What an anonymous coach told Athlon Sports about Notre Dame football in 2024
Athlon Sports recently released its 2024 college football preview magazines. One of its most valuable features its “scouting reports,” in which an anonymous opposing coach gives their thoughts on each program’s outlook.
Here’s what an anonymous opposing coach thinks about Notre Dame, per Athlon.
What an anonymous coach told Athlon Sports about Notre Dame football
“Riley Leonard and Mike Denbrock should be a great fit. That offense could be really good; those guys are going to need to be on the same page, but they need some help on the offensive line, and they don’t really have a killer target in the passing game. The offense overall isn’t impressive, but a lot can happen with the summer and the portal.
“The defense will carry them. This is Year 3 with the system. This will be the best defense, at least in terms of talent, that Marcus [Freeman] has put out there in three seasons.
“They’re a playoff contender if they can work out that offense on the fly. The good news is that the defense is going to keep them in pretty much every game.”
Blue & Gold says…
I couldn’t agree with the anonymous coach more, on pretty much all counts. If I could condense Notre Dame’s 2024 outlook to a couple sentences, it would be, “The defense will be awesome. The offense could be awesome if three or four things go right.”
Realistically, each of those three or four things — Leonard’s health and performance, figuring out right tackle, the emergence of a No. 1 wide receiver and Charles Jagusah‘s readiness to face a stacked group of Texas A&M edge rushers — could produce a positive outcome for Notre Dame. Until they do, though, they’ll remain question marks. I’m cautiously optimistic about the Irish offense, but it’s hard to be more bullish than that right now.
The Leonard-Denbrock pairing intrigues a lot of people, and for good reason. Denbrock had success with a dual-threat quarterback in Jayden Daniels at LSU. It’s obviously important to stress that Daniels and Leonard are not the same player, but they do share similar rushing abilities for Denbrock to help maximize.
“The defense is going to keep them in pretty much every game” is what fellow Blue & Gold writer Tyler Horka and I found ourselves saying a few times last season. The Irish have every reason to believe that will be the case again this year. Whether the offense can reach that level or not will determine Notre Dame’s success in 2024.
