Notre Dame Football: Best, worst, and most likely scenario for 2022

Notre Dame football finished 2021 with a Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State but the expectations are just as high for the Irish.

If I had to choose a theme song for Notre Dame football’s past eight months, it would have to be “Changes” by Tupac.

Notre Dame has seen some serious changes rock the program from Brian Kelly bolting for LSU to Marcus Freeman going from Cincinnati defensive coordinator to Irish defensive coordinator to Notre Dame head coach in the span of a year, this program has seen it all. And that’s not even mentioning the turnover on the roster at quarterback, running back, receiver, and on defense.

The Irish will still likely begin the season as a top-15, or so, team with Freeman leading a squad that is coming off a Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State — a game that they should have won after taking a commanding early lead.

With the Fiesta Bowl appearance, the 2021 season marked the third time in four years that Notre Dame made a New Year’s Six bowl, and the other two were College Football Playoff berths. But Kelly didn’t think he had the resources to win a national title in South Bend which is why he left for Baton Rouge.

Freeman is proving that Notre Dame can hang with the big boys in college football, recruiting at an elite level, and, from all accounts, his players have bought in.

With the 2022 season quickly approaching, let’s take a look at the best, worst, and most likely scenarios for the Irish.