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Shane Gillis offered to fix one of the biggest problems for Notre Dame this offseason, but the joke didn’t quite land

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Ryan Roberts | Last updated Jun 6, 2025 2:45 PM ET

If you flipped on a Notre Dame football game this past season, there is a good chance that you would have seen famous comedian Shane Gillis taking in the contest. While comedy is his main arena, Gillis is a noted football fan and Fighting Irish supporter who has become a prominent figure around South Bend in recent years.

Gillis actually spent some time with the Army and Elon football programs while in college before embarking on his comedy career. A Notre Dame fanatic, he has taken a strong role as a supporter of the program. It appears that he nearly offered some addition support for head coach Marcus Freeman and the team, at least that’s what they thought for a second.

On a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Gillis joined and a conversation joked about pledging money. Gillis joked about his near contributions to the Fighting Irish NIL-Transfer Portal efforts.

I pledged $1 million to Notre Dame’s NIL. I haven’t done one single thing. It was at the f***ing championship game watching Ohio State win, and I was going, ‘Notre Dame needs a defensive tackle. I’m going to give them a million bucks.’ Then they were like, ‘Hey, you want to give us that million bucks?’ I was like, ‘no.’

The interior defensive line has been a touchy subject with Notre Dame fans in recent years. That, along with wide receiver, have been two positions that still need to be upgraded for the long term. The defensive tackle depth chart should be deep in 2025, but nobody knows how truly impactful it will be.

From Gillis’s tone, it sounds like it was more an intended joke in the moment that didn’t fully land. Notre Dame clearly didn’t take it that way when they approached him about the potential contributions. The Fighting Irish NIL reach has greatly increased over the last couple of years, but $1 million is $1 million. That’s about the going rate for an impact defensive tackle these days.

The Notre Dame ideology for the 2025 college football season looks more centered on depth at the position, and having the ability to throw waves at opposing offenses. There is a hope that being able to substitute players like Gabriel Rubio and Donovan Hinish out of the football game, and replace them with talented players like Jason Onye and Jared Dawson, will supplement not having one true difference maker on the inside.

We will see if that strategy does payoff in 2025. If not, a changing of ideologies may need to happen, and the wallet might have to open up a bit wider.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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