Notre Dame Football 2025: A “Successful Failure” Shapes Program Going Forward

When you talk about Notre Dame football under head coach Marcus Freeman, the talk isn't about winning a set amount of games or simply being a pretty good football team.

The last two years have shown us that Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman is a football program that stacks up with nearly every program in the ever-changing sport of college football. That's why as the 2025 calendar year ends and the College Football Playoff semi-finals get underway in just days, it stings a bit more that Notre Dame didn't make the field.

A look at the first round shows teams that not only should Notre Dame have been able to compete with but also beat. I have no doubt in my mind that Notre Dame is among the eight best teams in the nation, and there is certainly a case to be made that could put Freeman's Fighting Irish in the top two or three.

Notre Dame's Successful Failure of 2025

Going into the 2025 season, Notre Dame was setup to take a small step back from the 2024 season where it reached the National Championship game.

Afterall, the Irish lost starting quarterback Riley Leonard, who served as not only a tremendous player, but the kind of leader that doesn't come around often. Add in key losses to the defense as well as defensive coordinator Al Golden's departure to the NFL, and the unit was setup for a step back.

That came in the first two games of 2025, when Notre Dame couldn't get stops when it needed most against Miami and Texas A&M. Those two losses ultimately were enough for Notre Dame to fall short of the College Football Playoff, as winning the final 10 games was great, but didn't feature enough eye candy for the playoff committee.

I said at the start of the year that Notre Dame was in an interesting spot for 2025 as the expectation couldn't simply be national championship or bust. Although it's hurts that Notre Dame is sitting at home during this playoff, it did accomplish something with flying colors that I asked for it in 2025.

Notre Dame football is clearly pointed up under Marcus Freeman, even without making the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame Football Remains Headed in Right Direction

For years, Notre Dame would play in big games and look like it didn't belong on the same field as others. Yes, it lost two games to College Football Playoff teams this year, but if one thing goes differently in either of those, the Irish are 11-1 or 12-0, and playing in the playoff. With a first-time starter at quarterback and a reworked defensive unit, it's hard to get too upset about what happened back in late-August and early-September, even if it is what kept Notre Dame home this postseason.

One look at this program shows something obvious: Notre Dame isn't going away for a long time.

All the column inches and video rants that have been dedicated to Notre Dame this bowl season have been for a reason: Notre Dame is here to stay under Marcus Freeman.

If Notre Dame wasn't set up for sustained success, and ready to amke annual runs at national championships, the freak-outs over the Irish declining the Pop-Tarts Bowl invitation would have been almost nowhere to be heard.

Instead, this is a program that is knocking on the door of something special, something that hasn't happened in South Bend since the fall of 1988.

This is a football program that is set to contend for national titles on a regular basis for years to come, something that hasn't been said about it since Lou Holtz's best days on campus.

The awful taste that was left in mouths after Notre Dame was shunned from this season's College Football Playoff was tough to swallow, but if used correctly, could be a big factor in what puts the program over the top a year from now.