Notre Dame Football Mailbag: Harsh reality of the Brian Kelly era, underrated 2025 contributor, and the scheduling future

May is always a slow month in the wonderful world of college football. Spring practice is behind us, and we are about to enter a dead period for recruiting. There just isn’t a lot going on nationally.  Despite that, things never truly slow down for Notre Dame football. There is plenty to discuss, including future […]

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly argues a call in the fourth quarter against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won 45-27. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

May is always a slow month in the wonderful world of college football. Spring practice is behind us, and we are about to enter a dead period for recruiting. There just isn’t a lot going on nationally. 

Despite that, things never truly slow down for Notre Dame football. There is plenty to discuss, including future schedules, a 2025 preview, and growth as a program. I covered all of that on this week’s Notre Dame football mailbag. 

Under the radar 2025 recruit 

These questions are the best. Everyone likes to hyper focus on the same names over and over again, but every year we see first-year players that have a bigger impact than expected. There are a couple of players I could see having that type of impact. The first one that comes to mind is tight end James Flanigan who is set to enroll in the Summer. With the tight end room as thin as it is, I expect Flanigan to come in and compete for a rotational role. He could be one of the better blockers, at the very least, early on compared to any tight end on the roster. 

I would also be surprised if linebacker Anthony Sacca is not competing for opportunities on special teams. At 6-3 and 225 pounds, he is a very good athlete for his size and isn't afraid to come to balance and strike. The linebacker position is packed with talent, and it'll be tough for Sacca to earn much playing time on defense in the near future. Special teams, however, is a great chance to make an impact.

A world before Marcus Freeman 

It is a great question, and is very unique to every coach between Lou Holtz and Coach Freeman. They all had unique challenges, personal strengths, and major weaknesses that kept them from trying to build a championship program. For Bob Davie, he wasn’t able to evolve with the times. In the case of Tyrone Willingham, he just wasn’t enough of a grinder. His recruiting left a lot to be desired, and it centered around effort and visibility. 

Brian Kelly was a very interesting case. He understands how to build good foundations at programs, and did raise the floor for Notre Dame after the 2016 collapse. Coach Kelly was also a good recruiter when he wanted to be, but his consistent effort just wasn’t there. Someone once joked with me that “Kelly was great in the room, but he just wasn’t in the room enough.” His golf game was more important at times, or at least it seemed. 

Due to inconsistent recruiting, there were certain positions that trended downward quickly due to uneven classes. In big games, Kelly just failed to properly prepare his football teams, and they had a very defeatist attitude. There was just an overall lack of taking accountability by him. 

Pass blocking development in 2025

I agree with it to a degree. I think pass protection in general needs to get better. The communication up front was very inconsistent last season, and both Anthonie Knapp and Aamil Wagner had way too many struggles. I think improved wide receiver play also rivals the pass blocking issues. Notre Dame needs to find more wide receivers that make things easier. I’m hoping that is what Virginia transfer Malachi Fields brings this season along with Jaden Greathouse taking another step. 

The future of Notre Dame football 

For better or for worse, I think Notre Dame is going to explore some new rivalries. Without Michigan in the future, and with the USC rivalry trending downward, that’s a big reason why the Irish are evolving the rivalry with Clemson. I’m sure that some other new programs will follow, but who they are is a question. The college football world is changing, and so is Notre Dame. 

Notre Dame Football: Contender or pretender? 

I understand where this questions is coming for, I really do. There are going to be some people who ask if the 2024 version of Notre Dame was just an outlier, and a whole lot of luck. With how head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish staff recruits, I do think this is very sustainable. I envision them being a contender for the foreseeable future, at least as long as they can stay healthier than they did this past season. 

Related Articles