The 2005 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Charlie Weis and played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. The Irish completed the season with a record of 9–3, culminating in an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl and a number 9 ranking in the nation.
Preseason
Coaching changes
After finishing the 2004 season with a record of 6–6, Notre Dame officials, in a controversial move, fired head coach Tyrone Willingham. The Irish initially hoped to hire Utah head coach Urban Meyer, who had led the Utes to an undefeated season, as Meyer had been an assistant coach for the Irish for five years and had a clause in his contract stating he could leave Utah without penalty if Notre Dame offered him a job. When Meyer instead took the head coaching job at Florida, Notre Dame hired Charlie Weis, the New England Patriots offensive coordinator, making him the first Notre Dame alumnus to coach the team since 1963.
Roster changes
The Irish lost a number of players on defense including four former starting defensive backs, three players on the defensive line, including defensive end Justin Tuck, and two former starting linebackers, including honorable mention All-American Derek Curry, to graduation. On the offensive side of the ball the only key losses for the Irish were running back Ryan Grant and former quarterback and wide receiver Carlyle Holiday. The Irish returned ten starters on offense and four on defense.
Recruits
With poor recruiting being one of the issues that led to the firing of Willingham, Weis was challenged to coach the Patriots' offense during the day and work on recruiting players for the Irish at night. He took a proactive role in recruiting, including sending seven of his assistant coaches to a recruit who had de-committed after Willingham was fired (the recruit, however, signed with the Ohio State Buckeyes). Weis, with some of Willingham's recruits signing also, built a class of 15 recruits, including five four star recruits.
Award candidates
Four players were named to the national awards watch lists in the pre-season: Anthony Fasano – John Mackey Award D. J. Fitzpatrick – Lou Groza Award Brandon Hoyte – Dick Butkus Award Brady Quinn – Maxwell Award
Schedule
Roster
Coaching staff
When Willingham was fired all of his assistant coaches left, leaving Weis to rebuild a coaching staff. He sought to find experienced coaches that would be able to make the team competitive. When the new assistants were announced in January they were billed as having 25 seasons of collegiate head coaching, 50 seasons as coordinators, 12 seasons as NFL assistant coaches, and 42 bowl victories. Before the season, however, assistant offensive head and quarterbacks coach David Cutcliffe after undergoing heart surgery and being on medical leave, decided to resign, saying he felt his absence unfair to the players and coaches. In early June, Peter Vaas was named as Cutcliffe's replacement. Vaas was a former six-year NFL Europa head coach, an eight-year collegiate head coach, and had 17 years of assistant coaching experience, including two years at Notre Dame under Lou Holtz.
On October 29, only half-way through the season, Weis, who originally signed a six-year contract with the Irish, was offered an extension on his contract. The new 10-year deal was worth $30 to $40 million, and made him the highest paid coach in college football. The extension was seen as controversial, as Weis' record was 5–2 at the time while Willingham started his first season with an 8–0 record.
*Minter had been on the Notre Dame coaching staff under coach Lou Holtz, but this is his first under Weis.