Notre Dame came so close to winning a National Championship in the 2024 season. The first half was the toughest on the Fighting Irish against Ohio State, but the second half is where they found some life; however, it was just too late.
So heading into the 2025 season, Notre Dame has a job to do in order to finish the season the way they wanted to last season. However, the Fighting Irish are a very different team this year than they were last year, so there are a few things that Notre Dame has to do in order to win a championship next season, and ESPN outlined exactly what those things are.
Here are the three things that ESPN says, otherwise known as "ifs," for Notre Dame to win a title next season:
- If CJ Carr is ready
- If the new wide receiver corps is better than the old one
- If the new defensive coordinator clears the bar.
So let's dive into all three of these "ifs" to see if Notre Dame has a chance of achieving each one, potentially setting them up for winning a National Championship this season.
If CJ Carr is ready
CJ Car is getting ready to become the newest starter for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as a redshirt freshman who sat out last season and learned. The former 4-star quarterback is looking to be the guy that head coach Marcus Freeman is going to go with. Carr has a solid arm and good size; however, he may not be quite the runner that Riley Leonard was, but he could be a better passer.
Carr will have a chance to prove if he is ready for this position in the first two games of the season, starting the year against Miami and Texas A&M, both of them away from home. Carr needs to show he can handle this; if not, there is Kenny Minchey sitting and waiting to come in and take over.
If the new receiving corp gets better
Notre Dame has two star returning wide receivers with Jaden Greathouse, who had 592 yards and four touchdowns last season, and Jordan Faison, who had 356 yards and one touchdown last season. So the Fighting Irish need to really pick up their receiving game, which was ranked 66th in yards per dropback last season.
Now, Freeman did bring in Malachi Field and Will Pauling from he transfer portal in order to help bolster this wide receiver room. There is also a new young freshman, Cam Williams, who is coming in trying to create a name for himself. So there are a lot of guys in the building, now it is time to see if they can produce better than the others did last season.
If the new defensive coordinator can continue Notre Dame's strong defense
When Al Golden was hired in the NFL, Marcus Freeman knew he had a big hole to fill in his coaching staff, as Golden led the Fighting Irish to having two top 10 defensive SP+ rankings since 2018. Freeman chose to bring in Chris Ash, who struggled as the head coach of Rutgers in the 2010s and, for the last four seasons, has worked as an assistant in the NFL.
Ash is taking over a defense that was very strong last year and is coming back even stronger this season. The question remains, though, can Ash get his defense to perform the way Golden had it performing? For the sake of Notre Dame winning a title, every Fighting Irish fan hopes it does.