Notre Dame Comes Up Empty on SEC Bound Tight End Malik Howard

It seemed to be heading this way, but on Saturday morning, it became official for Notre Dame as tight end prospect Malik Howard made his commitment to Tennessee official.

Howard was slated to have another official visit to South Bend next week, but that's now off the table as he's a solid verbal commitment to the Tennessee Volunteers.

BREAKING: Four-Star TE Malik Howard has Committed to Tennessee, he tells me for @Rivals

The 6’4 230 TE chose the Volunteers over Alabama, Notre Dame, and Oregon

“I’m staying home, Go Vols”https://t.co/3EcUEdl79I pic.twitter.com/jjAp8Pz0Kl
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 6, 2026

Howard had long been speculated to be Notre Dame's top remaining tight end target, as it remains with just one in the 2027 recruiting class, Titus Hawk of Choctaw, Oklahoma.

It's never easy to go head-to-head with a the biggest college from a player's home state, but when you're Notre Dame, that's kind of what you sign up for.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

Time to panic for Notre Dame at tight end in the 2027 recruiting class?

Hardly.

It might not be ideal or preferred to miss out on Howard, but Notre Dame isn't in the worst spot with tight end for the time being.

Yes, there is only one in the 2027 class and generally, Notre Dame likes to take two per cycle, but after the haul it brought in at the position with the 2026 class, it's in a spot where it can afford to take a bit of a step back this time around.

Ian Premer comes in last year's class and gets to campus this summer in preparation for the 2026 season. He'll be a true freshman that enters his freshman year with the highest expectations of any freshman tight end at Notre Dame since Michael Mayer burst onto the scene in 2020.

That might be unfair pressure, but Premer was an extremely coveted five-star prospect when he committed to the Fighting Irish, so expectations should be high.

It puts that much more of an importance on recruiting the positon well in the 2028 cycle, but not every position is going to be loaded in every recruiting class, even if you're putting together a top-fiveish group nationally.

Can whatever NIL funds that were going to be used for Howard be moved over to help get one of the remaining defensive line targets over the finish line and committed to Notre Dame?

Again, it's not ideal to miss out on a talented player like Howard, especially at a position that Notre Dame has taken a bit of a step back at in recent years.

However, if that's the cost to land perhaps the best defensive line class in the nation, then it's one I'm willing to pay.

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