JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Nov. 17, 2021

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Nov. 17, 2021

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Tom from Lansing, Mich.

3:00

Great work, Eric. Thanks! I see a realistic chance ND ends up in the number 4 CFP standings and faces a pummeling by Georgia. I think this happening again, which it most likely would, could undo the good of what's been accomplished so far this season. Better to have a couple more big recruiting seasons first. What say you? Also, I think players who opt out during the season to protect their pro prospects should have their scholarships taken away since they are no longer on the team. What do you think.

Eric Hansen

2:58

Thanks, Mike. He had an impressive game against Virginia. I think he'd benefit from coming back next year.

Mike from Erie

2:58

Eric: Thanks for the great chats. I learn so much for the thoughtful questions and thr even better responses. That said, How about the play of Bo Bauer? I do hope that he returns next year.

Eric Hansen

2:57

Hi Larry, the only one I'm not sure about is Wagner. Will have to check on that after the chat and add it into the transcript later. There are 13 who have committed to enrolling early of the other 21. So it's all four linebackers (Tuihalamaka, Snead, Ziegler, Burnham), O-linemen Craig and Tanona, WRs Walker and Williams, DE Ford, QB Angeli, CB Mickey, S Moore, RB Price.

Larry from Millersville, PA

2:46

Hello Eric, If I don't get through to you next week I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. How many members of the 2022 class are planning to enroll early? I believe the early weight training and spring practices are beneficial for everyone.

Eric Hansen

2:45

With regard to Aamil Wagner being 265, there is no concern among the coaching staff or people who have evaluated Wagner and watched him play. He won't likely be a plug-and-play guy, and he doesn't need to be. He'll have time to develop (like Mike McGlinchey, for instance). keep in mind Joe Alt was 240 when he verbally committed ... so, there's that.

2:43

Hi Marie. Thank you for your thoughtful questions. The mathematical challenge when calculating QB playing time is that Jack Coan didn't play in this offense last year or this version of it before the bye. So his game reps are important too. It helps him get ready for the postseason, helps him improve. Having said that, I'm glad Buchner got 17 snaps (out of 62) in the Virginia game. Not just the number of snaps, but opening the playbook a little more for him. That's huge for down the road. Barring injury or ineffectiveness on Coan's part, I don't see the ratio changing much. Maybe in the bowl game it will change. (more)

Marie from Atlanta

2:36

Hi Eric, Thanks for hosting the chat, I always look forward to Wednesday afternoon. With Tech and Stanford being games ND should win without too much trouble, do you think we will see more planned usage of Buchner. Say, as much as 40/60 or even 50/50? The purpose being to get him ready to be very involved in an NY6 or playoff game. It seems like there is an opportunity for a lot more different offensive looks when he is in and the offense seems more electric and explosive with him, things that will be necessary in order to have a chance to win when the competition is a lot tougher. Also I know there are some concerns about new commitment Aamil Wagoner's size, if he is unable to get to the size needed for Oline, since he is such a phenomenal athlete is there a position switch that would work for him. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Eric Hansen

2:34

Thanks, Robert. Notre Dame would like to add OG Billy Schrauth, DL Anthony Lucas and S Xavier Nwankpa. All three are tough pulls. If they don't get Schrauth or Nwankpa, I think they'll look for an alternative or scour the portal. They'd like to add another QB in the class and another elite skill player -- like flipping RB Nicholas Singleton from Penn State. As far as postseason, my view is keep winning and improving and let the chips fall. Play the best competition you can and use it to help you make a playoff run next season.

Robert from Sartell Minnesota

2:29

First of all, great job covering the Irish this year! As usual, I have a few questions. First, who will the Irish get commitments from to add to the already impressive Pot O Gold. Second, who do you think is the MVP this year. Finally, where do we belong in the post season, playoffs or another bowl? Who should we play? I’d love a Cinci rematch!!!

Eric Hansen

2:29

One postscript re recruiting and message boards. They're not going away, so you need to have a strategy if it comes up in the recruiting process.

2:28

Hi Patricia. I did a little digging on the topic in recent weeks. And really, current players and recruits fit in different categories. Most current players stay off message boards and really have a narrow band of what social media they'll follow in season. Now some of the parents will follow along on message boards. I would not recommend that. As far as recruits they're a little more oblivious. Not all, mind you. WR recruit Amorion Walker was taken aback by the kind of negative reaction some posters had when he verbally committed to ND. I'm not sure he's over that. But I think he's an exception. I think the good news is, the amount of trolling and negative posts is fairly universal to an extent. But if BK is getting blasted, just imagine what's happening on the Texas boards this week. Lastly. not all message boards are created equal within a fan base. Good moderators can help direct productive discussions and add perspective without necessarily restricting opinions.

Patricia from Chesterton, INl

2:19

Eric, as I am sure you are aware, there is a rather prominent ND football website/message board that has been extremely critical of Coach Kelly and Athletic Director Swarbrick over the years. As an ND alumna I don't agree with their views but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Live and let live is my motto. However my concern is with our current players and potential recruits. Do you think they read negative message board comments, and if so what effect does this have on them and their feelings as human beings? As for the recruits, it can't give them a positive vibe about the ND fan base, can it?

Eric Hansen

2:19

Hi Doug, thanks for the compliments. ... Submitting one's name in the portal opens up all the contact channels, both ways. Contact before that is against the rules, but there are some third-party ways to skirt that, especially if you're a player. To do so as a coach is risky. ... Evaluating portal guys is similar to evaluating high school prospects. Game tape, background checks, talking to other coaches, including those who coached AGAINST them. You also can get a vibe on an official visit. There was an ACC receiver a few years ago who visited, and the current ND players didn't think he's be a fit. So ND dropped out of that recruitment.

Doug from Lexington, VA

2:14

Eric, I would like to know more about how the transfer portal works. When a player submits his name into the portal can he then contact and be contacted by college coaches? Can a player have contact with a coach before entering the portal or is this considered tampering? Finally, how do coaches evaluate portal guys? Do they get recommendations and assessments from their current coaches or do they mainly go by film? Thanks for the great sports writing you and Tyler do. We Notre Dame fans are fortunate to have the two of you to give us the inside scoop on all things Irish.

Eric Hansen

2:13

Hi Linda, if you email me, I'll be happy to give you a more in-depth answer (ehansen@sbtinfo.com). You're question deserves a thorough answer. I'll give it a shot in this forum. It's all the things you mentioned. Being able to marry the 4-for-40 academic concept with ND's track record of making the NFL dream come to life is a powerful combination. To your second question. Notre Dame looks at the three things you mentioned. All are important. As is coachability, perseverance, unselfishness. I hope I at least give you a start. ... PS when my grandma on my mom's side and her family immigrated from Italy, they settled in Butler, Pa.

Linda from Butler, PA

2:08

Eric, as a mom of a high school linebacker I am interested in recruiting. Based on your talks with ND players what are the most important factors that led to their decision to go to Notre Dame? Was it the Head Coach, the position coach, the academics, the football facilities, proximity to home, the recent run of success, or some other reasons? Conversely, what do coaches at an elite school like ND look for most in a high school footballer - athletic ability, character, or grades?

Eric Hansen

2:08

Audric Estime is plug-and-play athlete. That's why he has played on special teams in nine games. He is not a plug-and-play running back. Estime was ranked higher than Diggs by the recruiting services, but when you saw them practice in August, Estime struggled with the speed of the game. Not that he's not fast. He just tried to take everything east and west, where Diggs had great instincts of when to stick his foot in the ground and make a cut upfield, That's not to say Estime will never be able to do that. He's smart. He'll get there, and he is powerful. C'Bo had off-the-field issues, has had injuries and now is behind three backs who can do anything he can do -- better.

Ron Dover de

1:57

I tried last week with this question but I know you receive a lot of responses so thought I try again. First love your chats and insights in the team and the program. I really have enjoyed watching Diggs run. Love his deliberate style and vision. My question is what is holding back Audic Estime getting on the field. Secondly it appears C’ Bo ‘ s off the field has resulted in a lost last season. Is there other reasons he hasn’t seen the field especially in red zone.

Eric Hansen

1:57

Clarence, I'm not an all-or-nothing guy when it comes to the star system. Some will point out how Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama have dominated recruited in the playoff era, thus in their minds stars mean everything. But left out of that argument is how do you explain teams like Cincinnati and Wake Forest, which don't have four- and five-stars? To me, there's middle ground. Stars matter but within the context of player development, program culture, coaching staff continuity, attrition, etc. I did a piece on this last year before the playoff: Notre Dame has outperformed its stars. But to become a playoff factor rather than a participant/aspirant, ND had to get more talented at certain positions after 2018 -- namely wide receiver, quarterback and running back. They seem to have checked the running backs box. They're building re WRs. Buchner needs to be the QB they thought he was in recruiting. And they've gone big in 2023 with QBs. They need to reel one of those guys, like Dante Moore, in.

Clarence from Marshall, Iowa

1:50

Eric, I am a big college football fan who likes some of the changes in the college game (jumbotrons and playoffs), but I hate the proliferation of recruiting hype, the recruiting star system, team recruiting ratings, and most of all the sappy recruiting announcements with the obligatory hat props. Texas has 52 players on its current roster who had 4 or 5 stars coming out of high school. Kansas has only one 4 star player on its entire team. Kansas beat Texas in Austin. How accurate can the recruiting services possibly be? Put another way - in your experience with ND players how close is the correlation between recruiting stars coming out of high school and actual performance on the field in college?

Eric Hansen

1:47

Hi Lisa, thanks for jumping into the question queue, and Happy Thanksgiving. Your recall is correct about the initial interest and thoughts of making an ND visit. It didn't/hasn't happened and probably won't. There doesn't seem to be interest on his part as he is kind of narrowing things down. Since ND ceased being a player, I haven't followed his recruitment very closely. However, 247Sports reports the schools that would be in his lead pack are Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas.

Lisa in Lafayette

1:41

Hi Eric. Long time reader, first time participant. If memory serves me correctly, Archie Manning reached out to ND back in the spring to share that Arch Manning was interested in ND. I believe Arch was supposed to make a visit to campus in May or June, but I never read/heard if he did. Now I’m reading about who his top schools are and ND is not mentioned. Questions: Did he ever make a visit to ND? Do you know if there is still any interest on his part? And lastly, if he is not interested in ND, where do you think he will wind up? Thank you for sharing your insight every week. I always look forward to reading your responses. Wishing you and yours a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Eric Hansen

1:41

Shane from White Deer, Texas, thank you. For a while I kind of put up with people not putting their names, hometowns or both if the questions were really, really good. But then I thought, you know, I do ask nicely. And I have way more questions in the queue than I can get to. So why not just answer the ones from those who played the game? Once I went to that standard, it was remarkable how few unnamed/unlocated questions I got. I haven't seen a single one in the queue yet today, for instance. There are no sinister reasons to do it. It's fun. It helps me define my audience. I can also maybe be more personable with my response. Thanks for asking.

Shane from White Deer, Texas

1:37

Hey Eric. Hope you are having a great day. Not really a football question, but a question none the less. I have noticed there have been no “whereabouts unknown”.making the cut this year (or very few if any). Did that line finally just get old, did everyone start putting their location, or is there a more sinister reason you want the hometown listed? Not really a hard hitting question, and not that important. Just wondering. Love these chats. Go Irish!! Whereabouts known.

Eric Hansen

1:35

2010: 61 offense, 51 defense, NR poll
2011: 35, 30, NR
2012: 54, 7, No. 4
2013: 67, 31, No. 20
2014: 32, 71, NR
2015: 27, 45, No. 11
2016: 62, 42, NR
2017: 27, 46, No. 11
2018: 32, 30, No. 5
2019: 43, 18, No. 12
2020: 26, 25, No. 5
2021: 69, 51, No. 6

1:32

Richard/Kathleen, Happy Thanksgiving to you and thanks for being the first slash questioner(s) I think I've ever had in the chat. One caveat about this year's team, ND is far better in scoring offense and scoring defense than it is in total offense and total defense, in part because of its turnover margin. ... But here goes: (more)

richard/Kathleen GA

1:22

Eric, a big early Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and an even bigger Thank-you for your coverage of the Fighting Irish Football team. I read last week the ND football team is ranked 70th in Total Offense and 60th in Total Defense. I don't necessarily see this as an indicator of being in the upper echelon (top 10) of College Football. Maybe I am mistaken but I am wondering if you could list ND's Ranking in both categories AND their final Poll Rank over the last 10 years?

Eric Hansen

1:22

When you take a shot at Alabama (and that's OK to do -- part of the fun is the debates), it's best to offer an alternative and what your reasoning is. Who do you think should be ahead of them? To me, on the field still matters, so for some of the reasons you stated, that's why they are not No. 2 with me. And don't forget, if they get to the SEC title game, they have to deal with No. 1 Georgia.

1:19

Thank you Jack, and you as well. ... and thanks for the sandwich tip, although I probably won't need a warmup for the delicious dinner that will await me. ... I can't explain the committee's love specifically, but the love is pretty universal. And I can explain why I have them No. 3 on MY AP ballot this week. The tug of war perceptually with Alabama is the team they should be and the results on the field. Their statistical profile looks like that of a national champion. They are top 10 in rush offense, rush defense, total defense and pass efficiency and top 15 in turnover margin. Those are the five key metrics. When you're comparing teams that don't have a lot of common data points, those numbers mean something. They tend to be extremely predictive. And not all 6-4 and 5-5 teams are equal. Miss. State beat NC State, for instance, by two touchdowns. (more)

Jack. Strongsvlle, Ohio

1:07

Hi Eric. An early Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. If you come back to Cleveland stop over at Slyman's for a corned beef sandwich before the big turkey dinner. Explain to me the CFP committee love for Alabama. They have games against Mercer, Southern Mississippi, and NMSU. The quality out of conference opponent, Mimi is 5-5. In conference their only quality win is Ole Miss at 8-2. Florida, Mississippi State, Tenn. and LSU are five hundred teams. They lost to a 7-3 Texas A & M team. Their rivalry game Auburn is 6-4 and without their first string qb. Thanks as always for your great work!

Eric Hansen

1:05

The big knocks on the Spartans in the ND-MSU comparison is the Purdue data point, which you pointed out, and lack of Power 5 wins against teams with winning records beyond Michigan. Look, if they win out over Ohio State, Penn State and the Big Ten West winner, they

1:01

Manny!!!!!!!!!! Happy Turkey Day to you too. We will have a chat next week, rest assured. Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame are some of the teams in which the committee sees them differently from the polls. The Irish are head of both in the AP and coaches polls and behind them in the CFP rankings. It does get tricky, and remember you have to evaluate the entire schedule not just the elements that support your argument. Michigan State's best selling points are a top 10 win (Michigan) and their statistical profile is much better than ND's in key metrics (although they're a disaster trying to stop the pass). (more)

Manny from San Pedro

12:50

Hi Eric!!!!! Man the last few seasons has been quite the run. This is to be more fun to cover than some of those 8 win seasons!! My question is is you look at resumes. Notre dame is better than MSU and common opponent favors ND. Why is ND not getting more love. No I don’t think they are a playoff team but seems weird we are an after thought. Disappointing. If you don’t have a chat next week…. Happy Turkey Day!!!!!!!!!!

Eric Hansen

12:49

So how does ND's roster truly break down? There are 81 scholarship players at the moments. WITHOUT factoring in the COVID year, there are 33 players with freshman eligibility, 21 sophomores, 13 juniors and 14 seniors. Hope that helps.

12:48

Oh Mike, you're going to get a C on your math test again, and it's not your fault. Forever, ND has referred to its players by their year in school, not their eligibility year. other than the services academies, really no one else does that. This season, ND finally started listing both. So Braden Lenzy, for instance, is listed Senior/Junior. Drew Pyne is Sophomore/Freshman. The COVID exemption clouds things even further. Georgia Tech, for instance, factors that AND redshirt years in. So they list No. 1 QB Jeff Sims as a true freshman, even though he played in all 10 of the Yellow Jackets' games last year. (more)

Mike McFadden, Williamsport, PA

12:39

Mr. Eric, Thank you for taking my Transfer-In, Transfer-Out question last week regarding the new NCAA Transfer Portal, appreciated. I guess I was way off in saying 125 player limit vs the approx. 2,600 transfers last year, huh ?! My question today: Is ND in good shape age wise for the coming year(s)? It seems to me on TV half the team are seniors and the other half are freshman. I am/was a basketball player and I love teams, at any level, that use 2 sr's, 2 jr's and 1 sophomore which provides nice stability and growth, and I don't think ND has that. Thanks much Eric.

Eric Hansen

12:38

Thanks, Josh. It would be the 2017 season starting with the moment the 2016 season came to a close. How and why Brian Kelly became Brian Kelly 2.0 and why it worked is fascinating from all I already know. And there's more there to discover.

Josh from NYC

12:36

If you were going to write a book doing a deep dive on any of BK's ND teams, assuming unfettered access to anyone you wanted to interview, which team would you choose and why? Thanks as always for the insights.

Eric Hansen

12:36

Sean, Happy Thanksgiving to you. We're having Carolina weather today -- 61 degrees when the chat started. The "No Bare Feet" rule has been rescinded. Reality returns later today as we'll plunge to 32 tomorrow morning. I don't think Kelly took his foot off the pedal defensively. The Irish were blitzing and getting after it on D until the end of the game. Offensively, I think you could say yes. He did get conservative, maybe unnecessarily. I think part of it we to get Buchner some work without getting too fancy. I think he also wanted to save some wear and tear on Kyren. And even though the offense wasn't missing players because of the flu, a lot of them weren't at 100 percent. As far as the Heisman, yes have it every year. Just because there's not a CLEAR front-runner doesn't mean there aren't great players. And this year some of the best are on defense.

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