ND's Talking Heads ... The good, bad & ugly

[INLaw]

It was documented in Scott Eden's book Touchdown Jesus: Faith and Fandom at Notre Dame. It was about the 2004 season.

The story goes that Mike Frank was about ready to pack it up and call it quits doing the ND beat. Then out of the blue, he gets an anonymous tip that Notre Dame is going to fire Willingham. He was able to get out in front of the news and break it. After that he takes off.

I don't know if the fairy godmother was ever revealed, but someone inside decided to leak what was going to happen and chose Frank of all people. It saved his career.

W/O getting into details. Can confirm this to be true.

 

[ulukinatme]

W/O getting into details. Can confirm this to be true.

INLaw confirmed to be whistleblower.

 

[Huntr]

Listening to Monday's II pod...I like the II podcast and I appreciate Prister's knowledge and experience, but that guy sounds like such an old man sometimes - bitching about the fan base and complaining about criticism thrown his way. The guy is just incapable of ignoring small shit and it's hilarious. He does that shit on twitter, too, always arguing with dumbfuck reply guy. I half want to make an account just to troll him, not enough to block straight out, but just to needle him a little. He would *not* be able to resist.

 

[laughingirish90]

I like Mike Frank. He knows his stuff and tells it like it is. My favs are II, Inside ND Sports, ISD and the Independent.

he knows his stuff but had to stop listening to power hour because he would spend half the shows doing more b%tching about the team and program in general than anything else on a regular basis but maybe he has changed in recent years.

 

[dublinirish]

he knows his stuff but had to stop listening to power hour because he would spend half the shows doing more b%tching about the team and program in general than anything else on a regular basis but maybe he has changed in recent years.

Ah he’s general positive when ND wins and negative when they lose


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Grahambo]

Anybody who automatically writes off a message board, social media users, etc are sensitive, low self-esteem clowns. The writers and coaches can’t be challenged because it threatens their livelihood so the everyday person is meant to eat the slop most of them put out on the daily.

It takes basic reading comprehension and logic to read YEARS of data that says PA pass works and is not utilized enough.The data goes so far to say how many yards down the field you should be throwing on a PA pass.

All one has to do is look at the actually smart offensive minds in football to see that they all utilize motion and PA abovthe average rate of usage. Am I going to listen to Mike McDaniel, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Andy Reid, and Nick Sirianni or Gerard Parker and Tim Prister?

If MF really does bring back GP and delay the inevitable, MF deserves the fate that awaits him. If the reasoning is “Well, they finished with a Top 15 scoring offense” than it’s based on failed reasoning. ND also ranks 46th in yards per game and couldn’t score or move the ball against the better teams in the schedule.

Plenty of qualified OC candidates in the NFL and college game. This should be a no-brainer.

 

[DillonHall]

he knows his stuff but had to stop listening to power hour because he would spend half the shows doing more b%tching about the team and program in general than anything else on a regular basis but maybe he has changed in recent years.

His voice still gets very high-pitched when he's upset; I have to turn down the volume to protect my ears

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Listening to Monday's II pod...I like the II podcast and I appreciate Prister's knowledge and experience, but that guy sounds like such an old man sometimes - bitching about the fan base and complaining about criticism thrown his way. The guy is just incapable of ignoring small shit and it's hilarious. He does that shit on twitter, too, always arguing with dumbfuck reply guy. I half want to make an account just to troll him, not enough to block straight out, but just to needle him a little. He would *not* be able to resist.

I think you and Tim need a break. I'm worried about you.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Listening to Monday's II pod...I like the II podcast and I appreciate Prister's knowledge and experience, but that guy sounds like such an old man sometimes - bitching about the fan base and complaining about criticism thrown his way. The guy is just incapable of ignoring small shit and it's hilarious. He does that shit on twitter, too, always arguing with dumbfuck reply guy. I half want to make an account just to troll him, not enough to block straight out, but just to needle him a little. He would *not* be able to resist.

Overall, I like Prister. But he is guilty of what’s been said about him on here. O’Malley usually keeps him in check for the most part. Prister is lazy about just blurting out how bad an opposing team or player is right before they face ND. He did it w/ WF but O’Malley correctly pointed out that while the Deacons’ offense is bad; the D is far from the worst D ND has faced this season. Their D alone will likely have as many or more draft picks than ND this year.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

he knows his stuff but had to stop listening to power hour because he would spend half the shows doing more b%tching about the team and program in general than anything else on a regular basis but maybe he has changed in recent years.

I listen b/c of Jamie U. Frank is a typical fan w/ a larger platform. I’ve said it on here ad nauseam, but no one whines & sighs more than he does. He’s not a journalist or former coach/player. He’s a die hard fan who started his own ND outlet covering the Irish. Kudos to him but he’s no different than anyone on this board when it comes to his opinions on the Irish football program.

 

[General Colon Bowel]

I get it, but top 15 scoring offense is such a misleading stat, given that our defense has been scoring a shit ton AND giving ridiculously short fields. On actual drives by the full offense, we've struggled mightily for half the season.

If you look at the FEI, which adjusts for opponents, field position, etc, ND's offense is ranked 25th. But even that is misleading because we have a .36 rating which is just as close to Miami's 52nd ranked offense (-.06) as it is to Ole Miss' 15th ranked offense (.78 rating). There's a big tier break between the great offenses and the decent offenses in cfb - and ND is decidedly decent - which isn't good enough with the talent and experience we have.

In comparison, ND's D is ranked 9th with a 1.24 rating - not far back from Michigan's top ranked D.

If Freeman wants to be better than 7-3, which I'm sure he does, it's pretty easy to deduce the fault lies with the O and something needs to change.

 

[Giddyup]

Our wr’s do kind of suck though so this offense is hard to analyze. Some of that is due to youth and injuries

 

[IAIrish]

I listen b/c of Jamie U. Frank is a typical fan w/ a larger platform. I’ve said it on here ad nauseam, but no one whines & sighs more than he does. He’s not a journalist or former coach/player. He’s a die hard fan who started his own ND outlet covering the Irish. Kudos to him but he’s no different than anyone on this board when it comes to his opinions on the Irish football program.

Feel like I've been listening to Frank for 20 years since he was podcasting before it was cool. In the last few years, he has an annoying habit of saying blah, blah, blah when he's too lazy to explain a situation fully.
Otherwise, i appreciate power hour and II pods talk about NDFootball for free. Just have to ff those commercials.

 

[ColinKSU]

Listening to Monday's II pod...I like the II podcast and I appreciate Prister's knowledge and experience, but that guy sounds like such an old man sometimes - bitching about the fan base and complaining about criticism thrown his way. The guy is just incapable of ignoring small shit and it's hilarious. He does that shit on twitter, too, always arguing with dumbfuck reply guy. I half want to make an account just to troll him, not enough to block straight out, but just to needle him a little. He would *not* be able to resist.

Prister is a messy queen and every old reporter I ever worked with on the beat. I covered a Cleveland Indians/Yankees game once and the press box was full of 10 Pristers.

 

[stpeteirish]

Frank is “lucky “ in the sense that he’s been able to earn a living doing his dream job without any discernible talent. And like most successful businessmen he has the sense to hire people smarter than him.

 

[NDQuebec]

Prister is a messy queen and every old reporter I ever worked with on the beat. I covered a Cleveland Indians/Yankees game once and the press box was full of 10 Pristers.

Prister is one of the best and II is my favorite.

 

[Giddyup]

Printer is terrible

 

[allenm5333]

 

[Irishdrunk]

Does this also mean ND is remaining Independent?

 

[IrishBoognish]

Prister is one of the best and II is my favorite.

Prister can be a prickly SOB who can't fathom he might be wrong some sometimes, but I agree.

 

[ColinKSU]

Prister can be a prickly SOB who can't fathom he might be wrong some sometimes, but I agree.

That’s exactly why he’s a messy queen. Talking down to his readers is his first, second and third reflex in every situation. Thats the hallmark of a prickly SOB beat reporter.

 

[IrishBoognish]

That’s exactly why he’s a messy queen. Talking down to his readers is his first, second and third reflex in every situation. Thats the hallmark of a prickly SOB beat reporter.

Yeah... I kinda like that though. Old beat bastard reporters. Every fanbase needs at least one.

 

[IA4irish]

I enjoy Prister. He’s good on the podcast. If he doesn’t agree with the other guys he will let them know. The beat will be worse off when he retires

 

[FWIrish4]

James M. on the Athletic is 100% an IE’er. Please come forward and take a bow

 

[Grahambo]

James M. on the Athletic is 100% an IE’er. Please come forward and take a bow

View attachment 3054878

James M…reveal yourself.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I enjoy Prister. He’s good on the podcast. If he doesn’t agree with the other guys he will let them know. The beat will be worse off when he retires

no doubt on your last statement. My dad started subscribing to BGI when it was Prister & Somogyi. He checks a lot of boxes: alum, former ND athlete, lifelong ND fan, good dude.

I totally understand when he gets exasperated at times b/c he’s been a coach at the HS level & has been covering ND for decades so he’s seen & heard it all from fans. In the rare instance where he may have been out of line or misunderstood, he’s always taken ownership & apologized or clarified.

 

[CHIDomer9]

Printer is terrible

It just copies others’ work.

 

[allenm5333]

Not sure if this is the best spot. But 2 things stood out in Sampson's mailbag:

1. targeting 7 transfers (qb, 2 wrs, ot, de, 2 dbs)
2. Last time they want to use the transfer market for a qb in the short term

 

[NDMatt91]

Not sure if this is the best spot. But 2 things stood out in Sampson's mailbag:

1. targeting 7 transfers (qb, 2 wrs, ot, de, 2 dbs)
2. Last time they want to use the transfer market for a qb in the short term

Hopefully that's a Harper replacement and a Safety to play alongside Watts. The other Safety spot is an area of concern, IMO.

 

[lcaps20]

Not sure if this is the best spot. But 2 things stood out in Sampson's mailbag:

1. targeting 7 transfers (qb, 2 wrs, ot, de, 2 dbs)
2. Last time they want to use the transfer market for a qb in the short term

He also slid in a tidbit about Notre Dame making a hire to enhance some of Freeman's in game decision making