Not all of these guys exhaust their eligibility after the 2023 season, so not all will necessarily wade into the 2024 NFL Draft pool ... but most of them will.

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“Rocco Spindler and Blake Fisher are damn good,” Kurt Hinish said in April 2021.

More than two years later, the juniors will start next to each other for the first time.

As @Eric Hansen mentioned earlier, our conversations with the coordinators tonight were short. We spoke to offensive coordinator Gerad Parker for less than four minutes. Here's what we were able to get during his interview session with local writers.

Questions may be paraphrased.

GERAD PAKER

What led to the decisions for Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler to become the starting guards after long competitions?

“One, you’ve got to make decisions because they’re imminent. Two, I think that anytime you give guys — the beautiful thing of the competition was we gave a lot of guys opportunities, which is good because it gives guys real reps, meaningful reps all across the board with ones, twos and threes. We did a good job as a staff coming down from coach [Marcus] Freeman. You give guys a lot of meaningful things.

“Then Rocco and Coogs have certainly put themselves in position where that’s how we’ll start the year. So it’s been good for them to see that. There’s a lot of trust that gets built up, too, when you’re allowed to practice those two weeks together with those tackles, because they’re all working together. It’s five guys on a string. It’s been good to see that. There’s trust building.”

How is game week different as an offensive coordinator compared to a position coach?

“As you learn, fall camp goes into sections where you have to install an offense, go through the progress and making sure you stay on installations to have the ability to have a big piece of your offense in to then pull from it depending on how you game plan for a week. So then the game planning of the week changes, because you have to then pull out what percentage of the offense you need to attack your opponent. That would be the biggest change and shift: being able to pull, select, not carry too much but have enough and then get it repped against the looks that you believe you’re going to see.”

What are the keys you need to see from the offense Saturday that you’re moving in the right direction on offense?

“I don’t know if that answer — it’s not being a standard, cliché, give you a cookie-cutter answer — it really is just this, though: week in and week out, we’re going to be judged on how we take care of the football. I’m going to make sure and judge us on how we take care of the football, how hard we play and physical we play, and the third piece that I’ve said to you guys since I was named coordinator that we’re going to play with great details. Meaning make our plays work no matter the defense. As long as we give our guys the chance to be successful with the plays called. That’s the three.

“Certainly stats, numbers and all those things will be thrown out there and everything. And those things, you can’t say they don’t matter, but I know this — over a number of time, the biggest factor in playing good offensive football is taking care of the football first. That will be the first piece of it. If you see a team that’s detailed, takes care of the ball and plays hard, we believe we’ve got good enough players to be able to make our plays go.”

When are you satisfied with game plan during the week?

“You hope by Friday you feel like you have a call sheet that you know is done and ready and ripped up for them to look at. All of us as coaches make the mistake would be that you’re always looking at it and wondering about stuff and playing the what ifs, which I think is healthy too, but at the same time you have t go with what your guys have repped and what they know.”

How much have you met with Sam Hartman to put a call sheet together that he’s comfortable with?

“A lot. You have to. Along with [quarterbacks coach] Gino [Guidugli], those guys — just because his eyes, his ears, them together, us together, we have to be thinking the same way. If not, we have issues. There are times, and I’ve done it before in my career, whenever you really like something, but if he just doesn’t feel it at the quarterback position, there is no — you just can’t. We want him to believe. There’s a great deal of trust in him. The best way to put it is he’s very direct about what he likes because he’s had a lot of reps. In a very positive way, not in a negative way. So, you trust him. You let him go with it. Trust in him. And then of course the things we know we need, we keep.”

FROM betonline.ag

First overall draft pick lines are subject to change. Real-time odds can be found here: https://www.betonline.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/nfl-draft/1st-overall-pick.

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Our latest collaboration with WSBT is a video of me chopping it up with Pete Byrne and talking about Sam Hartman and the Irish passing game.


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.......a great piece of writing Mr. Hansen!!!!!

Now..........GO IRISH!!!!!!!!!!!

Very worth cause with a touching backstory.

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Does anyone know the upcoming week’s itinerary. Thanks and sorry in advance if already posted.

If you're near Jaden Mickey on a football field, you might hear him coming before you see him. But he's expected to be plenty visible for Notre Dame this season too.

How he applied the lessons learned as a freshman to set him up for a impactful sophomore season:

My plans changed and can’t make the game. Face value $430.00 (what I paid for them) or best offer.

Cameron B.

Former Notre Dame offensive lineman and GoJo Show host Mike Golic Jr. discusses his experience traveling to Ireland to play Navy in 2012, the challenge of jetlag before and after the game, what he wants to see from new starting guards Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler, the importance of center Zeke Correll, the learning curve for the offensive line, what excites him about the 2023 season for Notre Dame, the program's rivalry with Navy, quarterback Sam Hartman and more.

Then @Eric Hansen and I answer questions from Twitter and The Insider Lounge (25:07).

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With all that depth as well as skill coming from the edge, as long as players stay healthy, it will be broken.

You can submit your questions now or live at this link >>>> https://live.jotcast.com/chat/notre-dame-football-live-chat-aug-23-2023-16337.html

Please include your name and hometown in that format, but also let me know if you're an Inside ND Sports subscriber in the runup to your question. That way I can make sure I get to your question if I'm running short on time.

@Eric Hansen catches up with WSBT-TV Sports Director Pete Byrne to discuss Notre Dame's newly released depth chart and how Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame plan to navigate the difficulties of opening the season in Dublin, Ireland.

Inside ND Sports is partnering with WSBT to provide even more coverage of the Notre Dame football season.

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@Eric Hansen and I will settle into our regular season scheduled by recording an Inside ND Sports podcast Tuesday. 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!

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I spoke with Notre Dame 2025 offensive tackle target Will Black on Monday evening. Black, a three-star according to Rivals, was one of several offensive linemen to pick up an offer after camping under offensive line coach Joe Rudolph earlier this summer.

Black, originally from Canada, moved to the U.S. in the spring and attends Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall. Rivals has tabbed him as the No. 30 offensive tackle in the 2025 recruiting class before his junior season.

He told me Rudolph, head coach Marcus Freeman and recruiting associate Caleb Davis have all contacted him since Aug. 1.

"Mine and coach Rudolph’s relationship is pretty good and I feel comfortable with him considering I haven’t been able to talk to him many times," Black told Inside ND Sports. "I like how coach Rudolph cares about who I am off the field as well as my family. Back from camp in June, I really liked how he pays close attention to detail and helped me improve my game."

The 6-foot-7, 295-pound recruit hopes to visit Notre Dame on a game day visit this season but has only finalized one trip thus far and its to Michigan. Black already saw Notre Dame play Boston College in person last season and said he's looking forward to watching them this Saturday.

"I’m super excited to see how they do against Navy as the team now has more experience with coach Freeman," Black said. "Now that they have a new offensive line coach, it will be interesting to see how they do. I’m excited to watch both of Notre Dame's tackles as I look up to them."

Black reports 21 total offers including Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee. He's visited Penn State twice since May. Black's junior season doesn't begin until Sept. 23.

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Link to full story:

Also items on the starting offensive guards and center Zeke Correll's status, three surgeries last week — including Michael Carmody, and how Marcus Freeman helped OC Gerad Parker get into the rhythm of play-calling.

NAVY'S DEPTH CHART

NAVY'S GAME NOTES for ND

Head coach Marcus Freeman is scheduled to hold a press conference at 12 p.m. EDT today.

I'll have updates and quotes from the press conference in this thread. You can watch live on YouTube using the link below.

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Does Marty Biagi's squad go after the punter like Brian Mason's did? How many punt blocks does ND get this season? Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

Notre Dame has two AP Preseason All-American: first-team OT Joe Alt and second-team CB Benjamin Morrison.

Opponents represented on the AP All-America teams: Ohio State (5), Clemson (4), USC (2) and Stanford (1).

Full rundown here: