How does Notre Dame truly return to glory and raise another national championship trophy?
Notre Dame football has been one of the best football programs nationally since 2017. In six of those seven years, the Irish have won 10 or more games, they’ve twice gone to the College Football Playoff, and their recruiting has seen a ratings uptick since [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] was hired.
Yet Notre Dame was out of the College Football Playoff hunt by early October this year. A home loss to Ohio State coupled with a destruction at the hands of Louisville did them in before having a third loss at Clemson later in the year.
So as good as Notre Dame has been there is still a gap to close. How close are Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish to closing that and getting Notre Dame to play in a national championship game?
There is still almost a year until the early signing period but Notre Dame already has 13 commitments. Find out about the latest one here!
Notre Dame added to their currently top-ranked 2025 recruiting class just hours before the national championship game Monday when they received a commitment from safety Ethan Long of Connecticut.
Long checks in at 6-2, 185-pounds and chose Notre Dame over some big-time programs such as Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and plenty of others.
Long shared the following with 247Sports in regard to his commitment:
“You don’t choose Notre Dame, Notre Dame chooses you,” said Long to 247Sports ahead of his commitment. “I feel like I’m at home every time I step on that campus. My heart has been telling me that this is it. God has guided me. Freeman, O’Leary and Golden are building something special and they want me a part of it and that’s all I can ask for.”
The 247Sports composite rankings list Long as a four-star prospect and the No. 317 overall player in the class. He joins four-star Ivan Taylor of Florida as safeties in Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class that now has 13 members.
Notre Dame has a player on 11 of 14 playoff teams this year. Will a former Domer win another Super Bowl?
The NFL’s regular season came to an end Sunday night and the 14 playoff teams are set.
On those 14 teams are 22 players that spent their college years at Notre Dame.
Will any of those 14 find their way to Las Vegas in a few weeks and be playing to join the list of 45 former Golden Domers to win a Super Bowl?
Time will tell on that but 11 of the 14 playoff teams have representation from Notre Dame, including the top seeds in both the AFC and NFC.
So if your favorite NFL team didn’t make the playoffs or if you’re looking for someone to root for in the other conference, here is the list of Notre Dame players on NFL playoff rosters this season.
Is Notre Dame going to stay hot on the recruiting trail on Monday?
Notre Dame received good news on Saturday when four star defensive end Christopher Burgess, Jr. of Chicago (Simeon) announced his commitment to the Irish. Now could more good news be on the way for Marcus Freeman and company?
Four-star safety Ethan Long (’25) of Connecticut announced on Saturday that he will be making his commitment on Monday. Notre Dame is among the finalists that also includes Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
Long has been a key target of Notre Dame’s for some time and is coming off a junior season that saw him record 56 tackles, three interceptions, and force three fumbles in nine games.
Will he end up in Notre Dame’s already stacked 2025 recruiting class?
I’m announcing my commitment on Monday during the @247Sports CFB Recruiting Show.
All the best to him as he returns to his home state…
Former Notre Dame linebacker Nolan Ziegler entered the transfer portal a day after the Irish dismantled Oregon State in the Sun Bowl.
Ziegler was graded as a four-star prospect as a 2022 recruit out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He missed significant time this season as he worked through mental health issues.
The good news is Ziegler appears to have gotten through the worst of the situation, and he is returning to his home state to continue his college football career.
Ziegler announced on Thursday that he has accepted the offer from Central Michigan and will play college football there in 2024.
I am excited to announce I will be accepting my offer at Central Michigan University to play Linebacker / Receiver for the Chippewas. Thank you Coach McElwain and the rest of the staff for this incredible opportunity. I will also be using this God given opportunity to develop my… pic.twitter.com/1PQnnq3Bbt
Nine teams remain but unfortunately a few of these will never get crossed off the list.
Notre Dame has been playing football since 1887 and ranks in the top five for all-time victories. Only Michigan, Ohio State and Alabama have more wins than the 948 Notre Dame has compiled (same as Texas).
Despite all of those wins, the Fighting Irish have never beaten some teams.
One of those teams used to be Oregon State, which Notre Dame beat in the 2023 Sun Bowl. Before that game, Notre Dame was 0-2 against the Beavers.
With Oregon State scratched off the list, eight programs remain. Before you scroll down, test yourself and see how many you can guess.
And you if you can name all of them (courtesy of Winsipedia), your knowledge in the world of Notre Dame football trivia is truly second to none.
Notre Dame closes the 2023 season on Friday against Oregon State in a Sun Bowl contest that will certainly be unique.
Opt-outs are plentiful on both sidelines as plenty of NFL talent won’t be participating in the affair. However, there is still a 10-win season for Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame on the line as well as a stage to be set for a big 2024.
Will Notre Dame take care of business in the Sun Bowl?
Fighting Irish Wire staff writers Nick Shepkowski and Jeff Feyerer got together Thursday night to preview the game and discuss the state of the program, including the recent hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and plenty more.
Check it out in full below (and do so after the game as well as it features plenty of non-Sun Bowl discussion).
How do you predict a game with so many players opting out?
It seems like it was just a couple of weeks ago that Notre Dame was in Ireland kicking off the 2023 season. It was a year full of promise but that also featured many frustrations.
Notre Dame started 4-0 before dropping an all-time heartbreaker to Ohio State. They followed that up with a last second win at Duke before getting boat-raced at Louisville. All in all the Irish would finish the regular season 9-3 with plenty of promise but also plenty of questions.
Now comes a dam fine Oregon State Beavers team that is going through a transition as a program. Their days in the Pac 12 are done and their former quarterback turned head coach has left to lead Michigan State.
Both sides have more than a handful of key players from the regular season opting out. Notre Dame can finish the year with 10 wins, something they’ve accomplished every year since 2017 besides last year. Oregon State could finish 9-4 with a victory.
With so many key pieces on both sides this certainly isn’t the easiest game to handicap. However, we will certainly try our best to tell you how it goes as the 2023 season sees a bow put on it.
Another wide receiver for Notre Dame fans to keep an eye on…
Is Notre Dame done adding wide receivers via the transfer portal for the 2024 season?
According to Tom Loy of 247Sports there is another recent entry to the portal that Marcus Freeman and his staff will pursue. Cal wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter officially entered the transfer portal this week and Loy states that Notre Dame will be in pursuit.
Despite Cal struggling in recent years, Hunter has shined in three seasons. He has totaled 144 receptions for 2,056 yards and 13 touchdowns with the Bears.
Hunter was rated as a three-star prospect out of Central East High School in Fresno, California in the 2021 recruiting cycle.
Notre Dame has already added former Florida International receiver Kris Mitchell and former Clemson receiver Beaux Collins via the portal since the regular season’s conclusion.
It is Christmas Eve so first and foremost – a very Merry Christmas to you and your family.
It’s not a day that you usually think too long or hard about football but 15 years ago today Notre Dame was putting a bow on the 2008 season with an appearance in the Hawaii Bowl.
The game came after a disappointing season for Notre Dame. After starting 2-0 and at one point being 4-1, the Irish stumbled down the stretch and finished the regular season just 6-6.
Often times that would have meant Notre Dame turning down a bowl game. Well, it just so happened that a trip to Hawai’i for a bowl game meant another chance to try and recruit then mega-prospect [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag].
Was it the only reason Notre Dame accepted the invitation? Certainly not, but it clearly helped their chances with the star linebacker, too.
Anyway, back to the game. Notre Dame hadn’t won a bowl game since New Year’s Day 1994 at this time, having lost nine-straight. Notre Dame came out on Christmas Eve with their names on their jerseys for the first time in decades, and proceeded to roll Hawai’i, 49-21.
Check out some of the highlights below:
It would set the table for what many thought would be a big 2009 season for Notre Dame but unfortunately the Irish would again finish just 6-6, Charlie Weis would be fired, and a bowl game wouldn’t be in the cards.
Regardless, for roughly three-and-a-half hours that Christmas Eve, seemingly everything regarding Notre Dame football was right during an era that it almost always certainly wasn’t.