Notre Dame Christmas Wish List

Let me begin by wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! I have put together my own Christmas wish list for the next year, and I figured I would share it. I’ll go ahead and give it to you part chronologically, part thematically.

1. Beat Oklahoma State — The Fiesta Bowl won’t completely dictate how the offseason goes, but it will certainly factor into the momentum the program can generate. A win against Oklahoma State ends the program’s New Year’s Six bowl drought that goes all the way back to the mid-90s. It gives head coach Marcus Freeman an early victory over a Top 10 opponent and it gives the program loads of momentum heading into the offseason.

2. Home Run Hires — Freeman’s first task is winning the Fiesta Bowl, but his second vital task is even more important, and that is putting together an elite coaching staff. For Freeman that means making a few home run hires, especially on offense. Let’s say convincing Harry Hiestand to come back to coach the offensive line. Or maybe hiring Tony Alford to coach running backs, which puts Lance Taylor out to wide receivers. Or perhaps it means leaving Taylor at running back and hiring a standout wide receivers coach, like say Purdue’s JaMarcus Shephard.

As we’ve discussed the last two weeks on the premium message board at Irish Breakdown, it’s looking like Hiestand returning to Notre Dame is a legitimate option. Mentioning Alford and Shephard is about a wish list that includes two outstanding coaches and recruiters, that is not me hinting about intel or leaving bread crumbs about what might or might not happen.

On defense, Freeman needs to hire a defensive coordinator that is a great teacher, great game planner and strong recruiter.

Great head coaches surround themselves with other great coaches. Freeman has a chance to do that this offseason, and he needs to make it happen.

3. Just Say No … To The NFL — There are number of NFL decisions that will need to be made once the season is completed. If things go Notre Dame’s way the 2022 team will have a tremendous foundation. That’s why my Christmas Wish List has Isaiah Foskey, Jayson Ademilola, Jarrett Patterson, Kevin Austin and Cam Hart all returning to Notre Dame for the 2022 season.

It would not only make the 2022 team much, much, much better it would also give the Irish a chance to have a monster draft class in 2023. Could you imagine the draft success Notre Dame would have if Foskey, Ademilola, Patterson, Austin, Hart and Michael Mayer were all part of the same draft class. Would do wonders for recruiting, that’s for sure!

4. Elite Offense Finally Arrives — Notre Dame has put a championship caliber defense on a field a few times the last decade, but the offense has been a different story. Notre Dame needs to finally put a top notch offense on the field if it's going to finally become a legitimate title contender.

We'll spend a lot of time in the offseason about what this will look like and what needs to happen for Notre Dame to develop an elite offense, but for now the key is wishing (me) and working (Irish staff) to get to that point.

5. Breakout From Buchner — Of course, an elite offense in today's game requires strong play at the quarterback position. That's where Buchner comes into play. A highly ranked recruit and an extremely talented young player, how Buchner develops over the next year will have a major say on whether or not Notre Dame can be an elite offense, which will determine if the Irish can be title contenders.

Buchner has dynamic playmaking ability, but a true breakout, one that ends with him helping the Irish become an elite offense, will come because he's picked up the offense, improved his ability to go through reads, become a better decision maker and because he's become more consistent with his mechanics in the pass game.

6. Youth Movement — Getting the veterans I mentioned in point three is huge, and other veterans (or soon to be veterans like Chris Tyree) will also need to continue improving and developing. Notre Dame has a very talented freshman class, and its incoming class is one of the best hauls of the last 15 years. There are potential game changers either on the roster in the freshman class or arriving in the spring and summer.

A coaching staff capable of getting that group on track to play a key role next season would give both sides of the ball a huge shot in the arm. I'm thinking about players like Deion Colzie, Lorenzo Styles, Tobias Merriweather, Logan Diggs, Audric Estime, Blake Fisher, Joe Alt and Rocco Spindler on offense.

On defense it would be great to see young players like Ryan Barnes, Philip Riley, Benjamin Morrison, Jaden Mickey, Chance Tucker, Prince Kollie and the elite 2022 linebacker haul (Jaylen Sneed, Josh Burnham, Niuafe Tuihalamaka, Nolan Ziegler) battling for playing time on defense and becoming key figures on special teams.

I didn't even get into defensive linemen like Gabriel Rubio, Tyson Ford and Aiden Gobaira, that's how loaded the Irish are up front. Those three become far, far more important should Foskey and/or Ademilola decide to go pro.

7. Keep The 2023 Class Together — Notre Dame is off to a tremendous start in the 2023 class, and Freeman will look to land a special class in his first season as head coach. The key to making that happen is keeping the current class together.

Every major program is going to make a push for defensive end Keon Keeley, a legit five-star recruit that is one of the nation's ten best players. Keeping Keely is so incredibly important for Notre Dame. He could be one of the most important recruits of the last decade. Keeping Drayk Bowen, Brenan Vernon, Adon Shuler and Justyn Rhett together is incredibly important.

If Notre Dame can keep that group, and the two offensive commits together this class will have a chance to be truly elite.

8. Dante Moore Please — Buchner breaking out is step one of the quarterback wish list. Notre Dame needs him to be as good as we hope he can be. That is the key to Notre Dame's present (2022-23 seasons). Notre Dame must follow up with another elite quarterback, and arguably the best quarterback in the 2023 class is Detroit star Dante Moore.

There's no doubt that Moore is the top target on Notre Dame's board. Landing a player like him makes the quarterback depth chart (along with Buchner, Drew Pyne and Steve Angeli) potentially elite.

Moore is a natural thrower that has an advanced mind, he's a mature young quarterback, he has a great arm, he shows a great feel for the game and he's athletic enough to be a playmaker when things break down as well.

Landing Moore would not only impact the quarterback depth chart, he's the kind of class leader that could be a key ingredient to landing a truly elite recruiting class.

9. An Elite Group Of Pass Game Skill Players — Notre Dame needs to continue improving its talent in the pass game, and that's true on both sides of the ball. The 2023 class needs to add an infusion of playmakers at wide receiver, cornerback and safety.

Landing Rhett and Shuler is a great start in the secondary, but more is needed. The Irish are in great position with cornerback Christian Gray and Peyton Bowen, and you can certainly add those two prospects to my Christmas Wish List. Malik Muhammad and Caleb Downs are on that list as well.

Offensively, things start with Chicago wideout Carnell Tate. He's an absolute must for Notre Dame in the 2023 class. There are other standouts like Jalen Brown that right now seem like long shots, but those are the types of players Notre Dame eventually need to land.

This isn't asking too much, right?

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