"Cam Newton is correct": Fans approve former Heisman winner's bold analysis on Marcus Freeman's program

This time, it was Cam Newton's turn to question Notre Dame’s independent status. The former Auburn quarterback said he would like to see the Fighting Irish join a conference, despite reaching the CFP Championship Game.

On ESPN’s “First Take,” the Heisman Trophy winner questioned Notre Dame’s path to the championship game, claiming their schedule was deceptively easy.

“I’m ready for Notre Dame to play in a conference.” Cam Newton said. "They're 7–0 against ranked opponents. Now that could be a very subjective and real kind of skewed kind of statistic."

"Those teams are as follows: Texas A&M, okay. Louisville, Navy [laughs], Indiana, Army, Georgia without Carson Beck and then also Penn State. With that, I'm not trying to rain on their parade because their defense is legit. But I'm saying the road to where they've gotten, that's my question.”

It didn’t take long for fans to weigh in, with many agreeing with the 2015 NFL MVP.

"Cam is correct," a fan said.

"Notre Dame should join a conference. He is not wrong and if you disagree with Cam’s points you don’t fully know ball fr. I think ND joining a conference actually makes them stronger cause they are a really good program. They haven’t won since ‘88," a fan responded.

Some fans defended the Fighting Irish’s independence, considering it’s part of the program’s culture and their freedom to schedule games against top teams from each conference while benefiting from a lucrative television deal.

"Let’s ask a question. Why are all these teams joining these conferences? TV. I’ve been a Notre Dame fan over 30 plus yrs and how that happened is because they had a TV contract and I was able to see them many yrs ago. Why join a conference if you already going to be on TV," another fan said.

"After learning so much about the history of college football and ND's place in that history, I think they should always be independent," a fan responded.

There were also fans taking shots at the SEC. Newton played quarterback for Florida and Auburn, two SEC schools. The once-dominant conference struggled in 2024.

"Notice how “ranked” can be skewed for ND but never for SEC schools," one fan said.

"He isn’t mad that ND is independent, he is mad that Auburn can’t be," a fan added.

Ryan Clark responds to Cam Newton’s criticism of Notre Dame

One TV personality who did not agree with Cam Newton’s take on Notre Dame was former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark. The ESPN analyst called out Newton on “First Take” after the former quarterback said the Fighting Irish didn’t belong in the CFP after the 12-team field was announced.

“What I love about sports media, what I love about humans is, you know what’s hard for us to do, and anybody that has ever been in a relationship know this, it’s hard to say, ‘Baby, I was wrong.’ And that’s what Cam Newton can’t do,” Clark said.

“RC” then went on a lengthy rant disputing Newton’s argument that not being part of a conference hurts Notre Dame, and the fact that the Irish beat two teams that played in their conference championship games.

It’s worth mentioning that Clark’s son, Jordan, is a senior defensive back for Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish will play the winner of the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Texas in the College Football Playoff Championship Bowl.