There have been all kinds of controversies that have popped up over the years when the Notre Dame football team locks horns with the Miami Hurricanes. The most famous, of course, was billing the matchup as "Catholics vs Convicts." However, it might now take a back seat to the "Thug Podcast."
A fan podcast, formerly known as "A Notre Dame Freakin' Podcast," found itself in the middle of a firestorm online when video of the four hosts bagging on the Hurricanes went viral. One of the members of the podcast called Miami players "unintelligent thugs," and that soon led 'Canes supporters to issue claims of bigotry, as calling someone a "thug" has morphed into a derogatory term used to describe black people the user doesn't like. Soon, Notre Dame fans joined in on the criticism, essentially divorcing the podcast producers from the rest of Fighting Irish fandom and making it clear they didn't represent Blue and Gold fans in general.
Notre Dame podcast sparks controversy with Miami 'thug' remarks
The podcast, now called the "What Tho the Pods," a Notre Dame podcast hosted by Jonathan Spadea, Ryan Downey, Chase Gund, and Robbie Rhinesmith, released their preview episode on Wednesday. During that discussion, Downey shared his thoughts on each team's advantage, resulting in the "unintelligent thugs" comment.
These Notre Dame Podcasters are out here talking crazy😳🤯 pic.twitter.com/u0jVa2ThIU
— Grant Speaks (@GrantSpeaks1) August 29, 2025
"The biggest advantage that Notre Dame has is that Miami is a bunch of unintelligent thugs that just play instinctually and not wisely," said Downey. "And the best thing about Miami for their purposes is that they're a bunch of unintelligent thugs who just play instinctively. So it’s the best and the worst thing about Miami."
Sometime between Wednesday and Friday, the backlash became so strong that it appears the What Tho the Pods' owners entirely nuked their feed.
A search for the podcast shows a link to the show; however, when that link is clicked, a message that the feed couldn't be found pops up. So far, none of the four men have commented publicly about the comments or the reactions from the internet, including why they pulled it down.
The entire incident is yet another interesting turn in what is a heated rivalry between the Notre Dame football team and Miami, even if the two schools don't play all that often.