Dan Hicks expects scrutiny as new voice of Notre Dame for NBC

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My latest Chicago Tribune column is on Dan Hicks, who assumes the full-time play-by-play role for NBC’s telecasts of Notre Dame games this fall. You also can access the column here via my Twitter feed.

From the column:

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Dan Hicks knows he will be subjected to intense scrutiny as NBC’s new play-by-play voice for Notre Dame football.

And that will be from within his own home.

His wife, ESPN’s Hannah Storm, and members of her family are avid Notre Dame alums.

“Her dad, Mike Storen, (a one-time ABA commissioner) watches every second of every game,” Hicks said. “I’ve got to make sure I keep the family happy before I worry about everyone else.”

Hicks, though, likely will hear from everyone else at some point, starting with Notre Dame’s season opener Saturday against Temple (WMAQ-Ch. 5, 2:30 p.m.).

While he has done fill-in work on three Irish games previously, he assumes the full-time duties this year, taking over for Tom Hammond, 68, who said his leaving the broadcast was a mutual decision and that he wanted to cut back on his NBC duties.

Hicks walks into a rare position for a broadcaster. He will be doing a national telecast focused on one team. Earlier this year, NBC extended its contract to air Notre Dame home games through 2025.

“You know you’re going to be watched closely,” Hicks said. “People are going to say, ‘Who is this Dan Hicks and why is he covering our team now?’ The sensitivity level of Notre Dame people runs high.”

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The dynamic will have Hicks being accused of being pro-Notre Dame from viewers outside of the school and anti-Notre Dame from Irish fans who will bristle at any criticism of the school. Such are the love-’em, hate-’em passions that surround the Irish.

Hicks knows the drill. He insists he is going to do a down-the-middle, objective broadcast. To wit, he plans to detail Notre Dame’s rocky off-season during the opener.

“We have a responsibility to tell people what happened,” Hicks said. “It hasn’t been a fantasy world here since the (BCS title game against Alabama). We can’t ignore those things. … I am going to try to do a fair job of putting the school and the game in perspective.”

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And there’s more on Hicks and a look at the first big weekend of college football in the column.