It's fair to say that Notre Dame certainly hasn't lived up to expectations in 2025, and the early season struggles have put head coach Marcus Freeman in a tough situation. Coming into the season the Irish were a preseason Top 10 team after he led Notre Dame to the national title game in his third season. Now in year four, Freeman and the Irish are 0-2 and face a major uphill battle if the program is going to reach its potential this season and make another trip to the College Football Playoff.
Freeman was the red hot name in college football this summer, and for good reason. His 2024 team was both physically and mentally tough, and they overcame a number of crushing injuries on their way to the title game. Freeman's team was well coached, sound and after dropping game two to Northern Illinois developed into one of the best program's in the country. Freeman and his staff followed that up by putting together an elite 2026 recruiting class.
The 0-2 start to the season is rough, and it has taken away much of the momentum Freeman built at Notre Dame. But it's not just the 0-2 start that is so frustrating, it's the way Notre Dame has played. The 2024 team was physical, sound and clutch. None of those things describe the 2025 squad.
Notre Dame went through a rough patch to start last season, dropping its home opener to a Northern Illinois team that would finish 8-5. The 2022 team also started 0-2, losing at home to Marshall. The Irish went 1-2 during a rough September stretch in 2023, and it needed some late game Audric Estime heroics to beat Duke and avoid going 0-3 during that stretch.
That means Freeman isn't new to having to overcome adversity, but there's something different about the start to the 2025 season. The attributes that made last season's squad so special aren't there. Notre Dame played elite defense the two previous seasons as Freeman racked up a 24-5 record, but the 2025 defense has been brutally bad so far.
Notre Dame's desire to be a line driven program has taken a big step back after two games, and the once dominant pass defense has been abysmal.
Something has to change, and it has to change in a hurry. Freeman mentioned in his Monday press conference that the team is close to being 2-0, dropping its opener by just three points and its home opener by just a point. Each loss was to good football teams, arguably the two best teams on the schedule. Notre Dame fans better hope that Freeman doesn't make that the focus of the week heading into Purdue. Notre Dame fans better hope that Freeman recognizes that the issues go much deeper than a couple of mistakes here and there, and that there are much bigger issues he must fix, and fix immediately.
Notre Dame has plenty of time to right the ship, and if Freeman can push the right buttons and get him team back on track it can go on a roll. This team still has the talent to be a dominant team, and a dangerous team in the postseason if the Irish are able to somehow get into the playoffs. But small fixes aren't going to fix this. Minor tweaks, or simply just "executing better" aren't going to fix this, because the execution mistakes are a by product of a much deeper problem on defense and the offensive line. The fact Notre Dame has been out-physicaled in its first two games is more than just an execution problem.
The first thing Freeman must do is change the leadership structure on defense. Chris Ash needs to get Notre Dame back to playing Notre Dame defense, or Freeman needs to put someone else in charge who can make that happen. Freeman and his staff need to put far greater emphasis on fundamentals, details and coaching the finer points that have been lacking the first two games. Challenging both of his lines and getting them to perform at a higher level is a must for Freeman.
There are the pieces in place for all of these things to be done, but it will require some serious looking in the mirror by Freeman and a willingness to make some tough changes. If he can do that Notre Dame can beat Purdue, gain back some momentum and start a run that could have Irish fans feeling much, much better about the direction of the season.
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