Notre Dame players head to championship formed by pregame Masses, saint devotions

After the dramatic Orange Bowl victory Jan. 9 that secured a date in this Monday’s NCAA national College Football Playoff championship, University of Notre Dame senior quarterback Riley Leonard found himself directly in the media spotlight.

Grinning ear to ear, Leonard did not mince words when ESPN asked him to explain his second-half resurrection that turned a 10-3 deficit into a 27-24 victory over Penn State.

“I just started trusting the Lord,” said Leonard, who threw one touchdown and ran for another. “I looked up and said, ‘Jesus, whatever your will is for my life, I trust it 100 percent.’ This offense and this team trust in Jesus and his plan for this season.”

Throughout this season-long journey of excellence that now includes a 13-game winning streak and an opportunity to seize a 12th national title and first since 1988, Notre Dame players and coaches have been besieged by media requests for interviews.

Though questions rarely seek spiritual enlightenment, Leonard has publicly stated that his Christian faith is paramount to not only his athletic success, but also, his ability to balance the successes and failures of everyday life.

After announcing his decision in December 2023 to transfer to Notre Dame from Duke University, Leonard divulged to a horde of media during a press conference in early September 2024 that among his most rewarding aspects of playing at Notre Dame is Bible study.

“One of the biggest bragging points about this team is we have, like, 40 guys show up to our Bible study sometimes every Thursday,” said Leonard. “That’s really a credit to them.

“It started with, like, five guys, but it’s grown to 40. This team is just so close. And everything that we do, we do as a unit.”

In an interview with The Irish Tribune, Leonard credited growing up in Fairhope, Ala., as a cornerstone to his love of God and his faith in Jesus.

It helped explain why he wears a wristband citing the passage of Matthew 23:12: “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Too, Leonard’s Instagram account reads, “No God, no peace; Know God, know peace.”

“Every single person in that city that I came into contact with helped me with my faith,” he said. “I’m able to bring that here. Obviously that’s the most important thing in my life.

“When I go to bed at night, I’m not thinking, ‘How many touchdown passes did I throw?’ ‘Did we win or lose?’ I’m thinking, ‘Did I better my relationship with Jesus Christ? Did I treat my girlfriend with respect? Did I call my parents?'”

Leonard is far from alone as it pertains to Notre Dame faith expression.

Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman converted to Catholicism in 2022. Described by his peers as someone who prefers to skip the limelight, Freeman was asked about his Catholic voyage by the South Bend Tribune.

“I tried to keep it as private as I could,” he said. “Obviously, when you’re head coach at Notre Dame, nothing is private.”

When Freeman inherited the head coach position at the conclusion of the 2021 season after serving as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator for a year, the native of Fairborn, Ohio, immediately reinstated a much-loved custom.

In 2017, Notre Dame’s tradition of celebrating Mass before home games had been moved to Friday nights. Freeman didn’t like it. So, he reinstated celebrating Mass on game day.

“What better time is there to go have Mass?” he said during an interview with the National Catholic Register in August 2022. “What better time to be able to really be on the edge of your seat to get every word that comes out of the priest’s mouth and to be as close to God as you can?”

Freeman said Notre Dame’s Christian ethos means players can think about life and faith, and that is “important” to him personally.

“I want our guys to wonder about what it means to embrace Jesus Christ,” Freeman said.

After the win over Penn State, Freeman once again could not avoid personal media inquiries.

He had made history as the first Black or Asian American head coach to lead a team to a national championship

“I’ve said this before, I don’t ever want to take attention away from the team,” Freeman told ESPN. “It is an honor, and I hope all coaches — minorities, Black, Asian, white, it doesn’t matter — great people continue to get opportunities to lead young men like this. But this ain’t about me. This is about us. We’re going to celebrate what we’ve done because it’s something special.”

When Notre Dame takes the field Jan. 20 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta against eight-time champion Ohio State, the Fighting Irish will be bringing along holy medals given to them and blessed by team chaplain Father Nate Wills, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Historically, the first time Notre Dame ever gave their players holy medals occurred before the Fighting Irish took on Army on Oct. 13, 1923. Apparently, Army had asked a Hollywood celebrity to conduct a ceremonial kickoff. Undaunted, Holy Cross priest Father (and later Cardinal) John Francis O’Hara told the team “that if they (Army) had this Hollywood star on their side, St. Joan of Arc would be on our side” and handed out medals of the great French soldier, according to a story Father Wills shared on Instagram.

The Irish shut down the Cadets, 13-0.

A little over 100 years later, with the Notre Dame band trumpet section booming out the alma mater dedicated to the Blessed Mother, a new edition of medal-carrying, God-loving, faith-expressing Fighting Irish will try to do the same against Ohio State.

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