Jeremiyah Love breaks silence on Notre Dame’s stunning opt-out and why the team chose legacy over postseason

Jeremiyah Love and his Notre Dame teammates opted out of their 2025 bowl game. The opt-out occurred shortly after the Fighting Irish were excluded from the College Football Playoffs.

Jeremiyah Love has now come out to explain why the team chose not to play in the postseason. Speaking to SportsCenter on Saturday,

"It was kind of a full team decision, full consensus decision. So our captains asked all of the players what they thought about the bowl games. And we all came to a final decision that we did not think that playing in that bowl game would really represent our 2025 football team in the right way." "We didn’t feel like that team that would go into that bowl game was a great representation of how special this 2025 football team was. So we all came to a consensus of, you know, we don’t want to put this team in a bad light because we feel like it was a great team. We are not saying playing in a bowl game would put us in a bad light, but it just wouldn’t be the best representation of our team. So that ultimately led us to come to that decision.”

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended the regular season with a 10-2 record. They were surprisingly excluded from the playoffs, and it meant that the team would be limited to merely a bowl game. Ultimately, the team opted against playing an extra game in the 2025 campaign.

Furthermore, there's a chance that Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has coached his last game for the program. The popular HC has been linked with the New York Giants job in recent weeks, and he might be tempted to take his talents to the big leagues.

Jeremiyah Love projected to be first-round pick in 2026 draft

Jeremiyah Love is tipped to be the highest-drafted running back in the 2026 NFL draft. The Notre Dame star is fresh off a phenomenal 2025 season, despite not getting the chance to compete for a national championship.

Love amassed a stat line of 199 carries, 1,372 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. He also added 27 catches for 280 yards and three touchdowns in the air. That left him with 21 total touchdowns, which broke Jerome Bettis' program record.

Yahoo Sports has Love landing on a running back-needy team in the upcoming draft. The New Orleans Saints, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings are tipped as teams willing to use a first-round pick to snag the Notre Dame legend.

Jeremiyah Love is arguably the most complete running back in his class. His power, versatility, and football IQ make him a running back who could contribute from his first snap in the NFL.

Edited by Nick Igbokwe