Can Notre Dame Learn from Indiana's Improbable National Championship Run?
- Noah Wehby
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
In the ever-evolving college football landscape, Indiana has become the very embodiment of that evolution, capping it off with a National Championship win. During this time of change within the sport, what are some ways Notre Dame can learn from Indiana to ensure they bring a National Championship back to South Bend?
Photo by Notre Dame Athletics
Indiana captivated the nation on their way to the National Championship with their underdog story. They were a team built by a group of players that never had the opportunity to play Power-4 football until they got to Indiana. Many of them came from schools like James Madison, Texas State, and other Group of Five schools, but this became their superpower. Curt Cignetti was able to use the chip on the shoulder that every one of his players had for not getting recruited by the big schools coming out of high school to motivate his players. Watching them play, it was evident that Cignetti's players used that chip to outwork and outplay their opponents.
For Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman has the chance to do a similar thing heading into the 2026 season. While Freeman will not be able to use the same chip as Cignetti, it will be important that Freeman gives his players some extra motivation to get the most out of them. Of course, that chip would be their absence from the 2025 CFP. The 2026 Notre Dame team will have a lot of returning players from the 2025 season, and they will surely still be upset about being left out of the playoffs. It will be their spark, along with Freeman's, to set the tone for next season that they have a point to prove in 2026. As Freeman said on ESPN's pre-game show, "it's up to us to leave no doubt." If Freeman can give them that extra edge, combined with the talent on the team, 2026 could be a special year for the Irish.
The strongest part of Indiana's football team this year was their ability to do all the "little things" so consistently well. They were elite at limiting turnovers, penalties, and avoidable mistakes. This allowed them to play clean games while their opponents beat themselves. Indiana had the fifth fewest penalties per game and the best turnover margin in the entire country. Not only were they surgical in their execution, but they also caused teams to make plenty of mistakes. Indiana always seemed to be in the right spot, at the right time, making the right play. This sort of coaching and execution allowed them to play so consistently well and beat teams with rosters that were better on paper.
Freeman already has a lot of these things in the works. It is clear that the culture he is building at Notre Dame has all the potential to be a winning one. Notre Dame, like Indiana this year, has players that are willing to do the "little things" that are required to win a National Championship. While this is the case, Notre Dame is not quite on Indiana's level of execution. Last season, Notre Dame still saw lapses in play. Whether it was a missed block, blown coverage, or a bad throw; there is still plenty of room for Notre Dame to improve. It takes an entire team, however, because that is what has made Indiana so great. Notre Dame was just a few plays away from being undefeated this season. Against Texas A&M, it was a missed extra-point attempt, a defensive penalty, and a dropped interception that caused the Irish to lose that game, and that was all in the final minutes of the game. It is these mistakes that Indiana did not commit very frequently this season, which led them to an undefeated season. If Notre Dame wants to do the same, they can look at Indiana as the standard for how a team needs to execute every game.
One thing that Indiana has taught the entire country is that stars don't seem to matter as much as they used to. Player rankings are a huge part of college football, whether that's in the high school recruiting or the transfer portal. Yes, of course, it is important for school's to recruit the best players possible, and those rankings are usually a good gauge of the talent of those players. Indiana just proved its not the be-all and end-all, though. Made up of mostly lower-rated three star prospects, Indiana beat Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, and Miami, all schools that recruit better than Miami. Cignetti, instead of trying to recruit the highest-rated players available, compiled a group of players that worked well in his system, played exceptionally hard, and had a lot of experience. This combined, led Indiana to outplay teams that recruit at the highest level in college football.
Notre Dame, under Freeman, has become one of those teams that also recruits at a very high level. As of now, Notre Dame has the third best incoming class, according to 247 Sports. While this incoming talent is exciting, it will be important for Freeman to remember that fit may be just as important as talent, especially at a place like Notre Dame. So far, Freeman seems to have a good understanding of this, as every Notre Dame transfer appears to immediately fall in love with Notre Dame. Just recently, Will Pauling was a grad transfer this past season and was voted captain for his only year at Notre Dame. That shows how well Freeman and the staff were able to identify a player that could help with his talent, along with his fit within the team. All of this is also important to remember for the Notre Dame fans. Fans should want their team to get all the best players available, but it is the coaches job to know if that talent will fit with the culture of the team and what the team needs. Freeman has shown an ability to do this at a high level through high school and portal recruiting, and the 2026 class has the potential to the take them to the next level.
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