Inexcusable loss to Northern Illinois

good evening and welcome to the D Irish fan podcast my name is Danny where I am not an Irish fan I'm the Irish fan welcome to the show at least for now um wow what to say about what we just witnessed on Saturday that would be yesterday I just got done telling my wife I I got to go record right now I have so much on my mind I was going to wait a full day to kind of process everything to kind of read some articles and kind of see what the what Irish nation is saying um see what the fans are saying see what the coaches say if there's any kind of press conference um and also to see where we fell in the rankings um we'll get to that um I'm going to start here's the thing I could talk for three hours about this I'm not going to but this is one of those this is this is going to be one of those shows where there's going to be a lot of ranting a lot of spewing a lot of blaming a lot of finger pointing and I'm going desert first baby I'm going to talk about what the real problem is first then I'm going to talk about all the problems with offense I'm going to talk about all the problems with defense special teams and at the very end I'm going to talk about something that I don't hear a lot of people talking about and I don't think you're G to I I don't think you're going to hear a lot of people talk about this for a while and I'll give you the reason why when I address it but first let's talk about what the real problem is we're going to scoop our three scoops of ice cream out right now and the real problem is obviously coaching if you are a person who has watched football for 10 minutes you can see the difference between a well- coached team and a poorly coached team a team that is ready to play and come out on the field and a team that is not you see this all the time in football you see it with great teams you see it with poor teams you see it on high school college and pro but every single fan can see this I have never seen anything like and this is really saying something I have never seen anything like the current iteration of Notre Dame football right now I've seen a lot of really bad Notre Dame football teams I mean I could take you back to the do Drums of of 2007 I could take you back to um the Brian Kelly 2016 team I'm not going to do that because that's not this team all right there's been years where Talent has been a problem at Notre Dame as I said in episode one Talent is not a problem for Notre Dame we did not lose on Saturday because of talent we didn't we didn't lose last year to Clemson Louisville at maybe Ohio State but we should have won that game but we didn't lose those three games because of talent we didn't we didn't lose to Marshall and Stanford in 2022 because of talent Notre Dame Notre Dame has plenty of talent to to beat teams as a matter of fact if you want to complain about Talent Notre Dame there's only three programs right now in which Talent really is a problem Georgia Ohio state in Alabama that's it we've actually beaten Clemson the last couple of years a couple of times and you've starting to see them regress as a program is that an indictment on Notre Dame maybe but at least we've beaten him we came to play in 2022 I was at that game we didn't come to play when we played them in in 2023 this is unique to Marcus to Marcus Freeman he will I've never seen anything like it again 2007 that was talent that was a talent problem you could point to five F you could point I mean our our record was three and nine but but before the season even started you could count five games we were going to lose for sure because we just didn't have the talent I mean and everyone knew it 2016 wasn't that problem I mean we were preseason number 10 in the country that was a that was a a poor coach in job by Brian Kelly which is why I'm bringing it up because I think good coaches can coach poorly Brian Kelly I Bri I'll talk about B I I'll talk about the BK regime I'll talk about BK a lot on this podcast I've said I said I've said this before Brian Kelly for whatever good and bad he did to the program Brian Kelly is a good coach he is not a great coach but he is a good one and he did a bad job in 2016 he had to completely transform himself to get what we got in 2017 18 19 20 and 21 which was a perennially a perennial 10 win top 15 team which still isn't good enough in my opinion like I said I started this podcast to help Notre Dame become a national champion in my own little way in my own little time and however minuscule this help is I want to be a part of that to help Notre Dame win a National Championship so we've been we not Brian Kelly again for whatever he did he got us to that point where we could compete for titles compete for playoff appearances but that's all he had that was all he had in the tank and what Marcus Freeman was supposed to do was take us to that next level okay we were supposed to be that next level Squad with Marcus Freeman because of his youth because of of his recruiting Acumen of what he could do on the recruiting Trail and we're starting to see that also fall right before our eyes with decommitments from top ranked players that you need not only to win games like yesterday but to win a National Championship and he's not getting those guys he is getting a different quality of ath don't get me wrong there there is an improvement from the recruiting standard of of Marcus Freeman than that of Brian Kelly there definitely is I mean if nothing else at least Marcus Freeman is willing to walk into the living room that Brian Kelly refused to do Brian Kelly would look at a look at a player and go oh no he's going to Bama forget it we're not even going to try at least Marcus Freeman will try Okay Keon key was recruited to Notre D in any in any in any Brian regime Keon key would have been an Alabama recruit Alabama commit on the spot at least he committed to Notre Dame for a couple of months before he decommitted and went Obama you're you're seeing that with Marcus Freeman you're you there's there is more of an athletic Acumen of the players on the field by Marcus Freeman recruited football players what he's failing at is preparation and mentality for with BK I'm I'm going to most Irish fans are familiar with this I'm going to say BK 1.0 and BK 2.0 most Irish fans will understand what I'm talking about what I mean by that what I mean by that is BK 1.0 was a he had a certain coaching philosophy he got to a point and that point failed in 2016 he had to completely re re reinvent himself remake his identity from scratch and rebirth a new program a brand new program he you might as well he might as well have been a brand new head coach now you had a lot of fans like myself screaming that he should have been fired um and he should have he coached himself into being fired no question that team it you people talk about a little tangent people talk all the time about how Notre Dame doesn't have talent Notre Dame has Notre Dame is one of the top five programs in the country at getting players into the NFL they are they just are there were so many NFL football players on that 2016 team it's not even funny so many he did a bad job okay why is that important why am I bringing that up he had he he had a philosophy that failed it failed because he did not see the trajectory that college football was taking college football is different than it was when he was hired it it spanned it it made a made an evolutionary jump in the in Nick sabin's career when Nick Sabin started he was winning national championships when he started and he was winning national championships when he ended why because he evolved with the game he started out as a heavy run pass uh o open open the pass the run to open the pass game strong big defense to win national championship he recruited that way he coached that way and he won national championships micr fre or Brian Kelly started off doing the same thing but Brian Kelly stopped at some point in time being that coach or I'm sorry he remained that coach while the rest of college football stopped and started going to a different style of play Clemson started winning national championships okay you you had the Joe burrow year at LSU of these high octane offenses that required a lot of points to be scored in order to win against the top level schools if Nick Sabin didn't evolve he wouldn't have won national championships but he evolved his coaching strategy and started recruiting guys like Bryce young to win the Heisman Trophy have score 40 45 50 points a game is including and especially against the top ranked teams and he won national championships Brian Kelly he left Notre Dame because I think he's seeing this trend too to go to a school where he believes he can get the recruit to do it and you're just seeing that he is just he's just failing there because he's a fake he's fake he's not a bad coach but he's just a fake person okay he he thinks that by being in a certain place at a certain time recruits are just going to come to him and he doesn't have to do any work while he goes out and plays 18 and he can go on Friday go out on Saturday and win a football game why am I talking about Brian Kelly so much because Marcus Freeman if he is not careful is going to go the way of Brian Kelly well at least the way of but the way that Brian Kelly should have gone in 2016 he's going to go he's going to go that way he's he is coaching himself out of a job he is failing to prepare his football team to play the Lesser opponents that is that is a backwards recipe let's go to a let's go to a notre Nam great Lou Holtz you ask L Holtz you ask um L Holtz coach players and this is this is universal most Notre Dame fans would know this lolz would coach would coach the players harder on the games that they were supposed to win during the week of practice he would be harder on them during those weeks than he would on the weeks when they were playing say Miami in 1988 because he knew that that he had to keep the level of he had to keep the focus of his 18 19 and 20-year-old children at sometimes he had to keep their focus coaches have to do this when you get to a certain point when you're elevated your team to a certain point well then all you need to do is just have the standard like Nick Sabin Urban Meyer as much as I'm not a fan of him they they they could they could recruit to a point to have a standard if you didn't play the standard you you didn't play it didn't it didn't matter what you didn't it it didn't matter what you did in practice if you couldn't put it together in the game you weren't I'm sorry if you couldn't put it together in the game it didn't matter what you were doing in practice I'm talking about practice and what you're seeing with Marcus Freeman is you're he's telling a lot of people oh so and so is doing great in practice um we had a battle in Camp we we did this in practice and they're the reason and that's the reason why they're playing on Saturdays they're not Riley Lenard through two games is not getting it done is that because of him is that because of preparation I the answer is yes yes uh it you'd be remissed and let's this is a good segue we highlighted what what we highlighted the the mistakes and the flaws of of Marcus Freeman it's his philosophy I say this with a heavy heart because I I I love Marcus Freeman I really do I I said in in the in last week's podcast what he said to the team before um before the game against Texas A&M how he how he instinctively wanted to be in that game with them um as a father and had this fatherly love with them that my heart loves the guy loves the guy I I really do I love him but he's I think I think he's making a big mistake I think he's telling everybody what perhaps we want to hear I think he's telling everybody that we're going to be this high octane offense that's going to score 40 points a game I mean he's not he's not outwardly saying that but he went and got a coach that was doing that did that last year an offensive coordinator he's telling he's he's trying to get quarterbacks that can pass at least in the transfer portal I'm going to get to that my biggest concern about Marcus Freeman when we hired him this is my biggest Chief concern and and and take this for for whatever grain of salt that you want to give it my biggest concern with with Marcus was not his youth it wasn't his age as a matter of fact in this game that's probably that's more of an asset than it is any anything else because these these kids are C they need to be coddled and for some reason the the Nick Sab I mean he retired Nick sain retired because he couldn't he didn't want to compete with the nil era and this era is it needs Youth and energy to be able to keep up man it it does again going to get to that so so the youth thing for Marcus Freeman was not that big of a of a concern for me the biggest concern for me is that he's an Ohio State guy yes I know well well we got to go out we got to get the best player that we or the best coach that we can he was the best available I agree I agree he when we hired him I was happy that we hired him when when Brian when Brian Kelly hired him as as defensive coordinator I was happy about that too okay uh I he was the right hire at the right time that doesn't mean any hire doesn't come with a certain set of concerns that those concerns for me was that he's an Ohio State guy and watch the wa watch the two episodes of the documentary on peacock he spends a lot of there's Jim Trestle around the program a lot he's around Marcus Freeman a lot he is one of his mentors Jim Trestle I believe he's a national championship winning coach I and I think he's not that bad of a guy either especially considering what players are doing nowadays and what coaches are allowing them to get away with um I but he was a he was a coach from a different era you can't you can take wisdom from coaches from past erors you know he spends a lot of time with L Holtz too and that's good but I wouldn't take offensive advice from L Holtz not now and the reason why is because L Holtz was coached in a completely different era he coached the wishbone the te the wing tea the Veer we don't do that anymore to some extent Jim Trestle was that kind of a coach too my concern is and I I haven't heard anything like this but my concern is that he is taking that philosophy of Jim Trestle to heart and is actually applying that to Notre Dame a philosophy that would have been great 20 years ago 15 years ago but is not getting it done now because of the offense that you ha that you have to be able to put onto the field the kind of points that you have to score if you if you recall go back and look at the scores of that year that they won the National Championship in 2003 that was that he played on Marcus Freeman played on that team go watch that score go watch go look at the scores go watch some of the games they had to beat Illinois I went to that game they had to they had to beat Illinois uh I think by a touchdown and Illinois was like five and seven that year they you there was a time in college football where you could slog your way through a schedule but when you get and and and and still to a degree of course you can do that now I mean we're seeing a couple other programs that that that had some slogging wins yesterday you can slog your way through a season but once you get to the top in the playoff era you have to score points you have to you have to be able to it is imperative especially now and that's how teams are winning the titles you can win a game 16 to 14 but to win a National Championship uhuh it's not going to cut it you could win national championships back in the day that way I B won of B's championships over uh I believe it was LSU one year they were they won 21 to nothing and that was typical you could you could have this coach you could have this philosophy of heavy heavy run open up pass game strong defense that is a philosophy for 20 years ago I'm sorry it's just that I don't think it's any surprise that we're looting you see what's happening in the games you see what's happening on the recruiting Trail and it's starting to form a picture these recruits are either getting wind or they are seeing for themselves um I'm not this looks like a football team that you know my dad played on okay this doesn't look like a modernday heavy pass heavy scoring type of offense right now the only offense that we have is Jeremiah Love he's it he's our entire offense that's bad that's really bad okay jeremi Love's great but he's not Barry Sanders and this is and look the reason why I'm saying this is because this is all this is all we can do we we I said last week we are mushrooms we fans are mushrooms this is one of the reasons why I'm doing this we fans are fed crap we are kept in the dark we have only we are only able to glean what we can visually see and what we visually see is an offense that is regressing over a over a threeyear period recruits offensive recruits leaving because there's something that they don't like and we're starting to go everyone's going well they're leaving for nil they're leaving for my money Perhaps Perhaps but if we're not getting those players because of if money's the problem which I don't think it is that's that in of itself is a problem that needs to be fixed why why where is Notre Dame struggling in money I don't think that's the problem I think these guys are seeing a philosophy or hearing a philosophy and not not gravitating towards it and then they're certainly seeing it on the field we are starting to we're going backwards on offense backwards I talked about my concern with Marcus Freeman I don't know if that's legit or not I really don't I'm I'm grasping at straws here that's all I can do M may maybe Trestle around the around the the the the program is a good thing I don't know maybe it is part of me was like really trestle you coached for Notre Dame man you're the head coach for Notre Dame like you want to have him in your life to give you that kind of wisdom that I get it but I I don't know he just he's sitting there talking to the team he's wearing Irish gear like come on man like seriously if I were a player and I saw that it seems a little it seems a little it's it's a stretch it's a little too fake and I never pegged Marcus Freeman for that I I've never pegged him for that it it may be again that this may be a hot take what he said to the team wasn't bad at least what what I heard and I'm sure he doesn't give bad advice to Marcus Freeman at least I don't know but that kind of mental I mean the philosophy which is the problem how could it not rub off on you as a coach especially if you admire the man I we hear stories all the time I mean we just we just fired last season our wide receivers coach because all of a sudden our wide receivers didn't know how to catch passes they didn't know how to run routes we're like what what why can't why can't Sam Hartman complete a pass to save his life we were losing games because of this we had one of the best offensive lines in the country protecting him Road grading for audre K who rushed for over thousand yards why in the world could we not pass the ball and lo and behold after the season we hear that it was a very toxic room why why did that allow why did he allow that to continue that's on that's in Marcus Freeman I think after the end of this season you're going to start hearing a lot of things come out that they're not necessarily talking about right now could that one could that be one of them if I committed to play for Notre Dame but I'm there's there's there's 50 different coaches former coaches former alumni that you could get to speak to your team but you pull an Ohio State head coach I would be you'd be remissed if you didn't consider that be be a problem and cause a little cause a little problem in the locker room lose a couple of your players why not again grasping it straws but I got to go there because the issue is mar Freeman he is the problem he's going he's going to have he's going to have to have a 2.0 himself we're going to have to go Marcus Freeman 1.0 and Marcus Freeman 2.0 he's going to have to completely reinvent himself in season let's move to the offense offense we've already talked about it we're we've already kind of gone through it it's obviously quarterback play I mean you can't you can't throw all this on the offensive line I know that they're young and they they're small and they got they've got their own issues we'll get to the offensive line in a second but there are plenty of plenty of uh Riley lard had plenty of time to throw the football there was a couple of plays we had plenty of time plenty of time he to go through his reads and make a good pass he is still sailing passes he is still he is he is not in sync with his players the wide receiver goes one way he's going another way happen several times several times again like I can understand one game okay but then you got to start fixing some things in practice maybe you got to iron a couple things out in the first couple of drives of of game two but you should game two what you are is usually what you are and what he is is someone who doesn't who who doesn't know where he doesn't know where he's throwing the football he he he doesn't that I don't need to have I don't need to be a former quarterback Co coach I don't have to have a D1 sticker on my helmet I I can see this I can see the same thing that everybody else can see he doesn't know where he's throwing the ball unless the player is wide open and even then he skips it across the ground in their feet he did it he missed two touchdowns against Texas A&M he did the same thing yesterday I don't know if those plays would have been touchdowns but they certainly would have been first downs and then the one pass down field that was good it's just this inexplicable the one he has one good pass downfield of over 20 yards and it gets dropped it gets dropped by probably our best wide receiver Jaden great house at least the most sure-handed if there's a guy catching a pass that I want catching a pass in the fourth quarter to win the football game he's the guy and he drops it when when you when your when your top players are failing there are underlying problems that are causing those failures every single time every every school every locker room every player there's something wrong here's what I think they are this is this again this is just from what I can visually see Riley Leonard did not play in the spring at all there was he he had some P he had some practices but from from my from my recollection from what was covered over the spring in in like in in U in seven on sevens or 11 on 11s Goods versus Goods he did not play it was mostly Steve Angeli or or or or k men or or or um Carr CJ Carr they they got the vast majority of those snaps he worked out a little bit I'm when I say worked out I mean he football worked out a little bit but he he did not it clearly did not get that that uh that that sink that you need with your wide receivers that every quarterback needs with their wide receivers he clearly didn't get that in the spring so that that's a big problem okay then all he had was fall Camp essentially he had two weeks because after after two weeks you you're you're doing game prep and game prep isn't necessarily install Okay game prep is like okay this is what we can do and this is how we're going to attack the other team and this is all we got and this is how this is it you get you get the you get your two weeks to fall Camp to kind of to to to to find out who is GNA be your starters then once you then once you get your starters in place you get two weeks of of game prep this is clearly a problem the the lack of throwing the lack of of spring he's not in sync he doesn't know where he's going with the ball that means he's not he doesn't know the Playbook I'm going to go back to coaching why is he the starter then how can you put a quarterback on the field that doesn't know the Playbook oh Danny you're over you're overreacting he clearly knows the Playbook no he doesn't I'm I'm seeing him the wide receiver go in One Direction and him throwing the other other direction could that be on the wide receiver sure but I'm going to take it the reason why I don't think it is is because the is because those you saw it happen with fison in Texas A&M and you you and I've seen it happen with Jen great house they've been in the program for 2 years I'm sorry I I just don't believe it's them I just don't I don't es um the the touchdown pass that he totally met totally whiffed on to uh Jeremiah Love in against Texas A&M that was all him e even I heard someone say that Jeremiah Love might have turned the wrong way he he was supposed to turn over his left shoulder and said he turned to his right shoulder even if he turns to his left shoulder it was still on the ground he was he wouldn't have been able to make a play for the ball or it would have been intercepted like the interception yesterday oh my gosh what was what was that Marcus Freeman was shocked every fan in the stadium was shocked every fan watching on TV was shocked I could not believe he threw that football it was and one and he could have reached the ball over the O over the uh one yard and got it a first down that's all we needed we were winning at least get him to the point I mean if if if you can't throw the football and it was pretty clear by then you couldn't why are we even calling that play just get a first down make them waste their time outs get field goal range make him score a touch I mean there was oh oh I just I I just cannot believe we it was just another one of those games where it was it was a similar feeling in a completely different direction but a similar feeling to Ohio State I Ohio State they had nine different opportunities to win that football game the the any one of those nine things could have won any one of them could have won Just One n one out of nine things and we win that football game I I there's this picture that my buddy sent me of of DJ um I can't remember his last name um he's one of our one of our safeties he graduated and he's the one he's the one that missed the the interception that would have ended the game on the last on that last Drive oh had and hits him right in the hands there's this picture of the ball in his hands and someone snapped it right as it it looked like it looked like he caught it that that is the Notre Dame football program to me it it's right there the the recipe for winning consistently and competing for national championships and even winning them it's right there it's it's like just just catch it just it just catch the ball and you win and instead it skips off of his hands and they and they win Ohio State wins instead and this the final our our we had two drives I guess but our final that final drive where we really could have iced the game we failed to do so because we're we're trying to end the I get the aggression Marcus Freeman talks about aggression a lot he wants to be aggressive but that's only if you can execute if you can't execute then what are we doing here you're losing football games at that point you just it's an ugly game you know what he cannot do you know Riley Leonard is not passing the ball you know it you can see it we all see it just get a first freaking down instead we call this pass play he was way late I I to to Jaden Harrison's credit he he actually beat his guy and the re uh uh whoever was calling the game I can't remember names he was um he actually he actually broke it down pretty good um what Riley Leonard was looking for was Jaden was um the the the cross across the field that the that the safety would would come down and cover the cross over the field against the tight end that would free up Jaden Harrison over the top and have a one-on-one he got that but he threw it way late way late he he actually again I'm not an X's and O's guys I I know this which means the coaches should definitely know this you can see on the replay all he had to do was look down at the tight end and just Chuck it down the middle of the field jayen Harrison could have could have caught it instead he waits he waits for the uh for the safety to be baited to make the move sometimes you got to throw before that happens but he he he waits for the for the safe to be baited then he makes the throw by then he's way too late and it's severely underthrown by 10 yards I mean it was a just one of the worst footballs I've ever seen I could have I could have thrown it better than that which is saying something interception ball game essentially I can't pin this game on the offensive line but I think we've also under I think we're severely underestimating or undervaluing the the um injury of Charles Jaga I mean every single time he and you I think you see this in Ry Leonard's P passing every single time he he come he drops back for a pass you can see he's he's got to throw he's got to throw he's got to throw you can see that because I it looks it looks like um our left tackle is just hanging on by a thread every single time I mean there's there's some things that he does well I think Anthony nap I think he's going to be a good I think he's goingon to be a good player um down the down the line you can obviously his the fact that he's undersized and he's that he is a true freshman you just see it all all over the place but I again I this isn't a game that he lost this wasn't a game the offensive line lost although they didn't get much push um we should have been able to run better yeah it was only because of Jeremiah Love's ridiculous athleticism that we even had that score in the first place I don't I wouldn't chock that up to the offensive line it's an issue the offensive line is an issue because it's because Riley Leonard sees it as as an issue he he he'll give you the coach Speak oh I trust him all day long he he'll say that but you can see in the game that he doesn't you can see it we can visually see it there's no coach speak that can that can or player speak that can that can possibly convince me otherwise he he he doesn't trust him his lack of knowledge in the Playbook and the fact that he doesn't trust them I there you go can't can't run an offense that way so the but the reason why that interception was ball game Let's segue into the defense now the reason why that was ball game the defense okay yeah they only give up 16 points this really isn't on the defense I I agree but every time what Northern Illinois needed a play they got it every single this it was like watching Navy really this was like watching a Navy game they were in third and short all day long they were only six of 17 on third down conversions but they were one of two of fourth down conversions and they got a couple of field goals we got three and let's be honest we got a gift from those from those referees at the end of the game I mean that should have been a first down I mean and and we wouldn't have even had that poultry 30 seconds at the end of the game that we had to just piss the game away again but they were in third and short all day long that is that is a bad that's that's on Riley that's on your leaders that's on Riley Leonard and I'm sorry that's on Riley Mills and Justin cross because they couldn't get the push or be able to make the plays to get them in any kind of second or third and Longs and and again I mean where does this come from how does how does how does Northern Illinois's offensive line all of a sudden push push around supposedly one of the best defensive lines in the country Jack Kaiser had probably the worst game I've ever seen him play but you know what he had a very similar game I think he started at Central Michigan last year when um um our starting linebacker was out um he started at the mic and what did Central Michigan do they went right at him they went right at him actually go go go back and watch that Central Michigan game they it was it the offense looks almost identical to what Northern Illinois did to us if it was as if they watched that game and like hey look there's there's a there's a liability right here they went at Jack Kaiser a lot and and it wasn't it wasn't until Notre Dame I think adjusted put Drake Bowen and Jaden Osberry in to to be able to come in Bowen would Bowen would fill the Gap Osberry would come around to make the play it wasn't until they actually did this is when they were kind of stopping them but even still they were they wer I don't want to say they're moving the ball at will but but when they needed a play they got it they had him in very few third Longs and when they did they converted the third and long they couldn't get off the field they didn't let him score touchdowns but they couldn't get off the field it was one of these days where we needed a big play from the defense and we just didn't get it we almost got it oh my gosh I I just I Xavier watch just continues to to impress me like he is going to be a star in the in in in in in the pros I mean he goes up he makes this ridiculous catch and he's fallen out of bounds he knows it and I don't know I don't know what in the world Adon Scher was doing I mean he's he's like he like oh this is out of bounds let's just run off the field could have made an awesome play that would have been a huge play Oh My Gosh but alas didn't make it I don't want to spend a lot of time on the defense because again I don't think we lost the game because of them but they certainly didn't help there was no help we got no help I don't know if there was a party last uh on Friday night that they all went to and they were just sluggish I don't know what it was but they we got zero Absolut zero execution from the offense and zero help from the defense I mean if by the way this is the exact same score that that Stanford game was in 2022 exact same score exact same Ty type of game plenty of opportunity zero execution let's speaking of execution do we do we have a punter he looks because what he looks like is an Australian Rules Football guy dress in shoulder pads in a helmet that's what he looks like I it does he doesn't look like a punter he's not punting the ball he's kicking it he certainly isn't punting it that was another problem and did the def the offense wasn't executing the defense didn't help the offense and special teams didn't help defense they they started on their 35 or on on Northern Illinois started on their 35 or 40 all day all day they got good field position all day the one time that they didn't 85 yard play for a touchdown my voice is given out I can't talk very much longer but that was horrible I he's he's he's not ex he's not executing it the way it needs to be there's a there's this huge popularity of this Australian style kicking and punting right now I I don't this end overend style of kick I don't I don't get it I mean I the I I guess the think is prevent um punt returns so you're kicking it so that your coverage is on the player before he even catches it or it's hitting the ground so that your players can pin them back against the end zone but when you are all the when you are all the way back at certain times when he's making these kicks you just pun just if he everyone's saying he's got he can kick it 80 yards okay they kick it 80 yards in the end zone at least they'll start in the 20 on the 20 yard line or the 25 sh many crickets he's given him good field position all day that didn't make any sense I mean zero sense and we got to figure that out too really fast Marcus Freeman's got a lot to figure out a lot to figure out okay I'm GNA wrap this up by talking about what I think is an underlying issue I I talk again what the what the main issue is coaching that's the main main main issue what I think is a very close second and something that needs to be kept an eye on and something that is not talked about very much I the nil era has sparked a lot of controversy a lot of debate should these players get paid shouldn't they get paid all this stuff I think you're I think I think this was the first nil loss in Notre Dame in Notre Dame history what do I mean by that Riley Leonard was was is a gun for hire he's being paid money to come in like a pro like he's you know Tom Brady coming in and and winning a Super Bowl for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers like these kids are not ready for that you want to pay them that's a different conversation I understand that I can get behind that I'm I'm not one of those oh they don't deserve they they scholarships are getting paid I'm not one of those guys you're not going to hear that from me I do think there needs to be some serious regulation around it I mean what's being done is not at all ethical again different podcasts for a different day but he's a gun for hire and I don't think that is what these kids are ready for season they're not seasoned veterans they're not guys that have spent time at the top of your of their game for years and then go play for a different teaming and just plug right in that that's not who they are they're not ready for that and you're starting to see this effect not just Notre Dame but other other programs around the country this is starting to be become an issue you're starting to see some of these teams that have heavy that rely heavily on the transfer either win close or lose there's just something not right about the team and I think I can I I the only thing I can I can get to it's again it's not a talent thing we didn't we didn't lose to to Northern Illinois because we just don't have as much talent as they do that's not the problem what is the problem I think we're starting to see a lot of guys who are not invested into the the the uh values of the program like what you're seeing with Marcus Freeman I'm not fully convinced that he is a Notre Dame value guy and when you bring in players who have other schools values that can create locker room friction these guys lose the passion in their hearts and you see a poor you see poor execution you see very poor desire very very poor heart I mean Riley Leonard I'm sure he's a great kid I I I'm sure he is he's he's a very good person very very good person but after a couple of those throws he's like my bad sorry guys I'll try next time he gives this like very meoo thumbs up and there's no like there's no fire there like dang it how could I make that throw what am I doing I mean I when I mess up I like I'm I get really upset with myself like oh how did I do that like probably too much and a lot I want to I'm sorry I want to see that from my players I want to see that from Notre Dame football players I want to see some passion I want to see some fire and some fight not sorry I'll get it done next time after you threw that in interception he looks at Marcus Freeman he's he's almost got this smile on his face at first like oh sorry sorry and Marcus Freeman is like what are you doing where did that come from when you rely heavily on transfer players they have other values they have other coaches in their heads they have other coaches in their bodies other techniques they've been taught and if if they're going to have any kind of semblance into the program they need that spring in order to be able to get that coherence with their players you can obviously see that hasn't happened with Riley Leonard this is a big concern for me the transfer portal era I I just I read a couple of weeks ago that they're they're considering having only one transfer portal move per year instead of two right now they if at the end of the season or if a coach gets fired they can transfer and then after spring they can transfer if they don't like what they get like Tyler Buckner did in 2023 and ruin his career ruined his career he was he is a talented guy I don't care what anybody says something happened here and he was convinced by another coach who had other values other motivations to go to his program and see what could what could happen now out in in in his defense in Tyler Buckner's defense it was Nick Sabin the greatest football coach of all time asking you to come to his program the best college football program of all time and see if you can be the starter for the for for those two things I mean I'd be hardpressed myself to stay where I'm at I got to be honest but it still doesn't change the truth he's a different coach he's he's Alabama's head coach he's got different values he's got different motivations he's got his own motivations he's looking out for his team and unfortunately unfortunately Tyler Tyler Buckner got burned Riley Leonard is coming in off of a different coach's values a different coaches a different coach's style mentality he was recruited to do different things he's not a gun for hire you can't do that with these kids they're not ready for that yet I can understand using the portal and nil to bring in um players to patch up depth issues especially for a place like Notre Dame I mean again the offensive line is an issue but you you have losing in any in in any given recruiting um recycle Mo so H how how this works a brief rundown I'm sorry I'm going to get in the weeds a little bit um any recruiting cycle you you typically want anywhere from 3 to 4 even five some some some depending on how many players leave your program you want three to four or five at the at the most linemen in your recruiting cycle every class when I say cycle I mean class um and you typically how you do that and again this is different for every team but typically it's two interior guys two outside guys you want to recruit two guys that can play guard or Center and two guys that can play tackle so Notre Dame has t has has kept with this four player cycle you know two interior two tackle I've heard some guys say they they they'll just recruit all tackles um because that's the more important position and then decide which guy which tackle can play guard again I I'm digressing a little bit but it's that's that's typically how how they recruit when you lose a recruiting cycle both of their tackles that that's that's cat that's that's catastrophic and that's what happened to Notre Dame not only did we lose an entire recruiting cycle class for tackle because two because two true Juniors left to go to the NFL I know a lot of people no Danny that's a good thing yeah that's a good thing but if you don't have The Replacements behind them that's a really bad thing because if one of them goes down to an injury we have to start true freshman and that's exactly what is happening to Notre Dame they lost an entire recruiting cycle to two players going to the NFL and then the class above them you had two players in that entire class that was the whole recruiting cycle they should have had four and that was a Brian Kelly recruited class and one of his great problems is he if he didn't get if he wanted four guys he'd go after four guys and if he only got two then that's the two he got and he wouldn't go after anybody else and we were just left with this gigantic hole and that's what you that's what we have that's exactly what you have on the offensive line so I can understand using nil to Patchwork those kinds of things but I think what we're seeing now is a uh is not just a program that can't handle that I think what you're seeing is college football in general is not that's not I don't think it's sustainable model I think the the sustainable model is the old one recruit high school and build and develop those players into your football team with your identity and your school's values and what nil has done is created us it's it's created a system now to where you're reliant on these other players these other gun for gun for hires and they're not exuding your values they're not prepared that's what we're seeing that's my take that's my opinion maybe I'm wrong I don't know I've been around Notre Dame a long time I've watched enough I've watched enough football I've watched enough college football to see all of these different progressions to see it um in the late 90s to the mid 2000s to uh the mid 210s to now I've seen it all I've seen a lot i' I've been a college football fan for over 30 years I I I I like to believe that gives me some kind of weight and gravity when assessing what's going what's going on with the football program especially our football program because I've watched every single game for the almost almost every single game for the last 30 years and I've never seen anything like this I've never seen this you go in and be you beat Texas A&M and then you lose the Northern Illinois you go and you almost beat Ohio State and you should have lost to Duke and then you lose to Louisville you drub number 10 Heisman Trophy winning USC and then you lose to Clemson we're going to find out a lot in the next couple of weeks we're going to find out a lot where this who this football team is who this coach is if we don't know what's going on already and I need to see a I need to see Marcus Freeman 2.0 from here on out does that mean replacing Riley Leonard I don't know I at this point I I've I've seen a lot of people I respect whose opinions I respect who who have forgotten way more football than I'll ever know say that that would be a misguided and over that would that would be that would be a bad thing to do is to replace Riley Leonard and start somebody else at this point I don't know how you can start him I I make that argument to me he is the most easily defendable quarterback I don't that I think I've ever seen since Tyler since Tyler Buckner I I don't know I I think Tyler Buckner had more passing skills than Riley Leonard I really do I just think he was ruined by all the things that I discussed before but in terms of pure passing talent I just don't think Riley Leonard has it I just don't think he has it in them and every coach knows it every coach can see it and how do you start him how I I think it would be a severe dection of Duty I just do I think it'd be really bad I think at this point you have to at least look at some of these other players that we have we have this is the another frustrating thing about it 2022 we were stuck with Drew Pine once Tyler Buckner got hurt we had no other choice but to but to play him now we actually have experience and talent in this quarterback room you how could you not look at that how could that not be a huge slap in the face to these guys you know this guy's continuing to fail but we're just going to keep playing him h we got Purdue I have no idea what this what's gonna I have no idea I have no idea what's going to happen zero I don't even know what the line is I don't care I don't care if we're a 14-point favorite I don't care for 14 14-point dog I I just I I could see us losing by 14 points I can see it's winning by 14 points no idea because I have no idea who's going to try it out there on Saturday I don't think Marcus Freeman does either and what needs to happen is he needs to become Marcus Freeman 2.0 he was given Marcus Freeman 1.0 and that's done that coach died on Saturday he died that's over that's done I don't want to see that guy again because that guy is going to get fired what we need now is Marcus Freeman 2.0 hopefully that's what we get hopefully we see a big Irish Victory on Saturday my name is Danny this is the D Irish fan podcast now I'm done