JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Jan. 30, 2020

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Jan. 30, 2020

Eric Hansen

2:48

That's going to do it for this week. I'll be back in February TBA once the new coaches have been added to the staff. Thanks for all the great questions.

2:47

Please, with the hometowns .... Kmet (1st), Okwara (2nd) ... then it's tough. Kareem, Pride, Claypool are all in that 2nd/3rd range with room to move up and down. I'll go with Claypool.

Tom

2:45

Who do you think will be the first 3 ND players chosen in the NFL draft and in what round?

Eric Hansen

2:44

It's hard not to give that nod to Mike Elston and Clark Lea.

Mike from Toronto

2:43

Eric, is there one position coach that has more impact on player development than other positions?

Eric Hansen

2:43

Book has an opportunity to change his trajectory for 2022 with the way he plays this season. If it were a repeat of 2019, I think XFL would be more realistic .. if the XFL lasts that long. To the other three, Clark would be a senior academically and a redshirt junior from a football standpoint. Pyne would be a junior and Buchner a sophomore. Their futures are all kind of interconnected. And writing those story lines is more an exercise in clairvoyance than projecting. There's too much that has to play out to really do this justice. I thin Buchner is the most talented of the three and Clark is the one most likely to surprise.

Jake

2:37

Write the 2022 story line for each QB.
Ian Book (NFL)-
Brendon Clark-
Drew Pyne-
Tyler Buchner-

Eric Hansen

2:30

Absolutely. Carter Karels wrote about that recently. He's scheduled to visit ND the same weekend a handful of other elite 2021 O-Line recruits are, March 20-21. His name is Nolan Rucci.

Jeff from York, PA

2:29

Eric, At one point ND was very interested in an offensive lineman from Warwick High School in Lititz, PA. Today he is being visited by Swinney, Franklin, and Harbaugh. Is ND still in pursuit of this excellent student-athlete?

Eric Hansen

2:29

I don't think there's a common thread through all six -- two Georgias, Clemson, Miami, Michigan, Stanford. Miami would be the one of the six where you could claim it was a mental edge thing. Do people refer to Clemson as intimidating? LSU? I didn't get that.

Tim - Pleasant Prairie WI

2:26

Eric, I appreciate your answer to my question. 33-6 means mental toughness I suppose, but it's the "6" that I am asking about. What is the edge that is missing but needed to win the "6" that is lacking; all big games, all fell short. Is it talent, or is it something less tangible? An "attitude" if you will, that tells opposing teams "Don't f*&k with us". Seems the '88 team had that. Is it still necessary today to have that to be #1? And if it is, why don't the Irish seem to have it? Nobody refers to today's Irish as "intimidating" that I can recall of late. And maybe that's the missing element. Yes? No?

Eric Hansen

2:22

Can't you learn from both? The point is to learn from all experiences.

Ken- Pensacola

2:22

Eric- In football do you learn more from winning or losing?

Eric Hansen

2:21

I think you can have a season in 2020 in which players/coaches rise to the occasion and still stumble against Clemson. Notre Dame hasn't played a No. 1 team since 2005, and there's a good chance the Tigers will be No. 1 when they visit on Nov. 7. It would be the 26th all-time meeting for the Irish against a No. 1 team.

Joe from Georgia

2:19

Change was a Long time comin'. The offense under-performed when it counted most. Do you anticipate a return in 2019 to a 2012-like effort by the team overall where the lads rose to all occasions in the regular season, or is it more likely that it won't get done? In fairness, Clemson is almost certain to be historically good.

Eric Hansen

2:18

I think Tommy and Lance are in lock step with their philosophy. I kind of want to talk to Lance to get his ideas on that, and it sounds like we'll get a chance to do so after the other two hirings are made and made official.

John St Pete Fl

2:17

Hi Eric, with Lance Taylor becoming the run game coordinator, what if any changes do you expect in Notre Dame’s run game scheme?

Eric Hansen

2:17

I'm very uncomfortable commenting directly on someone else's reporting. I'd suggest you follow up with them if there are holes there. ... In general, predicting a medical hardship is tricky. ... Trevor Ruhland, for instance, appeared to be on that path last year, then somehow was able to not only get cleared to play, he was a STARTER in November and December.

Michael from Chicago

2:13

I’ve read on other sites that there are two to three medical hardships possible (all on the OL and DL). Given who’s injured those seem like they’d be significant losses. Anything you can share?

Eric Hansen

2:12

The last time anyone on the beat spoke with BK was after the Camping World Bowl. I hope to get to him after he makes the coaching hires.

Dave G. Kuttawa Ky

2:12

Eric, have you had a chance to discuss the Michigan debacle with Kelly or any of his coaches? If not, do you still have it in mind to do so? It was just so unbelievable. Thanks for continuing these chats. I look forward to the questions and your comments.

Eric Hansen

2:11

Mike. welcome aboard. We're very close on the coaches ... now that mean identifying and hiring them, not the official university announcement, which is a more protracted process. ... With regard to Martinez, Carter Karels just did a story with him and having a new CBs coach in place doesn't sound like it would have been a factor at all, particularly since the Irish projected Martinez as a safety or WR. He felt like ND was kind of late in circling back to him, and that may have been a numbers situation dictating that. ... From where the offensive coach search appears to be headed, I don't think it affects Rees' responsibilities/workload as much as it might affect Jeff Quinn's.

Mike Martini - Nanuet, NY

2:03

Eric, First time participant, long time reader! Can you please provide updates on the status of the vacant coaching positions? I am wondering if a faster move for a DB coach would have helped with flipping Cam Martinez. Also wondering where the Offense hire will be on how it will affect Coach Rees' workload/responsibilities.

Eric Hansen

2:03

It certainly makes it a more pressing discussion, but there are other options. The fact that he's already on campus and gets to form an impression this spring is a big plus in sorting this out.

Nick from Denver

2:02

Follow up on Bartleson - does this increase the likelihood watts ends up on the defensive side of the ball?

Eric Hansen

2:02

Tim, they're 33-6 in the last three years, so they must be doing something right in that area. A team that lacks mental toughness wouldn't have gone on a six-game winning streak to end the season after losing the way they did at Michigan. I would say ND's talent level, particularly at the skill positions makes its margin for error smaller than the late '80s Holtz teams. By addressing that, which Kelly is doing, you have a wider margin for error. That's important.

Tim - Pleasant Prairie WI

1:58

Hi Eric! I recently re-read the article from Sports Illustrated '88 following ND's Ntl Champ victory over WV. I was reminded in the article how dominant ND was that day, and more notably how nasty the ND players were that day with trash talking and personal fouls (9 in the game). ND holds themselves to a higher standard than many schools who regularly compete for NCs. Not wanting to change that, I still have to ask: Is that mentality, that edginess, meanness, nastiness etc. something that today's ND teams need more of in order to compete at the highest level? In other words, are today's ND players expected to be too nice, too gentlemanly for their own good if they want to win it all? Does today's ND team have the mentality that they could (and would) if necessary stand toe to toe and trade blows at the entrance of the tunnel with a team like Miami of the 80s and refuse to be intimidated? Is this mentality needed for winning the big games, in which they have consistently fallen short in the Kelly era?

Eric Hansen

1:56

Soon.

Frank Serra, Canton, Ga

1:53

Any word on the CB and TE coaches?

Eric Hansen

1:48

From some of the emails I've received from you, I know YOU don't think he does, so I'm not sure my opinion matters here. And there's a lot of factors beyond his DNA that would enable that to happen — or not. I've intermittently asked our podcast guests this same question in various forms in the past year and a half. That's former players, national media, former assistant coaches, etc. I've received one "meh" and the rest yeses. I would agree with the majority here.

Brian Sontchi

1:48

Hello Eric: I’m writing this note from Batavia, IL, and hoping for an early spring. Do you believe Kelly has the DNA to capture a national football title for Notre Dame?

Eric Hansen

1:48

GB, haha, thanks for the offer. Those are really good observations and questions. What has been suggested, and I'm buying a good portion of it, is that Chip Long's chemistry with the other members of the staff ... and the players ... had become toxic. Does that mean it impeded Rees as a QBs coach, Jeff Quinn as an O-Line coach? From a production standpoint, it's quite possible, and that certainly is Brian Kelly's belief. The Camping World Bowl is a small sample size. Spring football will give us more info as to how these coaches operate without Long. Book's performance in big games connects to that, and — in the same breath — it doesn't. We'll have to see if his experience in those situations helps propel him to better performances. And we won't know that conclusively until the Irish play Wisconsin in Green Bay this fall.

GB from Wasilla, Alaska

1:40

Eric, It appears that the weather is not too cold but I want to ask you, “Would you like a hand warmer?”
Kelly hired Tommy Rees as OC. I don't know if that will be a good hire or not. Here are my reservation: Rees was the QB coach and at least in the firs half of the season did not seem to help Book improve and Jurkoviich did not improve, which led to his transfer. Why didn't they improve? Was it Rees or Long or something else? Admittedly the offense looked better when they played under Rees' direction against ISU. Book has still not shown that he can play well against a top notch defense like Clemson. Are my concerns out of whack?

Eric Hansen

1:39

Michael, would you really fire a coach who helped lead the second-best pass-blocking unit in the entire FBS last season and who has been recruiting elite talent the past three cycles? Or would you work to get him better in the areas that haven't shined to this point? When you say old ways, I think that's unfair. There's not a coach in the country in which all his hires are complete strangers. Some coaches hire their KIDS! I think BK has found a balance with that. I went back and looked at every BK assistant coaching hire in his 10-years-plus here. What I found is that there were as many hits and misses with familiar hires as there were of coaches with no prior connection. If familiarity was universally bad, then why is the best hire of the Kelly Era Mike Elston?

michael kraus

1:33

Michael --Costa Mesa calif. Eric Is kelly really going to retain quinn . Iam LIVID that kelly went back to his old ways and hired him as off line coach.

Eric Hansen

1:31

Even though I just answered a Chris Tyree question, this one takes me in a little bit different direction. First, I think recruiting rankings can be interesting, but I don't think they're necessarily a reliable indicator of who might contribute as a freshman. Otherwise, Kurt Hinish would have never gotten past Darnell Ewell on the depth chart. ... and many other examples. Chris Tyree's speed is real. His challenge, and that of the ND staff, is getting that speed to translate to football production. That's a process that is happening now as Tyree works Matt Balis' program at home, then enrolls in June. Let's see how he shows up in June before getting too far down the road of expectations, diminished, inflated or otherwise.

Jeff B from Oklahoma City

1:26

Eric, given the recent drop in the final recruiting rankings for Chris Tyree and the rather lackluster stats he had in his senior year, what is a realistic expectation for what he can provide next season? I had originally thought he might be a surprise game changing contributor next year but it seems now we need to slow the roll on him.

Eric Hansen

1:26

I think Wisconsin did suffer for that. But they lost to Illinois by a point. Their other losses were to top 5 teams. ND lost to a top 5 team and Michigan. The Badgers had wins over No. 10 Minnesota by THREE TOUCHDOWNS, a narrow win over No. 15 Iowa and a blowout of Michigan by THREE TOUCHDOWNS. ND's lone win over a ranked team was blowing out No. 20 Navy, which the Irish didn't admittedly get enough credit for. In my opinion Wisconsin's resume was slightly better.

Nick from Denver

1:18

I understand why we were penalized in the polls for losing to an inferior michigan, but why wasn't wisconsin punished for losing to an inferior illinois? I mean, its illinois!?!

Eric Hansen

1:17

I think that's going to be influenced by how Chris shows up in June and the progress he makes with strength guru Matt Balis in the summer. Having said that, I think he's a situational back to start, but someone who you can put in the slot and create some mismatches. There's really not a Kelly Era comparison, and that's why it's so significant that he's on the roster. What he becomes beyond 2020 is important as well, because it may be a very different version of what he is next season.

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