JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat | May 31, 2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat | May 31, 2025

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Eric Hansen

12:45

Tom, I know is from New York, though he gets around for sure. Thanks for the question and doing it so concisely and without a list of grievances!! Let's look at Miami's thumbnail profile first and work backwards from that. The Hurricanes were the No. 1 team on total offense with Cam Ward running it. They plug Georgia transfer Carson Beck into his spot. They leaned way more into the passing game than the run. They also were kind of a self-destructive team at times -- 52nd in turnover margin and one of the most penalized teams nationally. The Canes were 27th in total defense but 70th in scoring defense. They got beat a lot in the pass game. They tried to address that in a massive way this offseason via the transfer portal. (more)

Tom Mendoza

12:35

If ND wins at Miami, what three things will have had to be true

Eric Hansen

12:32

The Rebels had some good wins, including a great win over Georgia -- 28-10, but they lost to Kentucky (among others) and their non-conference schedule consisted of Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest, Ga. Southern and FCS school Furman.

12:31

Manny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to bring the strong punctuation to the weekend chat!! The SEC is strongly considering a nine-game conference schedule from its current eight-game format. The ACC is having the same discussion. Among the power conferences, the Big 12 and the Big Ten already play nine conference games. The SEC debate, as you kind of were digging at, plays into what the criteria and format will be of the presumed 16-team playoff once we get to the 2026 season. So my sense is we'll see resolution one way or the other fairly soon. As far as playing FCS opponents, that's kind of up to each individual school. It's not a mandate. But I think it hurt Ole Miss, for instance, last year with the CFP. (more)

Manny from San Pedro

12:24

Eric!!!!!! Weekend chats! Getting me ready for Saturday football!!! The SEC angers me because they still believe it’s 2015. NIL has weakened their depth but they still think 8-4 SEC is better than regular conferences. Any chance SEC moves to 9 conference games or eliminate division 2 opponents

Eric Hansen

12:23

Hi Rui. I think the changing economics/agents etc. I just mentioned created an opportunity to rethink the distinct line in the sand. I wouldn't say it's an overall policy change, but more case by case. Linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. texted Inside ND Sports' Tyler James that he was fully committed to Notre Dame when he confirmed the Georgia official visit. If this were a school other than Georgia, where his dad played, I'd be more confident about how this would end up for ND in terms of keeping him. But the fact he still has his official visit lined up in a couple of weeks to ND still is so far a good sign. Keep an eye on that visit and the aftermath of that ND visit.

Rui, Ossining NY

12:18

Freeman always stressed that if you are still taking OV you are not committed to ND…our “unofficial leader” of the recruiting class Thomas Davis Jr. is visiting Georgia…we know his dad played there, etc but personally I’m not 100% sold on his commitment to ND…thoughts?

Eric Hansen

12:18

OK, here's what I'll add. With the growing proliferation of agents, with changing economics, recruiting is going to evolve nationwide. There are going to be recruits/agents who play the game of committing somewhere to set the market and then go shop around for better financial packages. And I think by Freeman being more methodical/patient and also prioritizing fit, the Irish have a much better chance of ending up with a top 5 class than in some previous cycles.

12:15

“I’ve been a little bit hesitant of saying we’ve gotta get guys to commit right now," Freeman said. "I think previously there’s been a push to how fast can we get as many as we can. Right now, it’s like let’s get the right guys. Let’s continuously recruit the right guys, stay on the right guys. That was more important than getting guys to commit just to put pressure on other guys. That’s kind of what we’ve done.

"Everybody in the program has taken on a little bit of ownership of how do we help sell this place. How do we help recruit and develop relationships? It’s just being consistent with the right guys. Not being patient — I’m not a patient person. But also understanding that sometimes the great ones take time. We want it now, but a little delayed gratification is what we’re seeing.”

12:14

Hi Robb. This is the first of a couple of recruiting questions I'm going to lead off the chat with, because there has been a philosophical recruiting shift since GM Chad Bowden became former ND GM Chad Bowden this winter and now holds down that job for USC. The core Notre Dame beat media had a chance to sit down with head coach Marcus Freeman this week, and he explained the aforementioned change in approach, which I think is significant. Then I'll add my own two cents in:

Robb, Durango

12:09

In the past ND has had highly rated recruiting classes at this time of year only to fade as signing day got closer due mostly to decommits, ie, Dante Moore. Still had top 12-15 classes but can Freeman keep them in the top 5 for the 2026 class?

Eric Hansen

Off we go ...

The no-drinking rule continues to be suspended/rescinded.

12:08

Here are the rules:

12:07

Please include your NAME and HOMETOWN along with your question(s). If your name shows up as "guest", I am going to fact-check you.

As far as this week's chat ...

► At WSBT Sports Radio 960, we’re rolling through a newsy Notre Dame offseason. Darin Pritchett and I were together this week on Wednesday and Thursday, and each week moving forward on Weekday SportsBeat (960 AM, live streaming at wsbtradio.com). The weekday shows run from 5-6 p.m. ET. You can download all episodes as podcasts.

12:06

► 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 LIVE Monday night at 7 ET for another presentation of Football Never Sleeps, this time with special guest host and former Notre Dame offensive lineman Bob Morton.

Some quick programming notes:

12:05

Hopefully, this will get you out of some honey-do projects or at least defer them. That's my strategy.

12:04

Welcome to a special Saturday edition of Notre Dame Football Live Chat.

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