No one could’ve expected Dabo Swinney’s “money machine” remark to age this well. When the Clemson head coach said Notre Dame had financial advantages back in May, fans even sent him hate mails. But now, a report from The Athletic may have done more to prove his point.

“It feels like Notre Dame is spending big in football NIL, but how are the Irish viewed within the college football industry? And how much is Notre Dame actually spending?” Notre Dame beat writer for The Athletic Pete Sampson wrote before sharing the answer he heard. 

According to his reporting, multiple GMs across college football now view this independent program as one of the sport’s biggest NIL spenders. And it explains why Notre Dame assembled what many believe is one of the most talented rosters in the country heading into 2026.

Notre Dame retained every important contributor. They finished No. 2 in recruiting with 30 commits including three 5-stars per On3. According to the executives surveyed by The Athletic, Notre Dame is now playing the money game at an elite level. One Group of 6 GM placed the Irish alongside LSU, Texas Tech, Ohio State, Miami and Texas among college football’s biggest spenders.

“They’re a big-time spender,” the GM said. “LSU, Texas Tech, Ohio State, Miami and Texas are up at the top, but Notre Dame is right there with them.”

Of the six GMs surveyed, only one estimated Notre Dame’s current roster cost below $40 million. One executive even suggested the Irish could be approaching $48 million in total player spending. But the most fascinating part may be how quickly the program appears to have transformed. 

When Notre Dame faced Ohio State in the national championship game two seasons ago, several GMs believed the Buckeyes were spending roughly twice as much on roster construction. OSU publicly acknowledged its roster cost exceeded $20 million while industry estimates placed the Irish closer to $10 million.

“I think that has changed,” one Power 4 GM told The Athletic. “I do feel like the Notre Dame program is spending at a comparable level to the biggest spenders in the game.”

Another Group of 6 GM gave credit to both Marcus Freeman and AD Pete Bevacqua for adapting.

“Now it’s, ‘Hey, we’re Notre Dame, this is college football now. Money’s not gonna be an issue,’” the GM said. “Whatever was holding Notre Dame back before from winning a national championship, it’s not going to be money.”

When Dabo Swinney appeared on Greg McElroy’s podcast, he wasn’t necessarily taking a shot at Notre Dame. He was explaining Clemson’s place in a rapidly changing sport.

“At Clemson, we’ve always gotta have a chip on our shoulder,” Swinney said. “We don’t have some of the things that some of the schools that we’ve played and had to compete with over the years have… Notre Dame has their own TV station. They make their own rules. They print their own money. They’ve got, like, a money machine in the backyard or something.”

Notre Dame’s financial aggressiveness isn’t happening by accident. Pete Bevacqua has been remarkably transparent about his views on the future of college athletics. While testifying before Congress this week, he argued that the revenue-sharing limits established through the House settlement aren’t functioning as a true cap.

“I believe the cap number in the House Settlement is too low,” he said. “I believe we need to fix a more realistic cap, and I go back to my opening, where there’s this misnomer that there’s a cap. There is no cap.”

Many schools are treating revenue sharing as a ceiling but Notre Dame appears to be treating it as a starting point. As one agent with multiple Notre Dame clients put it – 

“If you really want to win a national championship today, you have to spend in the portal and spend to retain. Third-party NIL, they’re willing to play the game… They had to.”

Ironically, one of Notre Dame’s biggest stars offers proof that this spending boom is relatively new.

Jeremiyah Love’s story shows how fast things changed

Former Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love recently revealed that NIL opportunities weren’t exactly overflowing when he arrived in South Bend in 2023. 

“No, it wasn’t,” he said when asked whether the NIL was lucrative. “Not my first few years, it wasn’t. My third year, it was good. I was living good.”

The common perception is that Notre Dame has always thrown massive money around. Jeremiyah Love’s experience suggests otherwise. But by the end of his college career, his valuation reportedly reached roughly $1.5 million while partnerships with major brands followed. 

Notre Dame didn’t start at the front of the NIL race. But they appear determined not to finish behind anyone. And that’s why Dabo Swinney’s old remark now feels prophetic. Maybe there isn’t literally a money machine sitting somewhere behind Touchdown Jesus. But if the executives around college football are right, the Irish have found something close enough.