Rakes Report: A Notre Dame podcast

A conversation about Fighting Irish football and basketball. An audio supplement to the Rakes Report newsletter, available at https://rakesreport.substack.com/. Hosted by Chris Wilson.

Post-Blue-Gold Answers & Questions plus TV Club: Shogun 04/25/2024

Post-Blue-Gold Answers & Questions plus TV Club: Shogun Irish Sports Daily's Jamie Uyeyama joins to take a deep dive on where Notre Dame football stands at the conclusion of spring practice. What do we feel better about and what questions still remain to be sorted out before the season begins? Topics include QB depth/upside, a potentially dominant front seven, wide receiver improvement, running back reps, questions at corner, offensive tackles and much more. Then a discussion of the series Shogun (1:13:30). (No spoilers to start then they're clearly flagged.) Subscribe to the Rakes Report newsletter . /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/30976583

2024 Mega March Madness Preview 03/20/2024

2024 Mega March Madness Preview Hoops hoops hoops. Supersized episode to get you ready for the tournament and review the first season of Micah Shrewsberry's tenure. Segment 1: Sabreena Merchant (The Athletic) on Notre Dame's chances and what she's most excited for this March. Segment 2 (33:11): Jessica Smetana on storylines to follow, pre-tournament nerves and how the coverage of the women's bracket has evolved. Segment 3 (57:14): Sam Werner (Three-Point Jesus podcast) and Joe Schueller (18 Stripes) on whether expectations were met for Shrewsberry's inaugural season and what the team might look like next season. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/30446548

State of the Notre Dame Union with Pete Sampson 02/27/2024

State of the Notre Dame Union with Pete Sampson The Athletic's Pete Sampson joins to talk about many things including but not limited to Max Bullough, Mike Denbrock, where support for Marcus Freeman stands among both the administration and fans, NIL and transfer portal, a change in approach to strength and conditioning, bowl selection chicanery and the large expectations for 2024. Subscribe to the Rakes Report newsletter . /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/30113503

Notre Dame Football January Wellness Check and TV Club: Reacher 01/23/2024

Notre Dame Football January Wellness Check and TV Club: Reacher Greg Flammang (Irish Sports Daily) and Michael Bryan (18 Stripes) join to talk about early offseason thoughts, 2023 numbers that stand out, what the offense might look like in 2024 and Depth Chart Power Ranking accountability. Then (48:00) a discussion of the Amazon Prime series Reacher. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/29598493

Notre Dame Oregon State Sun Bowl In Review 12/31/2023

Notre Dame Oregon State Sun Bowl In Review Jessica Smetana joins to talk about the dominant 40-8 win in El Paso and how to feel about the Fighting Irish program going into the offseason. Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend . /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/29285893

Christmas Giving 2023: Riley Leonard Checked Off Notre Dame's Wishlist 12/12/2023

Christmas Giving 2023: Riley Leonard Checked Off Notre Dame's Wishlist Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend . Irish Sports Daily's Jamie Uyeyama stops in to talk about what Duke quarterback Riley Leonard coming to Notre Dame means for the 2024 offense. Other topics include Kris Mitchell, Beaux Collins, Jordan Clark and what we're hoping to see in the bowl game. The Christmas shirt designs are available , with all proceeds going to the CFH. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/29044668

Christmas Giving 2023: Eric Hansen on Notre Dame's Early Offseason Drama 12/08/2023

Christmas Giving 2023: Eric Hansen on Notre Dame's Early Offseason Drama Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend . Inside ND Sports' Eric Hansen joins for a conversation on the confusing Sun Bowl selection process, Marcus Freeman's handling of his coaching staff, signs of transfer portal progress and much much more. The Christmas shirt designs are available , with all proceeds going to the CFH. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28976023

Christmas Giving 2023: Hannah Hidalgo and Jackie Young Appreciation Hour 12/07/2023

Christmas Giving 2023: Hannah Hidalgo and Jackie Young Appreciation Hour Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend . The Athletic's Sabreena Merchant joins to talk Hannah Hidalgo, early thoughts on this Notre Dame, where they fit into the ACC hierarchy, Jackie Young being awesome and where the sport of women's hoops sits after a big year. The Christmas shirt designs are available , with all proceeds going to the CFH. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28963323

Christmas Giving 2023: Taking A Portal To The Sun Bowl 12/06/2023

Christmas Giving 2023: Taking A Portal To The Sun Bowl Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend . Jessica Smetana and Mike Golic, Jr. join to talk about processing 9-3, Sun Bowl memories, transfer portal frenzy, the potential of Riley Leonard, Sam Hartman's legacy and much more. The Christmas shirt designs are available , with all proceeds going to the CFH. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28946633

Christmas Giving 2023 Kickoff 12/04/2023

Christmas Giving 2023 Kickoff Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend . Jessica Smetana joins to talk about the committee finally being put into a tough spot, the ACC's normal bowl selection process, how to approach the early craziness of the Notre Dame offseason and a whole lot more. The Christmas shirt designs are available , with all proceeds going to the CFH. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28911183

Instant Reaction: Stanford 11/26/2023

Instant Reaction: Stanford Jessica Smetana joins to discuss Notre Dame's 56-23 win over Stanford and early takes on the season as a whole. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28795928

A Post-Clemson Loss Bye Week Assessment 11/07/2023

A Post-Clemson Loss Bye Week Assessment Jessica Smetana and 18 Stripes' Michael Bryan join to talk through the state of things after Notre Dame fell to 7-3. What should we want from the final two regular season games, offseason checklist, potential bowls, all of that and much more in an extended therapy session. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28539779

Instant Reaction: Pittsburgh 10/29/2023

Instant Reaction: Pittsburgh Sam Werner joins to break down Notre Dame's 58-7 win over the Pitt Panthers. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28452779

Instant Reaction: USC 10/16/2023

Instant Reaction: USC Jessica Smetana joins to discuss Notre Dame's massive 48-20 win over the Trojans. (There's a weird vibration in the audio in the first 15 seconds but then it goes away don't worry, truly have no idea what it is. Happy Bye Week.) More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28323542

2023 Notre Dame vs. USC Preview 10/11/2023

2023 Notre Dame vs. USC Preview Our USC Insider Nick Tresnowski joins to talk Caleb Williams, Alex Grinch, how Trojan fans feel about Lincoln Riley midway through his second year, players to know for Saturday night's primetime clash and much more. More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28272263

Instant Reaction: Louisville 10/09/2023

Instant Reaction: Louisville Jessica Smetana joins to discuss Notre Dame's second defeat of the season, as well as offensive coordinator hypotheticals, a brief schadenfreude tour and a consideration of how the fortunes of head coaches are always rising and falling in America. More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28260503

Instant Reaction: Duke 10/01/2023

Instant Reaction: Duke Jessica Smetana joins to talk about Notre Dame's very normal victory against the Blue Devils. More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28190129

Instant Reaction: Ohio State 09/24/2023

Instant Reaction: Ohio State You're probably going to delete this immediately and that's totally okay but if your misery would like company Jessica Smetana is here to try and talk through things a bit. Note: Jess forgot to mention cell service was very bad on Saturday so if you're going for games maybe plan ahead a little bit for coordinating purposes. More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28125803

Reviewing Raleigh and Notre Dame's Q1 09/14/2023

Reviewing Raleigh and Notre Dame's Q1 Breaking down the Fighting Irish victory at NC State and the first quarter of the season. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/28028361

(Fighting) Irish Eyes Smiling After Opening Win 08/30/2023

(Fighting) Irish Eyes Smiling After Opening Win Jessica Smetana joins to discuss the trip to Ireland, a fun Notre Dame victory and what we're looking forward to in Week 1. (This is a loopy one, sorry.) More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27895413

2023 Notre Dame Football Excitement Draft 08/24/2023

2023 Notre Dame Football Excitement Draft Jessica Smetana joins for our annual offseason closing tradition: Drafting things we're excited to see this Fighting Irish football season. Topics include jinxing, the potential of the offense, Marcus Freeman Year Two, how many times can you play "Shipping Up To Boston" in a row, tough choices on big wins, Week 0 NIMBYism and much more. Note: At one point run game success rate is mentioned a second time when it should be explosive play rate, read about it . More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27796128

2023 Notre Dame Football Schedule Preview 08/21/2023

2023 Notre Dame Football Schedule Preview Alex Herrmann and Andrew Smith of Notre Dame, Our Blogger join to preview all 12 opponents on this fall's Fighting Irish schedule. You know the three Big Ones, but what are the toughest challenges outside of that? More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27782709

Freshman Orientation: 2023 Offense 08/15/2023

Freshman Orientation: 2023 Offense Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily joins for Part 2 of Frosh O, our run through every scholarship freshman on the Notre Dame offense. Included: Wide receivers you need to know right now Sorting through a lot of options on the line What if a running back was really fast? The potential for a freshman tight end to be in the mix Pat Narduzzi finds sowing more enjoyable than reaping More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27718758

Freshman Orientation: 2023 Defense 08/14/2023

Freshman Orientation: 2023 Defense Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily joins for Part 1 of Frosh O, our run through every scholarship freshman (and one walk-on) on the Notre Dame defense. Included: Christian Gray is the best corner prospect since...*? Wyoming tourism tips Boubacar Traore's breakout camp Canadian power at tackle Knockout linebacker duo The overall talent of this freshman and sophomore class * The answer to this is pretty easy but it doesn't mean you can't ask the question. More from the Rakes Report: /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27718752

2023 Notre Dame Depth Chart Power Rankings 08/10/2023

2023 Notre Dame Depth Chart Power Rankings Michael Bryan (18 Stripes) and Greg Flammang (Irish Sports Daily) join to break down the Fighting Irish in order of our confidence in each position group. Who ya got: Hartman or Morrison/Hart? Estime or Alt/Fisher? The linebackers or the DL? Those and many more difficult questions. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27707493

2023 Notre Dame Football Camp Kickoff w/ Eric Hansen 07/31/2023

2023 Notre Dame Football Camp Kickoff w/ Eric Hansen Eric Hansen of Inside ND Sports stops by to talk about Sam Hartman, the depth at running back, how the offensive line is shaping up, finding playmakers on offense, also finding some playmakers on defense and a little women's basketball. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27607593

College Football Personnel 101 06/26/2023

College Football Personnel 101 In a supersized episode, Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily drops by to get into the nitty gritty of football positions. This is a nerdy deep dive into the skills and traits you're looking for to fill in different spots on the roster during which the host embarrasses himself with a litany of dumb questions. Topics include the intricacies of defensive line play, what you need in modern linebackers and safeties, different types of corners and how they match up to different types of receivers and a whole lot more. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/27252201

Post-Spring Notre Dame Football Roster Assessment 05/03/2023

Post-Spring Notre Dame Football Roster Assessment Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes joins to walk through the depth chart and discuss whether we feel better, worse or the same about the various position groups versus the start of spring practice. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/26728356

Sign of the (New York) Times: A Lesson on College Sports and Labor 03/30/2023

Sign of the (New York) Times: A Lesson on College Sports and Labor An unofficial Part Two with our previous episode, this is a How Did This Get Made? for the New York Times op-ed written by Father Jenkins and Jack Swarbrick on the future of college sports. Jessica Smetana joins to talk with Notre Dame professor Katherine Walden about the history of sports labor, amateurism, potential Congressional action, gender equality with NIL and much more. (Note from Walden: She mentions The Daily in this episode but meant to refer to .) Links of note /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/26386785

Dan Wetzel on the Swarbrick Interview, NIL and ND Independence 03/29/2023

Dan Wetzel on the Swarbrick Interview, NIL and ND Independence Jessica Smetana joins for a conversation with Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel about his interview with Jack Swarbrick, the doomsaying about NIL's effect on college sports, Notre Dame's chances at staying independent and Marcus Freeman's second season. /episode/index/show/rakesreport/id/26368185

Rakes Report: A Notre Dame podcast

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