Notre Dame defensive lineman Jason Onye (47) lines up for a drill during a football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, July 31, 2025, in South Bend. MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame Football Roster Has Seen Massive Overhaul

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By John Kennedy | Last updated Aug 4, 2025 5:04 PM ET

Marcus Freeman has rebuilt the Notre Dame roster

One of the first challenges Marcus Freeman faced upon accepting the role as Notre Dame head coach was to reshape the Fighting Irish roster. Freeman knew that Notre Dame needed to become deeper, longer, stronger, faster, and more athletic top to bottom to have CFP success.

This transition doesn't happen overnight, but gradually. One recruiting class and portal addition at a time, the Notre Dame program now has a "big boy" roster. One that has proven it can match up with other CFP heavyweights.

The #NotreDame RB room is stacked & jacked for 2025☘️ pic.twitter.com/Jv21S3XRz9
— Always Irish ☘️ (@AlwaysIrishINC) August 2, 2025

Talent & depth have never been better

In recent vintage, going back to the Kelly era, Notre Dame's starting lineup on both sides of the ball could compete, but the issue was depth. Back in those days, all it took was one or two injuries to frontline players for the Irish to be totally exposed against good teams. The dropoff from the starter to the 2nd and 3rd players in was an obvious liability that good teams and coaches took advantage of.

That era of Notre Dame Football is over. This roster is bigger, stronger, deeper, and faster than it ever has been. The Irish now have the freedom to have more rotations at more positions without a dropoff in production, helping keep everyone fresh and giving more players chances to contribute.

The new look, new age Irish now have a roster that can stack up with the best in the country. Something that felt like an unreachable goal under previous coaching regimes in South Bend. The mission now is to take full advantage of this talent and win big.

Notre Dame's title window is wide open.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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