Notre Dame football: Amidst the chaos of college football, the Irish only stress about themselves

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - There's plenty to worry about in college football these days.

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman was preparing for the Blue-Gold Game on Saturday when ESPN reported Tennessee was "parting ways" with star quarterback Nico Iamaleava after an NIL dispute.

The impending changes to the roster sizes, increasing the roster limit to 105 players with all 105 spots eligible for scholarships, could impact walk-ons and more. Don't forget about the NCAA vs. House settlement that's expected to reach a conclusion on Monday.

Oh, yeah. The transfer portal is re-opening on Wednesday. I'm sure coaches are looking forward to that.

Yet, one of the biggest worries that Notre Dame had on Saturday was its quarterback competition. Not the portal or the changing landscape. The Irish are focused on themselves.

The Irish have impressively struck a balance as spring practices near an end.

Some coaches have plenty of that on their minds. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz turned 42 this week, but was open about the uncertainty surrounding the future of college football. 

"I don't know what the crap is going on," Drinkwitz said on April 9, as he talked about trying to figure it all out.

Compared to that, Freeman looked like he was on a three-day weekend. Especially for a guy that landed two four-star pass rushers in Ebenezer Ewetade and Rodney Durham in the recruiting class of 2026.

Most of the stress comes later, like who will be Notre Dame's starting quarterback? On Saturday, Freeman saw enough from the three contenders in Steve Angeli, CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey to smile. 

"I wouldn't know who to pick," tight end Eli Raridon said of the QB competition.

Still, Freeman said all three guys played well and lent themselves a lot of teaching opportunities with three spring practices left.

"You've got three guys that can all lead your program to a victory and be your starting quarterback," Freeman said.

Freeman wanted to bring that competition down from three guys to just two before fall, but that's easier said than done. Minchey, Carr and Angeli all threw for over 100 yards in split reps between them on Saturday.

That decision has to come eventually. But, it doesn't have to be now.

"It's really hard in truly having a three-quarterback battle," Freeman said. "We got to sit down and have a conversation on what's best for our program, and what's best for our quarterbacks."

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But, it's not like these changes in college football are absent from Notre Dame's minds. Coaches have to think about it. "Adapt or die," as Brad Pitt says in "Moneyball."

Freeman just knows it's not something that he has to adapt to right now. Soon, yes. Especially with the transfer portal opening up next week.

One of the spoils of having a football team that made the College Football Playoff national championship game which returns over a dozen of its 22 starters from last year.

Notre Dame doesn't need to stress too much about the portal with a roster that basically took the 2024 team to a national title game.

"We're not actively seeking to add to what we've got," Freeman said.

However, that doesn't mean players will stay put. 

The Iamaleava saga at Tennessee began recently. The fued between Iamaleava and Tennessee became public by the beginning of April, and by Saturday the two sides split. Things can happen quickly in this new era of college football.

Preparing for the reality that some players will enter the portal seems much easier than assuming everyone will stay put. But, Freeman didn't seem worried when asked about it on Saturday.

If a player wants to enter the portal, they'll have conversations with the coaching staff.

Either way, Freeman is comfortable with his current roster. He didn't openly see a need he wanted to address in the portal.

"We're really happy with what we've got," Freeman said.

Considering the year he's had, the tribulations he's overcome and the success he's found, Freeman has a lot of reasons to be happy. Any stress can come later.