Rakes Report: A Notre Dame Podcast

Sam Werner (The Observer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) joins us to update the starting lineup of the best Notre Dame players to take the field between 2010 and 2018. Listen and discover our opinion with which you vehemently disagree.

Carter Karels of the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com stops by to talk about Notre Dame's Class of 2019, what to expect for next year's class and his first season covering Notre Dame. Then Matt and Chris discuss "Hobbs and Shaw" because it's the offseason and this is important. Read Carter's work. The Hobbs and Shaw trailer.  

Andrew Smith and Alex Herrmann of Notre Dame Our Blogger stop by to talk coaching changes, expectations for the 2019 season, recruiting standards and more. Read Andrew and Alex's work. Take the survey.

We're joined by Jess Smetana of Sports Illustrated and the Most Valuable Podcast to work our way through the 13th and final game of Notre Dame's 2018 season. What went the worst? What's the long-term prognosis of the program going forward? What are our favorite memories from 12-1? What should we expect in 2019? This is basically a giant rambling therapy session but we felt better after talking so hopefully you can feel a little better after listening.

There is no football talk* in this episode so if you want to skip it no hard feelings but if you need some audio content for your holiday travels perhaps you'll enjoy this 15-round holiday carol draft. Two notes: 1) Outside of a couple "Damns" and a "Hell yeah," this is clean if you want to listen with children/discerning family. 2) Apologies for the occasional keyboard clicking in the background but I was trying to keep our draft board updated. Here's the link to the Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/psychicplatypus/playlist/6zhrNnaFb1kYqkOCkVXmsl?si=901UtiBdRwaFUQmoYH3UDQ Merry Christmas, everybody! Thanks so much for listening. * Okay to be fair there is one reference to the East Dillon Lions. 

With Christmas travel looming we thought we'd go ahead and have this discussion (there may be more episodes previewing the Cotton Bowl to follow if time permits) with Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes. Do the Tigers have any weaknesses? Can the Irish defensive line take over the game and is there any way to neutralize Clemson's? Is there any kind of mental edge available to either side? What sort of architectural treachery awaits us in Jerry World? Did Michigan make the playoff? All of this and more. Read Michael's work here: https://www.18stripes.com/author/michael-bryan/ Donate to Christmas Giving here: https://gofundme.com/rakes-report-christmas-giving-2018

Christmas Giving season! With the help of an all-star lineup of our past guests, we take a walk through our favorite things from the 12-0 season along with some thoughts on the playoff selection and those dastardly Clemson Tigers. If you enjoyed this episode or any previous episodes of the podcast, please consider donating to our drive to raise money for the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, which you can do here: https://www.gofundme.com/rakes-report-christmas-giving-2018

A discussion of the Syracuse victory, the Shamrock Series and chicken tenders transitions (at the 16:00 mark) to a preview of the USC game with our Trojan insider Nick Tresnowski. Can USC pull off the upset? And if they don't, who will be the next Trojan head coach?

John Cassillo (@JohnCassillo), managing editor for SBNation's Syracuse site Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, stops by to look at Saturday's match up in Yankee Stadium. How are the Orange going to attack the Irish defense? How can the Irish return the favor against the Cuse D? How do you become number one in special teams S&P+? All that and more.

Looking back at Navy and forward to Northwestern. Matt reflects on his visit to San Diego and then we take a look at the Wildcats' very weird season and the chances it will include "Upsetting Notre Dame" after Saturday. 

Jessica Smetana (@jessica_smetana) of Sports Illustrated and "Most Valuable Podcast" stops by to discuss playing Navy, the Shamrock Series uniforms, how Crossroads turned out, MVPs of the season so far and then also Jess jinxes the Navy game pretty epically so apologies in advance for that.  

We're considering this a spiritual extension of the bye week so it's time to talk concerns and hopes for the next five games with Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily. Will the offensive line, third down defense or the pressures of winning down the Irish? Or will they be carried by the excellence of Ian Book, Jerry Tillery, Julian Love and friends? We'll find out!

Andrew and Alex from Notre Dame, Our Blogger stop by to look back at the season so far and the challenges ahead. Can Ian Book keep doing this? What remaining loss would be worse? What's been the best play of the season so far? All that, and much more. Read Notre Dame, Our Blogger: https://notredameourblogger.com/ Follow them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NDourBlogger

Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes swings by to discuss the impressive win over Stanford, the offense with Ian Book, the incredible defense, the upcoming trip to Blacksburg and much more.

Assessing each position group through the first three games of the season, with high marks for the defense and, well, some discussions of the offense.   Here is the merch link mentioned at the end: https://www.teepublic.com/user/rakesreport

Pete Sampson of The Athletic and the Irish illustrated podcast stops by for his final thoughts on camp, predictions for the season to come and oh yeah I guess the Michigan game, too. Sign up for the Rakes Report newsletter at www.tinyletter.com/rakesreport. 

Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily walks us through every freshman in Notre Dame's 2018 defensive class. Is Houston Griffith going to start at safety? Where might Shayne Simon and Derrik Allen fit in this year and going forward? This is Part 1 of 2 of our Frosh O series and you should also be seeing Part 2 (with the offense) in your podcast feed as well.

Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily walks us through every freshman in the Notre Dame offensive class, from Kevin Austin to Phil Jurkovec and everyone in between. This is Part 2 of 2 of our Frosh O series and you should also be seeing Part 1 (with the defense) in your podcast feed as well.

The Indianapolis Star's Laken Litman joins for a discussion on what she's seen and heard at Notre Dame camp so far, from the obligatory discussion of the QB race and running back questions to the depth on the defensive line and freshmen that might contribute from week one. Then because it's still technically the offseason we indulge in a discussion of the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE film franchise. (Once you get to the Ethan Hunt discussion there is no more Notre Dame content so tap out then.)

Tyler James (@TJamesNDI) of the South Bend Tribune and ND Insider stops by to talk about ND Insider 2018 Season Preview. How good will the defense be? How concerned should we be about the offense? How much weight should we put on the Michigan game? All that and more. Buy the magazine! https://www.ndinsider.com/buythemag/