Notre Dame football has a new head coach. While there is still plenty of talent, do the Irish have what it takes to contend for a spot in the CFP?
Notre Dame football has gone through a lot this past offseason. After an 11-1 regular season, head coach Brian Kelly surprised college football by leaving South Bend for Baton Rouge and LSU. Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman was named the new head coach before the Irish’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State.
More recently the rumor mill has been swirling again about Notre Dame’s status as an independent. With USC and UCLA off to the Big Ten, each of that conference’s schools is set to make at least 100 million dollars in media rights alone.
Can the Irish still remain independent in an ever-changing college football landscape? For now, they will but it does seem more likely than ever Notre Dame may be forced to join a conference sometime soon.
With all of the off-the-field items behind them for now, it is time to get to the task at hand and play actual football games again. The Irish players have seemingly embraced Freeman as their new coach along with the fan base. Kelly was 113-40 in his 12 seasons in South Bend, averaging nearly 10 wins a season over the last six years. He is the winningest coach in Notre Dame history. Freeman has his work cut out for him.
Where Freeman can instantly gain credibility is winning the big game, something Kelly had trouble doing over his tenure. Kelly was 0-3 in New Year’s Six Bowl games including a CFP semifinal Rose Bowl in 2020. His Irish also got destroyed by Alabama in the 2013 BCS Championship Game.
To be fair not many teams are competitive against Nick Saban and Alabama. The point is Freeman has an opportunity to be better in big games. Here is a look at this year’s Irish team and their schedule predictions.