Notre Dame Football

Class of 2024 5-star quarterback CJ Carr announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Thursday. He is the grandson of former Michigan head coach and College Football Hall of Famer Lloyd Carr.

Carr chose the Fighting Irish over schools such as Michigan State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State.

A 6'3", 190-pound prospect from Saline High School in Michigan, he is ranked as the No. 5 quarterback in his class by 247Sports' composite rankings.

Carr is coming off a strong sophomore season, completing 64 percent of his passes for 2,696 yards, 28 touchdowns and four interceptions, per 247Sports' Steve Wiltfong, and is already set to play in the All-American Bowl following his senior season.

In his assessment of Carr, 247Sports national analyst Allen Trieu said the signal-caller "first of all is extremely polished. He is always in command of the game, he handles himself like a vet already and that’s on top of really being able to throw the football. ... The question on him going into last year was he only started one game and he erased any of those doubts with the way he played."

Bryan Driskell of Sports Illustrated predicted Carr was leaning toward Notre Dame after he attended Irish Invasion camp:

"The way he conducted himself at Irish Invasion today wasn’t like a kid who is still in decision making process. He went up to every big-time kid that was there and was talking to them about more than just 'Hey, how are you.' He’s trying to get kids to go to school with him, which is something you normally do when you know where you are going."

Carr is Notre Dame's third commitment in the class of 2024, giving head coach Marcus Freeman his first 5-star recruit. His presence will surely help attract more top prospects to South Bend.

The University of Notre Dame is making its fight song more inclusive ahead of the 2022 football season.

Notre Dame president John Jenkins announced Thursday night that the "Notre Dame Victory March" will include a reference to "daughters" in addition to "sons."

The song previously only made mention of "sons" in the line "While her loyal sons are marching/Onward to victory." Now the line reads, "While her loyal sons and daughters/March on to victory."

The change was made in conjunction with Notre Dame celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX and the 50th anniversary of admitting female undergraduate students into the university.

The "Notre Dame Victory March" was created in 1909, and the band first began playing it during sporting events in 1919.

It has become one of the most iconic fight songs in the history of college sports thanks largely to the success of Notre Dame's athletic programs, especially in football.

The Fighting Irish have won 11 national championships in football, with the most recent coming in 1988. They have also won double-digit games in each of the past five seasons, making them a perennial contender.

Notre Dame also has two national championships in men's basketball, but the most recent major title for the school came from the women's side.

The women's basketball team won the 2018 national title, posting a 35-3 record.

That was the second national championship won by Notre Dame's women's basketball team, and the women's soccer team has three national titles to its credit in 1995, 2004 and 2010.

NBC may be going from one former quarterback to another in the booth for the upcoming football season.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported the network is considering former Dallas Cowboys head coach and quarterback Jason Garrett as a potential candidate to replace Drew Brees as an analyst on Notre Dame game coverage and perhaps even on Football Night in America.

While Garrett is best known for being the head coach of the Cowboys from 2010 through 2019, he has broadcasting experience.

NBC has included him as part of its USFL coverage, and Marchand reported his USFL partner, Jac Collinsworth, may team up with him to cover Notre Dame games in the fall.

As for Brees, he helped cover the Fighting Irish alongside Mike Tirico in addition to his work on the network's NFL studio show. Yet Tirico is now the voice of Sunday Night Football, and Brees' time with NBC appears to be over.

Yet the New Orleans Saints legend suggested on May 15 that returning to NBC was just one of many things on the table:

Marchand reported Brees "favors calling NFL games to studio work" and may sign a deal with Fox as its No. 2 game analyst.

That may clear the way for Garrett to take on a larger role at NBC and potentially shift further from coaching.

The 56-year-old was 85-67 during his time as the head coach of the Cowboys and led them to the playoffs three times. He was also the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants the past two seasons, although they fired him in November.

LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly doesn't have any ill feelings toward how his tenure with Notre Dame came to an end, but he recently admitted that differences between him and the school's administration led to his exit.

"I just think we're at a different place," Kelly said on The Paul Finebaum Show (h/t Dean Straka of 247Sports). "The administration felt they were in a position where they had done what they needed to do. I felt there was more that needed to be done. And I was fine with that decision."

Kelly further explained that he and the Notre Dame administration had different outlooks on the timetable for success within the program. He added that the LSU opening was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

"My clock was at a different place. This happens everywhere in life. ... But it's just my clock and in terms of what I needed to see happen was at a different time," Kelly said. "But they'll get to those things. It's just—this opportunity opened up at the same time. It's time and place. And this opportunity is one I just felt like I needed to take."

Kelly coached the Fighting Irish to a 113-40 record in his 12 seasons at the helm, although 21 wins in 2012 and '13 were vacated. He finished his tenure with five consecutive years of at least 10 wins. Notre Dame reached the BCS National Championship Game in the 2012 season and advanced to the College Football Playoff in 2018 and 2020, but fell in the semifinals both times.

Notre Dame promoted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to head coach to replace Kelly.

LSU is coming off back-to-back subpar seasons following its 2019 national championship victory. The Tigers went a combined 11-12 in the last two years, and the decision to part ways with former head coach Ed Orgeron was made before the 2021 season ended.

Kelly will coach his first game with the Tigers on Sept. 4 against Florida State in New Orleans in a neutral-site season opener.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis is officially a Notre Dame graduate 28 years after he dominated on the gridiron for the Fighting Irish.

Bettis announced he is a member of the 2022 class for the Mendoza School of Business, adding "I hope my journey serves as a reminder that education is the true equalizer in life and it is never too late to start."

The Bus played three seasons for Notre Dame from 1990 to 1992. He scored a combined 32 touchdowns in his final two seasons and helped lead the storied program to wins in the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl.

The decision to leave school prior to graduating paid off when the Los Angeles Rams selected him with the No. 10 overall pick of the 1993 NFL draft.

Bettis played three seasons for the Rams and 10 for the Pittsburgh Steelers during a career that included a Super Bowl title, an Offensive Rookie of the Year, six Pro Bowl selections and two All-Pro nods.

He can now add college graduate to his list of accomplishments.

The New York Jets may reportedly target Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton with one of their two top-10 picks in the 2022 NFL draft.

ESPN's Rich Cimini reported Wednesday the Jets "like Hamilton a lot" and could "double down" with defensive players at both Nos. 4 and 10, though the team's moves in free agency will determine whether it goes defense-heavy in Round 1.

The Jets would likely need to invest the fourth overall pick in the standout safety if he's one of their prized targets, as the early predraft hype suggests he's a long shot to remain on the board at No. 10.

Hamilton recorded 138 total tackles, 16 passes defended, eight interceptions and a touchdown in 31 games across three seasons with the Fighting Irish. His final college campaign came to a premature end in October because of a knee injury.

While he recovered before Notre Dame's bowl game, a Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State, he opted to skip the contest to begin preparations for the draft.

He described it as a "business decision" on the Inside the Garage podcast (via Rivals' Tyler Horka) and said his outlook would have been different if the Irish were playing for a national title.

"It's not that I don't want to play," Hamilton said in December. "If we're in the playoff right now—I've told you guys, I've told all the coaches—if we're in the playoff, I'm going to go. I want to go win a national championship. I'm going to suit up. I'm going to play."

The situation hasn't impacted his draft stock, as he's still one of the most coveted prospects available.

Bleacher Report's Cory Giddings described Hamilton as a "generational talent" in his predraft scouting report.

"Hamilton is a rare athlete who has the frame of a linebacker and the movement skills of a defensive back," Giddings wrote. "He is a long strider who covers a lot of ground, no matter if he is playing as a deep safety or down in the trenches."

The Jets could certainly use more playmakers on the defensive side of the ball. They ranked last in both total defense (397.6 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (29.6 points allowed per game) in 2021 while also finishing with the second-fewest turnovers forced (14).

Hamilton would be a Day 1 starter and, with a few other upgrades via free agency, could help lead a much-needed resurgence within the New York secondary.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish reportedly have their next defensive coordinator.

Notre Dame is expected to hire Cincinnati Bengals linebackers coach Al Golden for the position, according to Pete Sampson of The Athletic, who noted, "Golden had been the top target for weeks, but the NFL playoffs complicated Notre Dame's pursuit." Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi and Boston College defensive coordinator Tem Lukabu were also candidates, per Sampson.

Golden's Bengals lost to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday.

While Golden will be the defensive coordinator, head coach Marcus Freeman should be heavily involved on that side of the ball. He was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and Notre Dame and was a star linebacker at Ohio State before being drafted into the NFL in 2009.

Golden was an assistant coach for the Detroit Lions from 2016 through 2019 before joining the Bengals, but much of his coaching experience comes at the collegiate level.

He was a linebackers coach at Boston College and his alma mater, Penn State, early in his career. He then became the defensive coordinator for Virginia before ascending to the head coaching ranks at Temple from 2006 through 2010.

The Owls went 27-34 during his tenure but showed steady improvement from 1-11 in his first season to a combined 17-8 in his final two seasons. That landed him the head coaching position at Miami, and the Hurricanes went 32-25 during his five seasons from 2011 to 2015.

Miami fired him during the 2015 campaign following a 58-0 loss to Clemson.

His NFL tenure followed, and he helped lead the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance last season. Linebackers such as Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt were key parts of a defensive unit that stood out while holding Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs to three points in the second half and overtime of the AFC Championship Game.

Golden goes from their linebackers coach to being in charge of Notre Dame's defense as the Fighting Irish look for double-digit wins for the sixth season in a row.

It will be challenging right out of the gate with a matchup against Ohio State, which has potential Heisman Trophy candidates in quarterback C.J. Stroud, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and running back TreVeyon Henderson. Notre Dame also faces Clemson and USC in 2022.

How the defense holds up under Golden will play a large factor in whether Notre Dame can compete for a College Football Playoff spot with a difficult slate.            

Brandon Joseph, who was selected as a consensus first-team All-American as a freshman in 2020, is transferring from Northwestern to Notre Dame.

Joseph made the move official with the following statement on Twitter:

In addition to his first-team All-America selection in 2020, Joseph was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-Big Ten selection. In 2021, Joseph was third-team All-Big Ten.

The College Station, Texas, native was hugely productive as a freshman in 2020, recording 46 tackles, six interceptions and two passes defended in just eight games in a shortened season caused by COVID-19.

He was productive once again in 2021, finishing with 79 tackles, three picks and four passes defended in 12 contests.

With Joseph leading the way defensively, Northwestern went 7-2 in 2020 and won the Citrus Bowl. This season, however, the Wildcats dropped off to 3-9.

By making the move to Notre Dame, Joseph is set to join a program that has won 10 or more games in each of the past five seasons.

The Fighting Irish went 10-2 and reached the College Football Playoff in 2020, and they fell just short of the CFP in 2021, finishing 11-2.

With former Irish head coach Brian Kelly departing ND for LSU, Marcus Freeman has taken over as the new head coach at Notre Dame.

Freeman is a defensive-minded coach who served as the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati from 2017 to 2020 and the DC at Notre Dame in 2021 before he was promoted.

The Irish allowed just 19.7 points per game in 2021, and with Joseph joining the fray, they have a chance to be even better in 2022.

Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton will forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL draft. 

Hamilton announced his decision on Twitter, adding that he will skip the Fighting Irish's appearance in the Fiesta Bowl to prepare for the draft:

Notre Dame running back Kyren Williams followed Hamilton's announcement with a decision of his own:

Hamilton had an interesting junior season. He was regarded as one of the top defensive players in the country, but a knee injury cut his season short on Oct. 23. In just seven regular-season games, however, he still posted 34 tackles (two for loss), three interceptions and four passes defended.

Despite his short year, he was still a Bednarik Award finalist:

That left Hamilton with an interesting question: Would he return for Notre Dame's bowl  game, or would he try to avoid the possibility of future injury and keep his draft stock intact?

Hamilton chose the latter.

At 6'4" and 220 pounds, he is an imposing force at the safety position. On a Nov. 10 big board for ESPN.com, Mel Kiper Jr. had him listed as the No. 2 player in the 2022 NFL draft class, noting that "Hamilton has the size to move up to the line of scrimmage and help in the running game and the speed and range to cover pass-catchers out of the slot." Kiper added, "He's exactly what NFL teams want in their first-round safeties."

And on Nov. 16, ESPN's Todd McShay listed Hamilton as his No. 4 prospect in the 2022 NFL draft class, calling him "a nightmare matchup for offenses."

"He has great size and closing burst while playing all over the defense," McShay continued. "You'll see him line up deep in coverage, over the slot and even at linebacker. Hamilton can blanket tight ends, and with solid ball skills and an ability to read the QB, he will make plays."

So it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Hamilton is headed to the NFL. He seems like a lock to be a top-10 pick, and potentially even a top-five selection.