Pod of Gold: Notre Dame Football

He has spoken. It's been more than a minute since we last heard from Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman, so there was no shortage of topics to talk on when he stepped to the front of the Notre Dame Stadium interview room on Wednesday, January 15. Freeman talked of the end (for now) of the USC series. He talked of the NFL and his interest in maybe one day coaching at the game's highest level....

We'll try, but we may mirror the College Football Playoff selection committee and fail miserably. In our latest Pod of Gold, we attempt to make sense that like that, the Notre Dame football season for 2025 is officially over. No College Football Playoff run to a possible national championship. No bowl game. No nothing. All of it, over. Who's at fault? Should fingers be pointed? Our crew of South B...

We're done. With the regular season. With the College Football Playoff rankings shows over those four Tuesday nights in November and December. All that's left is Championship Saturday and Selection Sunday. What does that mean for projected No. 10 seed Notre Dame? Are the Irish comfortably in the field of 12? Do they need to sweat Sunday? Do they need help from a team here or a team there? We discu...

We start this edition of Pod of Gold wondering exactly what's wrong with the Atlantic Coast Conference. Specifically, what the league has against Notre Dame of late with its "Team A vs. Team B" comparison nonsense, and then deciding that, yeah, it's a good idea for the game at Stanford to kick at 10:30 p.m. The Irish, in fairness, have remained quiet and calm and composed as they chase down anothe...

We're Notre Dame football heavy again in our latest Pod of Gold. The second College Football Playoff rankings are out, so what do they mean for Notre Dame? We review the Navy win, preview Saturday's game at Pittsburgh and spend some time with former Notre Dame offensive lineman Josh Lugg. What do our fans have to say in our Speak Up segment? How about our Pod of Bold wrap-up segment? Give it a lis...

If it's November, it means it's time for the College Football Playoff rankings roulette to begin. What do the guys think of Notre Dame opening at No. 10? Good? Bad? Perfect? We recap the sluggish win over Boston College, which didn't play like a 1-7 team and preview Saturday's prime-time matchup with Navy before spending some time with former Notre Dame All-American defensive back Mike Townsend, c...

Notre Dame football is back from an off week and right into a Final Five stretch to close the regular season. We preview (kind of) Boston College, review (kind of) the win over USC and debate several additional topics, including what the Irish need to improve on to stay College Football Playoff worthy and the future coaching aspirations of Marcus Freeman. Stick around for our Speak Up segment befo...

This week hits differently. Irish coaches and players can insist otherwise, but it just does. It's USC week. It's the biggest game on the schedule for Notre Dame, and the biggest game left in this season. Everyone knows the stakes, but nobody may know them better than former Notre Dame defensive back Tom Zbikowski, who played in this rivalry game and offered Irish fans one of the best moments of t...

We're all over the map in this one - talking a little Boise State, previewing North Carolina State and then diving deep into the 1988 Notre Dame football national championship season friend of the show Pete Cordelli, an assistant coach during that Irish title run. Cordelli shares stories about that 1988 season, about Ricky Watters, about coaching Tony Rice and about Lou Holtz. Tune in to hear our...

Notre Dame is back to .500 and looking to climb over that break-even mark Saturday at home against Boise State in the first-ever meeting between the teams. Before previewing Boise State and talking Broncos with long-time radio play-by-play Bob Behler, we put a period on Notre Dame's win at Arkansas, arguably, the most complete Irish effort this season. What's up with that offense? What's up with t...

Notre Dame football has issues. Even coming off its first win of the season over Purdue, Notre Dame has not looked and played like it should look and play. We're tired of talking about it, but there's no way of getting around it - the defense is overdue to deliver. Maybe this is the weekend when we watch the Irish and say, now that's how it's supposed to look. So we spend the first 20 minutes on t...

That's not how this season was supposed to go - not even close. Two games in, two losses for Notre Dame. We'll recap what didn't go right for Notre Dame in its come-from-ahead loss to Texas A&M and dissect why this Irish defense hasn't looked at all like the Irish defense should look. Then, it's on to the next one. In this case, it's Purdue, a team Notre Dame beat last season in West Lafayette...

It will have been 13 days since Notre Dame football last played football by the time kickoff Saturday night arrives and the clash with No. 17 Texas A&M. The South Bend Tribune's Mike Berardino and Tom Noie and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill discuss what improvement we need to see from the Irish offense and defense after that loss to Miami (Fla.). They also discuss if Notre Dame and head...

For the first time since 2022, Notre Dame football is 0-1 to start a season following Sunday's 27-24 loss at Miami (Fla.) The loss dropped the Irish from No. 5 to No. 9 in the US LBM Coaches Poll. Miami moved to No. 5. What happened in South Florida? How did it happen? Why did it happen? South Bend (Ind.) Tribune columnist Tom Noie and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill take a deep Tuesday dive...

It's game week. We made it. No more quick views of practices. No more talking season. The regular season is here for No. 5 Notre Dame, which opens Labor Day Sunday at No. 10 Miami (Fla.). We set the stage for what we're going to see Sunday in South Florida with news of the week - Marcus Freeman, player comments, depth chart and injury updates before joining long-time Miami (Fla.) play-by-play radi...

It's done. It's over. Twelve days before No. 5 Notre Dame opens the 2025 regular season at No. 10 Miami (Fla.), the Irish have their starting quarterback. Welcome to the role, CJ Carr. No use burying the lead - we spend a good chunk of the show discussing/dissecting the Carr promotion. After battling Kenny Minchey, Carr was named the starter heading into the 2025 season. Why Carr? What's next for...

A new season of Notre Dame football brings the return of a new season of Pod of Gold, where the South Bend Tribune's Mike Berardino and Tom Noie and WNDU's Jackson Neill discuss everything Irish. There was plenty to ponder in this early August episode. What are the early impressions of preseason  camp, specifically, how good can that Notre Dame defense be in 2025? How about the offensive line...

With spring practice and the transfer portal in the rearview, NDI looks back on the last few weeks of Notre Dame football, which includes the transfer of a potential starting quarterback and the ascension of a possible starter that no one saw coming. We'll run through some of the highs and lows and positions of strength and of weakness following Notre Dame's 14 workouts. What's the latest with the...

The 12-team College Football Playoff field is set. Notre Dame gets a No. 7 seed and a home game against No. 10 Indiana. Did the selection committee get it right? How could the format be tweaked, even now, to better improve the process/product? What about the weather? Tickets? Hotels? We discuss everything that surrounds the first-ever CFP post-season game at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday, December...

We go Army heavy in this week's Pod as No. 6 Notre Dame (9-1) hosts No. 17 Army (9-0) at Yankee Stadium as part of the Shamrock Series game. We talk with Ken Kraetzer of the West Point Football Report on what makes the Black Knights so dangerous this season - it's more than just quarterback Bryson Daily, who's really good. We also talk former Granger, Indiana resident Richard Cacioppe, author of t...

NDI's Tom Noie and Mike Berardino and WNDU's Jackson Neill preview this week's game against Virginia, review the win over Florida State, talk College Football Playoff rankings, take a trip down Memory Lane with our Pod of Old segment, answer the question of the week and spend some time with former Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush on a variety of topics. Wimbush touches on life in the spotlig...

NDI columnist Tom Noie, beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator open this episode by recapping what the first College Football Playoffs rankings show means to Notre Dame and its chances of possibly even hosting a first-round playoff game. We (somewhat reluctantly) preview this weekend's game against a Florida State team that has the look of a team that long gave up trying to compete...

In this episode, South Bend Tribune columnist Tom Noie, beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill preview Saturday's matchup with No. 24 Navy and the problems the Midshipmen present as an undefeated and ranked opponent. They also recap the Georgia Tech game, including the out-of-left-field commentary/opinions offered by the ESPN crew about how Notre Dame needed to score...

NDI columnist Tom Noie and beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill open the show by previewing Saturday's neutral-site game against Georgia Tech, and what it means in terms of a possible path back toward a College Football Playoff berth. We also bury the lead by discussing a possible season-swinging injury to a key Notre Dame captain. The Stanford game is recapped - br...

In this special edition of Pod of Gold, NDI columnist Tom Noie and Irish beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill stray from the usual pod script. The three preview Stanford (a little bit) and touch on the Notre Dame football news of the week (injuries, depth chart, Georgia Tech kick time, etc.) before welcoming former NFL defensive lineman Marc Spindler, the father of...