An Unsung Hero of Notre Dame's 2024 Season: The Key Player Powering the Irish

Meet the unsung hero of Notre Dame’s 2024 season, quietly making a big impact on the Fighting Irish’s success.

Nov 23, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Army Black Knights quarterback Bryson Daily (13) crosses the line for his second touchdown against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

One major program question has been answered

Entering this season, one of the major questions underpinning Marcus Freeman's third year was how new Director of Football Performance Loren Landow would adjust to training a college program. This is something he hadn't yet done in his successful career in the NFL and through operating his own sports performance company.

Would Landow's methodology transfer over to 18-22 year olds or would he need to adjust his approach? Week by week, we found out the answer. Despite a rash of bad luck injuries, the Irish team has gotten stronger and seemingly more physical weekly.

Notre Dame strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow heads into practice Thursday, March 7, 2024, at the Irish Athletics Center in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT: Austin Hough / South Bend Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame is peaking in late November while other big brands fade away

Notre Dame is getting stronger as November moves along. Rather than running out of gas or fading away like some other big brands like Alabama or Ole Miss, the Irish are getting stronger and are playing with more confidence the deeper into the season we get.

Notre Dame's roster has changed in a big way in the Freeman era. Are there as many bona fide star athletes as anyone would want on the roster? No. But what Notre Dame does feature now is a roster full of quick twitch, long, athletic, and fearless athletes who play hard. Everyone involved in creating this vision for the roster and executing it deserves credit.

If the Irish can down the Trojans in LA next weekend, they will be one of the country's hottest teams entering the CFP tournament. A dangerous and confident team. A physical team that feels it can play with anybody any week.

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