The only argument the ND beat truly had in its back pocket to maintain their status as the #1 source of leaked ND info, was the fact that they had dirt on BK. The coaching staff had to keep the beat happy, essentially, to maintain the give-and-take of what I'm sure was years of 'minor' stuff adding up to create a decent binder on BK's secret transgressions. MFMF hasn't been around long enough for that threat to be present, so the coaching staff isn't beholden to keeping them happy.
There's an argument that you don't want the bad PR of a beat that is openly hostile towards a tight-lipped staff... but the beat has never weaponized its influence to help openly recruit elite players for ND, anyway, so you aren't losing too much. Most beats are staffed by homers that openly recruit for the schools they cover, but the ND beat has generally been too professional for that. We've never had anyone turn into a Justin Hopkins and push a much-needed QB our way, and even EJ Holland, who openly shills for scUM now, didn't really recruit on ND's behalf when he was on the beat.
It *feels* like a "don't bite the hand that feeds" situation... but it's really not that way, at all. Even if national guys like Thamel are getting the scoop directly from MFMF and co., and it pisses Sampson/Prister/etc. off to no end, the beat will go on speculating and generating clicks based on the standard day-to-day stuff, regardless.
