From players’ shiny gold helmets to Touchdown Jesus, Notre Dame football is one of the most recognizable programs in the country. The Fighting Irish have an abundance of national championships in their history, but it’s been more than three decades since they last finished on top.
Notre Dame’s most recent football national title was in 1988 with Lou Holtz at the helm. The team finished the season with a perfect 12-0 record and finished first in the final Associated Press Poll of the season.
Recently, the Fighting Irish have had two appearances in the College Football Playoff in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons, but they lost both games, failing to advance to the championship matchup.
Along with 1988, per NCAA.com, Notre Dame also has national championships in 1977, 1973, 1966, 1964, 1949, 1947, 1946, 1943, 1930, 1929, 1924 and 1919 — the latter being shared four ways with Harvard, Illinois and Texas A&M.
