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

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Sept. 30, 2020

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Eric Hansen

2:59

That's going to do it for today. Thanks for all the great questions. We'll be back to do it all over again next Wednesday at noon EDT.

2:58

Make sure they stay healthy (that includes COVID too) and be ready to practice and catch up for the time they've missed.

Charlie, Dominican Republic

2:57

I was very weary last year when everyone said, "Wait until Jafar gets back" referring to the injured Armstrong returning and saving the running game. I was right. He did not. Similarly, I am weary of Kevin Austin now being the savior of the receiving game. What can we do to improve the receivers who are actually playing?

Eric Hansen

2:52

I think OC Tommy Rees prefers Tommy Tremble in that role among the tight ends.

Mike, Goshen IN

2:51

How soon will Michael Mayer line up in the backfield , primarily as a blocker, but also a receiver coming out of there?

Eric Hansen

2:51

I think Notre Dame's best two players are Kyle Hamilton and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

Jacob, Hobart

2:50

Which player on ND's current roster has the highest ceiling? Who do you consider their current best player?

Eric Hansen

2:50

Jay, thank you. I think the biggest challenge for that team, as we sit in the fall of 2020, would be inexperience at quarterback and major turnover on the offensive line. It would be difficult to offer a record at this point. If you could tell me for sure the pandemic would be over, that would help. That Wisconsin-Cincinnati-VaTech-USC-North Carolina five-game stretch in the middle of the season looks pretty formidable to me.

Jay from Chicago

2:46

Hi Eric, thanks for all you do for Irish fans everywhere! While all of the attention is rightfully on the 2020 season, I am curious what your impressions are of the 2021 Irish barring any unforeseen personnel changes? Are there any particular position groups that provide reason for optimism or concern? What is your very early prediction for 2021 record? The schedule seems very manageable (at least for ND standards).

Eric Hansen

2:46

Was your question: How about our student-athletes? Or did it get cut off?

Nathan from Long Beach, CA

2:45

I promise there will be a question at the end but I have so many thoughts to unload first. Flutie being replaced by Dungy has made these first two games infinitely more enjoyable. I think USF has a bright future with Jeff Scott and their skill position players. Scott focused on developing his guys throughout the game and went for it on 4th down instead of kicking a meaningless field goal to avoid the shutout. I think that’s an integrity move and I wish them well in the future. Starting with the coaching, Rees called a great game and started by loosening up Book and the USF defense by throwing the ball. Lea on the other side had everyone on the depth chart ready to execute a great game plan. Polian had the guys ready for a fake punt, had excellent kick coverage, varied the location on kickoffs beautifully and even got a special teams touchdown. Our offense was aggressive throughout and Lea let the backups bring pressure in the second half. The coaching was phenomenal. And how about our student athletes? The of

Eric Hansen

2:45

Remember he was only at ND for three years, and things started to fester after year 2. Sometime someone can be very charming on the recruiting trail and abusive in practice. I say that in general terms. Look at Bob Knight in basketball (who I covered for more than a decade). Eventually the player dynamic would have shown up during campus visits.

Derek from Seattle, WA

2:42

Hi Eric - as a follow-up to the Chip Long question, how do you think that happens? How can a coach be a good recruiter, but have such a tumultuous relationship with players? Not quite sure what the dynamic is when recruits meet current players in the recruiting process and do not pick up the signs if Chip is not well-liked.

Eric Hansen

2:42

The school (athletic director) makes the final decision, not the ACC.

astructure to accommodate a surge in COVID-related hospitalizations.

2:41

Well, thank you, Jim and to you and your family as well. ... Things have gotten better in terms of access, and I appreciate Notre Dame working with us and trying to make things better on the fly. There are limitations, however, that are just going to be part of 2020, and there's no getting around them. ... The guidelines stated for postponement/cancellation by the ACC Medical Advisory Group are pretty open-ended.
• Game Discontinuation Considerations
o Inability to isolate new positive cases, or to quarantine high contact risk cases of the traveling and home team University students.
o Unavailability or inability to perform symptomatic, surveillance or precompetition testing as required.
o Campus-wide or local community transmission rates that are considered unsafe by local public health officials.
o Inability to perform adequate contact tracing consistent with governmental requirements or recommendations.
o Local public health officials of the home team state that there is an inability for the hospital infr

Jim Oakwood Ohio

2:24

Peace and Blessings to you and your family for good health. The surge in ND FB COVID positives was sudden and unexpected given the team's excellent work to date but it's a reminder to all of us not to be complacent but be vigilant. Is there a threshold for ND's cancellation of a game per ACC or ND protocols? I know that a heavy hit on a position group has been mentioned but are there other variables and who makes the call? I am still chuckling about your creative phraseology from a story a few weeks ago (words to this effect): "Information from ND's Sports Information Department has been more than socially distant ... and that's not a good thing." Has there been improvement from your perspective? Thanks for all of your excellent work Eric and be well.

Eric Hansen

2:24

Player relations, communication with players, staff chemistry all contributed to the parting of the ways with Chip Long. He was a very good recruiter and had some other good qualities, but not enough to overcome the problems.

Stancakes from Chester VA

2:23

This might seem to be an "out-of-place" question, but here goes anyway. To fill the void, I have been rewatching some of last year's games and have noticed something about the demeanor of Chip Long, the deposed OC. He seems to be present but not really there during the game. He looks like something he ate didn't settle so well most of the time, as if he prefers to be incommunicado with all but his offensive players, condoning to give advice but not so much in the moment as to offer any form of encouragement or praise. Is that the primary reason he was terminated at the end of the regular season last year? BTW, I appreciate your hard work.

Eric Hansen

2:23

Generally that's not the case.

Guest

2:22

Domerdave With Kelly having a contract thru 2024, are all his assistants under contract thru the same time frame?

Eric Hansen

2:22

It depends on how the defense plays Lenzy ... and what the opposing defensive coordinator is trying to stop in a particular game. If there's always safety help on Lenzy, then it's going to be difficult to force the issue, but it's also going to open up the running game and other aspects of the passing game.

Tom from Downers Grove

2:20

With Lenzy fully healthy do you see ND attempt more throws of 20+ yards and how many more?

Eric Hansen

2:20

I don't know. I've never seen him do it. Not close to what Wimbush could, but Wimbush's issue wasn't arm strength. I'm not sure Book's challenge is arm strength either, but maybe confidence in his deep passing game.

Tom from Downers Grove

2:19

Given a running/crow hop start how many yards can Ian Book chuck a football?

Eric Hansen

2:18

I think it can be used even when the wide receivers are more proven. I'll have a better feel for what kind of personnel might give Clemson issues once the Tigers play Miami (on Oct. 10). Miami's got a really good QB, pretty good WRs and an elite tight end.

James from Columbus

2:17

Hi Eric, thanks as always for the chats. I loved the three TE set and especially passing from it. Given our lack of experience at WR, can this be used until the wideouts are more proven? How will it stack up with Clemson's defense?

Eric Hansen

And thanks for the kind words on the Pod of Gold. I wish we had time to do more than one a week.

2:16

So I can't remember what game it was, but there was a postgame interview where Brian Kelly felt like the line of questioning was maybe a bit too probing. Then a media member kind of gave him a softball question, and he lauded the quality of the question. He then asked if that reporter had another one. And when that question was to his liking, he playfully jabbed at me with what a quality follow-up question it was, implying that maybe I should take heed. I did not.

Bill Denver

2:12

Eric, I miss you on the radio, but have been listening to the Pot of Gold podcast. Once a week is not enough Hansen in my opinion! One question, what is the heck of a follow up question that Brian Kelly is referring to on the podcast intro? Keep up the great workk

Eric Hansen

2:12

Charlie, don't ever be shy about that. I am trying to type as fast as a can to get to as many questions as a can, so I don't mind a friendly heads-up. So gracias. (And I fixed it, thanks to you.)

Charlie, Dominican Republic

2:10

I am not one to comment on misspellings, but yours at the end of your response to Brett (12:57) is pretty funny.

Eric Hansen

2:10

Wrote about it for our special section in August.

Bill

2:09

Are we every going to find out what happened for the Michigan game last year?

Eric Hansen

2:08

Here are reasons for optimism (but not guarantees):
1) The tight ends are really good. 2) The offensive line is really good. 3) The running backs can catch the ball. 4) Kevin Austin will make the other receivers better once he comes back.

Tom Kennesaw, GA

2:05

Hi Eric, Happy Octoberfest!!! You have to love a country that devotes an entire month to beer and brats!! ND lost 3 high draft pick receivers in the past two years to the NFL. I am starting to worry that their abilities may have made Ian Book appear better than he is. If that is the case we may run into trouble down the road: Pitt and Clemson and NC. Please give me some reasons why I should not be concerned. thanks. Go Irish!!

Eric Hansen

2:04

Hey Chris. I actually used to have No More Mr. Nice Guy on a 45. I don't have my 45s anymore, but have over 200 vinyl albums still. My tastes are pretty eclectic. The Ramones and Pretenders are my favorites. but I love old Motown, a lot of the 80s "hair" bands, even some disco. Yep I said it. I also like a lot of today's music. As far as playing something at the stadium in lieu of Crazy Train? How about some Van Halen?

Chris from Tulsa

1:57

I'm a classic rock fan so I would like to request Alice Cooper's "No More Mr Nice Guy" be played at least once during the next practices and/or games for the remainder of the season. No football question for me today as I'll just be glad if the Irish can field a team to play, what kind of music do you like to listen to and any requests that you would have for the team other than perhaps taking "Crazy Train" out of the circulation for awhile?

Eric Hansen

1:55

Marie, thanks for being on the chat. As I mentioned in another question (you asked yours first), I will find out about the daily testing question on Thursday. If cost is an issue, the costs are going to come down with those tests as production continues to scale up and more companies emerge with those tests from the FDA pipeline. ... There hasn't been a minimum of games set for qualification to the ACC title game. If that became an issue, I'm sure the league would address it. I would expect with scientific advancements and teams learning strategies from each other, the number of postponed games should start to go down as the season progresses.

Marie from Atlanta

1:51

Hi Eric, I hope you are having a good week. Glad practice will be resuming. Will the team be going to daily Covid testing in light of recent events, and if not what would be the logic behind not doing so? The only downside I can think of would be cost, which shouldn't be an issue at ND. Is there a minimum number of games a team has to play to be eligible for the ACC championship game? I know it is based on winning percentage but if teams end up playing different numbers of games because of Covid it seems a 7-0 team versus a 9-1 team might make that a little less black an white. Thanks for hosting the chat.

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