Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame finished last season with its first national championship game appearance since 2012. A tremendous defense, which ranked fifth in scoring, led the way and shined when called upon en route to the title matchup.

Unsurprisingly, this year's Notre Dame NFL draft class has some players who are going to make big waves on the next level.

Cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts stand out.

Morrison had 20 tackles (14 solo) in six games before a hip injury prematurely ended his season. But the fact that he was still considered a potential first round prospect leading into the draft speaks volumes about what he's previously accomplished and what he can do at the next level.

Morrison burst onto the scene with six interceptions in 2022 and 10 pass breakups in 2023. He does a great job playing the ball and can translate those skills to the next level.

Watts has been a monster in college, amassing 13 interceptions over the past two years (seven in 2023, six more in 2024). He also had 134 tackles during that span, including 82 in 2024. He's a two-time All-American and 2023 Bronco Nagurski Award winner as the nation's best defensive player.

Watts was called a "a high-motor safety who plays with intensity and physicality on every snap," per B/R NFL Scout Cory Giddings. Surely that has to appeal to teams, especially with the need for teams to slow down the elite quarterbacks who proliferate the NFL's top squads.

The Notre Dame defense is also sending more talent to the NFL, including linebacker Jack Kiser (90 tackles, 55 solo) and defensive lineman Rylie Mills (seven-and-a-half sacks).

On offense, quarterback Riley Leonard is headed to the NFL after transferring from Duke and leading the Fighting Irish to the national title game. Leonard's rushing ability in particular stood out (906 rushing yards, 17 scores) in college. He'll have to improve as a passer to truly make waves in the pros, but the potential is there for him to stick around long-term.

And with that, here's a look at where Notre Dame players landed in the NFL.

Notre Dame NFL Draft Prospects

CB Benjamin Morrison: Round 2, Pick 21 (No. 53 Overall): Tampa Bay Buccaneers

S Xavier Watts: Round 3, Pick 32 (No. 96 Overall): Atlanta Falcons (After Trade With Philadelphia Eagles)

TE Mitchell Evans: Round 5, Pick 25 (No. 163 Overall): Carolina Panthers (After Trade With Baltimore Ravens)

LB Jack Kiser: Round 4, Pick 5 (No. 107 Overall): Jacksonville Jaguars

QB Riley Leonard: Round 6, Pick 13 (No. 189 Overall): Indianapolis Colts

DL Rylie Mills: Round 5, Pick 4 (No. 142 Overall): Seattle Seahawks (After Trade With Minnesota Vikings)

WR Beaux Collins: UDFA

DL Howard Cross III: UDFA

EDGE RJ Oben: UDFA

Prospects via NFL.com.

Steve Angeli, who was in the mix to be Notre Dame's starting quarterback for the 2025 season, is reportedly planning to enter the transfer portal, per ESPN's Max Olson.

Angeli, who has been with the Fighting Irish since 2022, was Riley Leonard's backup a season ago as Notre Dame reached the College Football Playoff title game. He was competing with CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey for the starting spot in South Bend.

Angeli was a 4-star prospect coming out of high school and was considered to be the No. 21 quarterback in the Class of 2022 by 247Sports Composite. He picked Notre Dame over Arizona, Boston College, Georgia Tech and others.

Across 20 appearances, Angeli completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 772 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and an interception. He appeared in Notre Dame's CFP semifinal matchup against Penn State after Leonard exited with a potential head injury, leading the Fighting Irish 52 yards down the field to a field goal that made it a 10-3 deficit heading into the half.

Angeli enters the 2025 season as a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility remaining.

With many top transfer quarterbacks having already signed with their new teams, Angeli will quickly become one of the best available options for teams looking to add a quarterback through the spring transfer portal.

One possible fit for Angeli is Tennessee, which is looking for a new starting quarterback after parting ways with Nico Iamaleava last week amid contract negotiations.

Pete Nakos of On3 reported that the Vols "will evaluate Angeli, but Tennessee continues to wait to see how the quarterback market develops."

The Vols should have plenty of NIL funds now, considering Iamaleava was reportedly slated to make more than $2 million for the 2025 season. A big payday coupled with the prospect of being a starting quarterback in the SEC could be enough to sway Angeli if Tennessee pursues him.

As for Notre Dame, even after losing Angeli, the Fighting Irish have a pair of starting-caliber quarterbacks left on the roster. Both Carr and Minchey were 4-star prospects coming out of high school, according to 247Sports Composite, so Marcus Freeman likely won't have to dip into the portal to find his starter for the 2025 season.

Kennedy Urlacher, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, is exploring leaving Notre Dame after one season.

Urlacher told Hayes Fawcett of On3.com he is entering the transfer portal.

A 3-star safety recruit out of Chandler High School in 2024, Urlacher committed to Notre Dame in December 2023. He appeared in 14 of the Fighting Irish's 16 games last season.

Griffin McVeigh of On3.com noted Kansas State, Miami, Illinois, Penn State and TCU were among the schools Urlacher was considering last year before deciding on Notre Dame.

Urlacher's decision to enter the transfer portal comes as a bit of a surprise given how highly Brian spoke about Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman during the team's run to the College Football Playoff Championship Game in January.

Playing time may have been difficult to come by for Urlacher in a deep Notre Dame secondary going into next season. The group added graduate transfers Jalen Stroman from Virginia Tech and DeVonta Smith from Alabama during the winter transfer window.

The Irish are also bringing back Adon Shuler and Luke Talich. Shuler ranked fourth on the team in combined tackles (59) and tied for second in interceptions (three).

Urlacher recorded 12 combined tackles and one pass breakup as a true freshman last season.

Wednesday marked the first day of the spring transfer window. The window is open through April 25, but as long as a player has officially entered the portal by that date, they can sign with another school at any point.

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.