We’re just six scant weeks away from Notre Dame football’s 2017 season opener against Temple, which means it’s prime season preview magazine time. The South Bend Tribune was once again kind enough to send over a copy of their preview issue; as usual, it didn’t disappoint. Join us, then, as we dive into our ND Insider magazine review. If you want to get all the good content we didn’t mention here, including position group profiles, opponent previews, a recruiting recap, and of course the full articles that we summarize below, you can get your own copy here.

First Things First

The cover story is an excellent feature on new starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush; beat veteran Eric Hansen digs into the road that took Wimbush from Little League star to reluctant prep school attendee to a mind-meld summer dinner date with Tom Mendoza, NetApp vice chairman and namesake of Notre Dame’s top-rated business school. The common thread through all of it is that Wimbush has augmented his natural ability and charisma with a very thorough and businesslike mindset; as Mendoza said after that dinner meeting, “He has an incredible amount of talent, but he works as if he doesn’t.”

Those who follow recruiting already know that Wimbush’s mother is an enormously important figure in his life, but even at that, the article gives a little more insight into how much she has sacrificed to get Brandon to this point. We learn why transferring out of Notre Dame never crossed Wimbush’s mind, why he sought out scout team duty, and what KPMG thinks of him. Do you live near a Costco? Maybe a BJ’s or Sam’s Club? Because that’s the size of Kool-Aid container you’re going to need after reading this. Wimbush comes off like a generational talent between the ears; couple that with his obvious physical talent, and it’s hard not to let your imagination run wild. As Les Miles might say, he has the chest.

A couple of nuggets in particular stood out:

  • Before Wimbush flipped from Penn State to Notre Dame, he called Blake Barnett to discuss why Barnett dropped the Irish.
  • Wimbush sought out Kelly this summer to ask the best way to approach a hypothetical teammate who intended to skip a non-mandatory workout.

He’s cut from a different cloth.

Taking a Closer Look

The issue of course contains a few in-depth articles that dive into some of the hotter topics for Irish fans at the moment:

  • Hansen tags along with the Irish head coach to see what a typical day is like for Brian Kelly 2.0, complete with a joke not to be repeated in polite company.
  • Mike Vorel profiles Mike McGlinchey and his Philadelphia Irish family, including cousin Matt Ryan (yeah, that Matt Ryan) and a total of 36 grandchildren on both sides.
  • We get a look at Shaun Crawford’s recovery from a second straight season-ending leg injury, again courtesy of Vorel, that alternates between heart-breaking and inspirational.
  • Vorel provides a deeper look into what makes Chip Long tick (spoiler alert: it’s pretty much just football), as well as some interesting quotes from former boss Bobby Petrino and former colleague Jeff Brohm.
  • Not to be outdone, Hansen sat down with Mike Elko to discuss scheme, development, personnel, the coaching ladder, and, yes, the rover position, which Elko thinks is overblown.
  • Recruiting analyst Tyler James rounds out the features with a look at Brian Polian’s special relationship with Hawaii football and what exactly it is that makes Polynesian players connect with him.

Honorable mention: As a one-page piece it can’t qualify as a feature, but given his recent retirement it’s worth noting that Al Lesar made what will presumably be his final contribution to the season preview issue. Lesar dug into how Kelly hopes to manifest his favorite offseason word, “grit,” in the 2017 edition of the Fighting Irish.

Season Predictions

The annual prop bets are back, this time with Hansen, Vorel, James, and a guest appearance by hoops beat writer Tom Noie.

We won’t review the entire thing here, but a couple of things caught our eye:

  • Hansen, James, and Noie all forecast a 9-3 regular season, while Vorel predicts 8-4. So there’s your marker.
  • All four said Brian Kelly’s job security would be the most overplayed storyline of the 2017 season – Hansen and Vorel mentioned the hotness of his seat, and James and Noie tabbed the question of how many wins he would need to register to keep his job.

The segment also includes prognostications on team MVPs, trap games, breakout players, statistical rankings, playoff participants, and more.

Quotable

“I don’t want to talk about last season.” – Harry Hiestand

We hear you, Harry. We hear you.

“If you allow it to get too stagnant, then I think offenses will get ahead of you. If you push the envelope too much scheme-wise, you might lose your own kids.” – Mike Elko

Oh, I don’t know, can you point to some real-world examples?

“Everybody has their own hobbies, and I’m sure he might have a couple. But really, football is his hobby.” – Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm about fellow former Louisville assistant Chip Long

I think I’m starting to like this guy.

“I make every decision as a business decision, because every decision that I make is going to affect me and my family for the rest of my life.” – Brandon Wimbush

Like I said, hit Costco for the economy size Kool Aid.

“I’m learning different ways to handle defensive ends. They’re pretty big and I’m not as big.” – Dexter Williams on his growth as a pass blocker

This just cracked me up. Well said, Juice.

“Early

[in my football career] I played fullback.” – Tony Jones Jr.

Harrumph!

“95% of the guys that went to Boston College, if you would have asked them if they could pick between BC and Notre Dame, they would have chosen Notre Dame.” – John Loughery, uncle of Mike McGlinchey and a former BC quarterback

Well… Duh.

Interesting tidbits

After Brian Kelly went 5-5 in his ninth season at Grand Valley State, university president Arend Lubbers called Kelly into his office. Kelly assumed he was about to be fired, but Lubbers instead said he wasn’t out – yet – but needed to turn things around immediately. After that meeting, Kelly led the Lakers to a 48-6 record and two national titles. One can imagine a similar scene unfolding in Jack Swarbrick’s office last December, and one can only hope for similar results.

According to Polian, Kelly has been in every special teams meeting, which “has really driven home the fact that this is important.” But listen, we really mean it this time…

Mike Elko’s favorite musical genre is hip-hop (seriously), and he had never heard of Steely Dan despite going to the same high school as their front man.

Chip Long and Harry Hiestand walk around Notre Dame’s lakes together every day.

If Drue Tranquill could share a meal with anyone from the whole of human history, he would choose Jesus. And that meal would be Chipotle. I mean, I guess you’re not going to be able to blow the Son of God away with a five-star restaurant, so you might as well just go with what you like.

Incoming freshmen Jafar Armstrong, Aaron Banks, CJ Holmes, and Kofi Wardlow all listed Rihanna as their celebrity crush. That’ll be really awkward when she performs at our national championship party.

Jordan Genmark Heath, meanwhile, listed Emma Watson, which I assume means he’s a Harry Potter fan. Add that to his @SwedishBlackGuy Twitter handle, and JGH looks like a pretty interesting dude.