One of the big reasons why so many people think that Notre Dame could make a real run at the National Title is because the Fighting Irish have a ton of returning talent on both sides of the ball. On Monday, ESPN analyst Bill Connelly officially released his rankings of the teams that have the most and the least returning production in 2026.
Marcus Freeman's squad was previously said to have the most returning production, but now Connelly has put some extra numbers that make the picture clearer. In total, Connelly has calculated that the Irish have 72% returning production.Â
Notre Dame's number just takes the top spot, with Maryland sitting at No. 2 with 71% returning production. Connelly also broke down how he arrived at the total returning production number and unsurprisingly, the defensive side of the ball is the biggest factor in their No. 1 ranking.
Notre Dame leads the country with 72% returning production, and the defense is carrying most of that weight at No. 2 nationally.
The Notre Dame defense has 77% returning production on Chris Ash's unit which is ranked No. 2 in the country overall. The only team on that side of the ball ranked higher is Florida, which also comes in at 77% but is a few decimals higher.
Offensively, the Irish have 67% of returning production which ranks them No. 17 in the country.
For those wondering, Connelly does include transfer players into his numbers, though he weights them slightly differently. In this day and age, returning production means for any team, not just Notre Dame from last year.
How ESPN arrives at its calculations for Notre Dame's returning production numbers
So how does Bill Connelly arrive at the numbers that have the Fighting Irish right at the top of the list?
Offensive calculations
- Percent of returning OL snaps: 39.6% of the overall number
- Percent of returning WR/TE receiving yards: 35.0%
- Percent of returning QB passing yards: 22.3%
- Percent of returning RB rushing yards: 3.1%
Defensive calculations
- Percent of returning snaps: 65.9%
- Percent of returning tackles: 19.2%
- Percent of returning tackles for loss: 14.9%
Do any of these numbers means that Notre Dame will absolutely dominate its schedule and win a national title? No they do not. However, having the level of returning production the Fighting Irish has is only a good thing in a season marked as the best chance the program has had in quite some time.