On Monday, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation narrowed down its initial 2024 Watch List to the top 25 senior or upperclassman quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Riley Leonard is one of the 25 quarterbacks on the watch list.

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden met with local media Tuesday night after practice ahead of Saturday's home game against Stanford. Here's everything Golden said during his session with print reporters.

Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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I'll be attending WBB media day at Notre Dame on Thursday. Today (Tuesday) Notre Dame is down in Charlotte at the ACC Media Days. Some of the teams will have their turns Wednesday, but ND is going today. Hannah Hidalgo, Olivia Miles, Liatu King and Niele Ivey are representing the Irish in Charlotte. I'll post some of the videos and interviews from Charlotte in this thread today and have a new set of threads on Media Day in South Bend. Here's the first bit of content, Niele Ivey talking about Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo playing in the same backcourt.

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@Eric Hansen and I will record another Inside ND Sports podcast on Wednesday this week.

Send us some questions you'd like us to discuss. We like to give priority to questions submitted on The Insider Lounge.

If you have multiple questions, try to be succinct and ask them separately. Thanks!

This article jumps out at me because it is written by Ross Dellenger. Dellenger has been spot on with his realignment stories and is not one of those guys who throws stuff against the wall to see if it sticks. From the article:

Spearheaded by former Disney executives-turned-investment professionals, Project Rudy is a super league-esque concept — separate and more simplified than the one made public last week — that incorporates football programs of the four power conferences in a 70-team structure. The model preserves the four power conferences, expands the postseason, overhauls scheduling, tiers revenue distribution and, most importantly, infuses as much as $9 billion of private capital cash into the system.
I also note that, according to the article - the architects of Project Rudy successfully recruited to join their team one of the most respected people within the college space: former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick. It is a stunning move for someone who just six months ago sat on the College Football Playoff governing committee as one of the most powerful decision-makers in the industry.

I have serious doubts that this idea will have any legs. The key is the BIG10/SEC, and the article notes that the BIG10/SEC are having joint meetings this week. I think that the BIG10/SEC are well aware that they are the powers in charge of college football. I don't think that they have any desire to share their riches with teams in a 70 school Super League.

The roller coaster offseason for Notre Dame women's basketball guard KK Bransford continues.

Bransford announced Monday that she will sit out the 2024-25 season to fully recovery from a lower leg injury. Bransford intends to use a redshirt season in what will be her third season in Notre Dame's program.

Bransford previously walked back a decision to enter the transfer portal in April and decided to stay at Notre Dame.

Story:


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Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock met with the media on Tuesday evening after ND's practice session as the Irish continue to prep for Saturday's home game with Stanford. Here's everything he had to say to reporters. Answers are largely verbatim. Questions may have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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The NCAA announced this evening that its DI Council approved changes to the transfer portal windows in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.

The transfer portal entry window will be open for 20 days in December and 10 days in April. The dates for this academic year are Dec. 9-28 and April 16-25. There was consideration given to eliminating the spring window totally, but that didn't happen.

The portal window for men's and women's basketball will open for 30 days starting the day after the second round of their respective NCAA tournaments ends.

Here’s the latest on Notre Dame women’s basketball recruiting a little more than a month out from the early signing period for the 2025 class (Nov. 13-20),

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ND wins out and finishes 11-1; defeats Boise St. in the first round; defeats Utah in the Fiesta Bowl; Loses to Ohio State in the semi final.

Here's everything head coach Marcus Freeman had to say at today's press conference.

Marshall Levenson caught up with 2025 Notre Dame WR target and SMU commit Jalen Cooper, who is set to visit the Irish this weekend.


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Remember in this format to include your name and hometown ... and DON'T post your questions here, but on the Jotcast link. I'm always happy to answer questions here, but the rest of the world doesn't get to see your brilliant mind at work if you don't post there for the Live chat. The question queue is open early, as in now.

https://live.jotcast.com/chat/notre-dame-football-live-chat-oct-9-2024-19343.html

The latest on the Irish legacy is here:

And Louisville not so much. SMU has 284 yards at half already.

If Louisville loses to SMU it really hurts the commentary that they were a quality win.

But A&M dominating like they are is making that win look much better.

The path forward for Notre Dame’s 2025 class has been increasingly clear during the February dead period. Which means it's time to debut a popular staple for subscribers on The Insider Lounge: The Heat Index for the 2025 class.

Like we did with the 2024 class, we will keep The Heat Index pinned in the sticky threads at the top of the board and we’ll post updates to it for the remainder of the 2025 recruiting cycle. That way Inside ND Sports subscribers should always have a clear picture of the top candidates to be future Notre Dame commitments.

This first edition of The Heat Index for the 2025 class will be unveiled by position this week and next week. The pinned thread will remain locked initially, but each update will have an unlocked thread below highlighting the debut for each position.

How does The Heat Index work? It’s intended to reflect a combination of how much Notre Dame is prioritizing a recruit and how much interest that recruit is showing in the Irish.

These are the various levels we will assign to recruits in The Heat Index and what they’re intended to mean.

Plain: The recruitment remains in the beginning stages, so there’s not enough evidence to justify a heat rating.

Mild: There was interest at some point, but the recruitment has not been trending toward a commitment lately.

Medium: Interest has been expressed, but it’s not clear which way this recruitment is heading.

Hot: Notre Dame is a top contender, and the recruit is a top target.

Extremely Hot: We expect this recruit to eventually commit to Notre Dame — potentially sooner rather than later.

And now, it’s time to bring the heat ...

Updated: 10/2

I joined WSBT sports director Pete Byrne to share takeaways from Notre Dame football head coach Marcus Freeman's Monday press conference, how ND will recover from the loss of vyper end Boubacar Traore, how DE Joshua Burnham will be used moving forward, which other players are on the mend, how upsets across college football may help the Irish, what kind of credit ND may get for beating Navy and ND's focus ahead of Saturday's home game against Stanford.

Inside ND Sports is partnering with WSBT to provide even more coverage of the Notre Dame football season. James and Byrne will record a video every Monday following a Freeman press conference.

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Click here to subscribe to Inside ND Sports on YouTube.

Jon Rothstein of College Hoops Today is reporting that seven of the eight teams for the 2026 Maui Invitational have been lined up. That list includes Notre Dame alongside Arizona, BYU, Maryland, Ole Miss, Providence and VCU.

No word on if Maui Mike Brey was also invited.

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Christian Gray talking smack after not playing and Jeremiyah Love channeling X-Pac.

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ND is 7th

Mod edit: Here's the link ...

Join us at 7 p.m. EDT on YouTube as @Eric Hansen and I go live for the next weekly edition of "Football Never Sleeps."

We'll discuss the latest injury updates from Notre Dame, more takeaways from head coach Marcus Freeman's Monday press conference, what's ahead for the Irish in October and busy week in recruiting while the Irish were idle. We'll answer questions live from viewers, too.

We hope you join us live with questions or submit some ahead of time. Hit the bell to set a reminder to get notified when we go live.

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If you'd like to submit questions, make sure you click through so you're watching on YouTube's site or in the YouTube app if you're on mobile. You can do so by clicking the headline at the top of the embedded video above. So where it says "Football Never Sleeps: ..." Or there should be spot that says "Watch on YouTube" in the bottom left.

Then to submit questions, there's a chat box to the right of the video on desktop or below the video on mobile.

Click here to subscribe to Inside ND Sports on YouTube.

Two things to watch in Notre Dame's hunt for a 2025 QB to replace Deuce Knight:

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