Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman confirms suspicion about Fighting Irish starter and his concerning lack of consistency
Notre Dame fans finally received the news that everyone expected.
After a 0-2 start to the 2025 college football season, Notre Dame football has rattled off five straight victories and now leaves a bye week with a ton of momentum. Head coach Marcus Freeman appears to have his Fighting Irish squad rounding into form, and there’s no reason to think this team can’t keep improving. That’s the objective for this upcoming matchup against the Boston College Eagles.
As is the case every week, Freeman spoke with the media Monday to preview the game, recap their most recent rivalry battle against the USC Trojans, and answer any other questions. One interesting question was asked about starting cornerback Christian Gray, his lapses in technique, and overall inconsistency as a player.
Freeman finally confirmed the suspicion that the Fighting Irish fanbase had already.
“It starts with health for him,” Freeman said. “He’s a guy that has been pretty injured and banged up. The thing about Christian is that he’s such a tough individual. He never wants to come out of the game. He never wants to tell someone how he is truly feeling. We know he’s banged up without him even saying it.
“We’re proactive with really evaluating him and his body, and what areas need to recover,” he continued. “That’s where a lot of his issues came from, injuries that caused him to play with poor technique in certain situations. That’s the first thing. The second thing is to continue to trust his technique and do it consistently. He’ll never be a guy to make an excuse, but we have to make sure to keep getting him healthy so he can play at a high level.”
The lapses of Christian Gray
For those who have watched every Notre Dame game, you know how inconsistent Gray can be. When the junior cornerback is at his best, he’s an extremely talented cover man who has a propensity to make big plays on the football. That was on display against USC two weekends ago, hauling in two interceptions. The 6-0, 190-pound defensive back leads the Irish with eight pass breakups.
The problem is that Gray has been extremely inconsistent each week. For as many big plays as he makes, Gray also gives them up. The peaks and valleys are just too wide right now to be comfortable with.
There have been rumors about a shoulder injury, as well as a lower-body ailment, plaguing Gray this season. The fanbase will hope that the bye week did the St. Louis native some good, and time will continue to help with those consistency issues. If Notre Dame wants to become the most consistent version of itself, it needs Gray to play his best football down the stretch of the season.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish News
LSU has several potential transfer portal entrants that Notre Dame should have interest in following the Brian Kelly firing
LSU has several potential Transfer Portal entrants that Notre Dame should consider.
