One of the biggest stories to come out of Notre Dame’s loss to BYU is the conspicuous lack of wide receiver rotations against opponents who challenge the Fighting Irish. Now the Irish coaches are spending the week explaining why the bench has gotten so few snaps in certain games and how they plan to improve the rotation moving forward.
On Monday, head coach Marcus Freeman said he’s talked to his coaches about finding a way to get more snaps for guys not named Jordan Faison, Micah Gilbert, and Jaden Greathouse. However, Freeman also said that the guys wasting away on the bench need to practice better to earn more playing time.
On Tuesday, wide receivers coach Mike Brown said something similar. Brown said he and the other Notre Dame assistants were looking at how they could improve the rotation, but it’s also hard to move away from the players the Irish coaches trust to get the job done.
"It's all about consistency," Brown explained. "And the guys have done a good job. I know there's a lot of questions about rotations and it's not that anybody's doing anything wrong. I do have trust in our guys. I think our guys have continually gotten better. We've had, since I've been here over these past three years, Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse. They've been two of the better players on our offense. Sometimes when you get into those situations, it's those big moments in those big games.”
"You tend to lean on the guys that have done it time and time again in those moments. With that being said, honestly, we gotta get more guys into the rotation and we will." - Notre Dame WR coach Mike Brown pic.twitter.com/SKxhRn6A7M
— Matt Freeman (@mattfreeman05_) October 27, 2026
Notre Dame football WR coach Mike Brown explains why Faison, Greathouse and Gilbert dominate snaps
In other words, Brown knows Notre Dame has many talented receivers, but after years of working with Greathouse and Faison, he trusts them most.
"You think back to so many of our big games that we've had, those guys have made plays over and over and over again," Brown continued.
The receiver coach then tried to offer a bit of an olive branch.
"So you tend to lean on the guys that have done it time and time again in those moments. But with that being said, I understand, we got to get more guys into the rotation and we will. Moving forward, guys are continuing to work and we're working to get better at it every single day."
When Notre Dame will start looking at other receivers is still up in the air. Against Navy, the Irish will almost certainly be able to empty the bench and let backups like Jerome Bettis Jr. and Mylan Graham get some targets. When the Irish face Miami, that lack of rotation could become a problem again.
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