Rakes Report: A Notre Dame Podcast

Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel joins to discuss Marcus Freeman's first three months on the job, Notre Dame recruiting, playoff expansion, NIL, Mel Tucker's extension, Rose Bowl sunsets and much more.

The Athletic's Pete Sampson joins to walk through the new faces on the Fighting Irish coaching staff, plus some discussion of the roster and Winning Is Hard. subscribe to the rakes report newsletter

Sam Werner joins to talk about the Notre Dame men's basketball team as they prepare for their biggest week of the season. After that (30:44), Paul Rigney talks about hanging out on campus with Jerome Bettis as The Bus returns to finish his ND degree. Watch the Today Show story on Bettis here.

Notre Dame professors Christine Becker (Film, Television and Theatre) and Katherine Walden (American Studies) join to discuss the public relations rollout and documentary footage around the Marcus Freeman hire, mythmaking in the age of social media, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! and more.

Jessica Smetana joins to discuss if there are any long-term ramifications from Notre Dame's loss to Oklahoma State before moving onto some big picture issues (narrative shift on playoff losses, Kirk Herbstreit's comments, NIL + transfer portal) as well as how Jess reignited the Muffet/Geno feud over Christmas. (Considering it follows a loss, this one isn't a bummer.) 

The South Bend Tribune's Eric Hansen joins to discuss his reporting on Brian Kelly's departure and Marcus Freeman's ascension.  Read Eric's column on Freeman here. Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend here. Buy the Christmas Giving shirts here.

It's way too early to make any final judgments on how Brian Kelly's time in South Bend will be viewed but it's always a good time to talk to Michael Bryan of 18 Stripes about his look back at the last dozen years of Notre Dame football. Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend here. Buy the Christmas Giving shirts here.

After covering the past Notre Dame season for NBC Sports, the AP and NDFIM, senior Caroline Pineda stops by to discuss the Kelly-to-Freeman transition, her thoughts on the new head coach, what it's like to have Muffet McGraw as a professor and much more. Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend here. Buy the Christmas Giving shirts here.

Now that the dust of the coaching search has settled, let's remember some plays. Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend here. Buy the Christmas Giving shirts here.

Jessica Smetana helps kick off this year's Christmas Giving with a discussion of championship weekend, Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State and other bowls we're excited to watch. Donate to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend here. Buy the Christmas Giving shirts here.

There's a new head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Jessica Smetana is here to talk about it. Tis The Season merch.

An update on the latest with Jessica Smetana.

w/ Jessica Smetana. and another thing: im not mad. please dont put in the newspaper that i got mad. (this was slapped together on the road, audio quality not the best but times are what they are.)

Jessica Smetana joins to talk about Notre Dame's 45-14 win against the Cardinal, mourn the end of what turned into an incredibly fun Irish season and discuss the postseason.

Jessica Smetana joins to break down Notre Dame's dominant 55-0 Senior Day victory and talk about postseason positioning.

Ashton Pollard of On3.com joins to discuss Notre Dame's 28-3 win against the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.

Jamie Uyeyama of Irish Sports Daily stops in to break down what Tommy Rees and Marcus Freeman have been up to this season, as well as a discussion on how the 2021 Fighting Irish season fits into the grand arc of the program.

Jessica Smetana joins to review the last two Irish victories and prepare for the final third of the season. Tommy Rees, Kyren Williams, the light show, preseason rankings and much more.

Our USC Insider Nick Tresnowski joins to talk Jaxson Dart, Drake London, the Trojan headspace heading into this game and the latest on the search to replace Clay Helton.

Jessica Smetana joins to discuss the happenings around the country during Notre Dame's bye week (including the win against Purdue looking a little better after the result in Iowa City) and take a look at the second half of the season for the Irish.