It happened fast. One minute, you’re watching a perennial contender compete for conference titles, and the next, the equipment is being auctioned off and the lights are out for good. When people talk about Notre Dame Ohio football, they aren't usually talking about a team that fell on hard times on the field. They're talking about a program that was effectively erased by the collapse of its parent institution.
Notre Dame College (NDC) in South Euclid, Ohio, wasn't just another small school. It was a place where football actually mattered, a rarity for many private liberal arts colleges that treat sports as an afterthought. For over a decade, the Falcons were a problem for everyone else in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). They won. They won a lot. But in early 2024, the news hit like a blindside block: the college was closing its doors forever at the end of the spring semester.
The story of the Falcons is a cautionary tale about the volatility of small-college athletics in an era of demographic shifts and financial instability. It’s a story of a program that did everything right on the turf, only to be defeated by a balance sheet.
Why the Notre Dame Ohio Football Program Disappeared
You can't talk about the football team without talking about the school's finances. It’s basically impossible. In March 2024, the Board of Trustees at Notre Dame College announced the school would shutter. They cited "declining enrollment, a shrinking pool of college-aged students, and rising costs."
It’s a brutal reality. Small private colleges in the Midwest have been cannibalizing each other for years. NDC tried everything. They looked for merger partners—most notably Cleveland State University—but those talks fell through. When the school folded, the football program, which had become a source of immense pride for the South Euclid community, vanished with it.
This wasn't a slow death. The Falcons finished the 2023 season with a 7-3 record. They were still good. They were still competing. Unlike programs that get cut because they lose money or games, this team was a victim of a total institutional failure. If you were a player there, you didn't just lose your team; you lost your scholarship and your academic home in one afternoon.
A Legacy of Winning That Shouldn't Be Forgotten
The rise of Notre Dame Ohio football was actually pretty meteoric. The program only started in 2009. Think about that. In less than 15 years, they went from non-existence to being a national brand in NCAA Division II.
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They made the jump to DII in 2012 and eventually found their footing in the Mountain East. Between 2018 and 2023, they were a juggernaut.
- 2018: They went 13-1 and made it all the way to the NCAA Division II Semifinals.
- 2019: Another deep run, finishing 12-2 and reaching the Quarterfinals.
- Conference Dominance: They reeled off four straight MEC titles from 2018 to 2021.
The program produced legitimate talent. Marvelle Ross was an absolute nightmare for defensive coordinators. Jaleel McLaughlin, who eventually transferred to Youngstown State and then made a splash in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, started his record-breaking career right there in South Euclid. He didn't just play; he obliterated the record books.
Honestly, seeing a kid go from a small DII school in Ohio to scoring touchdowns on Sundays is the ultimate validation of what they were building. It proved the coaching was high-level. It proved the talent was real.
The Coaching Tree and the Culture
Success like that doesn't happen by accident. You need a specific kind of coach to win at a school like NDC. Mike Jacobs was the architect of the golden era, leading them to those massive playoff runs before moving on to Lenoir-Rhyne. Garrett Mack took over later and kept the momentum going, ensuring the Falcons stayed relevant even as the school's internal financial pressures began to mount.
The atmosphere at Mueller Field was unique. It wasn't a 100,000-seat stadium like that other Notre Dame in Indiana. It was intimate. It was loud. It was "Falcon Football." For the players, it was about proving they belonged. Many of these guys were overlooked by the MAC or the Big Ten. They played with a massive chip on their shoulders.
When you look at the stats, the defense was often the calling card. They were fast. They forced turnovers. In their 2018 run, they weren't just winning games; they were suffocating opponents. It was a blue-collar brand of football that resonated with the Cleveland area.
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Where Did the Players Go?
When the school announced its closure, a massive "transfer portal" event essentially took place specifically for NDC athletes. Because the school was closing, the NCAA typically grants immediate eligibility to these students.
You saw a mass exodus. Players scattered across the MEC and the G-MAC. Some went to Ashland University, others to Tiffin or Ursuline (which eventually faced its own challenges). Coaches from across the country descended on South Euclid like it was a fire sale. It was heartbreaking to watch. Coaches who had spent years recruiting these families had to help those same kids find new homes while simultaneously looking for jobs themselves.
The Reality of the "Other" Notre Dame
One of the funniest—and most annoying—things the program dealt with was the name.
"Oh, you play for Notre Dame?"
"Yeah, Notre Dame College."
"In South Bend?"
"No, in Ohio."
The confusion was constant. But for those in the DII world, the "Ohio" part was a badge of honor. They weren't the Irish; they were the Falcons. They didn't have the "Touchdown Jesus" mural, but they had a grit that felt very "Northcountry." They carved out an identity that was entirely their own, separate from the massive shadow of the school in Indiana.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Closure
There's this misconception that the football program was a financial drain that killed the school. That's just wrong. In fact, at many small colleges, football is an "enrollment driver."
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Basically, you bring in 100+ players who are paying at least some tuition, even with partial scholarships. They fill dorms. They buy meal plans. In many ways, the football team was one of the few things keeping the lights on as long as they were. The collapse was driven by massive debt and a failure to adapt to the changing landscape of higher education, not because they were spending too much on helmets and bus trips to West Virginia.
Key Moments in Program History
- September 2010: The first-ever home game against Otterbein. The start of something special.
- 2018 Quarterfinal vs. Slippery Rock: A 21-17 thriller that sent them to the national semifinals. This was the peak of the program’s visibility.
- The Jaleel McLaughlin Era: Watching him rush for over 2,400 yards in a single season (2018) was like watching a video game in real life.
- The Final Game: A 31-14 win over Concord in November 2023. No one knew for sure it was the end, but the rumors were already swirling.
Navigating the Aftermath: Actionable Steps for Former Players and Fans
If you’re a former player, a recruit who was caught in the middle, or just a fan of the MEC, the "what now" is the hardest part. The history of Notre Dame Ohio football is now preserved in archives rather than ongoing seasons.
For Former Student-Athletes:
- Secure Your Transcripts: This sounds boring, but do it now. Since the college is closed, transcript requests are typically handled by a third-party clearinghouse or a partner institution like Cleveland State. Don't wait until you're applying for a job five years from now to find out where your records are.
- Leverage the Network: The NDC alumni network is still active, even if the physical campus isn't. Use LinkedIn groups specifically for NDC Athletics. The "Falcon Family" is still a real thing, and many former coaches are now at larger programs and can be massive assets for career networking.
For Fans and Historians:
- The Records Matter: Keep the memory alive. The Mountain East Conference still maintains the archives of the Falcon's championship runs.
- Support Local DII Ball: If you miss the atmosphere of Mueller Field, look to programs like Lake Erie College, Ursuline (for other sports), or Ashland. Small-college football survives because of local support.
The physical campus might be sold off to developers, and the "NDC" logo might be scrubbed from the turf, but you can't erase what that team did. They proved that a startup program could become a national power in a decade. They showed that Cleveland-area talent could compete with anyone in the country. It’s a tragedy that it ended the way it did, but in the world of college sports, legacy isn't just about how long you stayed open—it's about what you did while the clock was running.
The Falcons flew high. They just ran out of sky.
Actionable Insight: If you are looking for specific records, statistics, or game film from the 2012-2023 era, the Mountain East Conference official website remains the primary repository for all official box scores and All-Conference honors. For degree verification or academic records following the closure, contact the Ohio Department of Higher Education to identify the current custodian of Notre Dame College records.