Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2025 9 UNDER THE DOME It's no secret a main reason why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish punched a ticket to the College Football Playoff is effective coaching across the board, from the top down. Three coaches in particu- lar were rewarded for their season-long efforts in the days and weeks following the regular season. Head coach Marcus Freeman won The Dodd Trophy, which was established in 1976 to honor the FBS football coach whose program embodies the award's three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity while also having success on the playing field. He also was named the winner of the George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, presented by the Maxwell Football Club. Freeman is the second Notre Dame coach to win each award, joining Brian Kelly (Dodd Trophy in 2018) and Tyrone Willingham (Munger Award in 2002). "I am accepting this award on behalf of our entire program as it is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our players, coaches and support staff," Freeman said in a statement. Football Scoop, a prominent national college football outlet, named Notre Dame's Marty Biagi its Special Teams Coach of the Year and Fighting Irish general manager Chad Bowden its Player Personnel Director of the Year. Biagi has been the mastermind behind numerous successful special teams fakes for the Irish, most recently coaching up the punt team to get off the field quickly and substitute 11 for 11 in a stunt that got Georgia defensive players to jump offsides in the Sugar Bowl. Bowden, meanwhile, has been a superstar behind the scenes for the Irish for years. He spearheads Notre Dame's recruiting efforts. — Tyler Horka Three Notre Dame Freshmen Receive ESPN All-America Status ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill named offensive tackle An- thonie Knapp, cornerback Leonard Moore and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa to his Freshman All-America team. No other program had more than two players on Luginbill's list. Knapp has been Notre Dame's starting left tackle for the entirety of the 2024 season. Moore replaced the injured Benjamin Morrison at cornerback. Before Viliamu-Asa injured his knee against Army Nov. 23, he served as a key defensive contributor. He made a return to the lineup in the Sugar Bowl after missing the regular-season finale at USC and the matchup with Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Knapp is Notre Dame's lowest-graded regular starter along the offensive line, checking in with an overall Pro Football Fo- cus mark of 62.7 prior to the Orange Bowl. His run-blocking grade of 69.0, though, was No. 9 among all Notre Dame play- ers receiving a figure in that category at that time. PFF is not in love with Viliamu-Asa, either, giving him the lowest defensive grade (63.6) of any of the five play- ers in Notre Dame's regular linebacker rotation going into the Orange Bowl. Moore, meanwhile, had the best PFF grade, 88.7, of any Notre Dame defensive player coming out of the Sugar Bowl, besting graduate student Xavier Watts by a hair. Watts' grade through 14 games was 87.2. Nobody else from the Notre Dame defense was above 81.4. — Tyler Horka Notre Dame Loses Sophomore Tight End To Season-Ending Injury In Sugar Bowl Fewer than a handful of snaps into his Sugar Bowl experience, Notre Dame sophomore tight end Cooper Flanagan was spotted on the sideline in a boot and on crutches. Head coach Marcus Freeman announced two days later Flanagan would be out for the remainder of the College Football Playoff with a foot injury. The official Notre Dame injury report labeled it a left Achilles injury for Flanagan. He was the second Irish player to suffer a season-ending injury during the CFP, joining defensive tackle Rylie Mills. The graduate student and team captain went down with a knee injury in the first-round game against Indiana. There was some good news on the injury front to come out of the Sugar Bowl for Notre Dame, though. Freeman did not have to address any other injury concerns despite apparent injuries to sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love (knee) and graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III (ankle). No word on them meant they were not injured enough to carry a designation like questionable into the Orange Bowl. Sophomore offensive tackle Charles Jagusah was on the field for all five of the Irish's kicks, three field goals and two extra points. Freshman linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa played 13 defensive snaps after missing the USC game and the first-round CFP game against Indiana. — Tyler Horka Marcus Freeman earned The Dodd Trophy and the George Munger Award, which are given to the national coach of the year, after leading his team to an 11-1 mark during the 2024 regular season. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Three Notre Dame Coaches Win End-Of-Season Awards Leonard Moore became the latest Irish cornerback in a long line of them to impress as a true freshman. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER