Marcus Freeman’s name continues to travel well beyond South Bend, even after Notre Dame took a hit on the field against BYU on Saturday.
The Irish head coach was added to the 2026 Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year Watch List, another sign of the respect he’s earned on a national stage. The award is handed out each January to a college football coach whose work helps elevate the sport for players and fans through grit, integrity, and a winning approach to coaching and life, on and off the field.
That recognition fits a Notre Dame team that remains firmly in the national picture. The Irish are 6-1 and ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press poll, with their defense setting the tone for everything else.
Notre Dame leads the country in total defense at 235 yards allowed per game, which is more than 11 yards better than the next-closest team. The Irish have also held opponents to 67.3 rushing yards per game, the third-fewest in the FBS, and are giving up just 13.4 points per game in 2026, tied for the fifth-lowest mark in the nation.
There’s been no shortage of news around the program, either. Notre Dame hockey is trying to recover from an 0-2 weekend against No.
6 Western Michigan, while the rest of the sports world was delivered one of the lighter moments of the week in the NHL. Brady Tkachuk returned to Ottawa on Wednesday night for the first time since asking to be traded to the Florida Panthers over the offseason, and the reception was as cold as it gets.
Ottawa fans booed him throughout the night, even before the national anthems, and the chants followed from there.
On the college football side, Maryland made a clean break after its latest loss. Following Saturday’s defeat to Rutgers, the athletic department fired Mike Locksley. He finished at Maryland with a 39-54 record, went 10-21 since the start of the 2024 season, and closed his tenure with 12 straight conference losses.
Texas also moved quickly after its 27-24 loss to Florida. Athletic director Chris Del Conte said a fan who was filmed making an obscene gesture toward Gators players on the field has been permanently banned from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
There’s more Notre Dame news tied to the NFL Draft conversation, too. A mock draft earlier this month by Fox Sports’ Rob Rang projected Leonard Moore as high as No. 3 overall if he declares this spring. That would put him in line to become the second straight Irish player taken No. 3 overall after Jeremiyah Love did it last spring.
Moore was also named a Jason Witten Collegiate Man Of The Year Semifinalist earlier this week. The award honors student-athletes who show leadership, courage, integrity and sportsmanship on and off the field. Moore is one of 20 semifinalists in the award’s 10th year, and his off-field work includes leading efforts to fight chronic absenteeism and promote student success through mentorship and accountability with Tackle Attendance South Bend, a community-driven initiative he founded.
In Other News...
Leonard Moore Just Gave Notre Dame Fans A Huge Draft Dilemma
Rob Rangs latest Fox Sports mock draft offered Notre Dame plenty to think about, and Leonard Moore was at the center of it. The projection has the Fighting Irish corner going No. 3 overall to Tampa Bay, a jolt of recognition that underscores just how much pro buzz has built around him while the season still has plenty of football left to play. It also points to a bigger picture for Notre Dame, with Anthonie Knapp, DJ McKinney and CJ Carr all showing up in the first round of the same mock.
Moores draft path is not settled, though, and that is where the intrigue really starts for the Irish. Recent injuries and the fact that the college season is still ongoing leave his next step unclear, so Notre Dame is stuck in the middle of a familiar but tricky kind of wait-and-see moment. If Moore keeps trending like this, he will have a decision to make that could shape both his future and the roster picture around him. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame's Defense Has A Stretch-Run Problem It Must Fix Fast
For much of the first month, Notre Dames defense looked like the kind of unit that could carry the Irish through the grind of the season. The numbers backed it up: through the first four games, the group was stingy against both the run and the pass, holding opponents to just 199.3 total yards and 8.3 points per game while making life miserable on every snap.
The last three games have told a different story, and the drop-off is enough to demand attention during the bye week. Notre Dame has been giving up 282.6 yards and 20.3 points per game in that stretch, with the run fit and coverage issues showing up in the form of more yards per carry and more passing touchdowns allowed. The staff now has a short window to clean it up before the schedule tightens again. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dames Model Just Reentered A Realignment Fight Fans Know Well
Miamis latest realignment conversation is one Notre Dame fans know well: what happens if the sports power brokers redraw the map again and the old conference framework starts to look less permanent? University president Joe Echevarria recently discussed how the school is weighing its football future in light of the proposed Protect College Sports Act, a measure that has introduced another layer of uncertainty around conference expansion and the broader structure of the sport.
For Notre Dame, the angle is familiar because the Irish have long operated outside the traditional conference model, and now Miami is openly considering whether a similar path could make sense if the landscape shifts. ACC schools like Miami have pushed back against restrictions on expansion, with eyes on possible moves to the SEC or Big Ten, but no final calls have been made. For now, the real intrigue is less about where Miami lands than whether the debate pushes one of college footballs biggest brands closer to Notre Dames model. [Read more 🡒]