Joel Klatt explains Notre Dame's ranking in Way-Too-Early Top-10

Coming off an appearance in the national title game, Joel Klatt has Notre Dame just outside of his top-five for next season.

Klatt gave reason why the Fighting Irish fell at No. 6 in his Way-Too-Early Top-10 during his show last week. That started with their head coach as Marcus Freeman, in his third season overall and in South Bend, has proved himself to be one of the game’s best, especially at his age.

“I love what Marcus Freeman is building,” said Klatt. “If you listened to the show on Tuesday morning, that post-national championship game recap, you know that I was incredibly high on Marcus Freeman and what he was able to do. Listen, that team was overmatched on Monday night and yet they battled and they battled and they battled. The culture at Notre Dame is excellent and the team, I believe, is elite.”

So, where do Freeman and the Irish go coming off a 14-2 record and a runner-up finish in the College Football Playoff?

Well, for starters, Notre Dame needed to decide on their first non-portal quarterback in two years. That pick, whether Steve Angeli or CJ Carr, will have an offense they can rely on either way in the meantime with a foundation set for a run game and protection.

“Looks like it could be Steve Angeli,” said Klatt. “Maybe CJ Carr…CJ was a Top-50 overall recruit this past season so he’ll be in there.”

“I think Notre Dame is probably going to have the best offensive line in college football. They get Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price back. So their ability to run the football is going to be there,” Klatt continued. “Now, will Angeli be able to run the football like Riley Leonard? I don’t know. Will CJ Carr be able to run the football like Riley Leonard? I don’t know. But I do know that putting two backs on the field at the same time, which, you see this a lot now – we saw it with Michigan last year, we’re seeing it with Ohio State this year. We can see that with Price and Love.”

Next up will then be replacing parts of a defense that allowed just 15.5 points and 307.4 yards while leading the country in turnovers forced and defensive scores. That includes that part of the team now having a new coordinator. That will be about nothing more than next man up, though, considering how they already did that throughout last season.

“The defense certainly loses some pieces. There’s no doubt. But didn’t you just get the feeling that the culture and what they’re building from a depth perspective was able to weather a lot of storms when it comes to the roster? I mean, this is a team that lost a lot of guys to injury. And yet they were able to still go out there and have a hell of a season,” said Klatt. “Lot of losses. I get it. I’m trusting Marcus Freeman right here.”

Notre Dame is in as good a place as it’s been in years coming off this run in the CFP. Freeman now leads that into his fourth season with another top-ten team next fall according to Klatt.

“I will be absolutely shocked if Notre Dame is not back in the College Football Playoff next year. That’s the level that Marcus Freeman is now kind of competing at,” said Klatt. “He’s building something very special. It’s not going to surprise me at all if Marcus Freeman is able to win a national championship at Notre Dame if he decides to stay there.”