'This is who we are': Notre Dame football embraces docuseries distractions ahead of debut

SOUTH BEND — Playing big-time college football in the NIL era typically means having video cameras nearby to document your every move, on and off the field.

For Notre Dame football this season, that sense of constantly being on display only increases with Thursday’s debut of “Here Come the Irish,” a seven-part documentary series on NBC’s Peacock streaming service.

“It’s hard not to see a dude with a huge camera on his shoulder,” junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison said. “I mean, it’s cool, the ‘Hard Knocks’ style. I think they’ve been here since spring. It’s going to be cool to let our story be known worldwide.”

The first two episodes air two days before the seventh-ranked Irish open their season at No. 20 Texas A&M.

Episodes 3 and 4 won’t run until Dec. 5 with Episodes 5 and 6 set for Dec. 19. The finale is scheduled for Jan. 16, four days ahead of the College Football Playoff championship game.

John Fornaro, hired in April as lead producer and director of featured content for Fighting Irish Media, is directing the in-house production.

A 2016 Marist College graduate and a seven-year veteran of ESPN, where he became a two-time Sports Emmy winner while working his way up to associate producer, Fornaro spent the 2016 season as an intern with NFL Films.

While Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard and preseason All-Americans such as Morrison, Xavier Watts, Howard Cross III and Mitchell Evans project as main characters, the slow-release format leaves plenty of room for story development.

Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray was among those wearing a wireless microphone during at least one session of preseason camp. A natural with the media, the St. Louis product was admittedly a little self-conscious with the documentarians on hand.

“It was kind of awkward a little bit because some people would be mic’d up and somebody might say the wrong things around them,” Gray said. “It might be on, and I’m like, ‘Oh.’ When I see the camera, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, wow, this is crazy. We’re actually doing a documentary.’“

Gray has watched this year’s “Hard Knocks” on the Chicago Bears, in part because that’s his hometown pastor’s favorite team but also, perhaps, out of curiosity over the type of content that might wind up on the Notre Dame docuseries.

“I was like ‘OK, let me see what the Bears are really about,’ “ Gray said. “I actually watched it, and I’m like, ‘Wow, they’re legit.’“

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“It’s cool just being able to tell our story, this special team we have, special group,” Morrison said. “And, of course, it’s Notre Dame. You know how that goes. Our name travels a lot, so I think it'll be cool for people to see our daily work and what we’ve got to go through.”

Said Gray: “It’s really kind of fun when the cameras are around because we’re always going to be ourselves. We don’t hide (anything) from the public. This is who we are. This is the Notre Dame football team.”

In 2015, the series and the season took an unexpected turn with quarterback Malik Zaire’s season-ending ankle fracture in Week 2 at Virginia. DeShone Kizer stepped in and led the Irish to a 10-3 record that peaked with a No. 4 national ranking before back-to-back losses at Stanford and in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State.

With Leonard coming off a pair of offseason surgeries on his right ankle, those crafting “Here Come the Irish” would gladly skip a repeat of 2015’s quarterback drama.

“They’ll probably be focusing a lot on Riley,” sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse said. “But, you know, well deserved. He’s a great guy and he’s kind of the core of our offense. He really encompasses everything that we’re trying to put out there.”

Greathouse, who led the Irish with five touchdown receptions as a freshman, hasn’t minded the ever-present cameras around the team’s football building and practice facilities.

“It’s really cool getting to have the camera crew and everything around us, just being invested in what we’re doing,” Greathouse said. “I think it’s really awesome to get to show all the work that gets put in here, and I definitely think that the school deserves it.”

For his part, Gray didn’t hesitate when asked if he planned to sample the finished product.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m definitely looking forward to watching it.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and the South Bend Tribune. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 'This is who we are': Notre Dame football embraces docuseries distractions ahead of debut