Marcus Freeman Leaves Door Open for Notre Dame to Wear Green Again in 2022

With Notre Dame set to wear their all-white uniforms for this weekend’s showdown with #16 BYU, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was bound to be asked about the uniforms. How he answered, however, left the door open for Notre Dame to wear the same green jerseys they wore at home against Cal two weeks ago, again this season.

“As a player, I never had a chance to wear any other jersey than our normal home and away, but I think it’s something that players nowadays, our young guys, love it,” Freeman said. “They love to wear something new, something different.”

Then Freeman brought up the sometimes polarizing green jerseys, unprompted.

“Our kids loved to wear the green jerseys they wore a couple of weeks ago,” Freeman said. “It might even be a request they said to maybe wear them again. I’m like, ‘Alright guys,'” Freeman added.

Freeman was likely speaking very hypothetically because he added, “I don’t think it truly affects the way they play, but you know what, if they look good and they feel good, I’m all for it. So, anything to keep these guys confident, man, if it’s a new jersey, for them to feel good about playing this game, I’m all for it.”

Still, that’s not a “no” from the headman.

When Notre Dame wore the green jerseys as planned for the “Irish Wear Green” weekend, fans pondered if the Irish would continue to wear them if they won, considering the Irish were 0-2 and staring a potential nightmare season in the face. However, since beating Cal in the green jerseys, Notre Dame is 2-0 and heads into this weekend fresh off a bye week full of momentum that seemed almost unfathomable after the loss to Marshall.

I said at the time that if Notre Dame wore green the rest of the season, I was all for it. I am an unabashedly huge fan of the green jerseys though, and I thought the chances of that happening were next to nothing. I still can’t see any scenario where Notre Dame wears green for the rest of the home games this season, but then again I never saw any scenario in which the Irish would lose to Marshall.

Looking ahead at the schedule, the showdown with Clemson looms large for the Irish in early November. Should the Irish win out until that contest, it’s not hard to envision a scenario in which Freeman has the Irish warm up in the classic navy home jerseys only to have the green laid out in the locker room for them to change into ala Charlie Weis and the USC game in 2005.

For the sake of hypotheticals, let’s say Notre Dame wins this weekend and wins out until then and Clemson keeps winning until then as well. Notre Dame would be ranked in the teens and Clemson would be in the top 4 by then. The stadium would erupt if they saw Notre Dame in green in the tunnel. Yes, there are many hypotheticals involved there, and Notre Dame has a lot of work to do for them to have the chance to make it through October without a loss, but it’s a fun hypothetical.

There is also Senior Day on November 19. However, green jerseys and November home games against Boston College conjure up a lot of bad memories from 20 years ago for Notre Dame fans when the undefeated Irish got upset by the Eagles while wearing green jerseys seemingly covered in slim considering no one in green could hold on to the football that day.

Of course, Notre Dame could wear the traditional navy jerseys the rest of the season, but Freeman didn’t say no, so I felt the need to let the green jersey dream live on until told otherwise.