A top college football insider believes there is one specific shortcoming in Notre Dame’s recruiting that consistently hurts their chances of winning another national title.
Despite not being a part of an elite conference, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish continue to be one of the most famous brands in college football. They have their own television deal that has existed for decades and there isn’t a more recognizable image in the sport than their golden helmets. Yet for all the fame the program continually falls short of its ultimate goal of winning another national championship.
Over the first 80 years of the program’s existence, the school was a dominant force in football and earned 13 national titles. However, Notre Dame has not won a championship since 1988. Their streak of 34 years and counting without a title is a stunning cold spell for the legendary program. In 13 of those seasons, they posted double-digit wins, they last competed for a championship in 2013, and have made the college football playoffs on two occasions.
They are usually a competitive program and often a ranked team but they always seem to be a level below consistent contenders like Alabama, Georgia, and Oregon. Well, a top college football insider says there is one very specific reason why Notre Dame always seems to fall short of their championship goals and until they address it their title drought will continue.
CFB insider says not having an elite QB continues to undercut Notre Dame’s title hopes
“Obviously, they’ve made the four-team playoff twice, and they’re certainly positioned to compete for the 12-team playoff,” ESPN senior college football writer Adam Rittenberg told Sportsnaut. “But Notre Dame will never win another national title until it has an elite quarterback, and that’s been a problem there. It’s that they have not been able to keep up at that position. They’ve been very good at certain areas.
“Offensive line, they have one of the best programs in the country. Defensive line, they’ve had some standout players. Defensive backfield they’ve had some really good players. Tight end,” he said. “But they’ve really fallen off at wide receiver and their quarterback play has been hit or miss, and not at the level you need in 2023 to win a national championship. So that’s the area to watch going forward. Who are they going to add from the portal at quarterback [and] more notably at wide receiver to get better?
“Because if it’s going to be the same approach — defense, running the ball, average quarterback play — that’s not going to get it done, even in a 12-team playoff.”
The Notre Dame football program had high hopes in 2023 with Wake Forest transfer Sam Hartman, however, after winning their first four with the new QB, they were 5-3 the rest of the season and suffered major losses to Ohio State, Lousiville, and Clemson.
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They finish their 2023 campaign on Dec. 29 against No. 19 Oregon State in the Sun Bowl.