Notre Dame Football Getting Past a Rocky Offseason Just Fine

Notre Dame Football has always been polarizing. Very few people are in the middle on the Irish. Most folks either love Notre Dame or hate Notre Dame, with little that could sway them to the other side.

This has always been true, and is truer now more than ever, given the last month or so of Irish-related news. Let's take a look at some of the areas that are up for debate.

Marcus Freeman's altercation

On the surface, clearly, it's never a good look to see news articles that your head coach is being accused of a physical assault. This is something that Notre Dame haters will grasp onto in efforts to shatter Freeman's stellar reputation as a stand-up guy. But ...

Freeman was simply protecting his family in a big nothingburger - he wasn't charged with anything.

Notre Dame "striking out" in the portal

It is definitely true that, for whatever reason, Notre Dame had gotten off to a slower start to portal season than Irish fans had hoped for. But ...

That all changed in a big way with a few big signings on Monday morning.

I feel a flurry of portal commitments coming for Notre Dame very soon. https://t.co/rk1C4fdPqK
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) January 12, 2026

Marcus Freeman and the NFL

Marcus Freeman is a hot coaching commodity in both the college ranks and the NFL. Even his public announcement of his intentions to return to Notre Dame in 2026 hasn't slowed down the rumor train. Short of a more emphatic public statement, I expect these rumors will continue throughout Freeman's Irish tenure, however long that ends up being. This is the cost of having a great coach, and Notre Dame fans will have to learn to live with this. But ...

It will take something massive for Freeman to leave South Bend - he's almost certainly staying around.

Notre Dame opting out of non-CFP bowl game

Notre Dame took major heat from every corner of the sports world, it seems, for opting out of a non- CFP bowl game. The extreme level of moral pearl clutching isn't genuine; it's simply a convenient reason to hate on the Irish. But ...

It was a bowl game - it all turned out okay. A whole slew of key Irish players were going to be missing.

Notre Dame complaining about missing the CFP

The CFP committee did a horrendous job of managing their task in how they manipulated Notre Dame's positioning throughout the process. But ...

Any team in the position Notre Dame was in would have serious questions about the process and ultimate result. But this is Notre Dame, and people will pile on if given the chance.

For all of the issues, and all of the things happening around the Notre Dame football program over the last six weeks, it's all fine. The team is in great shape going into next year, and as it turns out, after all the heat, the Irish have shown that they're as relevant as ever.