ACC Team Blatantly Rips Off Notre Dame with New Logo

It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that would certainly apply in the case of Wake Forest

Oct 17, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; General view of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo at midfield before a NCAA football game against the Southern California Trojans tat Notre Dame Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A post about logos - just what I thought I would be doing on a Friday afternoon.

Full disclosure, I went to a college that pretty blatantly stole its logo from Notre Dame.

I attended North Central College in Naperville, Illinois (yes, the Division III football power that has won more games than any of your schools in the last decade), and the "NC" that it uses looks awfully similar to the one that Notre Dame has trotted out for decades.

Factor in all the schools that have made the "Notre Dame Victory March" their high school fight song over the years and how many teams have nicknamed their squads the "Fighting Irish" and you've got a hefty list.

Well, now you can add more to the flattery group, as a regular foe from the ACC has flat out copied its new logo right from Notre Dame.

Notre Dame's Updated Leprechaun Logo

Just before the start of last football season, Notre Dame announced a new sport-specific logo featuring its leprechaun. Football was the first sport up and for the the first time, the leprechaun in the logo was actually playing one of the sports.

The storied Leprechaun tradition adds a new chapter ☘️ #GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/QEtBNqz6Gg

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) August 21, 2025

Not long after, other sports had their logos updated with the leprechaun dribbling, skating for hockey, swinging a golf club, or doing a variety of other things.

Well, that logo was clearly a hit, and now Wake Forest has decided to do - well - the exact same thing.

Wake Forest Releases New "Rushing Deacon"

Ahead of its home game against powerhouse Miami on Friday night, Wake Forest released its new football-specific "Rushing Deacon" logo - and it looks awfully familiar.

Introducing the Rushing Deacon 🎩 pic.twitter.com/VDeizQVX28

— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) September 18, 2026

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

When I was probably about 20 years old or so, this would have bothered me far too much than I'd like to admit.

"HOW COULD WAKE FOREST DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?"

Now, my reaction is just kind of, "meh".

Notre Dame has been copied off of for a very long time, and this is just the latest episode of that. It does get me thinking about which specific mascots would have the coolest sport-specific logos, though.

I can't help but think of what mascots would have the best sport-specific logos, though.

Alright, maybe not best, but how would a Florida Gator hold a football with its short arms? Carry it in its mouth?

Alright, I'll stop.

First, though, if you're Wake Forest, when it comes to making the golf-specific one, don't you have to give some kind of nod to Arnold Palmer in it?