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Notre Dame is the biggest brand in college football whether you like it or not. The numbers back it up. The Fighting Irish have their own channel. Their colors are the most recognizable in the sport. If they went to any conference, it would blow all of the realignment news out the window in terms of coverage and importance.
Coach Marcus Freeman took over after Brian Kelly’s departure. His first season was littered with highs and lows. In week two, Notre Dame's upset loss to Marshall, leaving the Irish with an 0-2 start, opened Freeman's staff to criticism. Their dominating 35-14 victory over Clemson on Nov. 5 eased a lot of tension about Freeman.
Notre Dame finished 9-4 and ranked 18th after beating South Carolina 45-38 in the Gator Bowl.
What should be expected of the Fighting Irish in 2023? Here's a way-too-early prediction.
Notre Dame's way-too-early season prediction
It would be hard to say that the Golden Domers will exceed last season's production, maybe they can get into the 10-win club.
No longer does Notre Dame play a "cupcake" independent schedule on its way into an unworthy bid for the College Football Playoff. Year in and year out now, they play one of the toughest schedules. It will be hard to get through that schedule undefeated, let alone in a position to earn a top-four ranking.
Key matchups for the 2023 season
Nobody outside of the SEC West has as many key high-profile matchups as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The Irish play the biggest dog in the Big Ten, Ohio State in week five. They play the most high-profile team in the Pac-12 as well, the USC Trojans, in their traditional rivalry game, and if that weren’t enough, they go to South Carolina to play the Clemson Tigers. While the rest of their schedule is relatively easy, a win against those three is a win against the who’s who of conference powers.
They also play one of the coolest games in the opening weekend when they travel to Dublin, Ireland, to face off against Navy.
Players to watch
Sam Hartman's transfer from Wake Forest has Notre Dame’s fans as excited as they have been. The quarterback is sure to be the dynamic passer who has been missing from the Fighting Irish offense the past few seasons. The Irish return one of the best running backs in college football in Audric Estime. Behind him is a staple of talented runners.
Notre Dame returns Joe Alt and Blake Fisher, the best tandem of tackles in college football. Their offense should give NBC viewers a firework show every Saturday.
On the defensive side of the ball, Benjamin Morrison was a Freshman All-American at cornerback and heads a very consistent and experienced defense.
Coaching staff and strategies
Tommy Rees, a former Notre Dame quarterback, has moved on to be the offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Marcus Freeman elected to hire in-house, promoting tight ends coach Gerad Parker to the position.
“I’m not hiring Parker to run Tommy’s offense or anybody else’s. I’m hiring Parker to implement his offense,” Freeman said.
The offense, led by Sam Hartman, looked solid in a brief spring Blue-Gold Game.
The defense will be relatively the same, in both the coaching staff and players. At times they suffocated opponents and the hope is that they will take the next leap, and become more consistent in doing so.
Expectations and goals
Expectations at a place like South Bend, Indiana are relatively straightforward: Win.
While the expectations and predictions of the 2023 Fighting Irish season wildly vary from fan to pundit, the expectations are to make the CFP. Fighting Irish fans are hoping that the addition of an explosive quarterback like graduate transfer Sam Hartman, along with the consistency of the 2022 defense, can bring Notre Dame back into national championship hopes. Freeman has already done a good job in recruiting; now he has to turn that into an exceptional on-field product.
