How do we all look back on the 2025 season?

[Rudy89]

Unfortunately, our season is over. For the first time in my life (well at least my life where I’ve really been able to semi-understand the ins & outs of college football) I don’t really know how to look back at our season. In my life I have seen us have objectively good seasons that have big gaping flaws in them due to rivalry losses or bowl loses like 05,06,15,& 21. I’ve seen good not great seasons that I personally remember fondly because of big rivalry wins, knocking off highly ranked teams, or (even though they may not mean as much in the grand scheme of things) ending the season with a bowl win 10,13,14,17,22,& 23. This season I dunno if it’s just because we (still agree with the decision all things considered) declined the bowl or just because of the shitty nature in which we were denied an opportunity to return to the playoffs I don’t know how to feel. When we look back on this season are we gonna think of it fondly overall due to the 10 game win streak, beating USC, & keeping all of our rivalry trophies where they belong? Or is the nature of getting the shaft & us standing our ground and protesting our treatment declining anything in the post season gonna make this season a less than favorable memory for us in the same vain that at least I kind of look at seasons like 06, 11, & 21? I have accepted everything but still really don’t know how to feel right now. I know everyone may see every year differently so I’m curious what my fellow Irish fans think?

 

[IrishTusker]

Unfortunately, not making the playoffs means it was a failure. No way around that, given the talent/expectations.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

I did a bucket list trip with my dad and brother to the USC game. It was my brother's first trip to campus and my dad's first since he graduated in 1970. One day my dad won't be here but I'll always remember sitting in the rain cheering the team on with them and watching them have the huge win.

That's how I chose to remember this season.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Disappointment overall mainly because from where it started to where it finished. I really started to get 2024 vibes, especially on defense where it was getting to the point where they were so fun to watch on that side of the ball. Still just an absolute tragedy we're done playing. Feels like it's been months and it's only been 5 days.

 

[notredomer23]

I will look at it as a big what if.

What if CJ Daniels doesn't make one of the most insane catches you'll see all year?
What if the refs called the holding on Hinish on 4th and 10?
What if Chris Ash's defense came out firing on all cylinders?
What if the committee wasn't corrupt pieces of crap?
What if Jeremiyah Love didn't get a knee to his ribs?
What if Tae Johnson started the year over Jalen Stroman?

The good news is, I think you could argue despite the Heisman candidate, ND was ahead of schedule this year. They'll return something like 16 or 17 starters when it all shakes out.

 

[NDMatt91]

Unfortunately, our season is over. For the first time in my life (well at least my life where I’ve really been able to semi-understand the ins & outs of college football) I don’t really know how to look back at our season. In my life I have seen us have objectively good seasons that have big gaping flaws in them due to rivalry losses or bowl loses like 05,06,15,& 21. I’ve seen good not great seasons that I personally remember fondly because of big rivalry wins, knocking off highly ranked teams, or (even though they may not mean as much in the grand scheme of things) ending the season with a bowl win 10,13,14,17,22,& 23. This season I dunno if it’s just because we (still agree with the decision all things considered) declined the bowl or just because of the shitty nature in which we were denied an opportunity to return to the playoffs. When we look back on this season are we gonna think of it fondly overall due to the 10 game win streak, beating USC, & keeping all of our rivalry trophies where they belong? Or is the nature of getting the shaft & us standing our ground and protesting our treatment declining anything in the post season gonna make this season a less than favorable memory for us in the same vain that at least I kind of look at seasons like 06, 11, & 21? I have accepted everything but still really don’t know how to feel right now. I know everyone may see every year differently so I’m curious what my fellow Irish fans think?

For me, it wasn't a failure, but it was a big disappointment. Coming into the season it looked like they only had 2 really tough games on paper, and they lost both of those games. Now, they absolutely got screwed by the CFP Committee, but there is still no excuse to lose to both Miami and A&M, especially with a generational backfield. All they had to do was find a way to win 1 of those games. Chris Ash deserves a lot of blame for the first few weeks, whether it was not knowing his personnel or not making the right defensive calls. It was also a very strange season. I could never really get a feel for this team. It seemed like every single big bounce/call (and non-call) went against them in tight games, and went against the teams they needed to win later in the season.

 

[irish2104]

I think a lot will depend on how 2026 ends up..

 

[irishrb]

Love: Getting to spend time with the family watching an awesome team with one of the best players to ever wear a Notre Dame uniform..
Hate: The bitter end with politics and social media truly just festing on greed and negativity!

 

[rtrn2glory]

The Heisman ceremony is going to be a joke. Literally Going to be only one guy that has actual legit impressive highlights to show. Vandy kid gives off the Johnny Football vibes, but without the excitement

 

[NDPhilly]

My goal for this season considering the new QB and DC was 10-2 and a playoff spot. lol.

Generally this team was much better than I expected, and might have ended up being better than last year team by year end. Because of that I can’t view it as a failure. Unfortunate scheduling / bad luck.

 

[thekid33]

It's the season of "What If?"

Really enjoyed watching this team.

 

[Riddickulous]

It's a missed opportunity. This team could've won the natty.

The future looks pretty bright, though, and I'm excited about the potential.

 

[stlnd01]

I think a lot will depend on how 2026 ends up..

I tend to agree. If this is the "worst" year of a great three-year run, I'll look back on it happily. If next year we don't live up to potential, I'll probably look back on it differently. Check back in 12 months.

But either way, even though we're basically in "CFP or Bust" mode now, I wouldn't consider this year a failure at all. No we didn't make the CFP, but we 100 percent should have, we won 10 straight games in dominant fashion and for most of the season were the half-dozen best teams in the sport. The fact that we didn't make the playoffs is not at all the fault of the players, barely the fault of the coaches, and largely the result of a corrupt system that our athletic director is trying to navigate or fix. Hope he does so this doesn't happen again.

 

[jpachuta33]

A lot of learning was done this season… and the price of that learning was potentially a National Championship, and that’s hard to accept. We cannot let the committee decide our fate moving forward. The mindset has to be 12-0 or 11-1… With that said, this season was truly a missed opportunity, with blame to go around to Notre Dame (the offensive game plan vs Miami and the defensive collapse against A&M), the ACC (propaganda for a month straight targeting ND), and the pieces of shit that are the CFP committee (collusion and corruption).

 

[TracyGraham]

Unfortunately, our season is over. For the first time in my life (well at least my life where I’ve really been able to semi-understand the ins & outs of college football) I don’t really know how to look back at our season. In my life I have seen us have objectively good seasons that have big gaping flaws in them due to rivalry losses or bowl loses like 05,06,15,& 21. I’ve seen good not great seasons that I personally remember fondly because of big rivalry wins, knocking off highly ranked teams, or (even though they may not mean as much in the grand scheme of things) ending the season with a bowl win 10,13,14,17,22,& 23. This season I dunno if it’s just because we (still agree with the decision all things considered) declined the bowl or just because of the shitty nature in which we were denied an opportunity to return to the playoffs. When we look back on this season are we gonna think of it fondly overall due to the 10 game win streak, beating USC, & keeping all of our rivalry trophies where they belong? Or is the nature of getting the shaft & us standing our ground and protesting our treatment declining anything in the post season gonna make this season a less than favorable memory for us in the same vain that at least I kind of look at seasons like 06, 11, & 21? I have accepted everything but still really don’t know how to feel right now. I know everyone may see every year differently so I’m curious what my fellow Irish fans think?

The problem is that everything seemed like a building up to the playoffs. Without a chance to redeem ourselves on the big stage it just seems empty to me. This is just my opinion but the past 10 games seemed like glorified spring games. We could see how good we were and we were ready to take on the world, but we never got the chance. Itjust feels really incomplete.

 

[Plankton]

From beginning to the end, this team was not ready for launch. They stumbled out of the gate due to scared coaching and poor line play on both sides of the line of scrimmage in Week One, and poor defensive coaching and personnel decisions in Week Two. After that, they got their shit together and played really well.

At the end of the season, this lack of readiness extended to the ADs office, where they sat idle while a PR campaign was mounted against them, and their silence at the end was deafening. It ended up costing them the same way that the coaching decisions cost them at the beginning of the season.

In all aspects of the operation, they need to be better prepared from the outset of the season(s) - the start of games and the start of the CFP rankings. Better preparation will yield better results.

 

[ACamp1900]

I think a lot will depend on how 2026 ends up..

This is what I came to say

 

[OrlaNDomer]

I’ll remember this team as a statically dominant team with elite athletes all over that started slow at Miami, got robbed against A&M and didn’t get a chance to compete for a title because the system is screwed up. BCS, 4 team playoff… it makes sense this team doesn’t get a shot. There’s just no justifiable reason this team isn’t in a field of 12.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

I’m not trying to start a fight or blame freeman or whatever.

But.

The reality is it is yet ANOTHER year with horseshit early season losses on Freeman’s watch. That HAS to stop. And those two games are the story of the season. I can’t help but think of it in any other way. In the aggregate, it was a massive failure and a massive disappointment. This team could have won the first natty since 93. You cannot not be discouraged by that.

 

[Rudy89]

The problem is that everything seemed like a building up to the playoffs. Without a chance to redeem ourselves on the big stage it just seems empty to me. This is just my opinion but the past 10 games seemed like glorified spring games. We could see how good we were and we were ready to take on the world, but we never got the chance. Itjust feels really incomplete.

Yeah the empty feeling is sort of what I’m feeling. I mentioned seasons from the past 20 years in my original post. There’s been seasons that maybe we wouldn’t classify as good but there are games from that season that when I’m bored or feeling down I go on YouTube & watch the highlights of. 06 MSU & UCLA. 2010 the 3 game streak in November.2013 MSU, ASU, USC, & the bowl, 2014 UM, Stanford, & the Bowl. 2022 Clemson & the bowl, 2023 USC & Duke. But this year despite it being a better year than most of (if not all) of those seasons I mentioned I almost don’t want to go back and relive anything from this season despite the 10 straight wins. It’s a weird feeling. We won a lot of games, beat our rivals. & didn’t finish the year with a loss but right now I’m feeling like I did at the end of 2011 despite it being an objectively better season…just empty.

 

[LifelongFan]

I have been watching old highlights and compilations on YouTube this week, and what really sucks with losing the two big games is how this year is just going to fade away in collective conscious. The USC game is going to end up being the only good memory from this year, even though this is the best ND team since 1993. It's a disappointment.

 

[thekid33]

The USC game is going to end up being the only good memory from this year,

We'll also always have Syracuse. That was wild.

 

[LifelongFan]

As much fun as Cuse and Navy and Arkansas were, beating up on the Little Sisters of the Poor never sticks. Even with amazing play from Love and Carr and and Price and Stroman, those games are going to fade away in my mind.

 

[IrishBryan77]

2025..... got fucked without a kiss. 👍

 

[IrishBryan77]

I did a bucket list trip with my dad and brother to the USC game. It was my brother's first trip to campus and my dad's first since he graduated in 1970. One day my dad won't be here but I'll always remember sitting in the rain cheering the team on with them and watching them have the huge win.

That's how I chose to remember this season.

That's good stuff.

 

[Wild Bill]

Football is a game of inches, and that’s exactly the lesson this season delivered. Setting aside the playoff committee’s filth, ND was undone by a long chain of small, compounding events. Some of it was entirely out of their control. People pointed out weeks ago that keeping ND out would require a multi-game parlay to hit over the final two weeks. It was improbable and it hit.

ACC completely botching its title game, Jagusah getting hurt at the X Games and Devonta Smith spraining his ankle during the national anthem before the A&M game, terrible agme plan against Miami, secondary lost for a few weeks. It just all added up.

The team competes and had a chance, so from a fan's perspective that was good. Love was great too. If this was a high level Kelly-esque team, I really wouldn't give a shit at all. This team was good enough to win it and didn't get a chance, adn that burns a bit.

 

[Terry Jillery]

Claiming national champion status is reasonable when the mechanism for verification was withheld. I want a tshirt.

 

[IrishLax]

1. There was a time in the not-so-distant past where we praying for "ranked wins" and the team just flat out wasn't very good. Even in the 2012 run that team was "finding ways to win" not going out and just kicking ass. So I'm encouraged by 2024 and building on that to where the 2025 team was pound-for-pound probably the most talented/dominant team of the last 25-30 years.

2. Because of that, this will always be a "what if" season and a huge disappointment because they plausibly could've won the whole thing if they made the playoffs. We may never see a back of Love's quality ever again. But we were set up for failure by a front loaded schedule and rookie QB, if you change the order of games we probably blast Texas A&M and beat Miami close to end the year.

So yeah, on one hand I'll look back at this team as maybe the "best" I've seen, and on the other hand I'll probably never fully get over them being left out for worse teams.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

How we look back at it now, will be different than how we look back at it later.

I can assure you, we will look back at this later as crossing the rubicon, and being led into an era of abundance haven’t seen in decades.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ACamp1900]

I’m not trying to start a fight or blame freeman or whatever.

But.

The reality is it is yet ANOTHER year with horseshit early season losses on Freeman’s watch. That HAS to stop. And those two games are the story of the season. I can’t help but think of it in any other way. In the aggregate, it was a massive failure and a massive disappointment. This team could have won the first natty since 93. You cannot not be discouraged by that.

If you get attacked I’ll stand with you. I love Freeman, we all do I assume,… but his tenure has unquestionably had a few fatal flaws that seem to repeat themselves,…