Your weekly dose of Notre Dame news, opinion, and other stuff.

Tops News

Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson will retire after the 2024-25 season following his 20th year in South Bend. Former alum and current assistant Brock Sheahan will succeed Jackson at the end of next season.

Notre Dame and Michigan State have scheduled a home-and-home for September 19, 2026 in South Bend and September 18, 2027 in East Lansing.

Notre Dame comes in at no. 8 in Phil Steele’s pre-season Power Poll.

Notre Dame Stadium came in at #21 on the College Football 25 video game toughest places to play. The Irish opening 2024 opponent Texas A&M was #1 in Kyle Field. The Irish offense is ranked #17 and the defense comes in at #6 overall.

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables has signed a new contract through 2029.

The NCAA Division I Council voted to approve unlimited assistants for FBS, although only 10 assistants and a head coach can continue to recruit off-campus.

Northwestern has released new renderings and broken ground on the new Ryan Field.

Eastern Michigan has named their football field after former alum and current Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby.

According to Front Office Sports, SMU has raised $159 million ahead of their move to the ACC.

Houston deputy AD Garrett Klassy will be the new AD at Fresno State.

Memphis has hired former Morgan State AD and Virginia administrator Ed Scott for their athletic director role.

Uniform of the Week

Unveiling uniforms in a short video mostly covered by darkness is perhaps the stupidest trend in sports over the last couple decades. I will never, ever understand or agree with teams releasing new uniforms and deliberately making it difficult see not only key details, but the overall design of the uniform. Recently, TCU did just that with an updated look to their Nike uniforms.

This does seem like the summer of muted Nike uniforms. It’s especially strange as College Football 25 will be opening up the door to video game uniforms again and many of these teams will have very basic looks. Then again, a ton of uniform combinations and throwbacks are expected in the game. These seem okay for TCU, but the cool trim and small diamonds being gone is a bummer. Five different helmet options are included, with one that has a Frog skin texture.

Recruiting

Edge rusher Isaiah Gibson (0.9792) committed to Georgia after leaving USC’s class recently.

Another edge rusher Max Granville (0.9337) gave a verbal to Penn State. The Nittany Lions added another edge rusher in Jayden Woods (0.9213) this week, as well.

Defensive lineman Kevin Wynn (0.9268) is headed to Florida State. The Noles also added wide receiver CJ Wiley (0.9405) this week.

Alabama added linebacker Dawson Merritt (0.9523).

Wide receiver Josh Moore (0.9267) committed to Florida.

Wide receiver Jacob Washington (0.9006) committed to Michigan.

Interior offensive lineman Douglas Utu (0.9650) committed to Tennessee.

Edge rusher CJ Nickson (0.9401) committed to Oklahoma.

Corner Brandon Finney (0.9221) has given a verbal to Oregon.

Pass rusher Zion Grady (0.9651) committed to Ohio State.

Cornerback Jaboree Antoine (0.9681) left LSU’s recruiting class.

Tight end Vander Ploog (0.9196) committed to Washington.

Edge rusher Cedric Works (0.9243) committed to Kentucky.

In the 2026 class…

Quarterback Landon Duckworth (0.9471) has left South Carolina’s class.

Penn State added quarterback Troy Huhn (0.9514).

Quarterback Jaden O’Neal (0.9691) is headed to Oklahoma.

Florida State added quarterback Brady Smigiel (0.9711).

Defensive lineman Richard Anderson (0.9418) committed to LSU.

YouTube Channel

I’m currently reading The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte and I cannot recommend this book enough so far. Once you get past having to read a hundred different crazy dinosaur names it’s some of the best writing I’ve encountered in a while. Steve is super smart, keeps things as light as a paleontologist can, and you find yourself really learning a lot and challenging everything you thought you knew about our old dino friends.

I’m currently reading about the awesomeness of the T-Rex. I wasn’t a huge dinosaur kid and didn’t really know much about them other than ‘old animals were big and scary’ or what I picked up from watching Jurassic Park and other things in entertainment. Read this book if you’re like me, holy cow are the dinosaurs wild and amazing to learn about. Even better, the way Brusatte explains how they find fossils and learn about the past is top notch–it’s maybe the best part of the book.

Tunes

I have Hozier’s new song “Too Sweet” stuck in my head any time I hear it. The Irish lad is now over 10 years since his mega hit “Take Me to Church” blew up all over the world. I can’t believe it’s been that long! I hadn’t heard much from him over the past decade and he’s only released 2 full length albums over that time which is probably why I feel that way. “Too Sweet” is a single off an upcoming EP taken from unreleased tracks on his 2023 album Unreal Earth.

This new single has topped the charts in several countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, and his native Ireland. In terms of lyrics, he crushed it with this: “If you’re drunk on life babe, I think it’s great. But while in this world, I think I’ll take my whiskey neat. My coffee black and my bed at three. You’re too sweet for me.” 

Trivia

Which is the correct NBC logo?

The Other Football

The United States faces Panama tonight at 6 PM ET on Fox in their 2nd game of the Copa America. The USMNT defeated Bolivia 2-0 in their Copa opener with an easy +2.33 xG in the match.

So far, Venezuela and Argentina are the only teams to win both of their opening games. That includes Mexico falling to Venezuela 1-0 on Wednesday night.

The 2024 Euro is already into the round of 16 knockout phase. Teams already headed home include Czech Republic, Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Hungary, and Scotland. The upcoming matchups:

Spain vs. Georgia
Germany vs. Denmark
Portugal vs. Slovenia
France vs. Belgium
Romania vs. Netherlands
Austria vs. Turkey
England vs. Slovakia
Switzerland vs. Italy

TV & Movies

There’s been something about Leonardo DiCaprio that I’ve never liked. It’s probably his infamous dating tendencies which rub people the wrong way, but his aura as a personality outside of films has never grabbed me. He’s also really private which doesn’t help the general public to warm up to him. I was looking at his filmography this week and his body of work is pretty damn stunning. Forbes recently placed him as the no. 18 actor of all-time, is that high enough?

It put him comfortably as the youngest male on the list, for what its worth. He doesn’t really look it but he’ll turn 50 later this year. Since 2002, he’s been on a freaking tear with good movies and rarely is he in something that flops or doesn’t do very well. I was thinking about The Revenant from late 2015 and how awesome he did in the movie. The Oscar was more than deserving, IMO.

A Look Back

The highly anticipated 111th edition of the Tour de France begins this Saturday, featuring 22 teams and 176 total riders. With the Paris Olympics coming later next month it’s a big summer for France but the first 4 stages of this Tour begin in Italy, starting in Florence where it’s expected to be a sweltering 98 degrees in a couple days.

Here’s a breakdown of the general classification favorites:

Carlos Rodriguez, 23 (INEOS Grenadiers) – The quiet Spaniard has been given the keys to lead the once former dominant INEOS squad and is coming off a strong spring with 2nd place at the Basque Country, 1st at Tour of Romandie, and 4th at the Dauphine. He won a stage at last year’s Tour, probably doesn’t have the time trialing ability to reach the podium this year, but could surprise. He’ll be supported by a very strong team which could be an edge over others.

Remco Evenepoel, 24 (Soudal-Quick Step) – The hope for Belgium started out with 1st place at Algarve this spring but was upset in Paris-Nice to finish 2nd before a crash at Basque Country in early April broke his collarbone and scapula to set him back. Evenepoel was able to return for the Dauphine–and despite an impressive time trial victory on stage 4–faded quite a bit in the late mountain stages to finish 7th overall in GC. This will be his first Tour appearance and his performance, along with his teammates who have plenty of questions in the climbing moments, will be judged on the hardest mountain stages where Remco will hope not to leak too much time.

Primoz Roglic, 34 (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) – The senior citizen of the top contenders left Visma this off-season to chase his first Tour victory and complete the Grand Tour Grand Slam. He looked rusty in a 10th place finish at Paris-Nice, crashed out of the Basque Country with minor injuries, but regained form for the GC win at the recent Dauphine. Maybe more importantly, the newly rechristened Red Bull team have proven they can put an incredibly strong team around Roglic and he’ll have all the help he can get to win.

Jonas Vingegaard, 27 (Visma – Lease a Bike) – The reigning champion from the last 2 Tour de France’s at one point looked like the prohibitive favorite, but no longer. The Dane easily won Gran Camino and Tirreno-Adriatico this spring but was part of the nasty crash at Basque Country that saw him break his collarbone, several ribs, along with a collapsed lung. The Visma team has already been severely weakened by injuries throughout their roster and will also be without top domestique and American Sepp Kuss who wasn’t able to overcome Covid in recent weeks. Vingegaard is now the underdog and lost a ton of teammate support for the mountains, but you can’t count out one of the best climbers of a generation–maybe even with less than 90 days after a horrible crash.

Tadej Pogacar, 25 (UAE Team Emirates) – The 2020 and 2021 Tour champion has put together a legendary spring with 1st place finishes at Strade Bianche, Catalunya, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and the Giro d’Italia with a 3rd place finish at Milano-Sanremo. In 31 race days, he’s racked up 12 stage wins already in 2024. Now, UAE will bring one of the strongest teams in recent Tour memory. Can they get a crop of some of the best GC riders in the world to work 100% in service for Pogacar, or will teammates crack and fray under the pressure?

18S Paddock Club

F1 continues to get more competitive but Max Verstappen simply will not relent on his computer-like consistency during races. During qualifying in Spain, Lando Norris was rapid and took pole over Verstappen with a surprisingly strong pair of Mercedes’ starting P3 and P4.

At turn 1, Norris loss the lead as a slick move by George Russell brought him to the front being chased by Verstappen. After a couple of laps, Verstappen took the lead. Norris would end up going long on his soft tires and eventually regaining the lead after most of the grid went to their first pit stop. The same scenario played out again later as both leaders pit for soft tires to finish the race. However, Norris couldn’t get back past Verstappen and finished P2 by 2.219 seconds.

*McLaren seems fully back. Over the last 4 races, the team leads F1 with 113 points with Red Bull totaling 91 points.

*Mercedes also seems on the way back to legitimate improvement with 87 points over that timespan and a quality P3 and P4 finish at Barcelona.

*Things seem a bit off at Ferrari at the moment. They have 83 points over the last 4 races and their car upgrades don’t seem to be bringing them the pace to keep chasing Verstappen.

*There are plenty of discussions that Red Bull’s car just isn’t close to dominant anymore. Just look at Sergio Perez who finishes only P8 in Spain and is continuing to fall down the driver’s standing. No longer can he pilot the car to easy podiums or points hauls.

*Alpine have received as much grief as any team this year, and yet they are showing real signs of improvement. They picked up 3 points at Barcelona and are now up to 7th in the constructor’s standings, 1 point ahead of Haas who haven’t scored a point in a grand prix over the last 5 races.

The 2nd race of a triple header is coming up this weekend in Spielburg, Austria.

Trivia Answer:

B.