development of the quarterback Or are they two parallel coaching philosophies that never interact? It seems like if Notre Dame wants to start getting some of these top quarterbacks they really need to hit on developing someone soon.Thanks as always for your great insight.

Eric Hansen

A full transcript will be available at insidendsports.com later this afternoon.

12:02

Here are the rules.