Key takeaways from Marcus Freeman as Notre Dame football opens its spring practices
College football doesn't sleep. It's become a year-round endeavor, and Notre Dame football is kicking off its spring portion of the 2026 college football season.
Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman officially opened spring practices with a press conference on Wednesday.
It's a year with massive expectations for an Irish program that many see as a College Football Playoff contender. Freeman sees that early on as the leader of that program.
"We have an unbelievable team," Freeman said.
Here are some takeaways from Marcus Freeman's press conference to officially open Notre Dame's spring practices.
Notre Dame is ahead of schedule
Normally, spring practice is a big time for installing schemes and getting players up to speed with where the coaching staff wants them for the preseason training camp.
This spring, the Irish will have more 11-on-11 practices and fewer individual drills because the team is further along in where it's at now compared to past seasons.
"We’re going to have more time for football," Freeman said. "I feel like they’re at a level where they’re ready to handle that."
Part of this is returning key positions.
Chris Ash is entering Year 2 as defensive coordinator. Mike Denbrock's offense has a handful of returning starters and key players who have been in his system for a year or two. Freeman said it was "especially" significant Notre Dame has its quarterback position return.
CJ Carr will be the starting quarterback for Notre Dame, which is the first time in Freeman's tenure in South Bend he won't be entering a season with a quarterback battle to figure out. Carr will be a player on nearly every quarterback preseason watch list, and for good reason.
With where he's at in his progression, Notre Dame feels it can start challenging the 2026 team in the spring. It's a good development for the Irish, who started the 2025 season with question marks at those key positions.
Nickel for your thoughts
Karson Hobbs won the nickel cornerback job when DeVonta Smith was injured last season. Then, Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery IV had their chances playing at nickel when Hobbs lost his spot.
Hobbs has transferred to Florida State. Smith is out of eligibility.
It was assumed one of the Irish's transfer portal additions – DJ McKinney and Jayden Sanders – would fit in that position. Freeman said Wednesday that Christian Gray is a "viable" option at nickel cornerback.
Freeman said Gray and Golden will rotate at nickel, while also playing outside cornerback. The biggest reason comes down to just numbers.
"We’re not super deep at the DB position, period," Freeman said. "We’re going to have to rotate guys."
Injury Updates
Notre Dame trainer Rob Hunt spoke before Freeman. He had some of the most important updates of the day.
With a team as talented and deep as the Irish, injuries serve as one of the biggest obstacles to the season-long goal of being a CFP team again. Hunt offered updates on some known injuries and a few that have materialized since the end of the season.
- Offensive lineman Charles Jagusah missed the entire 2025 season after several developments in recovering from his broken arm that he suffered in a July 4th UTV accident. Hunt said he expects Jagusah to make a recovery and be back where he was before his injury.
- Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa suffered a torn ACL near the end of the 2025 season. Hunt said he could be ready to play by the time preseason training camp.
- Notre Dame will only have Nolan James Jr. and Jonaz Walton available for spring practices. Aneyas Williams, Kedren Young and Javian Osborne will all be dealing with injuries this spring. Williams will be limited, while Osborne and Young will be out for the spring. Freeman mentioned Notre Dame did add some walk-on running backs but didn't mention who they were.
- Cornerback Leonard Moore (ankle), guard Chris Terek (foot) and Jaden Greathouse (hamstring) will all be limited during spring practice. Notre Dame was optimistic about all of those injuries.