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“He said after that that Notre Dame disrespected his family during the recruiting process. And he wasn’t losing to Notre Dame. And he played like that. A lot of guys talk, a lot of guys talk and talk and talk and talk and talk. This guy played and played and played and played and played. He played hard, really hard.”
Marcus Freeman is 49-13 overall as Notre Dame head coach since taking over the Fighting Irish at the end of the 2021 season. That’s a respectable record, but when you dig a little deeper into the numbers, the situation becomes downright embarrassing.
Notre Dame’s best season under Freeman came in 2024 when the Irish finished the regular season at 11-1, winning 10 straight after losing at home to Northern Illinois, before finally losing in the national championship game to Ohio State. This campaign was undoubtedly great and very respectable, but when you pull back the curtain and focus solely on the regular season, even 2024 can’t be called impressive.
On the heels of the Irish’s Week 7 road loss to BYU, the team’s first notable opponent of the season, Notre Dame was once again in the crosshairs as a program that just can’t win the rare meaningful game it actually schedules during the regular season, and it turns out there are a few very real legitimacy behind this idea.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman before a college football game between the Stanford Cardinal and Notre Dame Fighting Irish on October 10, 2026 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (James Black/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)
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Fox Sports’ Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica dug into Notre Dame’s record under Freeman to find out if the narrative about the Fighting Irish was as bad as some in the college football world have made it out to be, and the numbers paint a pretty accurate picture.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman before a college football game between the Syracuse Orange and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 22, 2025 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (James Black/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)
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Notre Dame has won 16 games since the start of the 2025 season, and according to Fallica’s findings, those 16 teams have posted a combined record of 62-91 against FBS opponents. If you take these 16 teams and look at their record against Power Four schools, it falls to a stunning 32-78 mark.
While these numbers reflect how much Notre Dame has loosened its schedule over the years, it becomes even more alarming.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman before a college football game between the Stanford Cardinal and Notre Dame Fighting Irish on October 10, 2026 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (James Black/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)
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Freeman went 44-11 in the regular season while leading the Irish, and of those 44 wins, five came against teams that finished the season ranked. Two of those five ranked opponents were military academies.
Looking at the remainder of Notre Dame’s regular season, the Irish will host No. 1 Miami on Nov. 7 and No. 23 SMU two weeks later.
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Things will fall into place like they always do, but it’s relatively safe to assume that if the Irish finish the year at 10-2, they’ll punch a ticket to the College Football Playoff.
If Notre Dame finishes in the Top 12 in the final CFB Playoff rankings, it automatically qualifies for the Playoffs regardless of teams or resumes in a similar position.
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