Mike Golic, Jr.: ‘Tommy Rees coached his *** off this year!’

Mike Golic, Jr.: “The baby back ribs song will be in my head the rest of the day now so thanks for that, but we’ve been going to Chili’s since I was a kid and they offer a great place to watch football any day of the week.  We were helping serve food at the Chili’s in Mishawaka (Indiana) where we had been many of times previously with our time at Notre Dame.  They’ve got a great happy hour menu for football season and are a great neighborhood place to go with some buddies to watch the games and to take advantage of some great deals.”

Mike Golic, Jr.: “I’m pridefully a dessert-first kind of guy just like the good lord intended me to be so the adult chocolate molten cake is my go to right off the bat.  When we were in Mishawaka, I got that and with the respect of my elder, gave my shot to my dad.”

Mike Golic, Sr.: “I’ve never been more proud as a dad than hearing my son eats dessert first and the molten cake is a great choice but for me it’s the sliders that get the entire meal started.”

Mike Golic, Sr.: I think you see signs of good coaching all over the field.  Drew Pyne is entering the portal but he got better as the year went on and had his best game at USC.  This team had clear limits this year when you look at receiving options outside of (Michael) Mayer, who is the best tight end in the country by the way, and they still found ways to regularly put points on the board.  Then you have a freshman in Ben (Morrison) that steps onto the field as an 18-year old and is able to play at the level he did all year which resulted in him being a freshman All-American.  All of those are a reflection of coaching.

Mike Golic, Jr.: The offensive line is back to being the unit it was and the running back room is clearly loaded with talent.  It’s easy to look at the record an be disappointed but the development in key areas show that we (Notre Dame) are headed in the right direction.

Mike Golic, Sr.: And to piggy-back on Mike’s point, it would have been easy for the team to fold after losing a game they weren’t supposed to (Marshall in Week 2) but instead they came together and it wasn’t perfect the rest of the way as the Stanford loss still happened but this is a team that clearly showed development and the young stars including Ben (Morrison) can’t help but make you really excited about what’s to come if you’re a Notre Dame fan.

Mike Golic, Jr.: Well it’s obvious that they’re going to seek a quarterback in the portal and there are plenty of names out there but it’s so much more than just recruiting rankings.  Yes, it’s great when you see a recruiting class ranked in the top-five but if you don’t develop talent then what good does that do?  You saw that development with young guys especially this year and that speaks volumes as to where Notre Dame is headed.

Mike Golic, Jr.: “Listen, Tommy (Rees) coached his ass off this year.  He was stuck with a backup quarterback as his starter, and I say that with no disrespect whatsoever to Drew Pyne, but he’s clearly limited in what he can do.  The offensive line grew and is with them returning at least three of their key pieces next year and having another year under Harry Hiestand to develop that unit will be great.  The running back room we talked about being loaded and young receivers took big steps as the year went on.  It’s their right to think the way they did but the fans calling for Rees’s job earlier this year, and that’s entirely within their right to do as it’s part of the life you sign up for when you’re a coach, but they sound foolish now.”

Mike Golic, Sr.: “Again, it comes down to development for me and look what this team was doing by the end of the year.  There were plenty of times Tommy would probably tell you he should have called a run instead of a pass or a pass instead of a run but guess what, every play-caller would tell you the same thing.  The development is there when you look at this offense.”

Mike Golic, Jr.: I mean you look at it and it seems like the entire ACC is in there so there is no shortage of names, that’s for sure.  Brennan Armstrong is a guy at Virginia, who with Robert Anae who is calling plays at Syracuse now, totaled almost 7,500 yards of offense in two years.  Couple his talents with an offensive line that would be elite instead of problematic like he played behind at Virginia, and you’re talking about something special.  Then you’ve got others as well, Devin Leary from North Carolina State is obviously mega-talented if he’s healthy. It’s a place where Notre Dame can get good and experienced in a real hurry if they get the right pass-first guy.

Mike Golic, Sr.: I count on Mike (Jr.) more for this since I cover the NFL more regularly than the masses of college football.  I know Spencer Sanders brings up some bad memories from the bowl game for Notre Dame fans but I look at what he has done at Oklahoma State against some of the defenses he has regularly played against and can’t help but be intrigued by what he’d offer.

Mike Golic, Jr.: The weirdest part for me was that all the non-Notre Dame fan friends I have and followers on Twitter were so quick to give Notre Dame praise and love for something that I honestly felt weird.  We’re the place everyone else dislikes and that’s fine and dandy because that’s what we signed up for but the masses getting behind that video whether they had a Notre Dame connection or not was really cool.

Mike Golic, Sr.: And who was the media professional that on the very first take was the one to mess up their lines?

Jr.: I was doing everyone a favor, Isaiah (Foskey) and Mike (Mayer) hadn’t done media or acting before that I’m aware of so I was just trying to make everyone feel a bit more comfortable.  It was really strange but cool to be in Vegas and drive like a half hour outside the city into the dessert and turn onto a path that literally seemed like it was to nowhere to go film this though. It was a blast.

Sr.: I just don’t know how when they asked all the Notre Dame media who performed the best in the video that I didn’t get any votes.  Pssh, we’ll see if I ever talk to them again.

Mike Golic, Jr.: I think it speaks to Marcus Freeman and to the incredibly talented staff they have in place with the Notre Dame media team.  The idea was presented and those behind the scenes did all the work to make it what it wound up being.  That said, I do think it speaks to the new world of recruiting and the transfer portal and NIL and all of that when you are able to do things that bring more attention to a program, even if it is Notre Dame who let’s face it, isn’t hurting for attention by any means.

Mike Golic, Sr.: It reflects what you know about Marcus Freeman within five minutes of meeting.  Here is a young head coach that is a talented to recruiter and the video speaks to that.  If you talk to him for five minutes you can’t help but have this sudden sense of energy, he’s one of those kind of people to be around, and I think the video reflects that.