Singer: The move to On3 is with Lou Somogyi at front of mind

I was sitting in my room at the Varsity Clubs of America hotel room in Mishawaka April 22. It was night before the late, great Lou Somogyi’s funereal at The Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame.

At the same time that I was dealing with the emotions that came with my beloved mentor and colleague’s passing, I received an email urging me to apply for the job I had hoped to earn when I joined the Rivals network at 19 years old.

My mind was in a million places. Lou’s passing. A job I had been striving to get opened up. And the potential of Blue & Gold joining the intriguing On3 network was brought to my attention as an option. From a personal and work standpoint, I was a mess.

If I left Blue & Gold shortly after Lou had passed, what would it have meant for the publication he poured his heart and soul into for nearly 40 years?

My focus was on Lou while I was in South Bend and being a pallbearer in his funeral is one of the greatest honors of my life.

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When I got back home in Atlanta, I had about a five-minute conversation with my wife about whether or not I should apply for this other job. It was a no-brainer.

Heck no.

Notre Dame fans, my goal is to build the Blue & Gold brand up to new heights in honor of Lou Somogyi. I want my mentor to look down from heaven on his publication and be proud of what we’re accomplishing.

Making the move from Rivals to On3 without the G.O.A.T of Notre Dame athletics coverage isn’t easy. People don’t like change, and we’re starting over with zero subscribers in a highly competitive market.

But I want Notre Dame fans who have read Lou for years to take my same approach: be a part of building the Blue & Gold brand to new heights in honor of Lou Somogyi.

It’s impossible to replace his depth of knowledge on Notre Dame athletics combined with his tender and kind spirit, but our staff will honor Lou with our hard work, passion for journalistic integrity, and love for the BlueandGold.com and Blue & Gold Illustrated publications.

And if none of that reached you, then hey, it’s just a buck for a year. Try us out. You might like it.

Next-gen database

I strongly believe that joining the On3 network is a massive upgrade for our coverage at Blue & Gold. On3 is investing in our website and will help make Blue & Gold as strong as it has ever been.

Being in at the ground floor of On3 was an opportunity I simply could not pass up. I was a bit skeptical at first about the On3 database being as good as it was hyped up to be, but it is truly reinventing the wheel.

I’ve grinded my way up from an unpaid intern fresh out of high school to a full-time insider covering Notre Dame. Simply put, the recruiting media industry is all I know, and the On3 database has the recruiting nerd in me fully geeked out.

One thing Notre Dame fans are going to love is our high school and state databases that should be up and running in the coming months. Have you ever wondered which high schools send the most players to Notre Dame? We’re going to track that.

You’re going to know things like the average star rating at a given high school, as well as the colleges that have had the most success there. Also, we’ll finally settle the debate in regards to the states that produce the best talent.

The On3 Consensus is a complete and equally weighted, industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. The On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking is the new standard industry with its sliding scale of average number of commits used.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine blows my mind. It utilizes machine learning to forecast college choices with factors such as expert predictions, social sentiment, visits and historical trends.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s going to be a fun ride, and all Notre Dame fans need to hop on board.

Join now. Sign up with annual subscription for $1 for first year, get the Blue & Gold Founders Club hat!