Notre Dame Finishes With One Of The Nation's Best Classes Despite Stretch Losses
Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman hit 14-states and traveled over 8,000 miles in less than two weeks to help secure the signatures of the current 21-man class.
Notre Dame signed a class that is currently ranked 7th according to Rivals and 247Sports, which would be the programs second best recruiting finish in the last decade.
The biggest soundbite from Freeman’s press conference on Wednesday? The Fighting Irish will be better next year in the recruiting department.
Freeman’s presence as defensive coordinator elevated Notre Dame’s recruiting game.
Once he settles in as head coach, the Fighting Irish should be able to consistently be in the top 10 while occasionally sneaking into a top five spot.
Notre Dame made the top five once under former coach Brian Kelly. That was in 2013. They frequently failed to break the top 10 under Kelly.
Freeman plans to hire relentless recruiters, and he emphasized that he’s going to be the No. 1 coach selling the program. Kelly often delegated recruiting duties.
“I have to be the lead recruiter for every recruit,” Freeman explained. “I’ve made that very clearly known to the staff. I’m going to be involved with every single recruit that we’re involved with. I want to be the bridge for the position coaches and coordinators.”
One change that will happen moving forward is more cohesion on the staff.
"Strategically, we were a little offense-defense," Freeman noted. "It was, ‘Hey, offense take care of your side and defense take care of your side.’ I want us to be one. I want us to take care of our positions but understand that no matter what we do, we have to cross-recruit.”
Freeman had to scramble a bit to keep what was once a top five class together after Kelly left for LSU.
The Fighting Irish still secured 21 signatures despite losing two verbal commitments in the last week.
The strength of the class is at linebacker, which is led by Jaylen Sneed. Sneed, from Hilton Head (S.C.) High School, is a consensus top 100 prospect. Other linebackers included Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central Nolan Ziegler, Michigan's Gatorade Player of the Year in Traverse City (Mich.) Central standout Josh Burnham, and Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany thumper Niuafe Tuihalamaka.
Their biggest pickup of the last week was offensive lineman Billy Schrauth of Fond Du Lac (Wis.) St. Mary's Spring. They also signed a strong core of offensive linemen.
The Fighting Irish receiving core took a hit when Ponchatoula (La.) High School pass catcher Amorion Walker, who had verbally committed to Notre Dame, opted to sign with Michigan. Walker, rated a three-star receiver by 247Sports, had length and speed, which the Fighting Irish need at that position. That came just two days after Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei top 100 receiver CJ Williams also left the class.
Notre Dame signed one receiver, Tobias Merriweather, who ranks as the No. 1 offensive player on the Irish Breakdown board.
The Fighting Irish will likely have to address their receiver needs via the transfer portal. In a worst-case scenario, Notre Dame could only have four scholarship receivers for next year. Kevin Austin Jr, Avery Davis, Braden Lenzy, and Joe Wilkins Jr are all eligible to leave.
Freeman said he’ll start recruiting his own receivers before hitting the portal or looking for a late signee.
Having four won't happen, though. They need at least nine healthy receivers. That means they'll have to address their needs via the portal, late signees, or position switches.
That's after Freeman figures out which receivers with eligibility will return.
“Those are top priorities for us to try to recruit those guys to come back,” he said of his receivers with eligibility left.
Freeman said it’s possible that more players will be added.
“I’m going to lean on my staff as to what roster needs we have to address,” he said. “This could be the transfer portal. We have a little wiggle room. What roster needs to we have immediately. Is it another high school kid? Or is it someone we can go into the portal and address with someone that has college experience?
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