Josh Pate came back from a month off the air Sunday night and wasted no time circling Notre Dame as one of the sport’s real title threats. On his College Football Show podcast, the national analyst said the Fighting Irish can win the national championship in 2026, and he placed Marcus Freeman near the top of his coaching list.
“I think he's a top five head coach currently. I could easily see us calling him the number one coach in the country in the not too distant future. Going to have to win a national title,” Pate said.
He pushed the point even further when talking about the Irish’s ceiling.
“I could easily see him winning a national title this year,” he said.
Pate’s case starts with the move from Brian Kelly to Freeman in 2021. Notre Dame was already living in the nine- or 10-win range, and Pate argued the school could have taken the easy route and settled for stability. Instead, he said, “they did not let good be the enemy of great.”
He also leaned into how Notre Dame responded after being left out of last season’s College Football Playoff at 10-2. Pate played audio from a spring trip to South Bend, where Freeman talked about owning the setback.
“I think at first my default was the same as many other people's. You blame somebody else,” Freeman said.
“You have to own it. You have to own the failures.
You have to own the situations. You have to own that you sleep in the bed you make.”
Pate’s overall read was bullish.
“I don't know in my lifetime that there's ever been a better period to be a Notre Dame fan over the next five years than where we sit right now,” Pate said.
Still, he made sure to leave room for the question that hangs over this program: “Is Notre Dame a big-time program? Is Notre Dame a big game program? That is still an unknown,” Pate said.
And that uncertainty is what makes the roster such a tricky puzzle.
Notre Dame lost Jeremiyah Love, who went No. 3 overall to Arizona, and Jadarian Price, who went No. 32 to Seattle. The Irish became the first school since the 1966 merger to produce the first two running backs selected in one draft, but now Aneyas Williams steps into a room with fewer than 60 career carries behind him. That’s a lot to replace.
At receiver, there’s depth, but no established star. Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse and Micah Gilbert are back, while Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham are the newcomers everyone is talking about.
Both arrived from Ohio State. Porter logged 57 offensive snaps in Columbus and missed spring practice because of a knee injury.
Graham was stuck behind Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss and never saw meaningful playing time. In other words, it’s a gamble more than a sure thing.
The line has questions too. Redshirt freshman Will Black is taking over at left tackle.
The 6-foot-7, 316-pound Ontario native replaces Anthonie Knapp, who gave up one sack on 688 snaps last season. Redshirt sophomore Guerby Lambert is the new right tackle.
That means CJ Carr will have two unproven tackles in front of him.
But the bigger question might be whether Notre Dame even needs a huge offensive burden. The defense looks loaded enough to carry plenty of weight. Pate ranked linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa No. 21 among college football’s most important players, put cornerback Leonard Moore at No. 3, called safety Tae Johnson a beast and expects DL Boubacar Traore to take a major step after leading the team with 6.5 sacks last year.
The first major test comes Nov. 7, when Miami visits Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. ET in a rematch of last season’s opener. That game should tell a lot more than any early-August projection ever will.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Just Changed How Indiana's Future Schedule Will Be Judged
Indianas future nonconference slate took another hit when its planned home-and-home series with Notre Dame for 2030-31 was canceled, removing one of the more recognizable games from the Hoosiers schedule. The change comes as Notre Dame moved to renew its rivalry with USC in a four-game series, keeping one of college footballs marquee matchups on the calendar and leaving Indiana to keep reshaping its own future dates.
For Indiana, the timing only sharpens the conversation around how its schedules will be judged going forward. The Hoosiers currently do not have any Power Four non-conference opponents lined up, a detail that has already drawn criticism about the strength of their future slates. Losing Notre Dame adds another layer to that scrutiny, especially with so much attention now on how programs position themselves for selection committees and public perception alike. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Just Added Real Heat To Notre Dame-USC Again
Lincoln Riley has put fresh attention back on one of college footballs most stubborn rivalries by revisiting the Notre Dame-USC scheduling issue. The USC coach pointed to the reality of the Trojans conference calendar as part of the reason the matchup has landed where it has, while also taking aim at Notre Dames choices along the way. It is the kind of public back-and-forth that keeps a long-running series from going stale, even when the games themselves are still years away.
For Notre Dame, the timing matters because the rivalry is officially set to restart in 2030, with the games scheduled early in the season. That only raises the stakes around every comment and countercomment between the two sides, especially when the conversation shifts from tradition to logistics. Rileys latest remarks do not change the calendar, but they do remind both fan bases that the tension around this series is already back in full view. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Is Still Waiting On The Indiana Matchup Fans Wanted
Indiana footballs future non-conference slate has been drawing attention, and not in the way Notre Dame fans had hoped. Under Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have mapped out a schedule through 2029 that stays away from any Power Four opponent outside the Big Ten, a sharp turn from the kind of game that can make an autumn calendar feel a little bigger.
Indiana had previously had games with Virginia and Louisville on the books before moving on to lighter opponents, and Cignetti has described the approach as SEC-style in its emphasis on conference play. For Notre Dame, though, the matchup people keep circling is still a ways off, with the first series between the programs now slated for 2030-31. [Read more 🡒]