As Notre Dame prepares for spring practice, a relief is they have a guaranteed starter in QB CJ Carr. They’ve also got continuity across the coaching staff with Mike Denbrock, Chris Ash, and Marty Biagi all back. Still, there’s a gap after star RBs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price left for the NFL. But while everyone’s looking at what the Irish lost, Marcus Freeman is focused on what they quietly gained.

“This has been a unique offseason for me to see, because we’ve never had this much time,” Marcus Freeman said of the prolonged offseason. “We’ve never had this development, that full eight weeks of being in the weight room, the meetings, the football schools, the individual drills. We’re at a different level than I’ve previously seen us at.”

Remember, there was no playoff situation for Marcus Freeman in 2025, and Notre Dame famously opted out of a bowl game. Most people think missing the CFP hurts momentum, but Freeman and Co. used it to begin work on the 2026 season. The changes are already visible. Instead of heavy installation periods and basic reps, Notre Dame is planning more 11-on-11 work, fewer individual drills. That tells a lot about how prepared the team is. In fact, Freeman is so happy with the results that Notre Dame is planning to push for a change in the calendar, so that everyone gets to make use of this time, even with postseason action in play.

It has particularly helped ready the players in the depth, who will be essential for Notre Dame this season. Especially in the backfield. Had Freeman made it to the playoffs, the RB duo of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price might have pushed him to the title game. Losing them is a big blow for the Irish’s 2026 campaign, and Notre Dame is having to make do with the remaining players at hand. But Freeman is counting on the extended winter practice to shape the depth into something he can fall back on if needed.

“We had to add some depth there, just to practice,” Freeman said. “We got a couple new guys that joined the team. We had a couple walk-ons join the team. We had tryouts, and they’ll help us in terms of numbers.”

Marcus Freeman made it clear that running the football isn’t all about the RBs. Everyone, from the ones up blocking to the WRs catching the passes, plays a role in a full unit. Healthy players will get ample opportunities, but he also said spring is not about pushing limits.

“We can’t put so much load on those guys that they have diminishing returns,” he said. “We have to be able to spread the workload, and one of the important things for us to do is to get a couple of guys at least to give us reps, so we can practice and develop the depth of our team.”

Marcus Freeman isn’t losing sight of the main goal. All this preparation is a buildup to what he intends to do in 2026.

Marcus Freeman’s new standard with an edge

Last season ended with frustration for the Irish. Notre Dame missed the playoffs after Miami soared above them. There were complaints and debates, but none of it changed the outcome. However, the head coach was done revisiting it. So, he’s boiled the entire 2026 approach down to three words – Leave no doubt.

“Leave no doubt is not just in the game of football, it’s you as a person,” he said. “I tell our players all the time, if you want to be a starter, you have to leave no doubt. If you want to play more, you have to leave no doubt.” That motto was evident in Notre Dame, making full use of the time they got from not qualifying for the playoffs.

The Irish have a clear QB1, rookie and inexperienced players who are now getting some reps, and a spring structure that prioritizes execution over installation. Even the RB situation fits into that theme. They will return to the 2026 season better prepared than the 12 teams that competed for the National Championship.