A never-ending discussion about Notre Dame and the greater CFB landscape
The question of “how Catholic is the University of Notre Dame?” is something I can’t remember to be a thing said in the pre-internet era of humankind. It’s a thought that actually makes me chuckle a little bit because of how absurd it was. Enter Al Gore, inventor of the internet, and we have decades […]
about 23 hours ago | 1 read
The NFL mock drafts have been flowing like Krombacher from the kegs at Octoberfest. While we still need to get the Super Bowl behind us, the draft order is pretty solidified regardless of who wins between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots. As Notre Dame fans, we all have our own NFL allegiances which, […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
According to multiple reports, Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Football program are expected to hire Michigan linebackers coach, Brian Jean-Mary, to coach the linebackers for the Irish in 2026. Jean-Mary was also the Michigan defensive run game coordinator — which is was also the same position as departing Irish coach Al Washington had last […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Joshua, Jude, and Brendan have returned from their sacred quests to once again open the pod portal to ritualize Notre Dame Football. In this episode: And plenty more weaved in and out of the show. Please RATE and REVIEW! All reviews left on Apple Podcasts will be read on the next Earned 5-Star Podcast. Go […]
1 day ago | 0 reads
Even though the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team is having a rough season, Hannah Hidalgo is still playing like the best player in the country. Her 37 points on Sunday helped the Irish win over Stanford, 78-66.
2 days ago | 0 reads
As the coaching carousel continues, Notre Dame is now expected to hire Illinois defensive coordinator, Aaron Henry, to become the new defensive backs coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator for the Irish.
3 days ago | 0 reads
Notre Dame continued its struggles on the basketball court on Saturday with a 86-72 road loss to the Syracuse Orange. The Irish shot under 50% from the field and 27% from behind the three point line. Without question, the loss of Markus Burton continues to haunt this Notre Dame team. Irish Fall At Syracuse, 72-86 […]
3 days ago | 2 reads
We are getting closer folks, it is almost time for Notre Dame Men’s lacrosse. The 2026 season is just around the corner, and for those of you itching to see the Irish get things underway, it is not much longer now. It’s been a little bit since my preview article from a few weeks ago, […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
The Notre Dame Women’s Basketball team continues to have a massively disappointing season. On Thursday night, the Irish had a late tipoff against the Cal Bears in Berkeley, and when it was all over with, Notre Dame lost, 80-69. Irish Drop Road Decision At Cal BERKELEY, Calif. – The Fighting Irish fell to Cal inside Haas […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
Just because the college football coaching cycle has slowed down — it doesn’t mean the NFL coaching cycle is anywhere close to be done. According to multiple reports, Notre Dame linebackers coach, Al Washington, is leaving the Irish to take a job in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins. Washington was just recently moved to […]
5 days ago | 2 reads
We are all moving onward to the 2026 college football season, and in the dead of winter, that means we are looking at early point spreads. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish open the season with a Shamrock Series game inside the home of the Green Bay Packers, Lambeau Field, to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. […]
5 days ago | 0 reads
I know a lot of it is because we are Notre Dame Football fans, but it really feels like the majority of the college football conversation over the past week is the absolute unhinged reaction to what the college football playoff will look like next season. If you remember, there was a chance that the […]
6 days ago | 1 read
This week’s Throwback Thursday takes us back to one of the most emotionally charged games ever played inside Notre Dame Stadium — the 1992 showdown between Notre Dame and Michigan. I chose this game in honor of Reggie Brooks, whose birthday we just celebrated on January 19th. Reggie’s legacy at Notre Dame extends far beyond […]
6 days ago | 0 reads
Things have been bad for Micah Shrewsberry and the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team in ACC play, so it’s pretty disheartening for them to go out and play well against the #17 ranked Virginia Cavaliers, only to let it slip away in a double overtime game, 100-97. Irish Lay It All Out There, But Fall […]
7 days ago | 1 read
Yeah so… please forgive me here. There was a significant lack of coverage for Notre Dame sports over the weekend, and all I can say is sorry — Winter Storm Fern, directly and indirectly, caused a few issues and some things went unreported here for our continuing conversation. So let’s just throw it all in […]
8 days ago | 2 reads
According to multiple reports, Mike Mickens is leaving his job as the Notre Dame defensive backs coach for a role ciaching the secondary for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. Saying this is a “tough loss,” is 1000% accurate. mike Mickens has been one of the best — IF NOT THE BEST — defensive backs coaches in […]
9 days ago | 0 reads
You can feel it coming right? Well… maybe it’s coming. I mean — it’s probably coming, but is it coming for Notre Dame? College football is trying to figure itself out again which is nothing new. For decades. programs across the country have tried multiple ways to kind of “game” the system a little bit […]
12 days ago | 1 read
The Notre Dame women’s basketball team was back in action on Thursday night against the Miami Hurricanes inside Purcell Pavilion. The Irish were trying to shake off the beatdown that UConn recently handed them, and while nothing really seems fixed or better, Notre Dame was good enough to get a 74-66 ACC win over Miami.
12 days ago | 0 reads
One of the really fun things to do over the course of the college football season is to critique all of the AP Top 25 voters each week about their Notre Dame ranking (or whatever). Their votes are very public, and they are held accountable by CFB fans. The coaches poll, however… yeah they don’t […]
13 days ago | 2 reads
Some games stay with you not because everything went according to plan, but because nothing did—and someone unexpected stepped into the moment anyway. Notre Dame’s 2002 trip to East Lansing was one of those games. The Irish arrived undefeated, carrying the weight of recent frustration against Michigan State and knowing how thin the margin for […]
13 days ago | 3 reads
The Notre Dame Men’s basketball team is more than struggling right now — they’re not even competitive inside the ACC. On Wednesday, they took another conference pounding, this time on the road against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Irish Fall 69-91 To #22/24 Tar Heels In Chapel Hill CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Notre Dame Fighting […]
13 days ago | 1 read
With the 2025 season at last in the books and all my negativity about the state of college football exorcised, in the spirit of turning the page toward the future I thought it would be fun to revisit a recurring topic here at OFD – namely, Notre Dame’s continuing march toward playing every team in […]
13 days ago | 4 reads
We have all sorts of good news coming in today. According to Blue and Gold’s Eric Hansen, Notre Dame defensive tackle, Jason Onye, has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. Not even the new portal additions were as big of a deal for Notre Dame’s defensive line as this news about […]
14 days ago | 0 reads
Here’s a fun surprise for Notre Dame fans… the #1 kicker in the 2026 football recruiting class just committed to Notre Dame. Micah is a 6-Star kicker and rated as #1 in the country according to Chris Sailer. He was previously committed and signed to the Michigan Wolverines but with the dismissal of Sherrone Moore, […]
14 days ago | 1 read
The college football season is over and with that comes the final poll rankings. In this new era of a 12 team playoff, the final rankings play second fiddle to the playoff field, but it’s still something important. Whether it’s a recruiting pitch or a state of the program or just a good old fashioned […]
14 days ago | 2 reads