The 8th episode of Here Come the Irish titled “The Road to Atlanta” was released back on February 6th so it’s almost been a full month since it debuted. I’m not certain if there will be more episodes coming, although I am assuming this was probably it from the 2024-25 season. I sat this one out for a few weeks, not really avoiding the pain of the National Championship loss, but letting the long and emotional season breathe a little bit before I re-watched this intimate look at the team.

I checked back in recent days and finished up the series. Here are 10 thoughts on the way HCTI wrapped up on Peacock:

 

#10

There’s a brief segment early in the episode where the team is going through a workout inside the team hotel conference room in shorts and sneakers–some guys are even in socks only. This was in the aftermath of the tragedy in New Orleans and the postponement of the Sugar Bowl. In one shot you get a look at Josh Burnham and he looks so massive. I know as a converted linebacker we don’t always view him that way but in reality 6’4″ and 250 is still comically large for any human and being stuffed in a conference room among other teammates really highlights that size.

#9

The big winner from this series among the players was Jack Kiser. He was featured a lot and has unquestionable excellent leadership skills. I think it also helps that he has a really strong voice, it’s great for TV and the interview process. He’s coming off the NFL Combine and I have to believe he boosted his stick by half a round alone doing team interviews.

#8

Notre Dame is a Catholic school of course, but sometimes I do wonder how some of that side of things plays with a wider national audience. I suppose not many non-Fighting Irish fans are watching this show on a paid streaming service, right? I will admit the “Our Lady of Victory, pray for us” scenes in the locker room always get my blood pumping a little harder. It’s one of the few things that make me feel like a little kid again watchin Notre Dame football. It’s a tradition I hope never goes away.

#7

Xavier Watts was interviewed a little bit and was set up for some reason at the top of a stairwell? They displayed cool Notre Dame signage behind but it was down through a stairwell, unless my eyes deceived me?

#6

I didn’t like the pacing of the Sugar Bowl at all. In the defense of the show, they were cramming in 3 playoff games into a 45-minute episode. Maybe that’s my biggest critique of the end of the series (which pretty much no one was really planning on happening)–in a perfect world this should’ve been 3 stand alone episodes for each of the remaining playoff games.

#5

I enjoyed the brief attention paid to James Franklin being a prickish little man in his comments towards Freeman during the Orange Bowl pregame press conference. I actually didn’t see these comments in the lead up to the game, only the write ups of what he said. The camera shot for HCTI on this was fantastic, coming from Freeman’s right across towards Franklin.

Franklin, ready to cry. 

It felt good, Freeman the more composed coach, wearing a tie, and not wearing the middle manager glasses like Franklin. If and/or when Lincoln Riley is gone from USC will Franklin be involved in rumors for that job again in the future?

#4

I cannot stress how good Freeman comes off in the multitude of locker room speeches in this show. I actually think Brian Kelly was a little underrated in this department (or at least once he left town there seemed to be a little bit of a re-writing of his history in this department, over the years he definitely had some bangers) but Freeman is reaching all new levels while talking to the team in big moments. He straddles that unique space between corporate-speak, motivation, and honesty with a young head coach pedigree. It’s mesmerizing to watch.

#3

The last episode didn’t get to show that many snaps over 3 games. It did hit most of the big moments, though. One of the great things about this run was how many different players made an impact, especially as the injuries piled up. True freshman running back Aneyas Williams had that huge reception and nice running play late against Penn State. It reminded me we might have yet another dog emerging at running back for 2025.

#2

The framing on the “pass interference” flag on Jack Kiser in the Orange Bowl was hilarious if it wasn’t so sad. Kiser, once again in the spotlight, does a great job being so dramatic and talking through a slow motion replay. He was totally robbed.

Kiser came away beautifully during the series. 

#1

The post-game locker room scenes after the loss in the National Championship to Ohio State, oof. Selfishly, I wanted that game so bad like many of our readers. Shows like this can be so good for the reason that we get to see the players, coaching staff, and others within the program go through the same joy and agony as us. I can only imagine how bad the players and everyone wanted to become heroes to an entire generation of Notre Dame fans. They were so close and in a small way will always be an incredibly memorable team that we’ll look back with so much fondness.