Changes coming to Notre Dame football beat

You may notice today the absence of a couple of familiar bylines regarding the Tribune's coverage of Notre Dame football. Eric Hansen and Tyler James left the Tribune Saturday to start their own venture of covering Irish athletics. Obviously, they will be missed among our staff and readers.

Eric had been with the Tribune for 33 years, hired as a Big Ten basketball and football writer in the 1980s. He moved to the Notre Dame football beat in the mid-2000s and has won numerous state and national awards for his writing. 

Tyler, a former Tribune intern was hired as a recruiting writer in 2012 and added many important responsibilities along the way.

We wish them both the best. We also have begun the process of filling those positions and continuing the type of Notre Dame coverage our readers have come to expect. Meanwhile, there will be no gap in Notre Dame coverage as our staff will report on Notre Dame sports news and events in the pages of the Tribune and on ndinsider.com as our candidate search progresses.

And, as always, thanks for being one of our readers.

-- Michael Wanbaugh, sports editor.