Should NIL be uncapped? Can a backup Irish squad exceed 8.5 wins? Discover these hot-button Notre Dame football topics and more.
We're another week further into the offseason, and Notre Dame is nearing the halfway point of spring training. This week here at Irish Breakdown, we have another loaded week of topics coming your way. We have a practice report to dive into midway through the week to go along with our mid-week rundown. We'll also cover a wide range of national topics. But, as always, we're kicking off this week with another edition of the buy/sell/hold.
Our premium message board members brought the heat this week and submitted a lot of great topics. We covered everything from the transfer portal and stat projections to the depth on the roster and our favorite Easter candy. It was another fun edition of the buy/sell/hold to get this week started. You can listen to all of that and more on today's episode of the Irish Breakdown Podcast.
You can watch the entire show here:
Here are some of the main topics we discussed on today's episode:
On Capping NIL Money...
"We have to be able to differentiate between NIL and 'pay for play' money. If you're getting paid under your name, image and likeness like what NIL was intended for, then I have zero problem with it being uncapped. Pay for play is where you start to lose me. I don't like NIL collectives where it's just a bunch of doners pooling their money to give to top picks in the transfer portal or top recruits in a high school recruiting cycle. I've used this analogy before, but it's like in sales. The revenue share model is your base salary and NIL is like your commission structure, but there has to be an exchange in order to earn commission."
On A Notre Dame Defensive Back Winning The Thorpe Award Before The Offensive Line Winning The Joe Moore Award...
"Look, if this season pans out the way we think that it could, there's a chance that it comes down to which award is announced first. It wouldn't shock me if Leonard Moore wins the Thorpe Award the same season the offensive line wins the Joe Moore Award. With that being said, unfortunately, it's unlikely that Moore wins that award because it rarely goes to the best defensive back in college football. But this year, there's a strong chance that it happens. It could just come down to which award gets announced first."
On If A Team Made Up Of Notre Dame's Back-Ups Would Win Over 8.5 Games Against Their 2026 Schedule...
"Taking the over would be more indicative of Notre Dame's schedule than it is the depth of talent on Notre Dame's roster. I have all the faith in the world in the defense, but offensively at quarterback and in the trenches is where I see the biggest problems arising. But defensively I think they would do just fine against all twelve opponents on their regular season schedule."
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