Notre Dame Football: Can the Irish get to 10 wins again in 2021?
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame Football program lost a lot of talent this past offseason, putting their run of ten or more victories in serious jeopardy in 2021.
Over the past four seasons, the Notre Dame Football program has had no problems getting to double-digit wins. Thanks to some first-round talent on both sides of the ball, and the play of the all-time winningest quarterback in program history, the Irish have won at least ten games in each of the last four campaigns.
However, there is a lot of speculation about this team heading into the 2021 season, after losing nine players to the 2021 NFL Draft. That is a lot of talent to replace, including the quarterback Ian Book, who was the first signal-caller taken on Day 3 last month.
When it comes to talent, the program is not short on it, and they have enough guys who can come in and fill the voids left by the players who graduated or went pro. The Irish must replace nearly their entire offensive line, and their quarterback, while on defense, their leader, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is gone as well.
Despite this, the Irish are going to be just fine in 2021.
Notre Dame Football will win ten games in 2021
Looking at the 2021 schedule, you can easily find ten wins for the Irish, especially if they can gel on the offensive side of the ball. It is likely that graduate transfer Jack Coan takes over for Book at quarterback, and his last time as a starter, he led the Wisconsin Badgers to a Big Ten title game.
Notre Dame also has the ability to run the ball down the defense’s throat, boasting one of the better 1-2 punches at running back in the country. Kyren Williams is fresh off a 1,000-yard season, and Chris Tyree is as explosive as they come, so expect a heavy dose of the run game on a weekly basis.
Despite the loss of JOK, there is a lot to like about the defense as well, including Marcus Freeman, the program’s new defensive coordinator who is one of the best in football. Kyle Hamilton returns in the secondary, and he is going to be a high first-round pick, and the linebacker and defensive line are loaded with veteran talent.
Sure, the Irish take on some of the better quarterbacks in the country this upcoming season, including two who could be in the running to be the No. 1 overall pick when all is said and done. The bottom line is, the talent is there on both sides of the ball, and with a schedule that favors them, ten wins is more than doable this upcoming season.