Recently, the author of Notre Dame Stadium Stories and Notre Dame Where Have They Gone, Eric Hansen, sat down with Chicago Sports Day to discuss the upcoming season of Irish football. Among the topics the South Bend Tribune beat writer discussed were, this year's recounting class, the players to watch, and the difference’s between former coach Tyrone Willingham and new coach, Charlie Weis.

Chicago Sports Day: How has the defense looked so far this summer?

Eric Hansen: I think their defense is going to surprise some people.  They’ve looked pretty good, better than I thought they would.  Charlie Weis has hired great assistants.  Bill Lewis is one of the best defensive back’s coaches in the country, and that was the real problem area. They were fourth in the nation in rush defense and 116^th against in pass defense last season.  I think they’re going to be solid there this season.  I don’t think you’ll see them shutdown the big passing teams, but I think they’ll be more balanced in the secondary.

They’ve done a good job of getting the young guys ready.  Their front seven is going to be pretty good, but they cannot afford injuries in the secondary.  That would be a real tough place for them to have injuries.   

CSD: The offense is returning a lot of key players, how have they looked so far?

Hansen: They’ve looked real good.  They brought in a guy by the name of John Latina to be their offensive line coach.  And Latina is a disciple of Joe Moore who was the offensive line coach the last time Notre Dame won the National Championship, and is very revered. There’s just so much more physical and together, it reminds me of the old Notre Dame lines during the Lou Holtz era. And I think that’s where it all starts.

Brady Quinn has grown up a lot under [Charlie] Weis.  And they have the whole surrounding cast back.  Technically it’s 10-starters, but Darius Walker played a lot so it’s almost 11-starters.  I think you’ll see Notre Dame finally break out of that doldrums where they’ve been for the last five years where they haven’t been higher then 75th in the nation in total offense.

CSD: Who are some players to watch on both offense and defense this year?

Hansen: I would say tight end Anthony Fasano, and all the wide receivers but I’ll pick Maurice Stovall who had a real problem with dropping the ball last year.  I think Stovall is much smoother, and more fluid and tough this year.  And obviously Brady Quinn and Darius Walker are guys to watch. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Corey Mays, a linebacker from Chicago, who has not started before. I think he’s going to be outstanding. Maurice Crum, another young linebacker. At safety, Tommy Zbikowski from Chicago and from the defensive line Victor Abiamiri is somebody to watch.

CSD: How good can this team be this year?

Hansen: I think realistically, it will be very similar to Lou Holtz’s first year in 1986 when he followed Gerry Foust. They were competitive in every game, but their bottom line wasn’t particularly impressive. I think people really saw what the future was really going to be like.

This team can get to 7-4 or 8-3, but their going to need to be healthy in their entire key positions because they don’t have the depth of talent.  They have the talent in the front line but they don’t have the depth of talent that some past Notre Dame teams have had. But if they can stay healthy, they’re going to surprise some people.

CSD: What are some of the differences between Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham, and what impact has Weis had so far and what will be his lasting impact?

Hansen: The first difference is personality.  Those two guys are night and day.  Willingham was a very cerebral kind of guy that liked to talk in parables.  Weis is an in your face coach and he will bark at you.  If you know Bill Parcells personality its very similar to Charlie’s.

The biggest difference you’ll see on the field is Willingham brought most of his staff from Stanford. I don’t think a lot of those guys  were ready for that step up in pressure and in exposure and for what they had to deal with on a week-by-week basis.  I think there were some holes in that coaching staff. 

I don’t think there is anything close to a hole on this coaching staff. Weis has surrounded himself with great people, including three former head coaches.  I think that’s going to make a big difference. 

Some other differences are just how they look at offense. Weis is so involved in the offense because he’s been an offensive coordinator and he spends all his time with the offense in practice.  Willingham liked to coach his coaches and let them call the plays and let them come up with the game plan. So there is a big departure there.

Weis’s biggest influence is a no excuse’s type of attitude.  They start with four of their first five games on the road and nobody seems to have their shorts in a knot about that. There is a toughness to them that I did not see with previous coaches.  I still admire Willingham a lot, I think he is a great person. And I think he is a better than average coach.

CSD: And finally, the recruiting class has been regarded as one of the best in recent memory.  First, how important is it that a first year coach has such a good recruiting class, and who are some of the key recruits coming in next year?

Hansen: I think it’s very important that they have a good recruiting class because it will build momentum.  And they have to build depth in their talent.  They have some good front line players but they need to get to where if they have an injury, it doesn’t derail the whole season.

At the top of the list of the 12 recruits they’ve got so far are the two quarterbacks, Demetrius Jones from Chicago and Zach Frazer from western Pennsylvania. There is also a  running back from  Merrillville Indiana by the name of James Aldridge.  I think those are the guys that really have a chance to see the field early, but I think a lot of them do.

 They have some good linemen, they have a really good cornerback from North Carolina.  And if you look at this week’s depth chart, they have seven freshmen in the two deep in the offense and defense and there are even more on special teams.  So Weis is showing people that he is not afraid to play young people.