The hype surrounding Notre Dame football’s chances of winning the national title is off the charts. Talk to 20 different analysts, and they’ll come up with 20 different reasons why the Irish might be the best team in the country. Most of those 20 analysts, though, will name some kind of defensive star along with intangibles like Marcus Freeman as a leader. However, Greg McElroy came up with a relatively original idea as to why ND is a great team this year, even if it’s a riff on what many people have said. CJ Carr is central to the school being among the best, if not the best, program in the country.
McElroy thinks that Carr is one of the best quarterbacks in the game. But it’s not just about his talent as a signal-caller. It’s about the Irish not having to learn an entirely new arm slinging the ball around.
“Notre Dame might be the most interesting team in this entire conversation,” McElroy said on a recent episode of his podcast. “And it starts with something that Marcus Freeman has not really had in the past, and that's continuity at quarterback.”
“For the first time in the Freeman era, Notre Dame returns both its starting quarterback and its offensive coordinator. And look at the preseason projections right now when it comes to the Heisman Trophy. He's [Carr] the betting favorite.”
Greg McElroy explains why Notre Dame has “a real national title case” in 2026.
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) June 30, 2026
He’s not ruling out the Fighting Irish as a potential preseason No. 1 team in the country. pic.twitter.com/iqWxw63y6t
CJ Carr and Mike Denbrock continuity fuels Notre Dame football title hype
“As of right now, and being in year two in the same system with Mike Denbrock means this offseason isn't necessarily going to be about learning the nuance of the offense. It's about tweaking it to... take it to the next level. It's about mastering it.”
The ESPN analyst also believes the defense will play a big role as the Irish make their national title run.
“Now on the other side, Notre Dame returns nearly 80% of their defensive production. That's the second-most in the entire country, and it's anchored by All-Americans throughout, especially at the All-American corner [Leonard Moore], and probably one of the deeper defensive lines they've had in years.”
Finally, McElroy believes that the CJ Carr hype will just help Notre Dame exact a measure of revenge on the entire sport: “This is a pre-season top five team with a legitimate grievance too because last year they're sitting there 10 and 2, won 10 games in a row to finish the regular season, and still got left out of the playoff entirely.”
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