Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions for 2021 season

Florida head football coach Dan Mullen once said that it is harder to go from a nine-win to an 11-win team than going from a four-win to a nine-win team. The Irish have been knocking on the door of college football’s elite for the past four seasons.

Notre Dame football has four consecutive 10-win seasons and five in the last six years. The Irish have made two appearances in the College Football Playoff. The Irish have struggled against the nation’s elite, however.

The 2017 season was the one-point loss to No. 15 Georgia, Clemson out-classed 2018 Notre Dame in the national semifinal, 2019 saw yet another loss to Georgia, and last season saw consecutive losses to the Tigers in the ACC title game and Alabama in the playoff.

Even with those tough losses, this is the best era of Notre Dame football since Lou Holtz. Brian Kelly will become Notre Dame’s all-time winningest coach when the Irish win their fourth game this season. Kelly has won more bowl games than anyone in Fighting Irish history as well.

This fall, the Irish look to return to the playoff with lots of new faces on offense and defense. One of those new faces is defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman who served under Luke Fickell at Cincinnati.

Can the Irish return to the playoff and possibly win a game in 2021? Here are three bold predictions for Notre Dame’s 2021 season.