Eric Hansen: Welcome to Notre Dame Football Live Chat on an actual spring-like day in South Bend, Ind.

First, some quick programming notes:

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► If you missed the last episode of our aspiring-to-be-viral Notre Dame Football YouTube show, Football Never Sleeps, what are you doing with your life? Seriously, the show keeps its shelf life long after the live presentation, so you can catch up now or later on our YouTube channel.  We’ll be back next week, Monday at 7 p.m. ET, for another presentation of Football Never Sleeps with Tyler James co-hosting with me. And check out some great shows on the Blue & Gold YouTube channel as well, including the live Notre Dame Football Show, on Wednesday nights.

► The Third & Gold Podcast is available at all places where you find podcasts, as well as our YouTube Channel. On our most recent episode, we caught up with former Notre Dame offensive lineman Trevor Ruhland. The next episode will drop late Thursday afternoon, with special guest Mike Golic Jr.

As far as this week’s chat …

Please include your NAME and HOMETOWN along with your question(s).

Remember my tolerance level for questions involving complex math.

Here are the rules:

Eric Hansen: If you can follow my first couple of suggestions … about the name/hometown and the math ceiling, all other rules will be rescinded for today. … except as they apply to me.

OK, let’s roll.

Jim from Springfield, Ill.: Thanks again for doing these. You get to speak with and get to know the players; so which current player(s) would you pick to have with you on a: 1) cross country road trip, 2) back-alley brawl, 3) night on the town, 4) jury duty. Thanks.

Eric Hansen: Wow Jim, and A for creativity on this one. With so many newcomers, I haven’t spoken to everyone, so let me put that caveat out there. But based on who I have spoken with, I’ll play the game. 1) Cross country road trip freshman WR Devin Fitzgerald. Super interesting person, funny, engaging, has great stories and probably wouldn’t need to use the bathroom every five minutes. 2) Back-alley brawl: Christopher Burgess Jr. … The 6-foot-4, 300-pound redshirt freshman from Chicago looks so intimidating I think the other side might end the brawl before it starts by running away. 3) Night on the town: I’d need someone who’s old enough to do that, and that’s a short list. Sullivan Absher seems like a guy who’d be fun to hang out with. Plus he’s big enough that no one would give us trouble. 4. Jury duty: CJ Carr. He’d be relentless in his preparation and detail.

Berk from Memphis: Hey Eric, I hope you are having as great of a spring day as we are here! What a GREAT time to be an ND fan with spring practice in full swing, NFL DRAFT coming up and spring game around the corner. It has been such a LONG time since we as fans have had SO much positive going on around the program (KNOCK ON WOOD). I know you probably haven’t been around the new D coaches very long but can you give me a quick difference between the old (ex Washington) vs new (ex Partridge) on all 3? Really how they may be putting their stamp on the position groups. Thanks so much!

Eric Hansen: Hi Berk. I’ve at least got to sit in on group interviews with each of them at least once, and Brian Jean-Mary twice. I also made a point of watching them coach during our limited practice window on Wednesday, especially Charlie Partridge. I’ll start with him. Even though he’s a defensive line coach, Partridge reminds me of classic O-line coaches — like Harry Hiestand — in that he kind of creates that all-in, all-together culture. He does it differently than Al Washington. Both effective. Charlie is more tough love, more intense, more non-G-rated in his word choices. Both are demanding, just in different ways.

Brian Jean-Mary at linebackers is a very different personality from Max Bullough. If Red Bull could be distilled into a personality, it’s Bullough. Ready to make you run through a wall. Ready to run through a wall himself. All intensity all the time, and yet a really smart guy who teaches well. I think BJM has more gears to his personality and tries to use them to fit the moment. I REALLY loved the story he told yesterday about working for Lou Holtz as a grad assistant. Just carries a lot of wisdom and I could see where recruits would like his authenticity.

Mike Mickens, I think, saved his best moments for when the media was NOT around, both in interviews and when he was talking to the DBs room. So you didn’t often get to see what made him such a great coach, but the players would tell you the stories. Aaron Henry is much more comfortable it seems being the same guy whether the cameras and mics are on or off. I enjoyed interviewing him. I probably could give you a better feel for his on-field presence after watching him a little more.

Michael from Zorichland: Hi Eric, can you please help with the stipulations that allow underclassmen like CJ Carr participating in ND’s Pro Day? Is it limited to a number of players, class (meaning only Sophomores), and/or other rules? Who picks the players that will participate? Did any other underclassmen participate besides CJ? Thank you for your reply and if you already wrote about this thank you in advance for sharing the link!

Eric Hansen: Hi Michael. Since 2017 underclassmen who are not early entries in an upcoming draft CAN participate in the testing or field workouts part of Pro Days, up to 5 per team. When the rule was new, those players would have to sit out a spring practice to make up for the Pro Day. I believe the only stipulation now is that you can’t miss class to do it. … I believe the only ND player in this Pro Day to fit your description was CJ Carr.

We talked to CJ about this a little bit after practice on Wednesday. His motivation was not really to get in front of scouts. There will be plenty of tape. It was to help his teammates look good, since he already has chemistry with them. One year, after he had been at Florida State for a year, Everett Golson came back to ND’s pro day and did not do a good job of prepping for it. One scout even scolded Golson. Tommy Rees and Evan Sharpley have helped out in years past after they were no longer college players. Ian Book would have been a strong alternative, but Carr was the best fit. And the coaching staff would have the say in who participates.

2581/Tony from Lexington, Ky., via Somerset, Pa., also the hometown of the coach of ND’s 15-6 and #23-ranked baseball team, Shawn Stiffler. ☘⚾☘ Glad that you got to see the Irish woman win two games up-close and personal in Columbus, Eric! ☘🏀☘ But my question, Eric the Great, is about ND football ! ☘🏈☘ Probably the freshman who I am most excited to see play this season is Khary Adams of Baltimore. In the March issue of Blue & Gold Illustrated, in the article “Khary Adams Is An Anomaly”, I am stumped by one factoid. The article indicates that last season Khary was a 5-star recruit, a Rivals 1st-team All-American, the #3 cornerback in the nation, and the #23 overall player in the nation. High praise indeed ! But the article also says that he was only all-state HONORABLE MENTION for “Maryland Independent schools”. How can that be? I don’t understand… Can you educate me?

Eric Hansen: Tony!!! Let me answer your question generically first and then specifically to Khary Adams. Sometimes these things happen when a player makes a splash at national showcases and camps, also the 7-on-7 circuit, but he is either injured during his high school season, plays on a bad team or plays a position where the stats don’t tell the story. Daelin Hayes, a Rivals five-star, ended up coming to Notre Dame with all of about nine high school games in his career. That was due to injuries, to moving to different states and having to sit out because of that. So, his high school credentials didn’t match his recruiting pedigree.

Another example is Rusty Setzer, who had a non-descript career at Notre Dame and was a Parade All-American but didn’t make the first-team All-Area for the Hammond Times. Rusty was an elite sprinter in track, but was not an elite running back. Parade (and ND) figured the production would eventually happen at the college level. It did not. My sense with Khary is that opposing teams didn’t throw his way, because it would have been a big mistake. Thus, he didn’t have monster numbers in high school. I also think the people picking these teams are working for newspapers that have very thin resources and thus not a lot of voters got to see him play in person. I hope this answer is complete enough for me not to get downgraded to Eric “the perhaps slightly above average” in your book.

Marie from Atlanta: Hi Eric, I hope you’re enjoying your very busy week between women’s basketball and all the spring football. I’m sure you’re being kept on your toes. Not including the quarterback position. What position group on offense and what position group on defense are the most important for winning a national championship? Of the current position groups, which groups do you think are championship level, which are playoff level, and which still need work? Which of the players that participated in Pro day  who did not get an invite to the combine do you think have the best chance to get drafted? A little women’s basketball, what do the Irish need to do on Friday to win the game? As always, thanks so much for hosting the chat and all the great sites.

Eric Hansen: Hi Marie. I think it’s important to be strong at every position group. Look at Indiana this year. Where was their weakness? They needed every bit of that to get by Miami to win the title. Ohio State did too the year before to fend off Notre Dame. I think in the era of the transfer portal, the teams that win the national title are more complete, because you can spackle the holes in your roster with transfers instead of camouflaging them with inexperienced players. I think the two positions that most separated ND from a national title in 2024 were WR and D-line. Now that doesn’t make them the most important, but they were the two the Irish needed to upgrade.

I don’t see any reason, barring injuries, that Notre Dame would have a position group (or more) that would prevent if from a national title run, but we’re still learning about those position groups. But I feel good about the early progress of the offensive line, the defensive line, the running backs, the tight ends — positions where there are a lot of moving parts still. But I’d say they all need work. That’s what great teams do, they keep striving to get better, through the spring, through fall camp, through the summer, through the season.

I think Will Pauling and Devonta Smith really helped themselves at Pro Day. Gabe Rubio being healthy enough to work out helped him too. I’m curious what teams will do with Jared Dawson, being undersized yet very productive last year.

Finally, to WBB, the Irish catch a break in that Vanderbilt is not a great rebounding team, nor is it a smothering defensive team. That’s a palatable matchup for the Irish. But the Commodores are very good and have another All-America guard, in Mikayla Blakes, to deal with. Notre Dame’s defense will give it a chance to win this game. They have to control  tempo and turnovers. Vandy is too good of a 3-point team for ND to go to their zone much, if at all, so they’ll have to stay out of foul trouble. Thanks for bringing it, like you always do.

Ryan from Frankfort, Ill.: Good afternoon Eric how has Jerome Bettis jr and copper Flanagan looked during spring ball  Go IRISH  🏈🏈☘️☘️👍👍💪💪

Eric Hansen: Hi Ryan, you picked two pretty interesting guys to ask about. Jerome Bettis Jr. is at a very deep position group (boundary receiver), but has not gotten lost in the numbers. He has practiced very well. And TE Cooper Flanagan looks like he’s all the way back from that January 2025 Achilles injury that limited him to four game snaps in the 2025 season. Really strong starts to the spring for both of them,

Bill from St Joe, Mich.: Hi Eric! When you’ve had a chance to view practices, has Bryce Young only lined up at right DE, or has he also lined up on the left side as well?

Eric Hansen: Hi Bill. Let me answer it this way. I would expect Bryce to rotate with Keon Keeley on the right side during the season. So let’s work backwards from that premise. First, we have seen two practices. One full and one with ZERO team periods. At practice one, my assignment was to watch just the offense, so I was not looking at nuances on the defense. But even if I were, what happens in a non-padded practice on day 1 when the coaches know the media are in there will not necessarily ever happen again.

That’s why I started with the premise of how things are likely to end up. Your question is a very good one and one that we need to ask Charlie Partridge when we get him next. How interchangeable are the end spots in his way of thinking, not just for Bryce Young, but for all of them? And it will get asked. But remember in what we see, spring is for testing and experimentation to a large degree, especially with a new position coach who’s learning his personnel. So what we see one day may be an experiment.

ced walker from Saginaw Michigan aka sag nasty Saginaw pride: what players has stood out the most in spring practice so far for me  it has been Jerome bettis  with the muscle and the Johnson making plays God Bless This Football Team here come the irish trust the process the golden standard rally we are nd god country go irish love thee notre dame our mother pray for us

Eric Hansen: Hi Ced, if I had to narrow it down to just two, as you did, I would say Tae Johnson on defense and WR Mylan Graham on offense. But there are so many more. Now, keep in mind, that’s based on one full practice and one with four five-minute periods with no team periods in that partial practice. We saw not one snap of practice No. 2, on Saturday. That doesn’t mean there isn’t enough to form impressions. I just wanted to be up front about how large (or small) our sample size is.

James Martinez from Albuquerque, N.M.: Dear Eric, xan you believe it’s the first week of spring practice? Anxiously awaiting the lottery tickets for the Shamrock game at Lambeau Field, and was wondering what kind of an opening tilt you are expecting?

Eric Hansen: Hi James. We’ll have a little bit better feel for Wisconsin at the end of spring, but there are more than 30 transfers on the Badgers’ roster as head coach Luke Fickell has rebooted the program after a 4-8 season that could have cost him his job. Instead, he’ll have a new QB, in Old Dominion transfer Colton Joseph, as well as a lot of new faces all over the field. Fickell and Marcus Freeman aren’t new to each other at all, with a long association with each other, and a lot of the ND assistants. Wisconsin is projected to be good enough to play in a bowl and with around six or seven wins. I think it will be a great opener for Notre Dame and a tough one, but one they’ll end up winning by double digits.

Bo from Michiana: Good afternoon Eric!!!!  I’m without power as the electric company decide today to replace telephone poles in the Edwardsburg tornado area….. my biggest take in 3 practices is that Will Black is holding down the LT position, is that something you can confirm?  I’ve been excited for him since he committed and waiting for an AA year from him, is that doable?  Drinking a 🍺 for you since you’re working!  One day my friend, one day, 🍻🍻!

Eric Hansen: Bo, hope you get your power back soon and thanks for having a cold one for me in spirit. Yes, that Will Black development is really interesting, but not necessarily permanent, although I think it has a good chance to be. We talked about this some on YouTube (The Notre Dame Football Show) last night with Mike Singer. When Black arrived on campus as a freshman last June, he instantly impressed with his athleticism and movement skills. But there was an adjustment … to the speed of the college game and to learning Notre Dame’s blocking schemes.

He basically came out of the womb athletic. Will had learned to swim at age 1 ½, was downhill skiing at age 2 and was participating and thriving in a handful of other sports by age 5, though not football. He was convinced his future was in hockey until high school, when football overtook it. The London, Ontario, Canada, native then convinced his mom to send him to a pricey prep school in New England, and there he honed his craft for two years. In November of 2025, everything started to move in fast forward again. And so I believe he’ll start somewhere on the line.

But will it be at a guard spot or a tackle? Some of that depends on where Charles Jagusah would plug back in when healthy. Some of that depends on how well Anthonie Knapp plays guard and how well Black plays tackles, but early returns are positive that this could be the configuration.

Lorne from Reno, Nev. Thanks for the chats and congrats to Gia K on two more titles. Do you think we have a shot at UConn with Miles and Koval on the team?

Eric Hansen: Well Notre Dame did beat last year’s UConn team, and by double digits, with those two players each playing a lot of minutes and Hannah Hidalgo scoring 29 points. But I think this UConn team is better. Notre Dame doesn’t really have a matchup for this version of Sarah Strong defensively. But the biggest thing is team chemistry. I’m not sure Olivia Miles and Hannah would have been able to coexist for another year. So I’d push my chips into the middle of the table on UConn in that hypothetical matchup. Good question, but it made my head hurt.

Jack from Strongsville, Ohio: Hi Eric. Who is the best all time guard, men or women, at ND? Austin Carr or Hannah Hidalgo. Carr was better scorer and didn’t get to play as a freshman. Hannah is better defensively and steals. What are your thoughts on the Vanderbilt match up and hopefully beyond? Thanks as always for your great work.

Eric Hansen: Thanks, Jack. Speaking of my head hurting. A lot of these fun and interesting hypotheticals make my head hurt, because it’s not wired for these. We’re talking different genders, different eras, different rules, and one player who hasn’t even finished her junior season. I would lean toward Carr, because his entire career is done and put in context. I’d leave open the possibility that Hannah will finish as the top guard on the women’s side. As far as Vandy, they’re very good, but not invincible. Notre Dame has a chance, but should be the underdog. But against UConn, I think the Huskies are going to be national champs. And that would be the team ND would have to beat to GET to the Final Four.

Brian K from South Bend: Hey Eric. I wanted to follow up on last week’s chat related to changes or guardrails being established. In the divided culture we now live in, (Shutdowns over funding certain departments of our Govt.), what gives you optimism that Congress can or would work in a bi-partisan manner to establish guardrails and give Universities & the NCAA a Law to work with?  If memory serves there have been hearings recently on Capitol Hill with differing opinions by party of how and what should be protected and how to implement it.  Having a Congressional Bill would be welcome relief so there would be a rulebook the NCAA could follow (theoretically).  Although prior NCAA experiences leads many to question if they could even follow that in a consistent manner.  I’m not trying to sound pessimistic, although it probably sounds that way.  Like you, I think it would be a huge benefit from to have something to plan around for Transfers, NIL, etc.  Do you believe this will eventually happen? Thanks

Eric Hansen: Brian, thanks for the question. I think I need a drink. Seriously, good question, but this is not that kind of stuff I like to think about or write about. Kind of like doing your taxes. You have to, but you hold your nose. And the biggest reason is it is very difficult to write or talk about anything within our political system that isn’t going to piss off half the country, even if you’re trying to play things down the middle. Having said all that, I am not overly optimistic it gets done, but I don’t think this is an inherently political issue and that’s where I think there’s some hope. In other words, even though folks of different parties may interpret different “best paths forward”, there’s no political stakes that I can see to keep them from eventually working together.

Now prioritizing it and getting to the common ground is the devil in the details, and we’ve been talking about this for years. But the urgency has never been greater, so I will not write it off as an impossibility.

Greg from Huntingburg, Ind.: Long time reader of your chats, but first time posting a question. Can you give your analysis of Keon Keely vs Josh Burnham? I know we lost Burnham in the portal, but curious if Keeley and the freshman would have pushed Burnham on the depth chart.

Eric Hansen: Greg, thanks for taking the dive into question-land. I hope I can reward you with a good answer. I think what it comes down to is Josh Burnham, a proven productive player with some injury history vs. Keon Keeley, a player with still a very high ceiling and now in the right system and perhaps with the right D-line coach. And the two high-ceiling freshmen, Ebenezer Ewetade and Rodney Dunham. I don’t think the freshmen are in a position physically yet to push someone the caliber of Burnham. Had Burnham stayed and the Irish still plucked Keeley out of the portal?

I think Burnham would have moved back over to the Vyper (left) side and rotated with Boubacar Traore, with Bryce Young and Keeley forming a formidable tandem on the right side. So, it would not necessarily even have been Burnham vs. Keeley. But let’s say that battle was put in play. I’d say Burnham would be the starter at the beginning of the year, and Keeley would overtake him, but they would both play a lot.

JJ from Bushwood CC (New Jersey): Ahoy Eric! It’s a sunny 70 degrees here at Bushwood today, although a return of the nice weather also means a return of the gophers (and golfers)… in your limited observations of the team so far this spring, who passes the eye test in terms of offseason body transformation? Who has stood out in the drills that you’ve watched? Thanks, as always, for your fantastic insights.

Eric Hansen: Ahoy JJ. I hope you got a free bowl of soup with the hat you bought at the pro shop. It looks  good on you! … To your question, the two most striking for me were sophomore WR Jerome Bettis Jr., and Alabama transfer DE Keon Keeley. I’m sure there are others, but those are the two that come to mind. A word about each of them. I saw a graphic on Facebook by a “media” outlet I had never heard of and I’m certain is not credentialed for practice proclaiming a breakthrough season is ahead of Bettis. Tap the freaking brakes. Bettis deserves a lot of credit for his transformation and it translated into a good practice day, but there are a lot more practices and ones in pads ahead of everybody.

But at a position where you are competing against an improved Micah Gilbert and vastly improved Cam Williams, an impressive freshman in Devin Fitzgerald and eventually expected starter Quincy Porter when healthy, projected a breakout season is unfair and very premature at best. An improved season, a building spring, yes, that is on the table. And that’s a great place for him to have put himself. Keeley, meanwhile, has slimmed down and looks lean and menacing and relentless. But …  this is a spring in which there will be growth for him in terms of pass rush, and progress isn’t always a straight line. So, to have some downs with the ups is normalcy. But I am very encouraged about the direction he’s headed at ND.

Frank from Wayne, Ill.: Eric, what is your way-too-early prediction for this year’s ND-Miami score?

Eric Hansen: Ha. Way-too-early is right. I might as well pick numbers out of a hat. But I’ll play along. Notre Dame 31, Miami 21.

Skip from Houston: Are freshmen football players required to live on campus?  What percent of scholarship players live on campus? Thanks.

Eric Hansen: Skip, I sent a note to someone who’d be in the know and have yet to hear back. I believe most of them still do live on campus, but no one on our staff knew for sure. Good question, but something out of my purview. But once I get the answer, I will email it to you.

Eric Hansen: OK, that’s going to have to do it for today, My next assignment beckons. Thanks for all the great questions. We’ll be back to do it all over again next Thursday at noon ET.