Notre Dame Football Christmas Wish List

A look at my Christmas Wish List for Notre Dame as it looks to close 2022 and head into 2023

Merry Christmas to the Irish Breakdown family and Notre Dame community!

It's the best time to share my Notre Dame Football Christmas Wish List with you all! I won't be lazy and just say, "A national championship." Instead, let's focus on the ingredients that go into titles, that will be more fun!

1. Bowl Win - Finishing off the 2022 season and heading into the 2023 year and season with a bowl win over South Carolina in the Gator Bowl would be huge for the Irish. South Carolina is a quality opponent, but it's more about finishing 9-4 instead of 8-5 and going into the offseason with much-needed momentum. After a rough start to the season the Irish won five of their last six games. The only loss was to USC, so beating the other USC to finish off the season will allow the program to focus on winning six of seven instead of losing the last two.

2. Big Time Quarterback Play - It's been awhile since Notre Dame truly had big time quarterback play, and it's something I would love to see in 2023. I don't care if it's a transfer, Tyler Buchner, Steve Angeli or Kenny Minchey, I just want to see big time quarterback play. Notre Dame has a lot of ingredients needed for a big time offense, but that is the one ingredient that has been largely lacking for some time.

3. An Explosive Offense - If the quarterback play gets better the offense will have a chance to be very, very good in 2023. The wide receiver depth chart has a lot of talent and the backfield is absolutely loaded. I truly believe that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has a chance to be outstanding, and part of my Christmas Wish List is that he's able to build on his strengths, identify and improve upon areas where he hasn't been good enough, and reach his full potential. If he does that he'll have playmakers galore and this offense is going to explode in 2023.

4. A Joe Moore Award - Of course, at Notre Dame elite offensive line play is at the foundation of any great offense. Getting Harry Hiestand back in 2022 was huge for the Irish, and now that his charges will have a full year of teaching from him the unit should take a big jump in 2023. If the unit plays as well as I hope it can, and think it can, my 2023 will end with the unit winning another Joe Moore Award.

5. Getting The Defense Back On Track - Notre Dame's defense was solid in 2022, but it wasn't as good as it should have been, or could have been. Marcus Freeman, Al Golden and the defensive staff need to make some changes from a very foundational standpoint, beginning with trying be more player centric and less scheme oriented. This also means allowing more competition, and doing more to get the talented younger players rolling. This unit should have all the pieces it needs from a player standpoint to be really, really good in 2023, now it's up to the leadership to do what it takes to get the most out of this group.

6. Improved Run Defense - When Notre Dame has a truly great defense it is very, very hard to run on. We've seen flashes of it in recent seasons but I want to see it re-emerge as a consistent force. Notre Dame is a lot of fun to watch when it's flying all over the field, laying the wood and shutting down the ground game.

7. A New Pass Rusher .... Or Two - Notre Dame is losing its all-time leading pass rusher in 2023, and if the defense is going to thrive it needs new playmakers to emerge. If I had to point to one breakout happening it would be rising sophomore Josh Burnham, but it could be Jordan Botelho, Rylie Mills, Aiden Gobaira, Tyson Ford, one of the freshmen or maybe even someone not on the roster. No matter who it is, Notre Dame needs a new pass rusher to emerge, but even better would be it being more than one someone.

8. A Win Over Ohio State - I grew up in Ohio and let's just say, being a Notre Dame fan living in the Buckeye State was ever rarely any fun during football season. Having bragging rights when I go home to visit family would make for a really fun 2023.

9. Landing Justin Scott - I don't want to push too much recruiting into my wish list, but obviously Notre Dame landing another elite class would be at the top of my wish list if I did want to focus more on recruiting. I could not, however, make a Christmas Wish List and not have something about recruiting. Landing elite Chicago defensive lineman Justin Scott is at the very, very, very top of my recruiting wish list. Notre Dame hasn't done a great job with this recruitment, so a recovery is needed. Landing him is so incredibly important.

10. Boldness - If Notre Dame is going to be champion once again it requires boldness in every aspect. Boldness when it comes to making tough choices, boldness when it comes to team building, boldness when it comes to scheme, boldness when it comes to going after opponents on the field, boldness on the recruiting trail. Being bold isn't easy, but that's exactly what Freeman needs to build in South Bend, a program that embraces being aggressive, a program that embraces being bold.

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Irish Breakdown Content

Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense

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