Independents Football

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have no intention of stepping back from the top tier of the college football landscape.

Notre Dame advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship and fell to Ohio State 34-23. Despite the disappointing end, it was a productive season that saw the program go 14-2 and claim notable victories over Indiana, Georgia and Penn State.

As they move to the offseason, athletic director Pete Bevacqua said the 2024 season will be something the Fighting Irish build off of and will be the standard for the program.

"This is not a one and done," Bevacqua said, per Pete Sampson of The Athletic. "This has to be the new normal for us."

Bevacqua elaborated by saying that the University has full faith in head coach Marcus Freeman and that the University is "all-in."

"We're going to keep our foot on the gas and hopefully be here a lot more often," Bevacqua said, per Sampson. "I believe we have the perfect coach for Notre Dame. What Marcus does on the field and off the field, he's accepting everything that Notre Dame is. You don't want to play Notre Dame football to do just 'ok' or be respected. We want to win national championships. So I really do think we're all in, provided it's still a student-athlete experience."

Notre Dame reached the National Championship for the first time since 2012 and the program has still not won it all since 1988. However, the Fighting Irish have been in the mix over throughout the playoff era and the step forward in 2024 was promising for the team in the new landscape of college sports.

Freeman signed a six-year extension with the University and has compiled a 33-10 overall record since taking over in 2022. The Fighting Irish also have the No. 12 recruiting class in the nation for 2025, per 247 Sports.

While the 2024 team was a special group for Notre Dame, Bevacqua, Freeman and the University appear poised to make Playoff and National Championship appearances more frequent in the expanded playoff era.

Notre Dame is working on a deal to bring Chris Ash in as the Fighting Irish's new defensive coordinator, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Ash replaces ex-Notre Dame DC Al Golden, who left to become the Cincinnati Bengals' new defensive coordinator.

The 51-year-old Ash most recently worked this past season as a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he's been a Division I-FBS defensive coordinator for six seasons with Wisconsin (2011-2012), Arkansas (2013), Ohio State (2014-2015) and Texas (2020).

Since his season as Texas' DC, Ash has worked as the Jaguars' safeties coach (2021) and the Las Vegas Raiders' defensive backs coach (2022-2023) before heading back to Jacksonville.

Ash was also Rutgers' head coach from 2016-2019. The team went 8-32 under his watch, and he was fired after a 1-3 start in 2019.

Ash's defensive units have fared quite well at times. Of note, Ohio State was second in scoring defense in 2015, the year prior to him becoming Rutgers' head coach. Wisconsin was sixth and 17th in scoring defense during his two years in town.

Prior to arriving in Madison, Ash was a college coach from 1997-2009, beginning at his alma mater Drake as a graduate assistant. He was also Drake's defensive coordinator in 1998-1999 before moving to Division I-FCS as Iowa State's graduate assistant in 2000. He remained with the Cyclones through 2006, when he was the team's defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator.

Ash held those same roles with San Diego State in 2007 and 2008 before heading back to Iowa State as defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator once again in 2009. He then moved to Wisconsin as its defensive backs coach in 2010 before getting a promotion to defensive coordinator.

Now he's back in college working with Notre Dame, last season's national championship runner-up. The Fighting Irish were second in scoring defense last year but have work to do on that end the quality of the team's departures.

Of note, four Notre Dame defensive players appear on the B/R NFL Scouting Department's latest big board: S Xavier Watts, CB Benjamin Morrison, LB Jack Kiser, DL Howard Cross III and DL Rylie Mills.

Ash and the Fighting Irish begin next season on Aug. 31 when the team visits Miami (Florida).

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are losing a key front office member this offseason.

Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports had reported that Notre Dame assistant AD for player personnel and general manager Chad Bowden "has emerged as a target for a "high-ranking front office role" at USC. Shortly after, Kyle Kelly of On3 Sports reported that Bowden had officially accepted the position.

John Brice and Scott Roussel of Football Scoop reported that Bowden has been offered a multi-year deal worth $1 million annually from USC, which is a big raise from his current reported salary of $270,000-$300,000.

Bowden joined the Irish staff alongside head coach Marcus Freeman when the latter took the defensive coordinator position with the program in 2021. He was promoted to general manager in 2024 after turning down a similar position at Michigan that offseason.

During his time with the Fighting Irish the program has poached significant talent in the portal, with quarterbacks Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard being two of the more notable additions. Notre Dame advanced to the National Championship.

Head coach Marcus Freeman shouldered the blame for Notre Dame's 34-23 loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday night.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Freeman took responsibility for mistakes and communication breakdowns that resulted in big plays for the Buckeyes:

"You're always making mistakes, but those type of detrimental mistakes when you play a really, really good football team cost you points. I think that's probably the biggest thing that has stuck out to me even in between series, the communication. 'Hey, we're good, we got it.' Well, we can't make mistakes. It falls on my shoulders. And as the head coach, we have to prepare and be better prepared for this moment. These guys gave everything they got."

This wasn't a mistake-filled game in the traditional sense with a lot of penalties and turnovers. The only turnover of the night was Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka's fumble in the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes had twice as many penalties (six to three) and nearly twice as many penalty yards (58 to 30) as Notre Dame.

Some of the execution, particularly on defense, was where the problems came for the Fighting Irish. Jeremiah Smith's touchdown catch in the second quarter came on a play when Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray appeared to be pointing out where the ball was going, but no one stayed with the Buckeyes star wideout.

The start of the game couldn't have gone better for the Irish. It was a masterclass of execution, as they went 75 yards on 18 plays and converted two fourth downs to take a 7-0 lead.

Things quickly went downhill when Ohio State scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and put up 31 unanswered points.

Notre Dame was able to rebound with 16 straight points of its own to cut the deficit to 31-23. Freeman did make a questionable decision to attempt a field goal trailing 31-15 with 9:27 remaining from Ohio State's 9-yard line.

Getting into the end zone on a 4th-and-goal when you need nine yards isn't an easy play, but the field-goal attempt keeps it at a two-possession game when you didn't have much time left on the clock.

The move backfired anyway because Mitch Jeter's 27-yard attempt bounced off the left upright to keep the deficit at 16 points.

Despite the disappointing finish to the season, Freeman and the Irish can be proud of a terrific year overall. They won 13 straight after a Sept. 7 loss to Northern Illinois and played in the national title game for the first time since January 2013.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard did his best to keep his team afloat in Monday night's College Football Playoff national championship game against Ohio State, but in the end, it just wasn't enough.

After Leonard spearheaded an 18-play opening drive that culminated with his touchdown run to give the Fighting Irish an early lead, the Buckeyes responded by scoring 31 straight points on their way to a 34-23 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Leonard finished with 255 yards on 22-of-31 passing and added two touchdown passes in the second half. He had team-highs of 17 carries for 40 yards and a rushing score in the loss. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who entered the game with 1,122 yards on the season, was limited to just three yards on four carries after the game got out of hand.

Still, Leonard refused to go down quietly and continued fighting until the final whistle.

Fans on social media couldn't help but praise the senior signal-caller for the toughness he showed in Monday's national title game:

Notre Dame was hoping to win its first national championship since 1988. The team's defense fell apart at the worst possible time, as the Fighting Irish hadn't allowed over 25 points in any of its three previous CFP games.

Notre Dame will now have to regroup and gear up for another national title chase next season.

Northern Illinois had some fun with their video of support to Notre Dame.

As Notre Dame prepares for its National Championship matchup against Ohio State, the Huskies sent a "good luck" video to the Irish. In the video, the Huskies showed highlights of their 16-14 victory over the Irish in September.

Ahead of the title game, the Huskies remain the only team that has defeated Notre Dame this season. Northern Illinois put up 388 yards on the Irish, intercepted quarterback Riley Leonard twice and forced Notre Dame to be just 3-of-10 on third down.

It was the highlight win of the year for Northern Illinois, who finished 8-5 and won the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl over Fresno State. Notre Dame's season looked like it was in trouble following the loss, but the Irish managed to rattle off 13 consecutive wins, including key victories over Army, Indiana, Georgia and Penn State.

A victory over the Buckeyes on Monday night would give Notre Dame its 12th National Championship and its first since 1988. It would also give Northern Illinois a major bragging point forever as the only team to topple the Irish in its dream season.

The Notre Dame football team will be making its first national championship game appearance since 2013 when it meets Ohio State in Monday night's College Football Playoff final, and it will be doing so in style.

The Fighting Irish revealed their uniform combination for the national title game, rolling with their classic look of a gold helmet, navy blue jersey and gold pants:

Notre Dame, which is ranked No. 7 in the College Football Playoff, is riding a 13-game win streak dating back to the regular season into Monday's game. The team showed resiliency in its first three CFP games, defeating No. 10 Indiana, No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Penn State by an average margin of victory of just 8.7 points.

The Fighting Irish will need to continue their stellar play on defense, as they will be facing a No. 8 Buckeyes team that topped the 40-point mark in wins over No. 9 Tennessee and No. 1 Oregon before defeating No. 5 Texas 28-14 to reach the CFP final.

Ohio State will be playing for its first national title since 2014, the first year of the College Football Playoff. While the Buckeyes are closer to their most recent championship, it's the Fighting Irish who are peaking at the perfect time, and they will look fashionable when they try to earn their first title in over three decades.

With the Big Ten and SEC appearing to separate themselves with their depth and overall quality at times in the modern-day era of college football, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua was asked about the scheduling arrangement his program has with the ACC.

He told reporters he would be interested in potentially bolstering the Fighting Irish's schedule as part of that agreement by annually playing one of the ACC's powerhouses in Clemson.

"When we play a team like Clemson, I think that has become such a great rivalry in such a short amount of time," he said. "I would tell you that's the type of game I'd love to play every year."

While Notre Dame remains an independent school outside of the conferences, it has an agreement with the ACC to play five games against the league's teams a season.

This past season's slate featured matchups against Louisville, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Virginia. Louisville and Georgia Tech were the only teams from that group to finish above .500, and they still featured a combined 10 losses.

Florida State would normally be a strong game, but the Seminoles were arguably the most disappointing team in the country this season with a 2-10 record.

How to weigh performances on the field, overall records and strength of schedule will always be part of the debate in college football, and this season was no different even with the expansion of the CFP to 12 teams.

The Fighting Irish don't have the benefit of playing for a conference championship and automatic inclusion in the field, so their strength of schedule figures to be an important measuring stick in future years even if it wasn't really an issue this season thanks to their strong 11-1 overall record.

Facing Clemson, which won the ACC title and made the CFP this season, would typically bolster that strength of schedule and give Notre Dame something of a measuring-stick game ahead of the postseason games.

And the two teams faced each other five times from 2018 through 2023, including in the 2018 CFP and 2020 ACC Championship Game. Due to the shortened season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame was eligible to participate in the ACC Championship Game in 2020.

Clemson won both of those high-profile showdowns, although the Fighting Irish won their regular-season meetings in 2020 and 2022.

At this point, there is no questioning Notre Dame's accomplishments this season.

Despite a shocking loss to Northern Illinois in September, head coach Marcus Freeman's team rallied together with notable wins over Navy, Army, USC and Louisville, among others, before a playoff run that included victories over Indiana, Georgia and Penn State.

Only Ohio State stands in the way of a national championship, and the two powerhouse programs will face each other for the title Monday.

Marcus Freeman's success at Notre Dame has put him on the radar for NFL teams looking for a new head coach, but he's not interested in talking about anything but the task at hand for his current club.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Freeman said he has given "zero thought" to the NFL and all of his attention has been on helping the Fighting Irish prepare for the College Football Playoff Championship Game against Ohio State.

Freeman has been connected to the Chicago Bears since before the NFL regular season came to an end. Peter Schrager of Fox Sports floated him as a potential candidate back on Dec. 1.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on Jan. 12 that the Bears want to interview Freeman, but it would be "unlikely" he would entertain any offers before the CFP title game.

The Bears have completed 14 interviews and have two more scheduled for Saturday. One of their interviews was with Mike Vrabel, who wound up being hired as head coach of the New England Patriots.

Freeman, a former linebacker, was actually drafted by the Bears in the fifth round in 2009. He was waived prior to the start of the regular season, then had brief stints with the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans before retiring in May 2010.

After his playing career ended, Freeman moved into coaching as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. He was hired as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Notre Dame on Brian Kelly's staff in January 2021.

When Kelly surprisingly left the Fighting Irish to go to LSU, Freeman was promoted to head coach in December 2021. He has led the program to a 33-9 record since taking over.

Notre Dame rewarded Freeman with a new deal in December that is believed to keep him under contract for six seasons and made him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football, per ESPN's Heather Dinich.

The extent of Freeman's interest in an NFL job will likely be made clear after the College Football Playoff Championship Game.

For now, though, Freeman will lead Notre Dame against Ohio State on Monday night looking for the program's first national title since 1988.