The Notre Dame football team is preparing to play for the National Title. Marcus Freeman and company know full well that they can’t prep for the final game of the 2024 season only. They also need to prep for next season. Football never sleeps, and on Saturday, the Irish took some big steps in getting ready for what we all hope is a season where they’ll be defending their National Championship.
First up was former North Carolina kicker and graduate transfer Noah Burnette. Burnette will essentially take over the job from Mitch Jeter as the Irish continue going to the well of veteran kicker from the portal, rather than developing a freshman. We’ll see how well that keeps playing out, but Burnette is good.
Burnette was a kicking ace in 2023, hitting 19-of-20 field goals and all 43 extra point attempts. He struggled a bit this year, going 15–for-21on FGs and 38-for-39 on extra points. However, the Tar Heels, in general, were a mess.
Notre Dame football adds trio of portal players
Then there was USC transfer defensive lineman Elijah Hughes who will have two years to play for the Irish. Hughes appeared in seven games this past season, totaling six tackles and a sack. That came after seven appearances as a true freshman in 2023 when he also had six tackles to go with 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sack.
Finally, the Irish pulled a defensive lineman from Louisville. Jared Dawson will help replace Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III after posting 19 tackles and 4 sacks this past season.
The Notre Dame football team needs to reload, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And the program took a big step towards that on Saturday.