Her Loyal Sons Podcast

Shane and I have ended our offseason hiatus to kick off our fifth year of podcasting as a duo. To mark this occasion, we decided to take a look at our current expectations of Notre Dame as they are today and how they differ from our thoughts five years ago--both from the on-field performance as well as the recruiting and roster churn. Oh, and we also have a new partner in Homefield Apparel. Perhaps you've heard about the good news about The Good Brand? If not make sure you use that LOYALSONS for 15% off the ND gear you're going to buy on Saturday, June 5. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

A new era kicks off for Notre Dame football this Friday as an Ian Book-less Irish take the field for the first time this Saturday. Get your self in the streaming mindset and join the always popular HLS Sim before you try to figure out how to get Peacock by 12:30 PM EDT on Saturday. All eyes will be on the Irish QB situation and the most accurate of all sports prediction methods will give you a preview of what we will all be talking about until fall camp. Don't worry, the HLS Sim still has that special "something" as it always does. In fact, we end up hitting a moment that I dubbed "peak sim" towards the end of the game. And if you're wondering whether or not a certain freshman QB ends up playing...well...you'll have to see (or hear) for yourself. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

It feels like it took forever to get to this point this season, but we've finally arrived at the end of the road for the 2020 college football season. Shane and I take a brief look at Alabama's coronation ceremony against Ohio State this past Monday and what it means for college football as a whole. That, of course, bleeds into talk of where Notre Dame stands among the college football elite and how they are talking the Alabama problem. The second half of the show recaps news from under The Dome. This includes the massive hire of Marcus Freeman as defensive coordinator as well as a truckload of roster moves from the past couple of weeks. We will be back at some point in the offseason, but we will take a break as I get all my tech fixed here at HLS HQ. I want to extend a huge thanks to everyone that has listened and we hope we've been able to give you some joy and an escape during this crazy year. Here's hoping for less stress and more vaccines & antibodies in 2021. I want to share a drink at a tailgate

There have been just a few non-football things of more import happening this past week, but Eddie and I wanted to say farewell to the 2020 season the best way we know how, making one final trip to the altar of GAMBLOR. We give our thoughts on the winner, spread, and total, along with a brief preview of how we see this game playing out. Enjoy this brief episode and, when you hear my child crying and screaming in the background, don't worry. The tragedy was spilling his granola oats. He'll live. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herloyalsons/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/herloyalsons/support

To end the Notre Dame football season, we decided to go with a single segment, no-ad stream of consciousness pod. Sure, there are a couple of major national things to hit, but the meat of this episode is talking about Notre Dame falling to Alabama and The Narrative™ surrounding the program. Just like BK in the post-game presser, we got a bit spicy on this one. There will be one final pod to put a bow on the end of this crazy, COVID-wrecked season. But for now, come commiserate the end of the Notre Dame season with us. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herloyalsons/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/herloyalsons/support

Typically, we've done this year's sim under a complete separate, COVID-free reality. We are still honoring that spirit, as if ND made the playoff, they'd play in the actual Rose Bowl. However, with some PC upgrades, and using a different version of the game, came new, updated rosters with tweaked ratings. So, we decided to just roll with whatever those rosters and depth charts were. Injuries, as always are completely out. Yes, that means Bama has Waddle. We weren't sure what this new and improved version of the sim would bring (save for some crackling audio, sorry about that!), but I think it's safe to say that your nightmares are all still alive and well in this damned thing. We're so sorry, but can't stop the bit now. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Eddie and I return after a bit of a break to pick the bowl games that matter (and a couple that don't). That means a lot of random topics while we catch up, followed by thoughts on the New Year's Six, playoffs, and yes, Notre Dame facing off against Alabama. In fact, the ND pick manages to turn into an explosive $100 Extra Life sidebet to kick of the 2021 campaign that I haven't even started yet. One of us took Bama and the other took ND. Tune in and fine out the logic behind the split. (And hang around for the most wheels-off outro I've ever done.) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

The last time that Shane and I had to deal with a post-loss podcast was 2019. Sure, it's been over a year, but I feel we made up for lost time in this rant-heavy episode. Notre Dame drops the ball against Clemson. Army, everyone in the group of five, and everyone not a brand name in college football gets screwed by the committee. Fans deciding to chalk up a loss to Alabama weeks before the game is played. Yeah, it's all covered. This felt good. Come get your audio therapy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: The HLS Sim takes place in an alternate, COVID-free reality in which Notre Dame is still somehow playing football in the ACC. All of the results and injuries are self-contained in this gigantic ACC simulation experiment. And this week that experiment comes to an end. Notre Dame, despite a horrid loss to Syracuse, found themselves in the Virtual ACC Championship thanks to long-time friends of the Irish, Miami. Will Clemson have vengeance on the mind? Or will virtual history repeat itself once again? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

In 2020, we are taking nothing for granted, especially in the wake of one conference championship game already having a substitute team due to a COVID outbreak. So, while we certainly hope for a full complement of conference champions come Sunday, we will assume nothing. That being said, we decided to end the regular season, and Eddie and I's $100 bet for charity with a 12-pack banger, picking every game of consequence this weekend. The tie will be broken, but definitely not in any way that either of us ever expected. And, because 2020 has been far too insane, Eddie and I will punt our usual bowl game podcasts in full anticipation teams will absolutely not give two shits about going. We'll be back for the New Year's Six, which absolutely should include Notre Dame unless...well, peak 2020 happens. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

We certainly didn't expect Notre Dame's (regular) season to be cut a week short, meaning this mystery bye week allows Eddie to toss another game into our typical 8-pack of picks. It's definitely getting harder to try and pull games for the weekly slate, especially with some more traditional games, like Michigan and Ohio State, getting the COVID axe. However, there are still stories to be told and games to pick. Can't stop. Won't stop. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Shane needed to deal with an unforeseen emergency, leaving me solo this episode. The best game of the weekend was a Group of Five game that wasn't originally on the schedule. The Big Ten is probably going back on their championship qualifying rules. There was a Sunday night college football game. Must be 2020. In the midst of all of this, Notre Dame had a weird game against Syracuse that looked oddly familiar. We've arrived at the point in which annoying games are wins by 20+ points and the only thing left ahead for the Irish is to add to their hardware collection. 2020 may suck, but the football is good and talking about it is still a joy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: The HLS Sim exists in its own, COVID-free reality in which Notre Dame is still somehow playing in the ACC. The results and injuries all exist in this strange parallel universe. Almost every week I tell myself "wow, we really went peak sim this week" and every week the sim laughs at me. This is a mess Marie Kondo couldn't sort and it most certainly doesn't spark any joy. The Sim Irish are in control of their ACC destiny needing a win over lowly Syracuse to clinch the ACC Championship game berth and the ACC regular season crown. And uh...well...this happened. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

When we started this week, Eddie and I weren't expecting this to be the final week for Notre Dame's regular season. By the time you are reading and/or listening to this, one of the games on our board has very likely been cancelled. 2020 season in a nutshell, y'all. While the board doesn't have the most intriguing lines of the season, there are storylines a plenty. We dig into those and make our picks as we near ever closer to the end of our annual Extra Life $100 donation bet all tied up. This is the way. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

In a week where Vanderbilt made history (and then fired their coach), we still have some degree around just who can actually make a playoff run. While some teams were happy to play themselves out, situations in the Big Ten and Pac-12 have made things a little more cloudy and confusing than usual. So Shane and I decided to play a little game of Contenders and Pretenders around the nation in the wake of this week to see who might just have a legitimate shot and who is just hanging around because the Playoff Committee are required to fill out 21 more teams outside the top 4. Finally, we take a gleeful look at Notre Dame's victory in Chapel Hill, basking in the glory and confidence that this team shows week after week. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Traditionally, this weekend is full of the rivalry matchups that we all crave in this sport. In 2020, we get some of those games, but also others that make me question my own mental faculties when they ended up on the board. Meanwhile, Notre Dame heads over to the East Coast instead of the West Coast for their last major test before the ACC Title game against a Mack Brown led North Carolina team…on a Friday. This is all weird. But weird is 2020's thing and we will enjoy every bit of college football that we are blessed with in These Trying Times™. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: The HLS Sim exists in an alternate, COVID-free reality in which Notre Dame is somehow still playing football in the ACC. The results, injuries, and everything in between exist solely within this parallel universe. Since next sim week would fall on a Thursday and ND has a bye this week, Shane and I decided to fire off the sim a week early. Along with that, I ran sims for the rest of the ACC to catch up properly as well. Quite frankly, that's probably the only thing that went right here. After two weeks of the Sim sparing us its usual torture, it came for our time-traveling hubris as if it needed to collect a debt. Consider this a cleansing before your turkey feast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

This week's board is a perfect summary of the madness that is the 2020 college football season. We have a team playing their first game of the season (potentially), a top ten matchup that no one saw coming, an undefeated Group of Five team that has a better record in the ACC than their ACC opponent, and Notre Dame is on their third bye week this season. Yeah, it's a lot and that only covers a portion of the storylines involved in this episode. So get your bye week burgers ready and come get your ND-stress-free weekend started with us. #HAILGAMBLOR --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

The big stories this week were the things that were never there in the first place: 15 games postponed or cancelled, SEC defense, Will Muschamp's job, wins for Penn State, and Michigan's title hopes. This extended to Notre Dame's matchup with Boston College, a matchup to give Phil Jurkovec the chance to prove that he was the true winner of Notre Dame's QB competition last year. Problem was, BC had as much of a chance of repeating a 1993 upset, as Phil did being ND QB1. But, much like ESPN with a narrative they clearly invested too much into, Shane and I press on and cover what did actually happen before Notre Dame heads off to a well-deserved bye week. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message

Friendly reminder: The Sim exists in an alternate, COVID-free reality in which Notre Dame is still somehow playing in the ACC. All the wins, losses, injuries, and even depth charts, exist in the Sim's parallel universe. After we were all shocked with Notre Dame comfortably taking down #1 Clemson, has The Sim lulled us into a false sense of security? Does it know about 1993? Does it live in our minds and display our worst nightmares? There's only one way to find out. It's a Holy War and the Lepretron trophy must remain intact! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herloyalsons/message