Most of the talk around Notre Dame football this offseason has been the job Marcus Freeman is doing on the recruiting front.
Or the talk has been about whether the yearly rivalry, that’s been going on for decades with USC will come to an end after the 2026 season. Or it’s been about how Freeman has improved the program since Brian Kelly left.
Marcus Freeman gets major respect from 247 analyst with bold Notre Dame prediction
But 247Sports analyst J.D. Pickell thinks we’re ignoring the obvious story surrounding the Notre Dame football team. This program is a juggernaut in the making that is harder to beat week in and week out, in years.
Notre Dame is going to be dangerous for the foreseeable future because Marcus Freeman has a blueprint and momentum.https://t.co/euMombwDAg pic.twitter.com/seJz2hjTgT
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) June 17, 2025
When you see Notre Dame on your schedule, you always circled that logo because it's the logo, because it’s Notre Dame, because it’s Rudy and all the juice that comes with playing Notre Dame,” Pickell said on a recent episode of his podcast.
“But I think even more specifically now though, you’re not playing Notre Dame the logo, you’re playing Notre Dame the national title runner-up.You’re playing Notre Dame, team coached by one of the best coaches in college football.”
He went on to say that the Fighting Irish are a team that could go compete for a national championship in 2025 and that while there are plenty of big name teams out there, not all of them have the same “we’re going to be hunted kind of mentality that Jeremiah Love has spoken to this offseasn.
“Yes, there's some new pieces.Yes, there's a new defensive coordinator,” Pickell accepted. “All that is true. But when you as a locker room and as a building accomplish success and get as close as you got … you also have a little bit of a blueprint now as to what got you there.”
“The way this whole thing blows up,” Pickell said about the Notre Dame football team. “They start landing even more talent on the recruiting trail than they have previously. And you're seeing that already in the 2026 cycle. Notre Dame right now, I think, is working with some real juice.”