Possible Non-Dog Mascots For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Non-Dog Mascots for Notre Dame

First off, if we had to choose any animal, it would obviously be the OG himself, Clashmore Mike.

Clashmore Mike should, without a doubt, be on the sidelines for every game. Sadly, I don’t see that happening........I do however, love to fantasize about some of the non-dog macots that could be represented on the sidelines and on merchandise everywhere. I say non dogs because that would be an unending list, which I’ll maybe get to next off season. For this thought exercise I want to be unique, not copying the greats like Texas’ Bevo, Georgia’s Uga, or even LSU’s Mike VII. I compiled a list of 5 that I would love to see, so in no particular order.....Here we go!

Cheetah

Did you know there is not a single College represented by a cheetah? I was absolutely shocked and feel like there has to be some deep conspiracy reason as to why. Seriously, Google it. Anyway, Cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animal who also happen to be incredibly precise hunters. Having a cheetah on the sidelines would be incredible....plus....think about the collaborations they’d be able to do with Cheetos? NIL anyone? You’d also have a built in walking billboard wherever you go with Chester himself.

Now, the real question is, would they change the colors, or have the cheetah rocking Blue and Gold print?.....If they rock the blue and gold....I’d officially be in. The bright orange would be too much, but a blue and gold cheetah....that’s something I can get behind. I’d also bet that quiiiite a lot of middle aged Fighting Cheetah fans would love to get their paws on some fresh cheetah print clothing...looking at you Cheryl.

Cardinal

Now, a Cardinal would necessitate a color change, but I think I could get behind a fresh Red and white if done properly. The Cardinal also happens to be the State Bird of Illinois and the State Animal of Indiana. It pays homage to the massive amount of fans across those states. While there is another proximity Cardinal with Louisville, theres looks.....irritated. I want my mascot to have something special, so a redesign of more stoic looking Cardinal would have to be in order.

This would also be a bit of a jab at the Stanford Cardinal, whose mascot is not a bird, but just the color......

Quokkas

These animals rule. They aren’t the most ferocious looking, but come on, they have an evolutionary trait that makes them look like they’re always smiling. Think of the Quokka merch, think of it. Also, the idea of having one of these chill little guys on the sideline would be incredible. I also wouldn’t want to call them the fighting Quokkas, because these fellas are definitely pacifists.

Fighting Sea Turtles

Now, the other major turtle mascot chose to ignore the fact that the primary colors of turtles are green (kick rocks Maryland Terrapins). This would allow Notre Dame to keep the color scheme we love, making the transition quick and painless. They could parter with charitable organizations, sign an exclusive with Crush from Finding Nemo, and make David Attenborough’s documentaries that much more meaningful.

I was going to say they couldn’t be the Fighting Sea Turtles....but the Conservatory above says otherwise.

The Great Lakes

The Notre Dame Great Lakes? That has a nice ring to it. The Great Lakes represents around 20% of the world’s fresh water and the region supports over 100 million people. Name another mascot that provides this much necessity to the United States?

There’d also be an opportunity to highlight one of Indiana’s treasures, the Dunes. Most importantly, this lets us stake claim over all of Michigan.....we’d have them completely surrounded. Lakes > Wolverines.

Your Thoughts?

What did I miss? What would you want to see? Drop your ideas below as I think this could be a very fun comment section.