How did Notre Dame go from being Darth Vader in shiny gold helmets to America’s Team against Ohio State?
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They’re the New York Yankees of college football.
The Evil Empire.
Darth Vader in shiny gold helmets.
So how did Notre Dame go from being the most overhyped, overromanticized and often overrated team in the country to the plucky underdog hoping to beat the odds against Ohio State in Monday’s national championship game?
The team everyone except its army of Subway alumni once loved to hate has suddenly become the people’s choice for virtually everyone except those in the Buckeye State.
It’s a phenomenon as mysterious as the Bermuda Triangle.
But unlike all those ships and planes disappearing into thin air in and over the Atlantic, there are several plausible theories to explain the remarkable shift in perception the Fighting Irish have undergone over the past few weeks.
The first is America’s affinity for a good Cinderella story
Who doesn’t shed a tear or 2 at the end of Rudy, after all?
Rudy’s alma mater had already shown its resilience by bouncing back from a damaging early loss to Northern Illinois that led it to be written off as a serious championship contender. It displayed persistence by rallying from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl.
The fact that Notre Dame is now an 8.5-point underdog to the Buckeyes according to FanDuel Sportsbook, despite being the higher seed, has made it much more palatable to root for the Irish.
So has the path they’ve taken to get to Monday’s championship game matchup.
It’s almost laughable to think of Notre Dame as the brave “little guy” standing up to the bully on the block to protect the interests of the less fortunate.
But that’s the world we live in now.
The SEC and Big Ten are the rich power brokers sitting in their cigar smoke-filled boardrooms counting their billions and conspiring to put everyone else out of business with plans that would guarantee each at least 4 automatic bids to future Playoffs.
As if having 7 teams in the inaugural 12-team field weren’t already enough.
The Irish have done their part to break the Big 2 monopoly by taking down Big Ten representatives Indiana and Penn State, along with SEC champion Georgia on their way to the final.
The irony of the situation is that the independent status helping Notre Dame become the standard bearer for college football’s oppressed and overlooked is the same independence that has long been the source of its most frequent criticism.
It’s a sentiment voiced as recently as last week by Penn State coach James Franklin at a press conference the day before the Orange Bowl.
“This is no knock at coach (Marcus Freeman) or Notre Dame,” he said. “But I think everybody should be in a conference.”
Freeman was sitting next to Franklin when he made the statement. And it was clear from the look on his face as he glared at his coaching counterpart that he wasn’t happy with what was said.
But Freeman didn’t shoot back with a confrontational comment. Or create a public spectacle by losing his temper as a lot of coaches might have. Instead, Freeman handled things the same way he’s dealt with pressure situations on the sideline during a game since inheriting one of college football’s highest-profile jobs 3 seasons ago.
Quietly and professionally, At least when he was in front of the cameras.
“He was angry with the press conference thing, whatever was going on between that,” safety Xavier Watts told Pete Sampson of The Athletic. “He was mad about that. All the anger went toward us and that anger went onto the field.”
Freeman’s fiery passion behind closed doors carried over to his players. He’s a former star linebacker at Ohio State, remember. But it’s his chill on the sideline, even in the most pressure-packed situations, that has won over so many. Even those who have rooted against Notre Dame for as long they can remember.
Freeman is young. He’s photogenic. He’s humble. And he exudes love for his players and his program’s rich, unmatched tradition. He says all the right things before the games and is respectful to his team’s opponents in his comments after beating them.
In that respect, he’s the 180-degree opposite of his predecessor Brian Kelly – a genuinely disagreeable chap who bolted from South Bend because he wanted “to be in an environment where I have the resources to win a national championship,” and who put on a fake Cajun accent to impress the folks at LSU upon his arrival in Baton Rouge.
Funny how things turn out.
Given the new landscape of college football and the expanded Playoff, it’s actually Notre Dame that might possess the better resources to win a title.
Or maybe Freeman is just a better coach.
Either way, it’s the Irish not Kelly’s Tigers who will play for the championship on Monday. Even if they don’t beat Ohio State to bring home their school’s first national title since 1988, Freeman has already accomplished something no one else in recent memory has done.
Or saw coming.
He’s transformed Notre Dame from the team everyone loved to hate into a team (almost) everyone is lining up to get behind.
A villain turned hero in a shiny gold helmet riding in on a white stallion to save college football from the power brokers conspiring to destroy it.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
