Notre Dame navigates the transfer portal and discusses SEC struggles, new defensive coach impact, and exciting playoff expansion scenarios.
Notre Dame is in the midst of a hectic portal session and we are close to the start of the second semester. It's the offseason but there are plenty of things to discuss and plenty going on with Notre Dame and in the college football world.
Here is the full show:
Here are some of the topics discussed:
On the struggles of the SEC:
"The SEC obviously doesn't suck, right? I get what he's saying, and I love the shade. We said this, the SEC is the deepest conference in college football this year, but it wasn't deep of top-level teams. it was deep from the standpoint of like team thirteen could beat team three. It's kind of how the league was this year. My issue is there was no great teams in the committee and who is a lackey for ESPN acted like the SEC was this gauntlet this year, which it clearly is not. They had no business getting five teams in, and they tried their best to stack the deck in a way that made it almost impossible for an SEC team not to get to the final game, and they're still not going to have a team get into the final game. And the team that made it the furthest is a team whose coach left right before the playoff started. So it's a shame that we didn't get the playoff we could have got and should have got with Notre Dame in it, potentially BYU in it."
On new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge:
"Do I think Charlie Partridge can have an impact on the defensive line that's comparable to the one that Coach (Harry) Hiestand had in 2012 when he took over? Yeah, actually, I do. I do. I mean, based on reputation, I do. Now, can I sit there and tell you that I guarantee it? No, I can't guarantee it. I watched a lot more Harry Hiestand offensive line film when he came than I've watched of Charlie Partridge's defensive line film, specifically going into this comment. But reputation and then remembering what I saw from his D-lines when I was breaking down Pitt, when Notre Dame was going to be playing Pitt. I think he could have a significant impact. Yeah. Simply put, Trev, he has a reputation as one of the best defensive line coaches in the game."
On playoff expansion:
"So this is a new phenomenon in the twelve team playoffs. The semifinals so far have been super competitive. We've had three semifinal games so far in the twelve team playoff. Ohio State beat Texas by fourteen, but that was a great game. That was a 21-14 game with what was like two minutes, two and a half minutes left. So Texas has the ball first and goal with a chance to tie the game. They fumble, Ohio State runs it back. So the 28-14 score does not reflect how that game was played. It was a much more competitive game. And then, of course, Notre Dame vs Penn State comes down to the absolute wire, just like Miami vs Ole Miss was a great football game. We'll see what Oregon or Indiana looks like tonight. But three of the four games have been competitive. And Ohio State jumped on Notre Dame early last year, Notre Dame came back, It was a competitive football game. We'll see how this year's championship game goes. But I think what it has done is it's created better semifinal games so far."
We also discussed the transfer portal, the current college football calendar, Keon Keeley, Notre Dame potentially making defensive scheme changes and much, much more.
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