Marcus Freeman is getting set for his third season as Notre Dame’s head coach and its safe to say the training wheels are off for the still young head coach.
Gone are the excuses of being a new head coach and done are the looking past of no-shows against the likes of Marshall and Stanford.
Freeman enters his third season at Notre Dame with sky-high expectations. Getting to the College Football Playoff seems like the bare minimum most Notre Dame fans are looking for in 2024. They’re looking to win a game and make some noise once there.
So as Freeman enters his third season at Notre Dame, how has the all-important third season gone for Fighting Irish coaches over the years?
Regardless of how that third year has gone historically, what you will see is that it will essentially tell the story of the overall tenure each head coach at Notre Dame. Here’s a look back at how each fared in their third year leading the Fighting Irish since the Frank Leahy era.
Freeman’s first two seasons (2021-22): 19-7
Third Season (2024): TBD
[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] provided a spark to the Notre Dame fan base when [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] left for LSU at the end of the 2021 regular season. So far that spark has resulted in more major recruiting wins for Notre Dame but in year-three the expectation is that more of those recruiting wins will turn into big-time wins on Saturdays.
Kelly’s first two seasons (2010-11): 16-10
Third Season (2012): 12-1, lost BCS National Championship to Alabama
Say what you want about [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] but you can’t argue what he did in short order at Notre Dame. The Irish had been mostly out of the college football spotlight for almost 20 years before his arrival. Kelly’s first two seasons in South Bend were an improvement from the end of the Charlie Weis era, but no great shakes. Kelly would lead Notre Dame to an improbable 12-0 regular season in year-three however and eventually win more games as head coach than anyone else in program history.
Weis’ first two seasons (2005-06): 18-6
Third Season (2007): 3-9
After reaching back-to-back BCS games for the first time, Notre Dame took a huge step back in the third year under [autotag]Charlie Weis[/autotag]. After losing stars [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag], [autotag]Jeff Samardzija[/autotag], [autotag]Darius Walker[/autotag], and others, Notre Dame stumbled to a 3-9 season where they were non-competitive often. Weis was have alright starts to each of the next two seasons before November stumbles would cost him his job at the end of 2009.
Willingham’s first two seasons (2002-03): 15-10
Third Season (2004): 6-5 (fired at end of regular season)
[autotag]Tyrone Willingham[/autotag] was the sweetheart of the college football world in 2002, leading Notre Dame to an 8-0 start and No. 4 national ranking. After losing at home to Boston College to end that perfect season, Willingham and the Irish would go just 14-15 the rest of his time in South Bend, resulting in his firing following the a 6-5 regular season in 2004.
Davie’s first two seasons (1997-98): 16-10
Third Season (1999): 5-7
Bob Davie started just 1-4 in his first five games at Notre Dame so by comparison a 15-6 streak heading into year three didn’t seem as bad. After thrashing a poor Kansas team to open the season though the Irish would drop three-straight to Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State. Despite a couple of comeback wins over Oklahoma and USC that year, the Irish would still finish just 5-7 despite entering November 5-3. Davie would have a bounce back season in 2000, leading Notre Dame to their first BCS appearance (where they were thrashed by Oregon State) but would be fired after another clunker in 2001.
Holtz’s first two seasons (1986-87): 13-10
Third Season (1988): 12-0, National Champions
[autotag]Lou Holtz[/autotag] was missioned with rebuilding Notre Dame football after the woeful Gerry Faust era and rebuild he did. His first season saw the Irish be competitive in nearly every game despite finishing just 5-6 and in year two they earned a Cotton Bowl berth despite getting beat up by Texas A&M while there. Holtz’s third season would cement him in Notre Dame lore forever as he led the Fighting Irish to a 12-0 season which remains their most recent national championship.
Faust’s first two seasons (1981-82): 11-10-1
Third Season: 7-5, Liberty Bowl Champions
Just how bad was the Gerry Faust era at Notre Dame? Consider this: The Fighting Irish going 7-5 and winning the Liberty Bowl in his third season of 1983 was the highpoint. One of the most bizarre coaching hires of all-time was also an all-time backfire. Faust would be let go after a 5-6 1985 season that saw the Irish close the year with a 58-7 defeat at Miami.
Devine’s first two seasons (1975-76): 17-6
Third Season (1977): 11-1, National Champions
Devine took over for [autotag]Ara Parseghian[/autotag] and had incredibly massive shoes to fill. Devine lost three regular season games each of his first two seasons, something Parseghian never did in his 11 years as head coach. With the pressure especially on following an early season loss at Ole Miss, Devine took advantage of the talents of Ross Browner, Joe Montana and others and ran the table to the 1977 national championship in his third season. Devine would last three more years in South Bend, announcing before the 1980 season that he would be stepping down at season’s end.
Parseghian’s first two seasons (1964-65): 16-3-1
Third Season (1966): 9-0-1, National Champions
[autotag]Ara Parseghian[/autotag] was minutes away from coaching the greatest turnaround in football history as he took Notre Dame from 2-8 in 1963 to unbeaten and No. 1 nationally at USC in late November. The Irish lost a late lead in that game that cost them a national championship. Two years later however Parseghian would get his first of two championships in South Bend as the 1966 squad pitched six shutouts and allowed more than 10 points just once all season, a 26-14 win over No. 7 Purdue in the opener.
Hugh Devore coached the 1963 season at Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish went just 2-7 in his forgettable year. The season did however feature a 17-14 win over No. 7 USC so at least he had that?
Kuharich’s first two seasons (1959-60): 7-13
Third Season (1961): 5-5
Joe Kuharich didn’t get the backing from administration that coaches to follow would get but that wasn’t excuse still wasn’t good enough. He started slow his first two years, improved to perfectly average (5-5) in year three, and was gone after another 5-5 campaign in his fourth season.
Brennan’s first two seasons (1954-55): 17-3
Third Season (1956): 2-8
[autotag]Terry Brennan[/autotag] capitalized on following the legendary Frank Leahy and rode it to an impressive first two seasons (although it wasn’t compared to what Leahy did). Reality would come in year three as the Irish bottomed out at 2-8. Brennan’s most memorable moment as Notre Dame head coach was leading the Irish to a legendary upset of unbeaten Oklahoma in 1957 as the Sooners had rode a 47-game winning streak into the contest.
Leahy’s first two seasons (1941-42): 15-2-3
Third Season: 9-1, National Champions
At any other program Frank Leahy would have gone down as the runaway greatest coach in program history. At Notre Dame however he of course would never be able to surpass the man that made college football what it is, Knute Rockne. Leahy started with a bang, coming from Boston College in 1941. He had the Irish in the top-five both of the first two seasons before winning the national championship in year-three. Leahy would go on to lead Notre Dame to three more national championships in his time while also taking time away to serve in World War II (while trying to recruit for his football program, too).
