How will Notre Dame adjust up front with Charles Jagusah sidelined? Fighting Irish mailbag

New York Times

11-07-2025

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was a quiet offseason. Until it wasn't.
Now Notre Dame is dealing with the loss of arguably its top offensive lineman for an extended period while trying to reconfigure its offense around a new quarterback with a new receiver group. You've got questions about all that, plus you're curious about opposing coach villains and the most forgettable seasons. Let's talk about it.
Welcome to this week's Notre Dame Mailbag.
What's the timeline for Charles Jagusah's recovery? And who is first up to replace him? — Kent L.
From everything I can gather talking to sources and checking with a few doctors familiar with these kinds of injury — albeit not when the patient is a 6-foot-7, 333-pound giant tasked with blocking elite athletes — the timeline seems to point toward an October comeback for Jagusah's return. Could that change between now and then? Obviously. It wasn't long ago that Jagusah suffered what appeared to be a season-ending pectoral injury, then started in the national title game at left tackle and played a big part in the semifinal win over Penn State. Jagusah has the wrong kind of experience in coming back from a catastrophic injury, but at least he's done this kind of thing before.
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In some ways, Notre Dame is better prepared to cope without Jagusah this year than it was last season. The Irish offensive line that started at Texas A&M had a combined six career starts and 483 career snaps. The lineup that takes the field at Miami should have a combined 49 career starts and 3,318 career snaps, assuming O-line coach Joe Rudolph opts for Sullivan Absher to replace Jagusah. The junior from North Carolina is 6-foot-8 and 328 pounds; most programs don't have that body type on the bench. Not many have it in the starting lineup, either.
My question about the offensive line isn't just how it will look in opening tests against Miami and Texas A&M, two of the better defensive lines in the sport (not just on Notre Dame's schedule); it's how the line will protect a quarterback who is not Riley Leonard. Per Pro Football Focus, Leonard was pressured on 32.1 percent of his dropbacks last season. Among teams that made the CFP, that percentage ranked next to last, in front of only Arizona State. Compare that to actual sacks allowed per game, where Notre Dame ranked third out of 12 CFP teams. Basically, Leonard made Notre Dame's pass protection look better than it actually was. Will CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey do the same? That's a stretch. And that's why the offensive line has to be better than last year, because the quarterback it's protecting probably won't protect himself the way Leonard did.
The best-case scenario for Notre Dame? Weather the September slate — at Miami, Texas A&M, Purdue, at Arkansas — as the offensive line grows into the October homestand. Then Jagusah returns for the stretch run, which could take the Irish into January.
A few general questions about Chris Ash: How's he fitting in culturally? Any notable player comments about him? How has he been on the recruiting trail? Does he hate hearing 'You have big shoes to fill' yet? — Dan W.
This feels like a no-news-is-good-news situation because there hasn't been much chatter about Notre Dame's defensive coordinator fitting in (or not fitting in). Much like Al Golden did three years ago, Ash walks into a solid situation where he can lean on the coaching staff Marcus Freeman has assembled. Unlike with Golden, though, the program is on much firmer ground today, as defensive position coaches Al Washington, Max Bullough and Mike Mickens have combined for nine seasons of experience at Notre Dame. When Golden arrived, the entire operation was new, including, significantly, the head coach.
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As with Golden, Notre Dame doesn't need Ash to be a killer on the recruiting trail, and there hasn't been a ton of buzz about him on that front. And that's fine. Notre Dame leaned more into its support staff for recruiting during the spring contact period, sending out non-position coaches to meet with prospects. Considering the returns with the current class, it's hard to argue with the change.
This question did get me thinking back to some of the chatter about Golden I heard a few years ago, that he came in with a bit of an ego and operated as more of a manager of coaches than somebody who was in the film room with the players during the summer. That kind of work was left more to Bullough and James Laurinaitis before him. Golden proved to be an excellent teacher over the long term, but it's interesting to think back to some of those early impressions that proved insignificant over time.
I have two different 'why aren't we hearing more hype?' types of questions:
1) Why aren't we hearing any Malachi Fields buzz? I see him consistently pop up on top 10 WR lists from PFF and such, but crickets from the Notre Dame world
2) Why aren't people talking about how great the edge duo of Bryce Young and Boubacar Traore could be? Both look the part of top 50 NFL picks, haven't had that since at least Julian Okwara/Khalid Kareem — AJ M.
On the first point, it might sound strange to deem a player 'overrated' before he takes a snap, and it's not like Malachi Fields rated himself on those lists, but it does feel like the cart is a bit ahead of the horse with the Virginia transfer. Could he be great? Maybe. But if he was already pushing for that level, he'd likely be in an NFL training camp this summer instead of working out in South Bend. I caught up with Ian Book earlier this summer for a couple of different stories, but we talked about Fields a bit. Book has been throwing with Notre Dame's quarterbacks this summer, keeping his arm sharp while also offering himself as a resource to Carr and Minchey if they need it.
'He's not Claypool-sized,' Book said of Fields. 'He is Miles-ish. That's fair.'
Miles Boykin led Notre Dame with 59 catches for 872 yards and eight touchdowns during his senior year, which ended with a loss to Clemson in the CFP. If Fields can be that kind of receiver — very good but maybe not quite spectacular — that's probably a win for Notre Dame.
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Book expected Fields would give Carr and/or Minchey something he enjoyed in all three years as Notre Dame's starter: a go-to receiver on third down. Book had Boykin and Claypool during his first year, then had Claypool solo, then had Ben Skowronek and Javon McKinley starting in his last season.
'I always knew on third down, man-to-man, it's more than a 50-50 shot,' Book said. 'Every year I had a tall guy on the outside. They really haven't had that. It's the best in college. It's a cheat code.'
On the second question, I'm torn between Young and Traore as my breakout player choices for this season, with Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa in that mix too. I don't think it's overstating the potential of Traore and Young to predict they'd be just as good as Kareem and Okwara, even though that pair was credited with 174(!) total quarterback pressures during their junior and senior seasons combined, per PFF.
Notre Dame rotates more along the defensive line now than it did then, but it's hard to imagine Traore and Young not being on the field for virtually every significant pass rushing opportunity this season. Rylie Mills and Junior Tuihalamaka led Notre Dame with a combined 60 quarterback pressures last season in 16 games. It would almost feel like a disappointment if Young and Traore didn't average better than 3.75 pressures per game.
What was your worst season to cover on the Notre Dame beat? Not necessarily the worst team, but just a season that was boring, devoid of news, etc. — Clint N.
While there are a few contenders, the 2013 season stands alone for tedium and banality. Other than Everett Golson's suspension and the Pinstripe Bowl media shuttle getting into an accident on the way back to Manhattan, almost nothing stands out. And it was all a massive buzzkill after Notre Dame played in the national championship game a year prior.
Could you name the best win of that season? Beating USC at home without a completed pass in the second half? Holding on for dear life against Navy? The ice bowl against BYU? Tommy Rees outdueling Connor Cook in a game remembered for … pass interference?
Forgettable seasons usually include two things: boring football and expectations that crater during September. When Notre Dame lost at Michigan in Week 2, then stumbled against Oklahoma at the end of the month, any shot at being a contender was out the window. And that's if you believed the Irish were going to turn it around after grinding out painful wins over Purdue and Michigan State and sort of handling Temple. The entire campaign felt like a hangover for one hell of a party the season prior. And yeah, that party was probably worth it, even if it included Brian Kelly interviewing with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Manti Te'o soap opera.
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But hey, what are the odds Notre Dame has another hangover season after playing for the national title?
James Franklin's behavior at the Orange Bowl presser prompted this question I've been meaning to ask. Given your time on the beat, what programs and head coaches have shown Notre Dame the most respect, and conversely, what programs and coaches (no need to mention Pat Narduzzi — he's a given) have been the least respectful? — Cdawg W.
This is a fun question. Sort of a Mount Rushmore of villains during my 25 years on the beat.
If we're really going to exclude Narduzzi from consideration, top contenders are probably James Franklin, David Shaw, Lane Kiffin and Jim Harbaugh, with Harbaugh the runaway winner. Franklin might be the most recent honoree (beating out Curt Cignetti), but the Penn State coach's struggles with self-editing are not specific to his dealings with Notre Dame. Shaw always seemed to have a snide remark or complaint about Notre Dame's band, never mind the fact he beat the Irish regularly in some very dour games. Yeah, losing to Northern Illinois and Marshall was bad, but that loss to a woeful Stanford team was a close third for Marcus Freeman. There was also Shaw's strength coach jawing at Brian Kelly after a win in South Bend. And who can forget Lane Kiffin calling Notre Dame's night game with the new gold helmets the school's 'Super Bowl' after the Irish bombed in prime time?
But Harbaugh is truly a colossus among mortals when it comes to antagonizing Notre Dame. Yes, he (or somebody on his staff) was responsible for one of the most incomprehensible results of the Kelly era, when a mediocre Michigan team blew the doors off Notre Dame in Ann Arbor. But what Harbaugh accomplished at Stanford to annoy Notre Dame was a tour de force, including that demolition of Notre Dame in Kelly's first season. Not only did Harbaugh beat the Irish into submission, but after the game, he also trolled Notre Dame before trolling was a thing. When Stanford dominated every phase, Harbaugh made sure to point out how fired up he was about the Cardinal kickoff coverage and special teams schemes. Stanford had kicker Nate Whitaker and special teams coordinator Brian Polian, both cast off by Kelly after he took the Irish job.
On the flip side, it's harder to pick out coaches who have been reverential to Notre Dame beyond standard press conference quotes. I remember Kelly thanking Steve Sarkisian, then USC's head coach, for calling off the dogs in 2016. Dabo Swinney seems to get Notre Dame more than most. Freeman and Kirby Smart have a healthy relationship.
But who likes to be liked? The better stuff is the animosity and rivalry that fuel college football. Say what you want about Harbaugh, but he was good theater and a great coach.
(Top photo of Aneyas Williams celebrating a rushing touchdown with Sullivan Absher: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)