Marcus Freeman Says Notre Dame Must Avoid One Costly Mistake in 2026
Notre Dame’s 2025 season was defined by an uphill climb after an 0-2 start. Although the Fighting Irish rattled off 10 consecutive victories to finish 10-2, it wasn’t enough to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff, with Miami earning the final at-large berth instead. While many believed Notre Dame deserved a playoff bid, head coach Marcus Freeman has taken a different perspective.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Freeman made it clear that he has no interest in blaming the selection committee.
“I don’t ever use that term ‘we got snubbed,'” Freeman said. “We didn’t make the playoffs, and we didn’t do the things it took as a program to make the playoffs.”
Rather than dwelling on what could have been, Freeman and his coaching staff used the disappointment as motivation to examine every aspect of the program’s offseason preparation. Their biggest takeaway was obvious: Notre Dame cannot afford another sluggish start.
“We’ve used that to evaluate, OK, we can’t start the season 0-2,” Freeman explained. “How do we truly look at our process from January till the end of August? Are we doing what’s best? Is there a better way to do it? We’ve made adjustments in certain areas and enhanced parts of our preparation as we get ready for training camp, hoping those changes lead to a better result when September arrives.”
The lesson stems directly from last season’s opening two weeks. Notre Dame dropped a 27-24 season opener to Miami before suffering a heartbreaking 41-40 defeat against Texas A&M, which scored the game-winning touchdown with just 13 seconds remaining. Despite the narrow margins, those losses forced the Irish to spend the rest of the year trying to rebuild their playoff résumé.
To Notre Dame’s credit, it responded like a championship-caliber team, winning its final 10 regular-season games and working its way back into playoff consideration. However, as an independent program without a conference championship game to strengthen its résumé, the Irish had virtually no margin for error after beginning the year 0-2.
Freeman believes pointing fingers at the playoff committee would have accomplished little. Instead, the coaching staff conducted a thorough review of its offseason program—from winter conditioning and spring practice to summer workouts and training camp—in search of ways to improve before the season begins.
The expectations entering 2026 are even greater. Quarterback CJ Carr returns, along with much of last season’s roster, and Notre Dame is widely viewed as a legitimate national championship contender. Combined with a relatively favorable schedule that opens against Wisconsin and Rice, getting off to a fast start has become an even greater priority.
Freeman has made it clear that bringing another national championship to South Bend remains the ultimate goal. But before Notre Dame can think about competing for a title, the Irish know they must first avoid repeating the early-season mistakes that ultimately cost them a playoff berth a year ago.
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