Why Notre Dame is built for success in second year under Marcus Freeman

The expectations for Notre Dame are rising as Marcus Freeman enters his second season as the head coach for the Fighting Irish. Freeman will look to build on his 9-4 record from a season ago in his debut season at the helm, and On3’s JD PicKell believes that he may be able to do just that in year two.

“I love the way this team is built,” PicKell said. “I love the way this team is built because you look at facets of Notre Dame and they have pieces that will travel, like the things they’re going to do well are going to play well in any environment. Loud, whether it’s snow, it doesn’t matter.”

Running the ball may not be flashy, but it’s one thing the Fighting Irish did well last season, and PicKell believes they’ll be able to lean on that strong rushing attack this upcoming season as well.

“For Notre Dame, they do a couple of things that I think are going to be reliable throughout the course of the year and that is run the football, they bring back a majority of what they had a season ago, they have a tough offensive line, and they ran for almost 190 yards a game last year. A lot of those cats are back, they’re gonna run the ball well,” PicKell said.

The running game has been a staple of Notre Dame’s offense for some time now, but offseason transfer quarterback addition Sam Hartman may be able to add a new layer to the team’s passing attack that can open up that running game even more. Pair that with a stout defense and the Fighting Irish could be one of the most dangerous all-around teams in the country.

“The other piece, they’re going to play good defense,” PicKell said. “They bring back 72 percent of the production from a season ago on defense, they only allowed 23 points a game. That’s really good, that’s gonna win you a whole lot of football games.”

The continuity of Notre Dame’s defense is undeniable from a season ago, but PicKell thinks that one player in particular is going to shine brighter than the rest with a breakout season.

“Jordan Botelho, I say it every single time we talk about Notre Dame on this channel because I want to make sure we’re on the record as much as it gets for saying that kid’s gonna be a stud in 2023,” PicKell said. “I know you lose Isaiah Foskey, nobody likes to lose Isaiah Foskey, but Jordan Botelho I think is going to pick up where he left off and I think a lot of people nationally are going to know about him.”

Botelho was a four-star prospect out of high school ranked the No. 1 player in the state of Hawaii and the No.9 EDGE in the 2020 class according to On3’s Industry Ranking. Him switching positions midway through the season along with playing in front of NFL talent limited his playing time, but he could be a valuable piece of a Notre Dame team that could make a big-time leap this upcoming season.

“So to kind of put a bow on this thing, Notre Dame’s going to be a physical football team, and physical football teams control the line of scrimmage. Teams that control the line of scrimmage, they usually win a lot of games,” PicKell concluded.