You’re Nuts: Who is Notre Dame’s biggest villain to you for the next week?

Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.

By beating Texas on Friday night in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State secured their spot in the College Football Playoff Championship Game, where they’ll take on Notre Dame in Atlanta on Monday night. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish have met eight previous times, including a home-and-home series that took place in 2022 and 2023. Ohio State has gotten the better of Notre Dame recently, winning the last six meetings between the programs. The last time the Fighting Irish won a meeting between the schools was all the way back in 1936.

With having as much history as Notre Dame does, there are going to be some villains to go along with the heroes the school has cultivated over the decades. Even though Buckeye fans aren’t going to have a lack of material when it comes to smack talk ahead of Monday night’s title game, we figured that we could add to the arsenal. Today we are going to look at some of Notre Dame’s worst villains.

Now we aren’t looking to get too deeply personal with venomous attacks, we are just trying to have some fun to spice up the banter between fans ahead of the title tilt. Your choice doesn’t have to be a current player since there are plenty of people associated with the Notre Dame football program and beyond within the school that are potential targets. Maybe it is a Fighting Irish player or coach that you disliked over the years, or it could be an alum that has made it a habit of sticking their foot in their mouth.

Today’s question: Who is Notre Dame’s biggest villain?

We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.

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Brett’s answer: Malik Zaire

The last two years, former Notre Dame Malik Zaire has popped up ahead of Notre Dame’s games with Ohio State, said some idiotic things, then disappeared back down whatever hole he crawled out of. This year is no different. Zaire has already tried running down Will Howard’s play, called out Jeremiah Smith’s lack of production in the Cotton Bowl, and taken a shot at Jack Sawyer for what he said after Michigan planted their flag at Ohio Stadium. For some reason, Zaire thinks that Notre Dame is going to roll over the Buckeyes in Atlanta.

Since Zaire was born in Kettering and played his high school football at Archbishop Alter, I’m going to assume he is still upset that Ohio State didn’t make him a priority while recruiting him out of high school. Even though the Buckeyes offered Zaire, they signed J.T. Barrett as part of their 2013 recruiting class. Zaire threw 154 passes and six touchdowns in his college career, which included his senior season at Florida. It’s obvious Ohio State made the right decision since Barrett totaled 147 touchdowns in four seasons in Columbus.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

I know I’ve never played a down of college football so I’m not going to claim to know more than he does about the game. I do know a clown when I see one, though. Zaire never could live up to his potential on the field, so he has to cut down those he sees as a threat to where he spent most of his college career. Are you really sure you want to poke Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith, and Jack Sawyer before they step on the field to take on your alma mater? As Jason Bateman said in Dodgeball, “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him”.

At least when Ohio State beats Notre Dame on Monday night, we can go back to forgetting how incredibly mid Zaire was in the limited time he played. Who knows, maybe next year the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish will match up again in the playoff and Zaire will come out with his same schtick and will have to eat another Notre Dame loss against Ohio State.

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Matt’s answer: Marcus Freeman

Zaire is barely even a footnote in the history of Notre Dame football, let alone college football, so while his specific level of oddly intense venom is annoying, it is really just sad. An Ohio kid who Ohio State didn’t want now can only get his jollies by making himself look a fool anytime the school that benched him and sent him packing plays his home state institution.

So while I completely support Brett’s pick of the laughably embarrassing troll, I’m not going to go in his direction. For similar reasons, I am going to avoid the low-hanging fruit that is Lou Holtz. Ryan Day handled that senile old crackpot already, so I’m going to avoid piling on and let the doddering fool live out his last days in blathering bliss.

With those two obvious options off the board, I’m going to take a different approach to the question. Instead of picking someone who is the epitome of idiocy — making everything about themselves with one disrespectful comment after another — I’m going with someone full of class, dignity, and respect. I am going with Marcus Freeman.

The reason that I am going with Freeman is because in 99% of all situations, I am rooting for him. Not only is he a Buckeye, but he is a Buckeye who played exactly how a Buckeye should play and has carried the lessons he learned from Jim Tressell and Luke Fickell into how he has built his Notre Dame program into the best version of itself in nearly a half-century.

I have no love lost for Notre Dame, and in a vacuum would wish them nothing but misery, but Freeman has made them a program that I tangentially pull for by the sheer force and power of how much I admire and respect the coach.

However, from now until the game is over in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 20, he is the enemy, and I cannot allow my fond feelings for Freeman to sway me from the ever-important task at hand… no, I am not playing or coaching in the game. No, I will not be in Atlanta to cheer on the Buckeyes in person. Instead, I will be sitting at home channeling all of my energy into making a psychic connection with Ryan Day, Chip Kelly, Jim Knowles, and their players to send them all of my positive vibes and insights gleaned by watching the broadcast on TV. So basically you can say that I’m the 12th man for this OSU team.

In all seriousness, I am a huge fan of Marcus Freeman and I would not mind someday if he ended up coming home to coach the Buckeyes. But, for my own mental focus, for the next 153.5 hours, I cannot think of him in such glowing terms, or it will completely mess with my psyche. So, Marcus Freeman, until the national title trophy is lifted (hopefully not by you), you are Public Enemy No. 1. After that, you are back to being one of my top-five favorite coaches in the sport, but until then… you better not cross me.