JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat March 23, 2022

Notre Dame Football Live Chat March 23, 2022

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Tom OBrien Chicago

1:52

Long time reader first time questioner. How quick is Buchner in mph or 40yds.?

Eric Hansen

1:51

Hi Skip. I used by phone a friend for this one and reached out to our new recruiting writer, Kyle Kelly. We both took the same stab at this -- WR Braylon James and, if everything goes well on next week's visit, QB Dante Moore. .. Kyle added that OL Charles Jagusah or CB Christian Gray could also be in that mix.

skip - houston

1:46

who do you think will be our next two commitments? thanks.

Eric Hansen

1:43

Hi Megat. In all honesty, neither would be ranked near the top if you asked players on both teams. But South Bend in the spring is pretty nice, and Dante Moore is coming for a visit next week. At least he's used to lousy weather, being from Detroit.

Megat Muzaffar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

1:41

Hi Eric, which is a better college town for a football player; South Bend or Ann Arbor? Please note that Mr Dante Moore will be reading our chats.

Eric Hansen

1:40

Hi Len. Well, Kevin has a golden opportunity to show what he can do this spring. The two freshmen won't arrive until June, and Eli Raridon will still be rehabbing his knee by then. Michael Mayer is mostly in bubble wrap and Cane Berong is injured. So that leaves Mitchell Evans and Bauman. Former tight ends coach John McNulty and Brian Kelly really liked Evans. Gerad Parker might see it differently. My opinion is that Eli Raridon is the next elite tight end of that group, with Evans next but again Bauman has his chance.

Len from the Jersey Shore

1:25

Hi Eric, Thanks for hosting. Any input yet on how the tight ends look? I know Mayer will be limited and Cane Berong is out. I thought pre injury that Kevin Bauman would be a great asset to the ND tight end group. I recall you wrote about his prescence in the red zone and how he would help the Irish score TD's when O is there. Now many have written about Bauman being passed on the depth chart by younger TE's. What can you tell us?

Eric Hansen

1:23

Even if Rylie Mills moves out to end, in the fall you'd still have Jayson Ademilola, Howard Cross, Jacob Lacey, Gabe Rubio, Jason Onye and Donovan Hinish. So that kind of depends on how much progress Rubio and Onye have made. Tyson Ford and Nana Osafo-Mensah may cross train inside, but for now I think the numbers will work.

1:20

Hi Marie, thanks for being here. Three things ... let me see ... 1) There was no tempo drill right after stretching. That was valuable to the media in that even in those abbreviated practices you got a sense of a loose offensive depth chart. 2) I couldn't hear Harry Hiestand's salty language, though the O-line was outside in individual drills and pretty far from where the media was allowed to be. 3) How different the structure of practice was from everything BK did with the exception of the stretching period. ... To your question about Aidan Keanaaina (out with an ACL tear), I think the portal wold be the last resort to replace a third-stringer unless there were additional injuries. ... First, I'm not getting the sense that Al Washington is going to rotate as deep as Mike Elston did. We'll see, but the impression I'm getting initially is two-deep rather than three. (more)

Mariefrom Atlanta

1:08

Hi Eric, I hope you’re having a great week and enjoyed the first practice. What were three things that surprised you about what you saw in the first practice? Also, how do you think defense will handle Aidan Keoniasina’s injury? Do you think there will need to be position switches, and some cross training, or do you think they will look into the transfer portal for a veteran backup? As always thanks for all your great info, enjoy the next practice.

Eric Hansen

1:08

Surprise in terms of starting? That's tough. But surprise in terms of getting into the two-deeps? CB Jaden Mickey, I heard OT Tosh Baker had a strong winter program but where does he play? Rylie Mills if he counts as under the radar. WR Deion Colzie I expect to be much improved and maybe even start.

Nick--Monticello Iowa

1:04

Please tell me the one player under the radar you believe will be a big surprise in the 2022 season.

Eric Hansen

1:03

I think that's why you see Notre Dame recruiting Samuel M'Pemba at 6-4 245 as a rover, when just a couple of years ago it was manned by a 6-2, 220 player in JOK. And Jordan Botelho and Osita Ekwonu (vypers) were working at linebacker last Thursday. One more bit of context, JD Bertrand has a cast on his left wrist, though he was suited up and going thorugh drills. ... Now to your question. I think the positions are wide open (and I expect Liafau to be the best of the bunch) and it's goint to make for an interesting spring to see how this shakes out. More from me after Saturday.

12:59

John, let's start with how the linebackers graded out last year per Pro Football Focus to set the table for your question. Here are their grades: Kiser 79.1 Pryor 71.0, White 70.3, Bauer 68.2, Kollie 60.8 and Bertrand 58.3. ... We'll get a chance to talk to Al Golden tomorrow, but some things are already clear. I asked Marcus Freeman if his scheme and Al's really are turning out to be similar. The big difference, Golden is much more into different personnel packages. So I think you'll see some of the younger, elite athletes be able to earn playing time in niche roles. I also think the Rover position will start to redefine itself. Clark Lea liked it because ideally you could keep that player in the field in nickel packages. I don't think Al Golden is trying to achieve that goal with his rover. (more)

John - Palmyra, PA

12:49

I feel like the poor athletes at linebacker last season was as much a contributor to the corners being exposed as anything. Even though Bauer is a MUCH better athlete than last year’s starters, do you see AG playing the two best “athletes” with Liafau this year, and hoping their skill set makes up for a bit of inexperience initially?

Eric Hansen

12:49

Steve, I certainly could do that at some point, but so little of the transferring -- especially grad transfers -- seems to be tied to location. What location does dictate as time is how transient certain players are from a given state. For example, New Jersey a lot of the top players leave the state. California had gotten that way too, but people believe Lincoln Riley at USC will change that. What I can share is where the top players are. In Rivals' first 2024 top 250, 58 percent of the top 100 players came from three states -- Florida (28), Georgia (16) and Texas (14). California was fourth (7) and Alabama fifth (4). Among top 250 players, it's Florida (52), Georgia (39), Texas (30) . California (19), Pa (12), Alabama (11) and Maryland (9) among the leaders.

Steve, Kenosha WI

12:43

Eric, in reading recruiting updates it definitely appears that there is more of a concerted effort to recruit in Texas than in years past. It also appears that ND is doubling down on their recruiting efforts in Georgia, Missouri and a few pockets in Florida. I get the pursuit of the best available talent, much of it coming from SEC country. Have you come across any data trends (such as percent of transfers out of the program) based upon recruits home geographical location?

Eric Hansen

12:40

When he was a finalist in the Charlie Weis sweepstakes, he had more experience, but he had only been a coordinator one year (2004). Weis had way more experience as a coordinator, plus multiple Super Bowl rings.

12:38

George, thank you. We are enjoying it too and glad you like it. George, Tom was passed over for both the Bob Davie search (1996-97) and the Charlie Weis search (2004-05) ... and was a finalist each time. For the opening Bob Davie landed, my recollection was about Tom's experience at the time. He had only been coaching four years and then left to go practice law in 1996, Holtz's last season. Davie did a good job of positioning himself as bringing continuity without some of the things Mike Wadsworth and Father Beauchamp didn't like bout Holtz. (more)

George from El Segundo

congratulations on the new gig. Am really enjoying it!

12:29

Hi Eric, your reference in last week’s podcast to Tom Clements woke up a question I’ve had for a long time. Why was he passed over for the ND coaching job? He seemed to check an awful lot of the boxes? Congratulations on the ne2 gig

Eric Hansen

12:29

Hey Jeff. Great here. It's spring. I think it's a great question, but I don't think I have a great answer for you or a compelling reason to say yes. Bucher statistically did everything better than Pyne last season, though limited sample sizes. Perhaps if Pyne was No. 1, there might be a case for a two-QB system but I don';t see that as happening this season.

Jeff from Phoenix

12:26

Hey Eric, hope all is well. I was reading Tyler's article about Pyne and starting wondering whether you could imagine any scenario where, by design, Pyne and Buchner split the QB job come September. Would there be any value with this concept, such as diversity of offense/unpredictability that could be attractive? In some past seasons was the 2-QB idea simply a necessity due to skill gaps and that in 2022 such gaps are not evident (yet)?

Eric Hansen

12:25

I still expect Chris Tyree to be RB1, Diggs 2, Estime 3 and impressive freshman Jadarian Price 4. Because I expect the running backs to get a lot of work in the slot this spring they'll all get good reps overall. I think Estime's best chance to have a meaningful role is to carve a niche as the back the Irish can count on in short yardage/goal line. Not that he's not capable of more than that -- but that would get him in high-leverage situations.

12:22

With a new position coach, there's a better opportunity perhap for Audric to impress. He certainly did during winter workouts. Notre Dame was in pads for the first time Tuesday, so anything that's happened in practice up to now needs to take that into account. I'll get to see him in a full practice Saturday, and that matters. Last August, my expectation was the Estime would be more advanced than Diggs, but in the first full practice of seeing both of them, he was not ... he ran too much laterally at the time. didn't show the vision of Diggs. I suspect that will change when we see them Saturday. (more)

Joey G. Philadelphia, Pa

12:17

Hi Eric, Hope you had a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Some much hype for Diggs going into spring, but I’m excited to see Audric Estime. If he improves over spring and fall camp. Do you think he could be the surprise star of the 2022 season? And any reports on how he’s doing si far?

Eric Hansen

12:13

Hi Ben, I don't think it will be sizeable, and that's fairly typical with spring football competitions. There's usually a summer transformation of the No. 1 QB, when they're out of the spotlight, that the top QB distinguishes himself. Then about a week into camp it's apparent to everyone else. I'm not writing off Pyne either, but I expect Buchner to be the No. 1 QB.

Ben

12:10

Adelaide Australia, thanks for all the info you bring to the chat. How much of a gap do you think Tyler Buchner will create between him & Pyne by the spring game

Eric Hansen

All right let's get to your questions for this week.

12:10

We'll be chatting with new Irish defensive coordinator All Golden and the linebackers Thursday. Pro Day is Friday. Full access to practice is Saturday morning, with Marcus Freeman, special teams coordinator Brian Mason and specialists available after practice. Next Tuesday it's RBs coach Deland McCullough and the running backs.

Here's what media access will look like in the next week regarding Notre Dame Football:

12:08

PLEASE include your NAME and HOMETOWN with your question.

12:07

Here are the rules.