Tag: Notre Dame on NBC

Jac Collinsworth one of top sports broadcasting flops of past decade

Who thought it would have turned out this badly?

Now that Jac Collinsworth is out as Notre Dame play-by-play announcer for NBC, the postmortem on his tenure can begin. In two seasons calling the Irish, Collinsworth was widely panned by viewers both within and outside the fan base. It was almost like NBC had planned him to fail in this role.

In any case, Awful Announcing has pulled no punches regarding Collinsworth. With his dismissal from Irish broadcasts, the sports media site has named his time doing them one of the biggest sports broadcasting flops of the past decade. The list also includes Drew Brees, who lasted only one season as the Notre Dame color commentator before leaving NBC and sports broadcasting altogether.

The good news for Irish fans is that a familiar voice in Dan Hicks will be back on the broadcasts, and he at least has plenty of experience on his resume. Maybe with a little more seasoning, Collinsworth can work his way back into his now-former role in the distant future. For now though, Irish home broadcasts can be enjoyable again.

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Collinsworth/Garrett named worst college football announcing team

Woof.

The relationship between Notre Dame and NBC recently was renewed through the end of the decade. However, the network probably needs to make some serious decisions regarding its announcing team for Irish broadcasts. It should be for no other reason than to appease the viewers.

Awful Announcing recently selected 20 college football broadcast teams and asked its readers to vote on them. Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett, the team that has announced Irish games for NBC over the past two years, was one of the teams up for voting.

The results were less than flattering as Collinsworth and Garrett were ranked dead last with the team ranked directly above them not even coming close.

Here’s the website’s interpretation of the team’s ranking:

“The only broadcast team we’ve seen get a score this low is the infamous Joe Tessitore/Booger McFarland/Jason Witten Monday Night Football crew back in 2018. That in and of itself is damning. But overall, there weren’t even many positive vibes for this team. Their percentage of A and B grades was less than half of the team ranked directly ahead of them, and their percentage of F grades was nearly four times higher than the second-highest percentage. This is the second season that Collinsworth and Garrett have called Notre Dame games together, and there will need to be a major step up in year three (if it even gets to that point).”

It’s no secret fans were constantly complaining about Collinsworth and Garrett both seasons they have been on the call, and now, we know exactly how low everyone’s opinion about them is. This is a level of bad that you almost have to try to attain.

Clearly, NBC missed the mark when it brought these two together to call games it had been broadcasting for over 30 years. The only thing to do is shake things up for 2024 because there’s no way it can stick with the status quo without coming off as ignorant, tone-deaf or both.

The network owes it to college football viewers to provide them with a better experience, especially since this relationship with Notre Dame will continue for the foreseeable future.

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Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron out ‘a few weeks’ with injury

We now know the extent of Notre Dame guard Sonia Citron’s injury, and it appears that we will see her again soon.

We now know the extent of Notre Dame guard [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag]’s injury, and it appears that we will see her again soon.

Late in the first quarter during the NBC broadcast of the Irish’s Shamrock Classic against Illinois in Washington, Citron was shown with her leg in a brace and elevated across multiple seats on the Irish’s bench. Fortunately, the situation doesn’t seem particularly dire as a rough prognosis for her return was given:

After the Irish finished a win, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] gave a more specific update:

Given this timetable, we’ll see if Citron will be out for the remainder of nonconference play except for the Jan. 27 game at UConn. The Irish begin ACC play New Year’s Eve at Syracuse, so that seems to be far out enough that it could be a target date for Citron’s return. Hopefully, she’s back sooner, but this is not something you want to rush, especially with [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] dealing with her own similar injury.

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Awful Announcing documents criticism of Jason Garrett

What did you think of Garrett’s season-opening broadcast?

As the Week 0 game with the highest profile, Notre Dame-Navy drew a large audience hungry for college football. That meant extended exposure for fill-in play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle and color commentator Jason Garrett on NBC.

Garrett and regular play-by-play announcer Jac Collinsworth, who missed Saturday’s broadcast, both have become frequent targets for Irish fans for the quality of their announcing. Without Collinsworth, Garrett received the brunt of criticism for the season opener, and sports media website Awful Announcing kept track of some of the tweets containing that criticism.

One series of tweets Awful Announcing chose to focus on were those saying Sam Hartman hasn’t worked with a running back like Audric Estime when the Seattle Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker III had played with Hartman at Wake Forest. Awful Announcing also highlighted tweets criticizing Garrett’s repeated mentions of the Midshipmen’s “mental toughness.” Still other tweets didn’t like what was perceived as Garrett’s lack of enthusiasm or energy.

We’ve had only one NBC broadcast in 2023, but social media already is in midseason form. There’s no place for critiques of Garrett to go but up. Who knows what’s in store for Collinsworth when he presumably returns for the Irish’s home opener this coming weekend?

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Jac Collinsworth main subject of Awful Announcing story on nepotism

Good discussion to have?

For the past two years, Notre Dame’s NBC broadcasts have come under heavy criticism. Never was it on display more than during and after the Irish’s stunning dominance of USC. Social media bashed the broadcast early and often. People seem to have had enough of what they’ve been exposed to on coverage of Irish home games.

To that end, Jesse Pantuosco of Awful Announcing saw it fit to pen an article about nepotism in sports with Notre Dame play-by-play announcer Jac Collinsworth being the story’s primary subject. Jac, of course, is the son of NBC Sunday Night Football color analyst Cris Collinsworth. He also is a Notre Dame alumnus. But he hasn’t won many fans calling Irish games, and this article in particular says he didn’t rise to the big moment of the Irish walloping the Trojans.

Here’s the main argument against Collinsworth in the story:

“The elder Collinsworth is one of the best in the business, and maybe Jac will get there someday, but Saturday proved the 28-year-old is still very much a work in progress, failing to meet the moment in his biggest assignment to date.

Naturally, Collinsworth’s relative lack of polish has sparked a larger discussion about nepotism in sports media, with many questioning his credentials while wondering if Collinsworth is qualified for his current role, leapfrogging more deserving broadcasters on the strength of his last name. Not only was Collinsworth ill-equipped for primetime, but his rapid ascent presents problematic optics that NBC will now have to answer for, fast-tracking a novice announcer in desperate need of seasoning.”

The story goes to cite similar situations in Noah Eagle, Chris Simms and former Irish offensive lineman [autotag]Mike Golic Jr.[/autotag] None of those broadcasters have come under as much scrutiny as Collinsworth though. Whether it’s merited or not, it’s unfortunate that the situation has necessitated this discussion. Here’s hoping Collinsworth has a better end to the season.

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Social media heavily criticizes NBC broadcast of Notre Dame-USC

Do you share these criticisms?

Notre Dame playing USC always draws a big audience no matter who’s broadcasting it. It’s one of the great rivalries in college football, so even people who don’t have a rooting interest will tune in. That means more eyes than usual are exposed to how NBC covers Irish games. It turns out that might not have been the best thing.

As has been custom for the past couple of years now, the broadcast team of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett was subject to heavy criticism. But there also were noticeable sound issues as the broadcast’s audio kept cutting out at times. Most egregiously, at least for me, NBC’s feed completely cut out for an extended period in the fourth quarter, so I only heard [autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag]’s kick return touchdown on the radio broadcast. Not a good look for the network.

NBC Sports executives need to take a good look at their Notre Dame broadcasts and correct a lot of things. Irish fans will watch regardless because they don’t have any other way to see home games short of making the trip to Notre Dame Stadium. But that doesn’t entitle NBC to put in half an effort into these games.Viewers deserve a lot better.

Here are only a few complaints from viewers on social media:

Central Michigan statistical leaders through two games

Here’s who to watch for on the opposition Saturday.

Notre Dame and the Mid-American Conference seem like an odd match. It definitely is historically speaking considering that you can count on your hands the number of times the Irish have played those teams. Still, it’s a legitimate relationship for the foreseeable future, and that includes the Irish facing Central Michigan on Saturday. It’s a game that NBC Sports has decided is only worthy of putting on Peacock instead of the main network, but that’s another story.

The Chippewas have a couple of heavy hitters on their nonconference schedule. They already got blown out when they visited Michigan State, and now, they have to deal with a surging Irish team. While the players might appreciate the opportunity to play such prominent programs on the road, they would be lying to themselves if they said they matched up with them on paper.

Despite the odds, the Chippewas will come to Notre Dame Stadium, and here are the best players they have lined up to face the Irish:

Paul Burmeister to do play-by-play for Notre Dame home opener on NBC

Jac’s not back yet.

When Jac Collinsworth became too ill to travel to Ireland for Notre Dame’s season opener, many figured he would be back for the home opener. Instead, he will be replaced in the NBC booth once again when the Irish play their first 2023 game at Notre Dame Stadium against Tennessee State. Pete Sampson of The Athletic has tweeted the following:

Burmeister already is employed by NBC Sports, so this decision had to have been an easy one. Irish fans used to watching games on TV but not listening to them on the radio will get a taste of what it’s like to experience the Irish when you can’t see the action. As great as Noah Eagle is, NBC needs him for its Big Ten Saturday Night coverage.

It’s not known as of this writing who will fill in for Burmeister on the radio. Still, the Notre Dame Radio Network has employed some great broadcasters over the years. Someone worthy surely will be chosen, even if for one day only.

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Noah Eagle to fill in on NBC play-by-play for Notre Dame-Navy

Prepare for a different sound Saturday.

There has been much criticism about the Notre Dame NBC broadcasting team of Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett. Many Irish fans would rather new blood had been brought in this season, and they were disappointed to find out nothing had changed. Well, the broadcasting team will in fact be slightly different for at least one game. Chicago Sun-Times sports media columnist Jeff Agrest has tweeted the following regarding the broadcast for the game against Navy:

Noah Eagle, the son of Ian Eagle, is one of the most talented young broadcasters in the industry. Having previously called both the NFL and college football for Fox, CBS and even Nickelodeon, NBC scooped him up for its new Big Ten Saturday night broadcasts. He also does radio radio play-by-play for the Los Angeles Clippers.

If Irish fans want to keep watching college football after Irish games during the day, this will be a nice preview of what they can expect, at least on NBC.

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Heather Dinich: Conference realignment means nothing for Notre Dame

Don’t worry, Irish fans.

To put it mildly, college football is in chaos. The Pac-12 is about to become extinct or is seriously threatened at the very least.

Oregon and Washington will join USC and UCLA in the Big Ten in 2024. Colorado is rejoining the Big 12 in 2024, and we now know Arizona, Arizona State, Utah also are heading there as well.

What does this mean for Notre Dame?

If college football insiders are to be believed, absolutely nothing. As part of a series of questions published on ESPN’s website, Heather Dinich was asked to tackle the evergreen issue of the Irish’s independence and how it applies to the changing college football climate. If you’re worried about the Irish giving into public pressure and joining a conference permanently, Dinich says don’t be:

“Notre Dame athletic director [autotag]Jack Swarbrick[/autotag] has long repeated the same three factors that could contribute to the university’s position as an independent becoming ‘unsustainable.’

Those include: the loss of a committed broadcast partner; the loss of a fair route into the postseason; or such an adverse financial consequence that would force it to reconsider.

In spite of all of the drama swirling around Notre Dame, nothing has impacted those particular factors. Notre Dame still has a strong partnership with NBC as its broadcast partner that runs through the 2025 season. It recently announced a renewed commitment to Under Armour. It also remains a partial member of the ACC in football and has a contract with the league stating that if the Irish were to relinquish their independence, it would be for the ACC.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said recently at the league’s media days that he knows how much the Irish value their independence. Notre Dame still remains the most valuable property remaining on the Monopoly board – and it’s still not for sale.”

Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune expressed similar thoughts earlier in the day. So sleep easy, Irish fans. The program is not changing its affiliation or lack thereof anytime soon. Besides, conferences need the Irish more than the Irish need them.

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