Terry Hanratty on Notre Dame's win over Clemson and QB Drew Pyne

[Music] [Music] welcome everybody to another edition of the inside Andy Sports podcast I'm Tyler James and I'm joined once again by the one and only Eric hen together we cover undername football recruiting and more for inside ND sports.com on the rivals networ work the inside ND Sports podcast is presented by dead soxy makers of the best premium socks I've ever owned some folks are starting to get a little superstitious when it comes to their new Dead soxy socks I had multiple people reach out to me after Notre Dame's victory over Clemson crediting their dead soxy socks as good luck and I think they will be wearing those again on Saturday just in case that is the truth they're must have items and not just because of what's been happening on the football field dead soxy offers a premium product made from bamboo that gives you that luxury feel on your feet and that patented technology with a no slip guarantee prevents the socks from rolling down your leg and if you haven't been paying attention dead soxy recently launched a navy and gold product line that aligns with the allegiances of our inside Indie Sports podcast listeners and those are the socks that have been described as good luck by multiple fans to find the navy and gold options head to dead soxy.com select team colorways under the collections tab on the website and you'll be a able to see the latest products I like to use the color filter to help me find what I'm looking for too and if you use the code lucky at checkout that's lucky you'll get 25% off your order we're really excited how closely dead soxy has worked with us and reached out to our inside NY Sports Community especially on the inside allowance Message Board where you can even chat with them directly it's been fun to see our community enjoying the socks as well find out what you've been missing at dead soxy.com and use code lucky at checkout for 25% off your order Notre Dame put together one of its most impressive victories in quite some time on Saturday the 35- 14 victory over Clemson left no doubt about which team deserved to win that night and it raised the bar of reasonable expectations for this nutre Dame team and its future Under head coach Marcus Freeman but of course this team is fully capable of a let down and needs to avoid that the next two Saturdays against Navy and Boston College but before we get into those matchups we wanted to catch up with someone who's been keeping a close eye on this team and knows a thing or two about winning big games in utter Dame quarterback Terry hanr a consensus All-American and heis Heisman Trophy Contender won a national championship with the Irish in 1966 Terry thanks for joining us my pleasure my pleasure it's great great to see you guys after a uh a great win for the Irish yeah let's start there Terry what what was it like for you to to watch Notre Dame's victory over Clemson well I think it put everything together I think you know I've been a lot of people have told asked me you know do you think what do you think of Marcus Freeman do you think he's in over his head you know he's never been a head coach before and on and on and people can make excuses rather than trying to step you know step forward but I always tell them you know I bring up three names I said Chuck null Bill Cower and Mike Tomlin all three guys are defensive coaches they never had any head coaching experience and they all won Super Bowls they're all their mid-30s when they took their jobs and so it it I think Marcus is the perfect man for the job and I think the way you can really tell is that uh they you know they haven't lost any recruits you would think after stubbing your toe against Marshall and Stanford some of these guys might say Hey listen maybe I'll take another another trip somewhere else but no I mean they've been able to hold everybody in there and I think that that bodess well for Marcus Terry I know that you and Drew Pine are from the same neck of the woods and you've had a chance to see him develop over the years before he got to know her Dame I'm wondering um when when he was in high school and so forth what you thought of him as a college Prospect and does that match up with the guy that you're seeing now I think it does I remember when he was I think a sophomore Jr the high school coach called me over and said listen I got a few colleges that are in they want to see Drew throw the football can you come over and work him out you know so I put him through maybe about 45 minute workout and the whole time I'm watching him throw I'm say boy this kid is really really accurate I mean the the ball is not just to the receiver it's where it should be on the receiver's body and uh and you knew right there and and the people and you know they were new getting into town and you know everybody gravitated towards him and you know I think he really won the the uh his team over immediately and they were they were quite successful and uh you know I think things were uh you know just up and up for Drew I think he's done a really good job in a tough situation you know no not not everybody can just step right in there yeah Terry what what is the challenge of stepping in to be a starter at at Notre Dame for the very first time well you have to command the the Huddle that's the most important thing and it's you know it's difficult because uh lner was was the starter at the beginning of the year you know he basically won the job we'll say and uh you know him being injured then Drew stepping in now everybody's uh oh now we're playing with the backup now we're playing with the backup you know but so you have to win everybody's you know approval over you coaching staff down with your teammates everybody has to realize that uh you know you're the man and I think he's really proven that I think Drew has done a really good job and I think he's he's made some big plays and some big moments you know has he made some goofy mistakes that young quarterbacks do and we all did yes you know that's just the nature of the Beast Terry what do you think uh is ahead of Drew Pine for let me rephrase that is the best yet to come for Drew Pine do you think that there's a higher level that he can play at yet this year I really think so I think uh I think he has to you know may sound strange to people but you know not throw the baltim May too much you know you got to find the guy especially Southern C I think you know they they could they could they could play very well against Navy and BC you know both are in in you know especially BC in a in a downward spiral so far this year but when you play teams like Southern Cal that's where they're gonna you know you need to use all of your weapons and any good teams with Southern Cal is they will be able to semic cover mayor I mean mayor is a great receiver don't get me wrong but he could make everybody you know Drew could make everybody even more valuable make more of a weapon out of there if you just gets the ball to other people let them you know get involved in the game I mean we've shown just the last game is probably the the best four quarters I've seen in a Notre Dame football team in a long time and you really have to give it to the offensive line everybody wants to talk about the quarterback everybody wants to talk about the uh the uh running backs but if you saw some of those holes that were opened up by those offensive linemen which you know got to the The Backs to the second tier then they can do their damage so I think that's probably the the the first time in a long time I've seen not put four quarters together Terry I'm curious you mentioned Marcus Freeman earlier and compared him to some pretty pretty uh good coaches what what have you thought of of the way Marcus Freeman has sort of navigated through this first season and and sort of Emer Ed Beyond those early tough losses that that under Dame suffered well the two the the two earlier losses were you know they were they were horrendous losses we should have never lost to either team but but you got to realize you know you have a new head coach you have a new defensive coordinator you basically have a new offensive coordinator because now Tommy's calling his own plays and not not being what the other guy used had had him run you had a new offensive line coach in Harry heaston which I think is is wonderful great addition but it takes a while to to mesh everything I mean you got a lot of new pieces there plus you're dealing with kids who are 18 to 20 21 years old they're young kids they've been ingrained in a certain situation now you're going to put them in in a different situation so that takes time to mold things around and I knew they were going to have some some uh some uh you know stubb their toe a few times and you know they play great against Ohio State I think they really showed what they were like but then then you cannot have a let down because everybody want wants to beat Notre Dame and Marshall showed it and Stanford showed it so but you just have to get everybody on the right page and I think right now I think they're on the right page and everything starts with the offensive line that's that's the whole ball game and as much as people try to complicate this sport it's very easy to do Terry I know Connor had some years with Harry what what was his feedback from playing for Harry and and what did he get out of that experience Harry first time he when when when I I told Conor I'm hearing that they're trying to hire Harry he stand back and he was really excited he say that's exactly what those guys need I mean those guy you know Harry he stands a lot like Joe Moore I don't know you guys old enough remember Joe Moore of course I am you hated the coach you hated the coach when you played him played with him but you love him afterwards because you realize he got the best out of your talent and and and uh you know I knew the guy that Joe Moore Dan rakovich was with us with the Steelers and Dan rakovic is the guru of offensive line play and the and the offensive line tree goes to Joe Moore and down the Harry he stand and you know it branches out from there but you know they're all old school and they all want to punt you in the face and run the football and that that's exactly like you know the both Joe Moore and bad rad are you know up in heaven watching that football game and they're both probably high five when they saw what Harry did last last last weekend but he's a great addition because he will teach these kids how to block in football and that's what they need and if you look at the the likes of mcglinchy and and Q and Zack Martin and Nick Martin you know there's a lot of guys in the NFL that they're on Harry's watch so I mean that's that's that only votes well for Notre name and and it's great for the recruits he can put these names on the board and all these recruits know those guys they're all in the pros and they want to go to the pros so they're gonna come to play for Harry Terry just a quick followup on your son Connor what's he up to did he get into the financial world yes Conor you know he couldn't play his fifth year because of concussions and but he got his one-year MBA instead of the instead of that fifth year football and now he's working for Investment Banking Company and New York doing very well I mean make make a lot of money in there work I'm so hard he didn't have time to spend it which dad likes Terry you you were at at Nutter Dame early in ERA paran's career I'm curious what what were the traits that made him such a special coach and how did you sort of pick up on that as a player I was uh one of I was er's first recruiting class and I was all set to go to Michigan State and uh John Ray who was the defensive coordinator back then and he recruited Western Pennsylvania where I grew up and he said that era was going to be in Pittsburgh and you know my hometown's 30 miles from Pittsburgh he says can you get down and have lunch with era and I went down had lunch with him we sat there for a couple hours and it was I was in awe of the man I was with and I remember telling my mother when I went home I said I'm going another name I said that's the the guy that I want to spend the next four years with and he is very intense he's a great teacher he's a great educator he wants you you know he had 98% graduation rate in his 10 years another name and and one guy who didn't get his degree came back and got it a couple years later so and that's was he had 100% graduation and era really cared and the way you can really tell you never hear anybody say a bad thing about era and plus on the team from the guy from the consensus All-American down to the guy never got in the game they all we all loved era and you don't find that you always have the kids well the kids the coach didn't like me I got injured so the coach wouldn't play me you know there's some excuse for not playing and nobody you won't find anybody do that with era just a a true a great human being I I still consider him the second greatest male factor in my life obviously my father being the first and I know I miss him Terry when was the last time you were able to to get back for a game at Notre Dame Stadium oh man I didn't go back this year you know when Conor was playing I was there you know every weekend right and and sometimes even longer I'd stay longer but uh I was there for the spring game but I couldn't stay for the game I watched you know we they had a big reunion for the Marcus Freeman invited all the former players back so I was back there for a couple days then and uh I didn't go to a game last year either you know lot lot of times you know used to have a house in South B I sold that last year and uh I would go I'm not big on crowds I'm not one not love to sit in stadium so I would go to tailgate the alumni tailgate and I'd get my golf cart and go back to my house and watch the game game there it's much more comfortable and I got to see all the game so uh I don't miss miss walking in the stadiums to be honest with you and I I know that you had a rough go of it with covid um how bad did it get and how are you feeling now no no it was interesting because I just got over my second B with Co really yeah it's been 10 days past my second Co I just had it you know got it 10 days ago and it was I was up at somehow I caught it up at I went to the Syracuse nor game up in Syracuse friend of mine had a box up there so we went up and everybody you know someone was a super spreader and everybody there got it but I'm over that and but the first one I mean this one was nothing this one was like having the flu the first one was a good one because I had 103.5 temperature I had 85% oxygen I had double pneumonia plus covid and one of the first to get it so no one knew how to what to do for people so I was in the hospital for 5 days and uh luckily you know they they put me on hydroxychloroquine which back then everybody was you know badmouth about that the one thing is that made me better and you know I have no real After Effects you know I walk five miles a day now and uh you I'm in great shape I'm the same weight I am now when I was those freshman other day so that's good I wish I could say that yeah we're glad I'm glad to hear that the the second bout didn't treat you too po too badly so um no that was that was easy that was just a cold pretty much that's good I I you mentioned not necessarily liking to get into crowds and I can understand that but I'm curious from watching on television what did you think of the atmosphere at Notre Dame stadium was that something that you feel like was maybe different and maybe amped to a different level than we've seen in recent years Oh I thought it was spectacular you know that that especially after the game when all the kids rushed the field I mean that was just Magic Magical and you know it's a night game so there's the lights are more brilliant and whatnot and so no it was a it was a really neat happening and I just hope we can have a lot more of those um Terry when do you think we'll see the best of Marcus Freeman meaning um you know maybe not having these growing pains and bumps do you think they're behind them do you think that's maybe more of a 2023 thing what do you think in terms of his coaching trajectory well I think I think this season is pretty much over you know he has to obviously go out and play that sudden Cal game yeah and I think you're going to see you know and a lot of it has to do with communication within your staff too you don't know whether you know we Nobody Knows the behind the scenes of things so once the season is over then if you see any movement then you know there was some maybe a little disruption in the staff during the season and you know once you pick your pick your staff you don't always stick with that staff some you you like them when you pick them but maybe it just doesn't mesh with everybody else so those are the big decisions will have to make after the season but I think you know he's a smart guy he's going to learn and he he's going to learn really quick and I I just wish era was still around that he could talk to era because all the coaches used to go over and spend a lot of time with era because there was no b no better guy who who really prepared a team to play a team I mean we never went into a game where we were uh oh how did that ever happen sometimes we didn't execute as well as we should have you know that causes the law but we were never surprised in any game and I think Marcus is going to be that way I think I think he's just grown this season so much it's been really cool I mean yes it was a a tough the Marshall game and then Stanford game that was the tough ones to the handle but hey forget about it there's no that history man you you can't go back and replay it you just got to forge ah head and I think what you saw last week they forged ahead quite well I mean they they played they got everything together the defensive coordinator got together what the offensive coordinator with the line coach with the special teams have been spectacular we haven't seen that in years and so everything is going well but then again that that win is history also so you have to prepare because Navy coming up is a different bird they run that triple option and they can drive you absolutely crazy with it so they have to be prepared especially when you play them in the middle to your season when you're used to playing all these passing teams and you know the uh the teams that play just you know five five man up and they just block you oneone or whatever and no Navy's coming at your legs all day long and they will just really wear you down so they they have to be ready for that it's different Derry the transfer portal has brought another layer to roster management and particularly at the quarterback position I'm curious what what's your perspective on the challenge of that um from the coaching perspective and what that would be like as a player when you deal with maybe quarterbacks coming and going in in your position room so so frequently well my my freshman year we had four quarterbacks in my freshman class and all four were the All State quarterback from their state right no one transferred we had one guy from Indiana Mike franger went from Elkart he transferred he went over and played basketball but stayed in school obviously and just you know went from football to basketball happy and the rest of us just stayed there and competed and we were there for the education you know that's what scares me about all this is going to the transfer portal the nil and is it eventually I see it and I and I hate I think it's a nightmare that I'm seeing that it's going to prevent these schools from being able to afford a sport not Notre Dame not Alabama not those school they got tons of money but there's the second half of everybody's conference those are hurting the M conference would be hurting if you know if they can't get some kind of financial support and that's a great conference and but I just don't want to see them say okay if we're gonna have to pay you some money we're not gonna be able to give you the academics because that's what you're really there for and and and the uh the numbers when you put them together don't mix up because when when you're in high school 1% make it to division you know to the uh uh you know big school football and less than a half a percent make it from high school to the pros so that's a big gamble to take and I don't want these kids to be so many kids to be seen on the street you you got to go and get your degree that's the main thing okay Terry besides walking five miles kicking CO's butt uh what else are you up to these days well I don't want to have another B bot like that with coin I won one and I don't want a rematch but no these these I've been I've been uh I'm retired I worked on Wall Street for about 35 years I'm retired but I'm I'm involved in a in in a uh in a in a venture that uh takes up a little bit of my time that where the the uh so when I did the had the co I realized how how unclean hospitals were and and how detrimental was to all the support people that were that handle patients in hospitals and I teamed up with a company from New Hampshire and you know have these UV lighting lamp bulbs that kill all pathogens and we're approaching hospitals and schools and nursing homes and I mean it's something that is going to be something in the future I mean this company's five years old and everybody who knows knows the UV lamps they know that that it kills pathogens but when it'll make it it'll cleanse a room for instance if you're going into a locker room or not a locker room but an operating room you can you can if you keep the lights on on that you'll kill all the pathogens in that room but once someone steps in that room you have to turn it off because the lamp will burn people then you just dirty the room up as you walk in so it really doesn't do much good our lamp you can leave on 247 and it does not hurt the skin so it you know it's something that uh that I'm pretty passionate about uh and I thought I was going to be working on my handicap since I retired but uh I haven't been able to do that I've been you know involved myself too much in this uh in these UV lamp lamps so it's fun though it's something that could help a lot of people and that's what I'd like to do awesome well we appreciate you helping us out by joining our podcast today Terry and best of luck to you moving forward okay guys thank you as a reminder the inside Andy Sports podcast is presented by dead Sox maker of the best dress socks you'll ever wear or ever storm the field with and believe me they have the patented technology with a no slip guarantee so you can get stepped on and they guarantee that those socks will get still stay up they're made from bamboo for that premium luxury feel and if you go to their website which is dead soxy.com you want to check out the navy and gold collection that's going to sync up with with your favorite team you click on the collection tabs select team colorways from the drop-down menu and you can see all the cool socks there's some with Shamrocks there's some with stripes all different kinds of styles and and there's the no-show socks too the regular kind of dress socks so check them out they make great Christmas presents and you probably want to get started on your Christmas shopping soon if you do use promo code lucky that's promo code lucky and you'll get 25% off on your order so that's dead soxy.com promo Cod lucky all right now it's time for questions our question segment is powered by acre proo Midwest farm group when it comes to land sales it pays to have experts in your corner acre Pro Midwest farm group are your local Farmland Specialists with Decades of experience in Indiana agriculture no one knows the market better whether you're doing a 1031 exchange or simply buying and selling farmland your local acre proo agent will walk the land with you and ensure the deal is done right visit acpro.com or call 765587 3185 and talk to your local land expert today again 765587 3185 you can submit questions to us on Twitter or The Insider Lounge Message Board before every podcast I'm at tjames ND and Eric at eh Hansen ND first one I have for us Eric is from Charles W wolf can you think of another Dame game you covered that surprised you this much I didn't the I'm going to mention four that kind of came up top of my head uh one that I didn't cover but I was in South Bend at the time I was covering Big 10 games and that was the Miami Notre Dame game in 1988 um I was surprised Notre Dame beat them uh and then 2002 Florida State with Tyrone willingham's first year when they got off to that 8 no start they were such a challenged Notre name was offensive team they won with defense and special teams and that eventually kind of caved in but but uh Florida state was a uh a a highly ranked team and they went down into Tallahasse won that the other two were um a loss the USC loss in 2005 the bush push game because you know all the TV pundits were predicting Notre Dame was going to start maybe 05 and six and this USC team was supposed to be Invincible they ended up losing in the national championship game to Texas but they were super talented and Notre Dame came in with within an eyelash and a bush push of uh of upsetting them in fact the crowd stormed the field thinking the game was over and they all had to go back back into the stands and then the last one would be Oklahoma in 2012 Notre Dame was actually the higher ranked team in that game I think it was five versus eight but they were a double digit Underdog and I I had seen that movie too many times of you know Notre Dame getting into that under the big stage and then falling off of it and falling badly and I I remember turning to Al ler Tyler was there too and saying can you believe this is happening you know a 30-13 game you know Bob Stoops had lost like four home games against non-conference teams and all his time at Oklahoma maybe it was four home games period but it was just Notre Dame wasn't just it was like the Clemson game I mean they were kicking butt and taking names at the end of the game it wasn't just you know this luky kind of upset it was a domination and uh so those would be four that jumped to mind for me yeah 2012 was the first year that I covered Notre Dame so that my my window is much smaller than Eric's but that that Oklahoma game certainly would be close I guess I mean I was new and maybe naive and so I I wasn't necessarily shocked by it I was certainly impressed by how Notre Dame played um and also to me the biggest difference is that we didn't we never saw that Notre Dame team look as bad if we as we we' seen this Notre Dame team be this season so that's why the outcome was as surprising as it was so I don't know that I would have say that there was anything in comparison to the surprise that the surprise Victory I guess if you if you do it in reverse the it would be the Michigan game in 2019 which the Wolverines won 45 to 14 that was probably the most surprising the other way um but in terms of a positive way this this is the most surprising outcome that not just outcome but sort of the way it happened and the way that not was able to do it um was probably the most surprising game that I've covered of another Dame game yeah now that 2012 team though had some close calls with some kind of meh teams maybe not a marshall but right after they open the season with navy they just barely got past Purdue and the game that Tommy had to start Reese in place ever goson they just barely got past BYU that wasn't a bad BYU team but I mean there were some close calls I wasn't the pit triple overtime game in that season and yeah that was after the Oklahoma game yeah so I mean there were some there were some close calls but but not the losses all right next question we have is from at Mike devoy one any insights on why Lorenzo Styles played so few snaps um and then a couple of questions about Drew Pine can you recall any Notre Dame quarterback who has had so many passes tipped at the line is this an indication that Pine isn't using his throwing Lanes well well let me start with well let me start with that one I I cannot remember any Notre Dame quarterback getting their passes tipped like this and Marcus Freeman addressed this Monday you know I mean it he's he's listed at 511 and a half he's probably 510 is um and what Marcus does is he has to step up in the lanes and make sure that he's you know got a clear path to throwing the ball that he sometimes just sees the receiver and throws it and there's a defensive lineman too close so he's going to have to maneuver in the pocket a little bit more I mean there's been guys his height that have played in college football that have been successful that haven't gotten as many passes batted down as Drew so it's doable I mean they're usually more mobile than he is but uh you know that that's the most that I can remember the other part of the question was about Lorenzo Styles not playing as much I mean when I was watching the wide receivers they were doing a lot of blocking and Lindsay and Jaden Thomas did a really good job on the times that I was noticing them I didn't watch them on every snap but the times that I did I was pretty impressed with what they were doing and probably better blockers than than yeah I agree that they are they are better blockers and NRE Dame used a lot of 12 Personnel so those were the two receivers that were the preferred receivers in the 12 personnel and then when under Dame ran 11 personnel Tobias Merryweather took some of styles stamps and that was a result of him dropping a pass early in the second quarter he didn't play again after that that drop pass until the middle of the fourth quarter um and I don't think that's a coincidence um he has had issues with drops and um there's only so much Notre Dame can sort of put up with when it comes to that um they need him to be better they need if this passing offense is going to be more Dynamic it's going to be involving him in my opinion um but he just hasn't been that and so um I I just sort of see it as sort of chansy Stucky holding him accountable for for letting down his quarterback once again so um that's I'm sure played a role but obviously the blocking um matters as well um as for the batted passes I actually did some some quick research on this um and I mean it and the research backed up what I would thought I I I couldn't think of anyone that had their passes batted down this much um according to PFF um 4.4% of Drew Pine's passes this seasons have been batted down um and that's a higher rate than any Notre Dame quarterback going back to 2014 that was as far back as the data goes but ever Olson was two had 2.3% of his passes batted down that season um he was right about six foot himself right Drew Drew Pine or not Drew Pine Ian book um had some batted pass issues particularly in the 2019 season he had nine passes batted down but that was 402 passes Drew pin has had eight passes batted down out of 182 passes so far this season um and and I want I looked into like how does that comp compare nationally to other quarterbacks um and that's the second highest rate um of passes battered down uh in the FBS among guys who have started five games this season um so Bowling Greens Matt McDonald has a 4.8% um passes bed down rate how tall is he doing that's slightly no I did not look that up uh so Pines tied for eighth eighth in total with eight batted passes um and he's thrown fewer passes than everyone that is higher than him Matt McDonald throws it more frequently but has had I think it's 13 batted passes down so that's contributes to his slightly higher percentage so is it is bad it's not it's this isn't one of those things that we're just or Notre Dame fans aren't just like not having perspective on the context Beyond Notre Dame um this is this isn't good um I don't think anyone would would have thought it was good but it does not compare well to quarterbacks across the country or quarterbacks in recent another day memory and I just looked up Matt McDonald he has no excuse he's 6' three so there so it's not all height related there there are more things that go into into it then than just HP he must throw it sling at sidearm or something uh next question is from Rico Benes at Mike B 95 what was the anomaly freshman Lorenzo Styles or sophomore Lorenzo Styles I'm pretty convinced it's sophomore Lorenzo Styles I think he's going to get back to that form he was super talented coming out of high school and uh you know I think the lack of passes the changing of the quarterbacks not having chemistry and and things have gotten inside his head but the guy is super talented he's really good in space I think we'll eventually see a very good Lorenzo Styles it may not be yet this year but I think the 2023 version of him is going to be very good yeah I agree it's it's the sophomore version that's the anomaly he's better than this and he just has to get out of this funk it's it's it's not good it is it is worrisome but I I don't think that long term it's going to prevent him from getting closer to his potential than what he's playing at right now next question is from at CFB Independence is Benjamin Morrison the best quarterback since Shane Walton or vontz duve well there's I mean those guys played um in the Davy Willingham era um so that's about 20 years ago I would say right I I mean the hope and the thought is he could turn into something like that which would be you know a consensus well Shane Walton was a consensus All-American vonz Duff I think was a third teamer I'd say right now the bar is Julian love I mean he's he's a consensus allamerican that I think set um pass breakup records for single season and for career um and was really really good so I would say Julian love first if he can clear that hurdle then we can talk about Shane Walton and then if he can clear that hurdle then Todd light but those would be the kind of guys that come to mind I think that are you know in my time covering college sports which is since 1983 those would be the guys that from Notre Dame that would be the ones that jump out at me yeah Julian love was was where like he he deserves a word in this conversation um and uh he he was pumping up Benjamin Morrison he was tweeting about how how well he played um Julian was actually at the game on Saturday so um that's a good lineage there he Julian like Benjamin was asked to play as a freshman um and played particularly pretty well on a defense that was really bad in 2016 um he had an interception and and three pass breakups but he also had uh uh 45 tackles um so see he played pretty well you can you might be able make the argument that um Benjamin Morrison's playing better than uh Julian love did as a as a freshman I I looked some PFF data uh 45% of the passes thrown at Benjamin Morrison have been caught um compared to Julian lovelin his freshman season 61% has been caught but obviously there's a a long way to go there in terms of Julian had Brian V gordes as coordinator for the first four games right and and not a great defense around him even beyond that so um I Benjamin Morrison is probably playing in a better um situation than a better pass rush remember that that pass rush in 2016 they got three sacks from their defensive lineman for the season right yeah so there's there's a difference there but yeah Julian love is the he's the standard like best quarterback of in the recent era that that Benjamin Morrison would be chasing now let's not I have a yeah Camp story about Julian love you know when patter I me Morrison came in you gotta stop doing that that's the third time you've done it in the last like three days I know I get Morrison and Patterson up I he needs to change his name to make me correct but Benjamin Morrison when Ben came in I'll just call him Ben um you know he looked good in practices I mean you you noticed Mickey and you noticed Morrison but um I remember in the camp that Julian love was in I'm like who's 27 you know CU he was making place all over the field in training camp then I'm looking Julian love I thought this guy was supposed to be a three star um he I mean there were there were guys and the other guy that did that to me in training camp was Josh Adams because again he was a three star and I'm like wow I didn't think he was supposed to be that good so um that's just a little little tidbit just another way for me to mispronounce one of the easiest pronounceable names on the team in Morrison I don't know that's mispronouncing it I think just mixing it up so it's not like you're saying mores or something like that remember who was the guy was it Dickerson that I yeah you you would say like uh two guys yeah and they both decommitted I think yeah there's Matt Dickerson and uh I don't Clifton Garrett was a you messed up some you were yeah you were messing up all kinds of guys names and I think Grant Blake and Chip was in the Mi thereo point that out keep the score book messes up I just change it and keep it to myself Tyler will it out to me well I can't have people thinking you're talking about Jared Patterson on the podcast so we got we gotta make sure we we know who we're talking about here um next question is from Baba Gan at plor itfdb Orin arily it'd be assumed Andy will win easily over Navy just like it was assumed prior to Marshall and Stanford any signs from the staff that they know they can't afford to allow players to take another inferior oppon opponent lightly fans have to feel like Char Charlie Brown at this point well I mean Marcus addressed it after the game Saturday and they addressed it in practice Sunday night and then there's only so much you can do with that I I I think they've learn their lesson I mean if they've already got stung by it a couple times you know I I do think they Overlook Marshall to a certain extent I'm not sure what happened in the Stanford game I I don't know that that was overconfidence or whatever as much as it was just a really bad offensive game plan and and bad play at certain positions the Marshall game I do think they plan to play a lot of players the coaching staff didn't maybe they Overlook Marshall a little bit um and again some of the things Terry handri talked about you know of a team meshing and a coaching staff meshing uh but I don't think they're going to overlook Navy they know Navy's uh a difficult out they're a different animal and you cannot turn the ball over them and you cannot let them play with a lead yeah I mean I understand the concern I we spent a lot of time asking Marcus Freeman about that on Monday he he's certainly well aware um can we say with certainty that he's figured out how to prevent it I I don't know that we can say that we've been fooled twice already so I feel if we're fooled the third time that's on our on so under Dame has to go out there and prove it I mean there's not much more to say about it they have to um not allow themselves to to slip up and um take some of the Goodwill that they've gotten from from beting Clemson away yeah I mean this is a step in their evolution now now this is their chance to prove it against these two teams um Navy and Boston College because they should BCE both of them uh and that may or may not happen so we'll see but you know you have to go through these rights of Passage so we'll you know let's let's wait and see on it maybe you won't feel like Charlie Brown maybe you'll feel like Lucy pulling the ball away next question is from at summer John what should it what should a coach do to ensure this team stays in a dominating clums and mindset ver versus R reverting to a Stanford slm Marshall passive and sluggish type team well Marcus Freeman has been talking about this all year don't trust the process fix the process and he said they take the same approach after a loss that they do after a big win in terms of uh self scouting going back through and saying okay what can we do better let's continue to try to improve so I like I like the uh thinking that he's put in place in terms of whether You've Won or lost you need to kind of tear things apart make sure you're doing things the right way and and self-examining everything so I I like that I don't know that there's a whole lot beyond that you you can do I I've seen first year coaches that are struggling like Marcus was early in the year and they dig their heels and this is the way we're going to do it we're not veering and and I think what Marcus has done is he's kept true to his principles and values but he's willing to change the methods from week to week to make things better yeah I mean I think you have to keep reminding them of how it felt to lose to Marshall and how it felt to lose to Stanford and remind them of why that happened um and so uh just sort of make sure it's clear that we can't we can't allow this to happen and we know that it can happen because we've seen it happen already so um I think those are just messages that that Marcus Freeman and the coaching staff has to keep harping on throughout the week to make sure that they don't lapse and sort of get back into maybe a more relaxed mindset than they than they need to have going into these next two games next question is from at Coffee dark Rose didn't Brian Kelly have an assistant where he only focused on stopping Navy's triple option is there a coach that does that currently for Marcus Freeman Bob Elliott was an assistant coach for Brian Kelly that ended up being an analyst he had some health issues with um K kidney his kidney and he became an analyst and he became a very valuable analyst and he kind of put together this program of having a scout team imitate uh the Navy and work on the Navy um triple option all year long so that when they presented it to the first team defense they were a well-oiled machine they could simulate it pretty well not not at Navy speed but certainly something that's going to give the team a good looking practice uh so Bob Elliott was instrumental in doing that Marcus was pretty good with triple option teams when he was at Cincinnati they did a really good job with navy last year and he's kept some of the things that Brian um did in in terms of having the I can't remember what they were called um but the the year round team they they did some practicing of the triple option both in Fall Camp during the by week so they're not just starting Sunday night with navy and trying to um get through that really quickly but Bob Elli is the assistant coach's name he's no longer with us yeah and we what Marcus didn't name like a coach that's specifically in charge of that so I'm not sure if there's one person that's leading that or not but um regardless there is sounds like Al golden has taken the Reigns because Al had faced triple option quite a bit when he was a head coach at Temple and head coach at Miami all right next question is from at Thomas Rogers one is the bad quarterback play going to hurt Michael Mayer in the draft no he's actually moving up I saw Mel Kyper had his newest um mock drafts and newest what do they call it top Big Board big board and and Michael Mar is in the top 10 now and that and I think in DNE Bugler's um projections Michael May has also improved his status so no he's he's going to be the top tight end taken in the draft and he's you're gonna see it on a Thursday night you're not gonna have to wait around very long for Michael Mayer to get picked yeah and if you're not familiar with draft analyst obviously I would imagine people know Mel Kyper Jr works for ESPN but Dan Brooker works for the athletic and it's someone that has given us a lot of insight um about the draft over the last few years um but yeah no I mean and it's not really hurting his stats either he's still leading the FBS records yeah he's he's leading FBS tight ends and receiving yards and reception and he's tied for receiving touchdowns among uh FBS tight end so he's still producing it's just not he just the other people around him aren't producing is what what the problem is I I think the only thing that might have helped hurt Michael early in the year is maybe like midseason All-American teams just because people tend to pick teams right that are relevant for Award winners and now Notre Dame is relevant they're back in the top 25 yeah even though I mean you can make a case either way like who's better Michael Mayer Brock Bowers like that is that is a decent argument but Bowers is gonna win that sometimes just because of the just how much better George is as a team even if even if I think there are probably plenty of people that think Michael Mayer is a better player all right next and obviously that that won't matter in the draft Brock Bowers won't be eligible for the draft because he's a year he's a year younger than than Michael Mayer next question is from LDL go Irish on The Insider Lounge JD bertran had an incredible game in my opinion and I am sure others agree can you compare him to other very good Notre Dame players in college and how he should and how he will be should he go pro is he drew tranquil Drew Drew white or comparable to someone else well Drew tranquil did play middle linebacker although um JD played weakside linebacker last year um I I would say drew white is probably the comp there I want to see JD finished out this season because he's playing at a different level now than I've ever seen him play um I I think I was I wasn't with the message board crowd at the beginning of the year but I wasn't willing to stand up to him and say no you're wrong um that was me Eric that was me that that was you well you were I I I saw some of the deficiencies though I I felt like JD um got isolated and coverage sometimes and that's coach's fault somewhat I and you know the targeting calls and and missing so much time um and he wasn't as productive early in the year either I mean his stats weren't now I mean he made a play and I even pointed out to Tyler during the game you know he came from behind he pursued somebody in the backfield I don't remember remember if it was Shipley or somebody else but he caught them behind the line of scrimmage it wasn't a a sack it was either a Jet Sweep or a where will Shipley was running the ball but his Pursuit was incredible and his play diagnosis just seems to have amped up and that makes him even quicker to the ball so I I my hats off to JD Bertrand but I don't have a good comp other than I think Drew white was super good at play um you know at play diagnosis and and certainly made the most out of his talent yeah I mean he's certainly more like Drew white than Drew tranquil I think the best count for him personally is Tavon Coney I think I think there are some Sim some similarities there in their game I think the perception of them as players from the fan base is different for sure like Tavon con was more beloved uh than I think JD Bertrand is but I'm not sure that their games are that that much different I think Tavon wasn't great in coverage either no Tavon and Tavon Maybe a bit more physical um but I don't know that Tavon was really that much of a better athlete than JD Bertrand is I think sometimes um I think that we might be dealing with some stereotypes there when we talk about JD bertran athleticism but I I think that that that to me is is the comparison someone that was Ultra productive um Tavon Cony missed some tackles too um I can understand if people like Tavon Coney better than JD bertran but I don't think the difference is that great and then Tavon was also someone who struggled to to get footing in the NFL so I'll be interested to see what what happens with JD bertran as a potential NFL player I like to follow John Michael Bertrand leftand pitcher from the baseball team that plays in the Giants organization next question is from at Henry beid do you think wide receiver will be Chris tyree's primary position in 2023 I that's a great question I got a lot of variances of that question on my live chat last week when you think about all the running backs that are coming in if they all end up signing in December and we're talking about Jeremiah love Dylan Edwards and um Jaden Lamar and then you still have Jabron Payne you have jadarian price coming back from an injury and then you have esta and uh Logan Diggs it it would seem to make sense Notre name needs numbers at that that position I think Chris Tyrie could be a pretty good slot receiver so if he's if that's something that he's interested in I think that that would make a lot of sense to me yeah I think it could be a possib yeah I mean some of it was determined if he wants to do that uh or be determined by if he wants to do that um I mean and if Notre Dame is insisted on him doing that maybe he he decides well maybe I want to go play running back somewhere else but I think that I'm not exactly sure what his primary Position will I I I would like to see him play out of the back field more um I think he he does that um maybe like a fifth of his snaps or something like that this season um but I I think that Mame could sort of make that his primary role and maybe flip that like for as much as he's in the back field this year maybe he's in in the slot that amount next year and then maybe in the backfield a little bit less but I think there are certainly ways to use him in valuable ways he can add some things to Notre Dame's offense and it's not like Notre Dame has a long uh depth chart at the slot wide receiver position so maybe he would be open to that but we will see what comes with that with Joe Wilkins gone they don't have a a deep right right right uh but obviously we weren't expecting Joe Wilkins to be back next season anyway so next year's depth chart is what we're what we're looking at now next question is from at Henry beid with Jordan Batello and Junior Tu halaka getting reps at Viper and no obvious successor to Isaiah fosy do you think Notre Dame will be a base 34 team in 2023 you know at first I thought where in the world are you coming up with that but I don't think it's as crazy of a question as I did when I first read through it because you do have all the linebackers coming back basically except for Bo Bower who's not on the team anymore who's h uh and then you're adding three linebackers you're adding Drake Bowen Preston uh zener and Jaden Osberry but you're also adding some pretty good defensive linemen you have a lot of good defensive linemen you know Marcus played 34 and 43 at Cincinnati and Al um Al golden was a 34 guy coming up I mean that was where he kind of learned to be a defensive coordinator but you've got got so many good defensive linemen Jordan Batello Josh Burnham Junior to halaka can all compete for that Viper spot you have uh bubacar tayori coming in um you know and all these great interior defensive linemen I wouldn't change and I don't think Notre Dame will I think they found a structure that would work and then four schemes in four years I think that would be a big mistake yeah I mean to me to run a 34 you need to have a good nose guard and I don't know that no Dame has a 34 nose guard on its roster or will next season either so um or let alone multiples of them because they're going to rotate so um to me that would that would lead to that not being the Bas Cross isn't cross can be a nose Garden a 43 can't be the nose Garden of 34 Chris Smith is the closest they have to that kind of guy and he's not going to be around next year nor is he necessarily a high volume player either right so I I think we're seeing those guys like Jordan Batello and Junior to halaka one because they feel like they can make an impact but also two they want to be able to see if they can rely on those guys next year too so um I I just know I if I were Al golden and Al Washington I would be begging Justin edola to stay and say hey do you want to be our number one Viper next year because I think that's probably his best position he's but he is playing well at strong side defense but he just has been blocked by Isaiah fosy and sort of being the number one Viper um but I don't think that's necessarily likely but that would be um maybe the coach's dream scenario but uh they certainly have questions they need to address but I I don't know that that would be worth the questions that Viper be worth like changing your defensive base scheme um going into next season they also like Aiden gobra I think he's working at the big end but I mean he's not he's got that quickness to play Viper so I I think they've got some guys that are coming up right and then maybe maybe whoever it is like they just drop them in coverage less and it's not like Isaiah fosy does that a ton but they do do that sometimes and I don't know that there's probably guys that can run with guys in the same way that that Isaiah fosy could maybe Jordan patello could run with a a running back out of the back field or something like that we saw there was one there was one play particularly that I remember recently against Syracuse where Isaiah fosy was just running running down the sideline with this guy it's like that shouldn't work that way but it did because the guy was just not getting open isah fosy was easily able to run down the sideline with him all right next question is from Marie BF4 at BF 4ore Marie could recruits in the 2023 class who passed on Nutter Dame or decommitted have their interest rekindled after the weekend do you have clarification on the NCA statement about the transfer portal I believe there was concern transfer players may not be able to enroll in January okay let's start with that one Tyler do you know anything different I hadn't seen anything about that no I'm not I was I don't know what Marie is referencing there I there's a they they put in a time where people have to declare when they want when they're entering the transfer portal um and that's 45 days after the Championship selections are made for football so I believe this year would be December 5th or January 19th um and then there's a window in the at the end of spring April 15th through April 30th but I'm not aware of there being a concern that transfers could enroll in January certainly another had a few of them just this past season so I don't know what that concern is is related to and then will some 2023 guys reconsider I think Nona Dame is just hoping they can hold on to the guys that they have and then they're trying to flip a quarterback um you know there's what's the wide receiver from Texas Tech Caleb Smith is that his name yes okay and and guys like that but I mean if you're thinking about Keon Keeley somebody like that um bringing him back into the class I don't think that's something that you know Keon looked at the Columban game and said boy I would have liked to been storming the field too uh I think he's his priorities changed when the person leading his recruitment changed which I think is his uncle now it was his mom and him and so I I I don't see him coming back to the class recruiting is a weird thing I mean Braden linday never felt like that was going to come back after he decommitted went to Oregon and kind of badmouthed the Notre Dame coaching staff so you never say never but that's not on the radar right now yeah and then privately the notame coaching staff was badmouthing BR linday and then then praising him when he came back so uh yeah I mean feelings get hurt and stuff like that happens in the recruiting process I I I think Notre Dame isn't doing its due diligence if it doesn't at least reach out to Keon key or reach out to Dante Moore or Jackson AR or any of those guys that they had traction with previously and say Hey you sure you want to not get maybe you want to reconsider and give us a chance here on the last month month or so um so you have to you have to at least look into that but it's not going to sort of happen with a snap of their fingers that that's something that will sort of develop it's not gonna a kid didn't just see that game and say you know what the last three months of what I've been doing I don't I don't want to do that anymore I'm going to go to another Dame so um I think this this could be the start of maybe getting back into things with some people especially at those positions like defensive end Viper defensive end and quarterback where they just don't have any any answers for right now all right next question is from at Carlton Butler we can talk all day about how a certain silently committed quarterback hurt the 23 recruiting class when he bailed but what's with the inability to replace him in the class for so long after it wasn't the day before signing we can't even get a three star with a big arm to visit or a project well I mean do you really want a project you know that's the thing Notre Dame was Aiming High and they had Jackson Arnold Christopher Vina Dante Moore all interested in the 23 class you had Justin saan uh or Julian sayyan rather in the 24 class along with CJ Carr I mean they were Aiming High and they were getting interest and then they slow played guys like um Avery Johnson uh and and because they were convinced Dante Moore was coming they put all their eggs in that basket kind of shoot the other guys away they made their commitments and then it's hard to go back to them and say ah just kidding we really like you the best you know come come see us and then um you know I don't think CJ Carr committing as early as he did made it as attractive for a 2020 three guy to come especially if they weren't in CJ cars Echelon as far as Talent you know a three star guy's like wait a second Tyler Buckner or Drew Pine is going to be the starter or maybe a portal quarterback and Jelly's already there uh and they have this really good 2024 Guy where do I fit in so I could see why it's A Hard Sell but Notre Dame act absolutely mishandled that the other thing about quarterbacks I mean it's possible they could get Avery Johnson to change his mind at the end here but um you know it's about relationships and you're trying to form relationships with guys that you don't even know and it and it's difficult to earn their trust in such a short time so uh they handled this probably as poorly as you could and uh they're going to have to learn from it not repeat that in another cycle yeah I mean quarterback recruiting is baffling to me I don't there are a few of those things that I don't really buy or uh give Notre Dame like an out in terms of excuses like Notre like CJ Carr shouldn't prevent Notre Dame from being able to recruit a 2023 quarterback you should still be able to get somebody um I think it's I'm saying at that late date I think earlier on no no problem you know if if they if they had kept warm there's no way he's like no CJ Carr is better than me right I think you start recruiting in August it's difficult to get those guys interested at that point I think the CJ Carr thing that was that was more of a deterrent was the thought of him possibly reclassifying I think that had yeah that played way more into like what a 2023 quarterback would consider about Notre Dame then like well I don't know if I can beat this kid out when I'm going to be there on campus ahead of him I don't I don't know that that played a huge role I they have been kicking the tires on what people would call projects or three star guys I mean UCLA commit Luke Duncan was someone they thought was going to come to campus and he didn't follow through on that um UCLA baseball commit Rock chowski was someone that they were working on trying to get to campus and that didn't come through and they they sort of just failed in every aspect in towards in terms of trying to get a 2023 quarterback so um it's it's not good um Notre Dame sort of seems to be waiting on a Hail Mary I don't know what will end up coming of all of this but it it's not it's been poorly handled um and you can't really sort of argue with the results because the results have been pretty disastrous to this point but obviously the end result is all that matters and if they can fix that the next month and a half or even if they have to push it into February U maybe they can find a solution but the the the options for Solutions right now aren't aren't exactly enticing or promising I'm going to debate you on that I I I I think if if Notre Dame is looking at in the portal for a quarterback for 23 what's in it for a 23 three star guy to come to Notre Dame what's what's possibly in it what where is the path for him to ever play if you portal guy now you who's the who's the portal guy that they're getting a young guy are you saying or a guy that's going to come in and start for a year and then go to the NFL it could be either of those things but let's say it's a guy that comes in and is going to go to the NFL you still have drew Pine you still have Tyler Buckner well I don't I don't St jelly and one of those guys could leave right they a portal guy one of those guys could leave but you're still gonna have Angeli either Buckner or pine you're gonna have CJ Carr in the class after it you have Ron paus there um you know there isn't a clear path now sometimes you know the path isn't the path isn't clear but it's not filled with stars I think that's my that's my point is like okay if if they feel the need if you're a if you're a three star are you gonna get that fair Shake now if it was a five-star kit I mean if it was Jackson Arnold yeah Jackson Arnold could play where he wants Jackson Arnold could possibly start as a freshman but if you're a three star marginal which is what I thought the question said um then why would why would you think you could overcome and beat those guys well uh Ian book was given that chance as a marginal Three Star Quarterback and the same guy that coached him is still on the coaching staff so I think that true you could point to like hey we don't care what your stars are like that I mean and they're not they're not when they recruit a guy you're like yeah we think you're crap but we're gonna we need a quarterback so we're going to bring you in they're going to talk the kid up until you tell them you're gonna get a chance um I just don't see like the obvious obstacles that would that would I think it would have more to do with like I don't know that you can develop me into the quarterback that I need to be then it would be like I can't beat out Tyler Buckner or Stelly that's true I mean you're looking at Notre Dame's offense and you're a quarterback you're like I don't know you know you know I'm get completing nine passes in the game two weeks in a row um you know that's maybe not the offense that excites them now they could certainly sell and I know that they are their thought is look at all the wide receivers we've got coming in we're going to be this plus a dynamic offense we're still going to have a great offensive line we're going to be physical we're going to run the ball but we'll be able to be more dynamic in the future because we have all these wide receivers coming in and we have you coming in that that's the selling point but I think again for strangers that you don't have any relationship with I think that's uh harder to believe than somebody that they had been courting for a year or two which is what these Elite quarterbacks like to have they like to have that early interest Notre Dame's already looking at 202s right but but the Dante Moore thing happened in July we're talk that was five months ago now so they had plenty of time to sort of figure that out between now and then now like if we're saying we're starting from scratch now which well they went they kind of went one at a time though didn't they go to the bayor kid first right they did but it was too late in the process to handle it that way right it was too late and they also put all the eggs in that basket until he said no right and then they were kind of starting from scratch again right they didn't ever really learn about okay let's get several people uh you know involved so it just hasn't been handled well yeah no I'm certainly not defending how it's been hand I just don't I don't I don't think it's a valid excuse of like what is on the roster is preventing some them from getting someone in the class all right uh last qu last question we have is from Irish sports fan uh on The Insider Lounge thoughts on rumors of Andy trying to get back in on ke Keon key a bit thoughts on Dante Moore potentially decommitting from from Oregon to MSU absolute shocker if he does Irish sports fan adds in parenthesis do you see any possibility that Dante Moore Keon key wind up back in the class or even entertaining communication with the Notre Dame staff I think Keon would listen to the Marcus if he texted and called and I think he's probably reached out to Keon but it doesn't seem like there's movement there I don't think that Dante Mo think's going to happen unless there's a paycheck involved um you know I think there's going to have to be some kind of guaranteed money for him to con reconsider not or Dame yeah and I I have no idea if he's gonna go to MSU I mean that's I know Michigan state is is has put it out there um because when it comes from the reporters it's not the reporters usually aren't making it up that they're trying to get Dante Moore um and we'll see if they have any success in that it seem it would seem to be like a very strange time for someone to decide to go to Michigan State given the way that their season has has gone um but uh but who knows I mean stranger things have certainly happened in recruiting but I I I would say that the odds of either of those guys ending up in not's class is very slim at this point I would give the edge to Kean Keeley in terms of there being a better likelihood of ending up in Notre Dame's class but I think there's some fence mening that happen has to happen there some some reconsidering of what those kids are valuing in terms of what they want to do with their college um decision and um there's still time for that to change but obviously uh we're getting into the the final stretch here pretty soon all right that's it for today's episode of the inside ND Sports podcast if you don't already you can subscribe to us on Apple podcast Spotify Google podcast and other podcast platforms if you like what you hear give us a star rating leave a review and share our podcast feed with someone you know who stormed the field on Saturday check us out on YouTube if you're not subscribed to us there already the inside Indie Sports channel is home to our Monday Night Live show and place your bets predictions every week and we'll be back for another podcast next week to recap the Navy game and get ready for senior day against Boston College until then stick with insidend sports.com for all your pregame and postgame coverage needs w [Music]