Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman confirms Irish will wear green jerseys vs. Boise State

“Irish Wear Green” hasn’t always meant exactly what it says for the Notre Dame football team in the Marcus Freeman era. Yes, the Fighting Irish have worn a variation of a green uniform in each of the last three seasons and will do so again this Saturday vs. Boise State.

But the question of whether or not they would was still worth asking Freeman on Thursday because he has made it a tradition to leave it up to team captains whether or not Notre Dame would actually put their traditional home blues on the shelf for the week and go green.

Freeman’s one-word answer was worth many more.

“Yes.”

So there you have it. Notre Dame will opt to match their more than 70,000 supporters in South Bend on Saturday with a green uniform combination, which has not been revealed to the public as of Thursday afternoon. Two years ago against Ohio State, Notre Dame wore all green — jerseys and pants — with its traditional golden helmet. Last year, against Louisville, it was a green jersey top and white pants with the golden helmet. Notre Dame lost to the Buckeyes while wearing green and defeated the Cardinals.

In Freeman’s first year as head coach, the Irish put on a combination of green jerseys with blue lettering (it’s been white letting each of the last two seasons) and gold pants with golden helmets. Notre Dame narrowly won that game vs. Cal after beginning the year 0-2. So, in Freeman’s short history in “Irish Wear Green” games, his teams have compiled a 2-1 record. They could be undefeated if not for having 10 men on the field for Ohio State’s game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of the 2023 mega matchup.

The history of Notre Dame wearing green uniforms goes back decades. Dan Devine, a 1977 national champion as the head coach of the Irish, had the program outfitted in green for 42 consecutive games during his tenure after the famed “green jersey game” in which the team warmed up in blue but came out in green for kickoff vs. USC in ’77. Notre Dame won, 49-19, and wore green for the remainder of the Devine era.

Irish coaches who have followed Devine have been more selective about when to break out the green. Notre Dame only wore green twice, for instance, during the 11-year Lou Holtz era, which was highlighted by a 1988 national championship victory.

Here’s a look at every Notre Dame coach’s record while the Irish are wearing green since the Holtz regime.

• Gerry Faust (1981-85): 2-0
• Lou Holtz (1986-96): 1-1
• Bob Davie (1997-01): 0-1
• Tyrone Willingham (2002-04): 0-1
• Charlie Weis (2005-09): 1-2
• Brian Kelly (2010-21): 5-1
• Marcus Freeman (2022-present): 2-1