On-Field Results Are Yielding Off-The-Field Benefits For The Notre Dame Fighting Irish
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Last year was a historic season for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They finished the regular season on a 10-game win streak, beat their rival USC in the final game of the regular season and secured a spot in the first ever 12-team College Football Playoffs. They then proceeded to extend their win streak to 13 games.
On the way, they beat Indiana in the first round of the playoffs, Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Head coach Marcus Freeman, in his third year at the helm, ended a 31-year major bowl win drought and got this program an appearance in the national title game against Ohio State.
This season, the Irish ended the regular season on a 10-game win streak, beating all 10 opponents by double digits and flaunting an average margin of victory of 29.7 points. They're on the verge of making another appearance in the College Football Playoffs and are poised to make another run if elected in. Their on the field results have turned the outlook of this program around, but another thing it's done is kick the off the field results into high gear.
"You come to Notre Dame and aspire to win national championships," Freeman explained. "I think for a lot of young people, they watched the run we made last year, and they see it with their own eyes. Maybe their parents that said, 'Oh yeah, I remember when Notre Dame was winning national championships or was on that type of level.' These young people are seeing it and believe that they can reach that type of individual goal and team goal in the current landscape of college football."
Fact of the matter is, Notre Dame hasn't won a national title since 1988, but this regime and this recruiting staff are laying the necessary foundation to bring the 12th home to South Bend. General Manager Mike Martin spoke about last year's run, prior to his arrival to Notre Dame, and the potential impact it would have had if the Irish didn't make it as far last season.
"I think what made this class the mega class that it is was that we were able to sign guys that were at the top of the board on all around the country," Martin answered when asked about the recruiting momentum from last season's run. "This is my first recruiting class, but I would think, even in the NFL Draft that these are the guys we want to target. But later on, there's a little bit of settling for this guy."
"I don't really feel like we settled anywhere," Martin continued to explain. "I think there were a lot of positions where we got guys that were the top of boards all across other schools and all across the country. I feel like that sort of led us to taking 27 young men. I think there are certainly some guys that I'm sure that are still getting calls that could have gone a bunch of different places, but we're glad that they chose the Irish."
Stacking classes is imperative to sustained success, something their head coach has preached from the moment he arrived in South Bend. Notre Dame is poised to have an extremely talented roster, one of the best in the country, for seasons to come. The hope of bringing the 12th National Championship home to Notre Dame is alive and well. If it doesn't happen this season, this class may be the ones to force the issue.
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