The Notre Dame football team has a ton of hype entering the 2026 season. However, when looking at the offseason wins and losses, it's clear there are some questions the Fighting Irish need to clear up.
ESPN analysts Eli Lederman, Max Olson, and Adam Rittenberg recently put together a long list of every Power 4 team's offseason, how each program ranked in the Top 10, and its respective conference. Marcus Freeman's squad came away mostly smelling like a rose, but there are at least a few things that could end up offering problems this fall.
Marcus Freeman has Notre Dame football riding high after ESPN’s top-10 praise
In the rankings, Notre Dame finished No. 9 for the country's best offseason. One big reason is that the Irish managed to keep their head coach in South Bend, rather than head off to the NFL.
"Coach Marcus Freeman rejected NFL interest, knowing this Irish team has more than enough coming back to make another CFP run. The Irish have a ton of talent for 2026, inked a top-five recruiting class, and met their portal needs with high-upside additions at defensive tackle and wide receiver."
If there are some negatives to this particular list, it's that quite a few Irish rivals are ranked ahead of them. Right at the top of the list is Indiana, which is coming off a National Championship season. According to the ESPN analysts, the Hoosiers followed up a historic season with a fantastic offseason.
Marcus Freeman still faces key Notre Dame football questions before 2026
The hated Miami Hurricanes are ranked No. 2, and that old rival that backed out of the longest-running series in college football, USC, is ranked No. 6 for fantastic offseasons. The good news is that there is one Notre Dame rival ranked behind them. The Ohio State Buckeyes, the team that robbed the Irish of their first national title since 1988, had the 10th best offseason.
That doesn't mean everything went nearly perfectly for the Golden Domers. The analysts did list the problems that could pose a risk to the much-hyped season.
"The staff departures on defense aren't surprising, given the unit's success, but still create a bit of uncertainty before a CFP-or-bust season, and put more pressure on Ash. Love and Price were expected to declare for the draft, but Notre Dame's offensive line also lost two underclassmen in Billy Schrauth (fifth-round pick) and Aamil Wagner (undrafted). The Irish absorbed several portal blows, as defensive end Joshua Burnham (Indiana), backup quarterback Kenny Minchey (Kentucky), running back Gi'Bran Payne (Cincinnati), and others left. The team also missed out on coveted wide receiver transfer Nick Marsh, who picked Indiana."
The good news is that Notre Dame is stocked to the point where it should be able to recover from the losses.
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