The last few offseasons have brought lots of change to the Notre Dame football program. Players have come in, others have headed to the NFL Draft (sometimes before they had to, like 1a and 1b at running back), and coaches have shuffled in and out. Marcus Freeman’s tenure in South Bend has seen one change after another. The Fighting Irish head coach recently sat down with local media and talked about numerous topics, including what he sees as the biggest offseason change last year.
Freeman believes the 5-for-5 change to the NCAA eligibility rule is easily the biggest change of the offseason. He believes the change isn’t all that big this year, but it will have a massive impact on future seasons. Of course, he also knows that even this year, he and his coaches have to work to plan for the roster.
“I think for us, it's number one, who's the fourth-year seniors who will have an opportunity to come back for a fifth year if they want,” the Notre Dame head coach said when asked what kind of impact the new rule has. “The players that have played four years. That's number one.”
The planning is complicated because not every player who could have a fifth year will want it. Linebacker Drayk Bowen is the best example of this. He’s almost certainly headed to the NFL even though he could come back for a fifth year in 2027.
Marcus Freeman explains how NCAA eligibility changes reshape Notre Dame roster planning
Wide receiver Jordan Faison is in the same boat. While there might be more reason for him to come back for a fifth year to show that he can be a starter in the NFL, the lure of the 2027 NFL Draft might be too strong. And then there’s Christian Gray, who, after a bit of an up-and-down career at corner, might want that extra year to boost his draft stock for 2028.
Notre Dame coaches can only guess at how their rosters will look for the next few years because those decisions won’t come until after this season. And yet, they’re still recruiting at least 22 commits for the 2027 class.
Planning for the future is one aspect, but there’s also the lack of planning needed when it comes to playing freshmen now. There are no redshirt years for the Fighting Irish with the new eligibility rules. Guys that Freeman and Co. might have had to delicately balance to make sure they didn’t burn a redshirt can now play as often as the staff wants.
“It's good for both parties, the student-athlete, but also the coaches,” explained Freeman. “Coaches don't have to make a decision on what four games we are playing them. Do we wanna save this fourth game in case we need them? We gotta have a tough conversation. We need you to play game five and this kid is talking to his agent and his parents, ‘They don't want me to play game five.’ That's tough on a young person. It's tough on coaches.”
While this rule change is clearly impactful for Notre Dame, it’s also clearly something Marcus Freeman is very much in favor of and sees as a massive positive for his program.
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