Notre Dame football officially back to independence

In the worst kept secret of all time, Notre Dame football is OFFICIALLY going back to being independent in 2021.

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The ACC made official what we all expected Thursday as the conference announced that football will return in September of 2021 with an eight-game conference schedule for all member-schools.

Notre Dame will return to being independent as we all expected would happen and the ACC will again be split into the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, both comprising of seven teams.

Notre Dame is still scheduled to play five ACC opponents in 2021 with those games being the following:

Sept 5 – at Florida State
Oct. 9 – at Virginia Tech
Oct. 30 – vs. North Carolina
Nov. 13 – at Virginia
Nov. 20 – vs. Georgia Tech

Also noted in the ACC’s release is that:

The league membership also elected to play the 2021 season as it was originally scheduled and as a result, there are several repeat site games from 2019 and 2020. Each ACC team will play six division games, one permanent crossover opponent and one rotating opponent from the opposite division.

And that:

The return to a traditional schedule is contingent on national, state and local health guidelines allowing such competition to occur.

As it was announced today, the ACC will have teams playing on each day between Thursday, Sept. 2, through Sunday, Sept. 5 on college football’s opening weekend.

With the official news, now maybe Notre Dame’s social media team will follow through with something they teased back in September…

Related:

An early look at Notre Dame’s 2021 football schedule

Notre Dame’s future football schedules and opponents

Notre Dame Football: 2021 Transfer Portal Tracker

Notre Dame has seen a lot of action in the transfer portal this off-season as 12 different players have entered it since the start of August 2020. 

Notre Dame has seen a lot of action in the transfer portal this off-season as 12 different players have entered it since the start of August 2020 while one player has transferred to the Irish.

Where did they all end up?

Who hasn’t picked their next destination yet?

And who decided to return to Notre Dame after exploring other options?

Find out the latest on all 12 players here.

Breaking: Griffith has change of heart, will stay at Notre Dame

A veteran in the Notre Dame program, defensive back Houston Griffith, has changed his mind and won’t transfer after all.

It was big surprise when defensive back Houston Griffith put his name into the transfer portal and was looking to finish his career somewhere other than South Bend. According to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Griffith had a change of heart and will finish his career with Notre Dame.

Recruiting isn’t just about the high school athletes, often coaching staffs have to convince players to stay in the programs when the NFL or other opportunities arise. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and it seems like Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman did a great job at rerecruiting Griffith.

The transfer portal doesn’t always yield great results for every prospect who enters. By getting Griffith to return to South Bend, it makes Freeman’s job that much easier. He will have a player who has plenty of experience and should be able to quickly grasp the new defensive scheme. Griffith was surely welcomed back with open arms.