Season highlights from the 'Pod of Gold' podcast

Notre Dame hasn’t lost a football game since the South Bend Tribune’s ND Insider crew started a Notre Dame football podcast.

Coincidence? Of course. But it’s made for a fun debut season for Eric Hansen, Tyler James and the weekly guests joining the “Pod of Gold” podcast.

The guest list has included former players, a legendary former coach and national media members. Here are some of the highlights from the season.

Mike Tirico on how his view of Notre Dame has changed since becoming the play-by-play announcer for NBC: “It’s not for everyone. It’s a little bit more difficult in this world of college football. But I still think there’s a place for Notre Dame and the ideals of Notre Dame football in the wide, broad scope of the sport right now. I don’t think I thought that from the outside. Shame on me for not taking the time to dig deeper and find that answer.”

Former Irish defensive end Kapron-Lewis Moore on who would win in a matchup of the 2012 and 2018 teams: “Of course I’m going to say 2012, man. Honestly, it would be kind of fun to watch our defense go against their offense. We had playmakers on offense, but they have more playmakers on offense overall.” Lewis-Moore predicted a 21-14 win for his 2012 team.

Former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden on his relationship with former ND head coach Lou Holtz: “When he had his honeymoon, he had it at my house. I was down here in Florida, and he was up in Virginia and came down and spent the night with me and Ann, he and his wife, and he was on his honeymoon. We were very close and still are very good friends. I just don’t get to see him much anymore.”

Former Irish quarterback Andrew Hendrix on playing multiple quarterbacks: “Occasionally I’ll look back at my interviews about this exact same question and a lot of times I would just toe the company line. You don’t want to make that much noise in the media. You just want to go, give the people what they want, you know your coaches aren’t mad at you, you respond in practice and you just keep everything in house. I just don’t like the two-quarterback system. If you need it, that’s fine. If you’re not sure about the two guys, that’s fine. But if you can get to one quarterback, that’s great.”

Former ND defensive lineman Ian Williams on how the “Here Come the Irish” song helped influence his decision to come to Notre Dame: “When you came on your official visit, they played an old school movie with the Four Horsemen and the old school Notre Dame and you got the ‘And there’s a ...’ That right there, that movie, it grabbed me and it talked to me. It said, ‘Hey, Ian, go to Notre Dame.’”

Former Irish safety Tom Zbikowski on how his playing style would fit in today’s college football: “The way I tackled, which was horse collar and spearing most of the time, I don’t think I’d make it out of a lot of these games these days … At least you don’t get fined in college.”

The Athletic’s national college football insider Bruce Feldman on the perception of ND head coach Brian Kelly: “I don’t quite get the criticism of Brian Kelly. I don’t know if I would say he’s a top five coach, but he’s definitely a top 15 coach. If you look at what he’s done there compared to what other guys have done, you look at what he did at previous stops, I think he’s a really good coach.”

Former ND offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr. on if the current team needed permission to continue the “Trick Shot Monday” tradition: “Trick Shot Monday is a young man’s game. It belongs to them now. We got off campus. While we certainly fondly remember our Trick Shot time and we’ll always talk about it, Trick Shot is like campus: it belongs to the people that are there.”

Former ND and Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok on the importance of ND being on Northwestern’s schedule: “Growing up in Chicago, being from the Midwest, there’s no better team to have on your schedule than Notre Dame. It’s exciting for the players. It’s exciting for both fan bases … Having a game like this that’s meaningful, that’s an important part of the season, this is bigger than a bowl game quite honestly.”