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Thursday, April 23, 2026
The Observer

Sports




The Observer

Staff Reactions: Kelly’s departure and the next Irish head coach

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With that being said, I think Marcus Freeman would be the best bet looking forward. He’s a great coach and a terrific recruiter and fits the Notre Dame brand well. Luke Fickell is also one of the best young coaches in football right now, and with a win over the Irish in recent memory, it’s ironic to say he might be the outside favorite for this job. Like I said before, I am not questioning everything I thought I knew about football at Notre Dame, so there ya go. You’d have to be crazy to think I’d mention the name of a particular coach down in Jacksonville.



The Observer

Staff Predictions: Notre Dame vs. Stanford

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There is one weekend left in November and one game left on the Irish schedule. Why, now, should the Irish defense break their no-touchdown-November streak? They shouldn’t. And it’s highly likely they won’t. If anything, I’ll raise Em’s turnover count prediction last week from one to two as I expect to see the Irish defense have a field day. If there isn’t at least one pick-six, I’ll be shocked.