Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM PRESEASON 2025 11 UNDER THE DOME Promising News On The Injury Front Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman gave a promising injury update on ju- nior tight end Cooper Flanagan (Achilles) and redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Charles Jagusah (upper arm) after practice July 31. Both players are out for the time being, but Freeman confirmed Flanagan and Jagusah will return at some point this season. "With Coop and Charles, they'll be back during the season," Freeman said. "I don't know — there's not a hard date that we're going to say, 'This is the game they'll be back. But they'll be back this year." Freeman said Jagusah had a second surgery to sew up the wound that resulted from the compound fracture on his arm (meaning the bone pierced through his skin). But the fourth-year head coach added that it should not set his return back more than a few days. "So, it's a progression," Freeman said. "But we don't want to put a timeline on it." Notre Dame is also waiting on returns from junior defensive end Boubacar Traore and graduate student defensive end Jordan Botelho. Traore, who tore his ACL and LCL against Louisville Sept. 28, practiced July 31 but did not participate in most of the 11-on-11 action. Freeman said that was by design, and that Traore is on track to start Week 1. "Yeah, Boubacar is more of a progression," Freeman said. "He'll be ready to go. We just want to slowly increase the load we ask him to perform in practice." Botelho, arguably the most snake-bitten player on the Irish, tore his patellar ten- don Sept. 14 against Purdue. He was set to return on a similar timeline to Traore, but he tore his left pectoral muscle working out in late May. The initial reporting on Botelho put his timeline at around four months, but somewhat surprisingly, he was a limited participant in all three practices July 31- Aug. 2. Botelho did not partake in any contact drills, but he did some work hitting and locking out on a blocking sled, as well as working pass-rush moves around dummies. There is no official timeline on Botelho's return, either. But the early returns are promising so far. — Jack Soble MARCUS FREEMAN MAKES DODD TROPHY WATCH LIST Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is in the running to run it back. The 2024 Dodd Trophy winner as the coach of the year in college football, Freeman was one of 26 head coaches who were named to a pre- season watch list for the award July 7. The Dodd Trophy is unique among college coach of the year awards in that it honors "the FBS football coach whose program represents three pillars of success: Scholarship, Leadership and Integrity." Freeman is the second winner of the Dodd Trophy in Notre Dame history. Brian Kelly was the first Fighting Irish head coach to secure the coveted piece of hardware in 2018. Only two coaches have won the award twice: Penn State's Joe Paterno in 1981 and 2005 and Kansas State's Bill Snyder in 1998 and 2012. Even rarer air? Winning it twice in a row. Obviously, that's never been done before. Freeman is look- ing to become the first coach to accomplish that feat. It's going to take another stellar year for Notre Dame for Freeman to be in the running at the end of the 2025 season. He guided the Fighting Irish to an 11-1 regular-season record in 2024. Notre Dame's only loss was to Northern Illinois in Week 2. In the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame held serve with a home win over Indiana in the first round. Then Freeman and the Irish navigated the New Year's Day tragedy in New Orleans to beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame advanced to the national championship game for the first time since the 2012 season with a victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl. — Tyler Horka PENN STATE HEAD COACH RIPS NOTRE DAME INDEPENDENCE — AGAIN Penn State head coach James Franklin criticized Notre Dame's independent status, again, July 24 at Big Ten media days. Franklin drew backlash at his joint press con- ference with Irish head coach Marcus Freeman in January at the Orange Bowl for expressing his belief that every college football team should join a conference. During his press conference in Las Vegas, he doubled down. "Everybody should be in a conference," Franklin said. "I said that last year at a press conference last year before playing Notre Dame, and every- body thought I was slighting Notre Dame. I've been saying that for 10 years! If I didn't say it in that moment when I was asked the question, I'd be a hypocrite." The Irish beat Franklin's Nittany Lions 27-24 in the 2024 Orange Bowl, earning the right to advance to the national title game. — Jack Soble Junior tight end Cooper Flanagan, who suffered an Achilles injury versus Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, is expected to return at some point during the 2025 season. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER