Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 22, 2025 5 H ave you ever been in a situation when you've h a d s o m e t h i n g yo u wanted to say to a group of people but there wasn't a natural point in the conver- sation to bring it up so you just blurted it out anyway? It seems like college football coaches are constantly find- ing themselves in that exact position as it relates to Notre Dame and its football inde- pendence. Take Texas Tech's head coach Joey McGuire, for in- stance. The Red Raiders earned what might be their second- biggest win in program history by beating then-No. 7 BYU, 29-7, in Lubbock Nov. 8. Mc- Guire played into everything that made that afternoon on the West Texas plains so en- joyable and rewarding in his postgame press conference. But then, out of nowhere, he took a swipe at Notre Dame. And he didn't even need to mention the Fighting Irish's name for everyone far and wide to know exactly who he was talk- ing about. "I have so much respect for BYU," McGuire said. "I was really excited when they joined the Big 12 because I think they carry a lot of weight and a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for them entering a conference and not playing an independent schedule like other people. Y'all already know who that is. "I have a lot of respect for that. They're earning their right just like ev- erybody but a couple of people in the nation. They're earning their right through conference play and playing in some really tough places." Does Notre Dame not play in tough places? The Irish have opened a season on the road against a ranked team in three of the four years Marcus Freeman has been a head coach; at No. 2 Ohio State in 2022, at No. 20 Texas A&M in 2024 and at No. 10 Miami in 2025. Texas Tech's season openers in those same years? Murray State, Abilene Christian and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. All at home. BYU's? At South Florida, which went 1-11 in 2022, plus Southern Illinois and Portland State at home. Five of those six opponents are FCS schools. Notre Dame has played an FCS school once in the storied history of the Irish program. Take it away, Pat Narduzzi, who said Pitt's game versus the Irish is "abso- lutely not" a must-win. "It is not an ACC game," Narduzzi said. "I gladly get beat 103 or 110 to 10 in that game. They can put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that." What kind of head coach who's in charge of the No. 23 team in the country says that ahead of hosting the No. 9 team in the land, which happens to have the same ex- act record and enough brand power to warrant the presence of ESPN's College GameDay in Pittsburgh on a Saturday slate that also includes No. 11 Texas at No. 5 Georgia? And No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 4 Al- abama? Is Narduzzi seriously so enraged at the fact that Notre Dame is not in a conference that he feels congenial down- playing a matchup with the Irish that has significant play- off implications to a degree nobody thought fathomable? One-hundred points? Really? Earth to Narduzzi: Notre Dame has been independent for well over a century and has comfortably remained so even amid the chaos of conference realignment and everything else that has forcibly shifted the college football landscape in the last half decade. It isn't changing any time soon, so he might've wanted to get over it in time to actually prepare to play a football team capable of com- pletely running his own right off its own home field. That's what Freeman set out for any- way. He was asked, for the billionth time in his short tenure, if he feels like Notre Dame needs to join a conference on the same day Narduzzi insinuated the Irish should and two days after Mc- Guire made it clear where he stands on the matter. Freeman's response? "I'm focused on Pitt. That's where my focus is. I don't have anything else to say about that." Coach speak has never sounded more like music to everyone's ears consider- ing how that quote stacks up in relation to those of McGuire and Narduzzi. ✦ Notre Dame has operated in fine fashion as an independent in the Marcus Freeman era, playing much tougher schedules than given credit for. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Coaches Lose Sanity Over Notre Dame's Independence Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA