Nolan James Jr. Earning Bigger Role in Notre Dame Football’s Offense

Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. was one of Notre Dame’s most explosive weapons in their season opening win over Wisconsin Sunday night, and the Irish will keep looking for ways to get him matched up on a linebacker whenever they can. Pass game coordinator and QB coach Gino Guidugli said Wednesday that James will keep that role beyond the opener.

James caught four passes for 67 yards against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field on Sunday. They were the first four catches of his career. So was the touchdown, a 28-yard throw from CJ Carr with 1:51 left. As a freshman in 2025, James played four games, carried 14 times for 37 yards, and did not catch a pass.

Guidugli was asked whether the way Notre Dame used James against Wisconsin carries forward.

“Yeah, I think he’s a hard guy to defend,” Guidugli said. “We can use Nolan in a lot of different schemes just like we could use a receiver. And when we have the opportunity to get him matched up on linebackers, that’s going to play in Notre Dame’s advantage every week. And I think he’ll have a continued role in that capacity moving forward.”

What Caught the Coaching Staff’s Eye

James also carried seven times for 19 yards, so the receiving production was the larger share of his day, but he’s shown he can impact a game in a number of ways and is earning himself a larger role in the offense.

“I thought he did a great job running the ball, did a great job protecting, and like I spoke on, his route-running skills and his ability to catch the ball, make somebody miss, it makes him a really dangerous weapon,” Guidugli said.

The blocking and the run-game work are one big reason why he’ll stay on the field. The elusiveness is what was evident on the broadcast, and why he could see it even more moving forward. James said that is something that has always been there for him.

“Yeah, I mean that’s always been, like, the part of my game that I’ve always kind of had,” James said. “I’ve had to develop the other parts. That’s always come pretty natural to me. So it’s just like, like I said, I always work on it, but that’s always come pretty natural.”

Letting the Game Slow Down

James graded his own opener harder than the staff did. Asked whether he was satisfied with Sunday:

“I think I did what I had to do in certain aspects,” he said. “I think it was average. But I mean, there’s always room for improvement.”

He pressed early, and he traced it to how much he had built up the opener beforehand.

“You don’t know what you don’t know until you’re in there,” James said. “I think I kind of maybe hyped it up in my head a little bit too much going into it. I was trying to press things a little too much, and I think that kind of resulted in my performance. So then, going forward, I know what I have to do. Just be more patient and just slow down, let the game come to me.”

Learning From Aneyas Williams

Protection and run reads are what James has to get right to stay on the field on third down, and he said he gets that from Aneyas Williams. Williams, a junior, is the starter ahead of James in the backfield and ran for 90 yards and two touchdowns against Wisconsin.

“I learn a lot from him,” James said. “I think he’s a really smart football player. I think he’s one of the smarter players on this team. And just the way he sees the game, especially in protection and in the run game, after every play in practice and games, we come to the sideline and we talk about what each other saw no matter what. I think that’s probably the most beneficial thing for each other, is just having dialogue and what we just saw there.”

Rice and the Home Opener

Rice comes to Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday. It is Notre Dame’s first home game since the Syracuse win on Nov. 22, nearly 10 months ago.

“Playing at Lambeau, Lambeau is cool, but it’ll be nice to just be in front of 100% home stands, home stadium,” James said. “There’s nothing, can’t beat it.”

If the Rice defense plays as much zone as Wisconsin, James will have every opportunity to have another big game for the Irish on Saturday. Notre Dame took what the Badger defense gave it, which was a lot of underneath options while they sat back in a deep zone most of the night. Either way, in Notre Dame’s first game after having to replace Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, James showed that he is ready to step in and help fill the void.