Luck of Irish: Frank Joins Network

The most recognizable name in online Notre Dame coverage joins TheInsiders.com network.

Top Notre Dame Coverage Comes to TheInsiders

SEATTLE - Mike Frank, the most recognizable name associated with coverage of Notre Dame on the Internet, is back among friends.

One of Jim Heckman's first signees with the original Rivals.com, Frank is reunited with Heckman at TheInsiders.com, where he is operating a site, FightingIrishInsider.com (FightingIrishInsider.com) covering Irish recruiting and sports.

But the reunion is broader than that. It was Jamie Newberg, TheInsiders.com's national football recruiting editor, who clued Frank in on recruiting coverage on the Web over a chat on ESPN. And it was Brentt Eads and Greg Biggins at StudentSports.com (StudentSports.com) and PacWestFootball.com (PacWestFootball.com) who helped nurture Frank's career as a recruiting expert.

"It's exciting to have Mike back among us, where he belongs," said Heckman, the CEO of TheInsiders.com. "There is no one who is more trusted by Notre Dame fans than Mike Frank. He proved that by operating one of the largest sites at Rivals. His success has continued, even grown, as he's gone on his own. People know that if they want insider information on the Irish, they need to find Mike Frank."

It was Frank who first found the Irish, whom he followed since his childhood days. "I grew up in a Catholic family," he explained. "It was always known that when the Irish were on TV, you were watching." That love affair with Notre Dame football continued even as Frank was attending the University of Nebraska at Kaerney.

At Nebraska, Frank was desperate for recruiting news, but had a college-student budget and could not afford the tolls for the 900-number recruiting services. During a chat on ESPN, he learned about recruiting coverage on the Web from Newberg. That led to a two-year stint with Student Sports, making calls on the nation's 300 most heavily recruited players.

Frank did that for free.

From there, Frank founded his own site, IrishReport.com, then operated NDSupersite.com with Rivals for two years before moving to NDNation.com, which hosted his immensely popular Irish Recruiting Journal.

Frank says TheInsiders.com's player database and the network's partnership with Yahoo! were compelling reasons to become part of a network again. "The deal with Yahoo! was a very large part of it; they will be able to get me to people who have yet to find me on the Internet," Frank said. Increasing his customer base, he adds, will help fulfill his original mission -- to provide an affordable source for Notre Dame recruiting coverage and, as Frank put it, "giving people something that they cannot find anywhere else."