From playoff snub to decade-defining win streak, Notre Dame's 2025 season demanded critical reflection. Discover the key takeaways for future dominance.
Obviously, this season did go the way we thought that it would, myself included. Notre Dame started off the regular season 0-2 after dropping games to the two best opponents they played, Miami on the road and Texas A&M at home. They then proceeded to rattle off 10 straight wins by double digits and accomplished something they hadn't done since the 1966 season. After the final week of the regular season, they were in prime position to make the playoffs but were left out after, arguably, the biggest snub in the playoff era.
So what did the Fighting Irish learn in the process? As there head coach Marcus Freeman says 'there's lessons to be learned in every scenario.' So what were the lessons learned here? Everything has to be under evaluation heading into the offseason to better prepare this program to go on a run in 2026. For me, it's relatively simple: start faster and finish dominant.
Start Faster
The month of September hasn't been too kind to Notre Dame under Freeman. They have suffered devastating losses in each of the four seasons in his tenure in the month of September or the first quarter of the regular season. In 2022, they lost their season opener to Ohio State on the road 21-10 only to follow up that loss with a loss in their home opener to Marshall 26-21 a week later. In 2023, they rattled off four straight victories to kick off the season but lost in a heartbreaker to Ohio State in South Bend 17-14. Last season, a week after picking up their biggest win in September under Freeman, they lost their home opener to Northern Illinois 16-14.
Home openers in the Freeman Era haven't gone the way we had expected either. Notre Dame is 1-3 since 2022 in home openers with losses to Marshall, Northern Illinois and Texas A&M. Their lone home-opener win came against Tennessee State in 2023, the only FCS team the Irish have played in program history. Something has to get adjusted in the preseason to get this team going out of the gate quicker; a faster start is imperative to their season's success.
One thing that would help is potentially altering the early season schedule. Notre Dame was the only team ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 25 that started their season playing two playoff teams. With future schedules featuring Alabama, Texas, Auburn and Michigan likely in the early window, the month of September will continue to carry a heavy weight for the Irish and their playoff outlook. Starting fast has to become a top priority for Freeman and this program moving forward so they aren't working from behind the eight ball in future seasons.
Finish Dominant
As much as I disagree with how the committee evaluated Miami's end of the season performances, the reality is, the box score watchers were amongst the playoff committee. Notre Dame can't afford to let late game touchdowns happen like we saw this season against Pitt and Stanford. No, that doesn't mean keep the first team offense and defense in and run with the same gameplan they started the game with. I'm not even saying run up the score, after all, they beat Syracuse this season 70-7 and still missed the playoffs.
With that being said, Notre Dame will have to operate with the same aggressiveness with the back ups and rotational players in. One of the debates that kept Notre Dame and Miami close together towards the end of the regular season was the fashion in how those teams won. The Irish jumped out to big leads and took their foot off the gas against teams like Pitt and Stanford while the Hurricanes limped through the first half of some of those games and piled on points. A dominant end to the season has to be a priority in years to come regardless of the start of the season for Notre Dame's playoff chances.
Yes, there are other factors at play as to why Notre Dame didn't make the playoffs, but there are valuable lessons to be learned in any season and to me, this season's lessons were abundantly clear. How do you become more successful in September and the early window of the season? How do you start off your home campaign on a strong note? How do you put teams away late but don't run up the score with your starters in? Those are all things the staff will have to evaluate during this long offseason. If they come away with a great plan for 2026, next season will be one to remember.
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