Just in case there was any doubt, Notre Dame is still the villain of college football. Look no further than how people are lining up behind Curt Cignetti’s rather ridiculous comments about the Irish. And of course, with friends like Danny Kanell, who needs enemies? It’s not exactly a good sign when the former Florida State quarterback and “analyst” agrees with you.
Kanell jumped into the mini-feud between the Irish and Cignetti on Saturday as he reposted the story of the Hoosiers’ coach talking trash about the Golden Domers. The comments, “I’d like to play Notre Dame. They ought to come to our place twice, and we’ll go there once, since they’re not in a conference,” had the college football personality agreeing with Cignetti.
“We need more people to call out Notre Dame and their sweetheart deal as an independent,” Kanell wrote on Twitter. The sweetheart deal Kanell is likely talking about is the agreement the school and the College Football Playoff Committee struck that gets the Irish into the playoff if they’re among the Top 12 teams. In other words, a school like Miami can’t leapfrog Marcus Freeman’s squad on the final weekend if they were ranked behind them all year.
Kanell could also have been talking about the Irish getting into the CFP without a killer schedule. Of course, because the former Seminole likes to say things without much research, he may think ND has some deal with the NCAA to remain independent.
We need more people to call out Notre Dame and their sweetheart deal as an independent 👏👏👏 https://t.co/H0hcR9olAg
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) August 15, 2026
Danny Kanell backs Curt Cignetti’s attack on Notre Dame football independence
Anyone who has followed Notre Dame at all knows they’re still independent because they’re a popular enough program that they secured their own network broadcast deal most members of a conference would be jealous of. It’s the kind of deal no other school could dream of getting.
“Notre Dame should join a conference” has been one of those mantras that come from the same coaches who are jealous of what the Irish can do without any football affiliation. The more people like Cignetti and Kanell, the more it sounds like whining rather than anything else.
Kanell should also be aware that despite Cignetti’s big talk, the Hoosiers are the team that ran away from the Fighting Irish. The two schools had a home-and-home series scheduled to start in 2030. IU backed out of the deal, and Pete Bevacqua found a way to revive the rivalry series with USC.
Indiana pulling out of the deal is what had Cignetti comment on the situation at all. Instead of really explaining why the Hoosiers, who have one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the country, decided not to play Notre Dame, he talked tough. To the surprise of no one, Danny Kanell grabbed the low-hanging fruit and spewed some nonsense about a “sweetheart” deal that benefits the NCAA as much as the Fighting Irish.
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