JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat July 10, 2020

Notre Dame Football Live Chat July 10, 2020

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Erik, Granger, IN

1:34

Thanks for being here! Any pods of gold dropping soon? I miss your verbal insights.

Eric Hansen

1:34

OK that made me laugh out loud. I think we all needed that. For the record, I have never covered a squad tournament and I will check with BK next week about revision of his favorite Thanksgiving side dishes.

Erik, Granger, IN

1:33

I saw that Squash was among the varsity sports Stanford dropped to save money. Have you ever covered a squash tournament in your lifetime? And how will this affect Brian Kelly’s thanksgiving dinner plans? :-)

Eric Hansen

1:32

Caoch, my wayback machine is a little fuzzy on this one, but I don't remember Barry getting involved at all. He had just finished year seven at Wisconsin and had a promising young team that would go 23-3 in 1998 and 1999 with two Rose Bowls. The most realistic candidate other than Davie at the time was Gary Barnett, who was at Northwestern.

Coach from Reading, PA

1:24

Eric. Take me back on the “way back machine”. Is there any scenario where Barry Alvarez could have been made head coach at Notre Dame or were Bob Davie and Monk Malloy already hooked at the hip? Thanks a lot.

Eric Hansen

1:23

Let's say this scenario is a realistic one, I don't think you cancel the game. You put Avery Davis, Jay Bramblett or Kendall Abdur-Rahman at QB and do the best you can. I think the contingency plan might be isolating the starting QB as much as you can this season. ND's on-campus plan is really good, so basically you're asking him to sacrifice going off campus. That's oversimplified, but you get the picture. Maybe you keep the QBs apart at practice and do meetings via Zoom.

Lee from Lancaster.SC

1:19

If the starting quarterback tests positive (no names because I don't want to "jinx" anyone} during game week and the backup quarterbacks have to quarantine due to contact tracing, will the upcoming game have to be cancelled? Will there be contingency plans in place for these type of situations?

Eric Hansen

1:18

Mike, I partially answered this a little earlier, but let me tease this out a bit. Notre Dame, and every other FBS school, has until the first day of fall-semester classes to get down to the NCAA max of 85 scholarship players. That date this year is Aug. 10 for the Irish. But the earlier chatter made the point that perhaps exceptions would be made because of the pandemic. Possibly, and I hope to have an answer on where that's headed by the middle of next week. But there's not penalty for being over. You have to hit that 85 limit. I don't think ND would have taken two more grad transfers this summer if it didn't have an idea of how the math was going to work. And thank you for loving the chats and hating the virus. Me too.

Mike from Danville IN

1:14

Love the chats, hate the virus! It seems like, if there is a season, ND is in danger of being over the scholarship limit. I’ve heard a lot about that but have never heard what the penalty and/or resolution is. Thanks for your excellent work covering the Irish!

Eric Hansen

1:14

Hello. And if the people in Northern Idaho are as warm as those in Boise, I'd love to do that.

Doug Miller CDA Idaho

1:13

Not a question just saying hi, someday you need to come out to Northern Idaho

Eric Hansen

1:13

There is so much to like about Jafar Armstrong and what he can become. So yes, he would be a candidate for comeback player, but he HAS to stay healthy. As far as Mr. Edina, Quinn Carroll, the hope is he can challenge to be a starter in 2021 at tackle after honing his skills as a backup this season.

RapidRobert from Sartell, Mn

1:07

Great news on ALT! He will be a stud. I think the criticism of O-line coach and recruiting in general is overboard. Some ND faithful would complain about the water turned into wine as not being champagne! Question: Will Jafar Armstrong be comeback player of the year? Also, will Edina kid make an impact?

Eric Hansen

1:06

Eric, we are going to be talking to Rees next week, I believe, and will include that info in our special section, so I'll have better feel for where he wants to take the offense after that conversation. I think you make a really good point including Lance Taylor, and his influences, in this discussion. Bottom line, I don't expect a makeover. I do expect refinement.

Eric from Exeter, Ca

1:04

Hello Eric, Any word on offensive changes with Rees and Taylor? Curious to see if the QB will be under center more this season with Taylor having more of a background in the NFL? I think it plays to ND's strengths as far as recruiting (OL and TE) being more of a downhill play action offense?

Eric Hansen

1:04

I think we've been moving toward a more distinct split between the Power 5 and the Group of 5, and the pandemic may hasten and widen that division. What the policing/enforcement arm of the NCAA will look like, moving forward, is the most intriguing to me. My hope is that the concept of vacated victories goes away fast.

Peter in Provo

12:57

Hi Eric,
In your view, will the NCAA, as we know it today, survive if there is limited or no football or basketball this year? Would it make sense for a reworking of the system? Or just start anew? Maybe the top 20 or 30 teams going their own way? I think their days were numbered even before the pandemic.

Eric Hansen

12:57

I think 10 games is what the Big Ten is going to try to shoot for, so perhaps that will become the standard. We'll know in the next week. I do like the thought of expanding the playoff to eight teams this year. The unknowns are:

Can you contractually do it?
Where will we be with the COVID-19/flu overlap?
Will more therapeutics be on the market ... and/or a vaccine?

Gene from Wyckoff, NJ

12:54

Hi Eric - has there been any rumblings that maybe if the regular season for most teams gets cut down to about 10 games that it could ease the way for an 8-team playoff on the back end rather than four. Might be fairer for teams that lose the ability to show their worth with marquee out of conference games (Ohio State-Oregon, ND - USC, etc.)

Eric Hansen

12:54

I think it would be riskier for someone like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to declare, just because he could really improve his draft standing with another season in college. Other than Aaron Banks, I'm not sure how many other ND players would face that kind of dilemma.

Tom from Downers Grove

12:50

Hi eric, if we don't play a season how do you think this affects the roster in terms of who declares for the draft?

Eric Hansen

12:50

Ron, thank you for being a part of the chats. As far as new OC Tommy Rees is concerned, I'm not sure being too gimmicky against Iowa State would have been a smart move, particularly with how well Notre Dame matched up in conventional plays and formations. It would have been unnecessary. I think we saw some wrinkles that did encourage me about how to make the offense more effective moving forward, including some snaps under center in short yardage. I don't think you want to get too left-handed as an OC, meaning relying too much on trickery. ... Given the condensed runway to the season this year, I think we'll see fewer tweaks than this year than we would have normally seen ... or that we will see in 2021.

Ron from St Louis

12:45

Thanks for continuing the chats on a regular basis during this irregular season!! I never miss a chat as they are always informative....keep up the great job of keeping us informed. Question: Is there any evidence to suggest that our new OC has the creativity to employ new wrinkles that will surprise opponents like we have seen from the top BCS teams....like half back passes, quick kicks, passes off direct snaps to running backs, etc. When I watch Bowl games I am struck by the simplicity of the Irish attack versus their peers.

Eric Hansen

12:44

Thanks so much, Jeff.

Jeff from Schererville, IN

12:44

Thanks for that explanation, Eric. I'll keep checking the ND Insider home page for updates on the preview section and in the meantime continue to enjoy the good work you and your colleagues do for us.

Eric Hansen

12:44

I think all options, including that one, are on the table. But remember, the NCAA allowing it is one thing. Whether a school can handle the cost of additional scholarships in 2021 is quite another.

Irish Rob @ Scranton PA

12:43

If the season does not happen, is there any thought on whether the NCAA would change scholarship/roster requirements to accommodate students whose eligibility would have expired, but were unable to play due to a season cancellation or would that be too big a potential headache for the NFL Draft, the NCAA, etc?

Eric Hansen

12:42

It might, and perhaps that's why Notre Dame hasn't tried to micromanage those numbers quite yet. ... in the event that football punts to spring/winter. I'm hoping to have a better feel for that Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so stay tuned.

Doug in Sunny but virus-laden FL

12:36

Eric, it sounds like all players have reported for workouts with nobody transferring after the spring. What is the status of getting down to 85 players by start of classes? Could this rule possible go out the window this year?

Eric Hansen

12:35

As to basketball, there are fewer people involved, but more games, more travel and indoor facilities. I think the ADs want to focus on football first, then figure out hoops.

12:34

Chuck, I'm happy you found the sports/competition of the Food Channel as entertaining as I do. I find myself sport-ifying other programming too. During my first furlough week, I actually seeded the final 17 contestants on The Voice. ... When you ask about "how can the NCAA?" you're going to find out they have much less centralized authority than people gave them credit for having.

There is TV money for pretty much all FBS schools, though the Power 5 have much more access to the big bucks than do the Group of 5 schools. That's why games like Bowling Green at Ohio State being canceled (and thus a big payday) are so devastating. I don't think the big schools, given their own economic challenges, are going to want to help out the Group of 5.

chuck @ Brigantine

12:28

Eric, the Food Channel has been an excellent substitute for the absence of Sports so whatever happens, happens. The Risk/Reward ratio on College Sports is unprecedented as Colleges NEED Football financially but since the Summer weather did not kill COVID, Risk is very high. IF Football is pushed back to Spring, how does it affect Basketball, the other "cash cow"? My other question: how can the NCAA consider playing without fans when a significant % of Colleges would not generate any TV money? Would they consider revenue sharing just to provide a Football product? Thank you for your updates and insight.

Eric Hansen

12:28

After some optimism in June about a season that would start on time, there now seems to be some doubt nationally, with decisions among the Power 5 schools likely being made as we speak. The section is supposed to be available on Aug. 2, but we may have to push it back.

We are working as if the season will be played, knowing the section pub date may get moved again or that we may have to pull the plug. I hope this explains our process more than it confuses you.

Because of the pandemic and the uncertainty back in April and May of whether there'd even be a college football season, we decided to wait as long as we could to make a decision. Had we gone in our regular production cycle, there would have been very little new information, since at that time there had been one spring practice and zero team activities since.

We decided instead to print a special section, which will be mailed to our NDI Premium subscribers (for free) and anyone who decides to order it (for a price). Some of the size of the section depends on ads sold, but much of the content that normally would be in the magazine will be in the special section. One thing that won't be included are the opponents pages.

Print subscribers will also get the special section.

12:26

I'm going to cut and paste a response I sent via email to a subscriber yesterday ... and amend it a bit.

12:25

Hi Jeff. I'm glad you asked. I had a meeting about this today with people much higher on the food chain than me.

Jeff from Schererville, IN

12:23

Hi Eric. Thanks for having these chats. I'm wondering if you can give an update on this year's ND Insider preview magazine. I know it usually comes out around this time of year and I'm hoping you and your colleagues are still doing one, but I understand if it's delayed or won't be available at all this year because of the ever-changing look of the season. Thanks and stay safe and healthy!

Eric Hansen

12:23

We don't know for sure all conferences are going to adopt the Big Ten model. The Pac-12 sure seems likely. But let's say they all did. What would be the difference in Notre Dame's schedule from Clemson's? Not much. Why would anyone from ND then want to transfer? I would hope when we get to 2021 and beyond this is all a bad dream, so I don't see the point in transferring. Now Ivy League kids who can play right away? Yeah. Maybe some kids from Group of 5 schools, too.

Rui from Westchester, NY

12:20

The million dollar question: most likely conferences will only play their own teams and not play out of conference games...i know its too early to tell but what kind of schedule can we see ND play and will they lose their marquee games? Part 2 of the question is, will that cause players to look into transferring due to a lack of a proper schedule to be played?

Eric Hansen

12:20

I never got a chance to meet her, but I talked to so many people who were inspired by her. What an incredible legacy she leaves behind.

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