Notre Dame's Silent Recruiting Weapon Starts to Make Noise

Notre Dame's recruiting has taken a big step so far with the 2026 class

Feb 19, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman and team are honored in the first half of the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the SMU Mustangs at the Purcell Pavilion. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

In the world of college football recruiting it takes efforts from endless folks to ultimately land commitments of the nation's top-ranked players. Notre Dame has been on a tear recently, adding three key players to its elite class last week.

It's easy to look and say Notre Dame's recruiting luck began to turn a bit following Brian Kelly's departure and Marcus Freeman's promotion, but it still takes more than the head coach to make things ultimately click. And right now, Notre Dame is benefiting from having what seems to be an exceptional director of recruiting, Carter Auman.

Auman, a 2022 Notre Dame graduate, may be young, but appears to have been instrumental in helping land elite safety Joey O'Brien late last week.

O'Brien's father told Kyle Kelly of On3, "Carter Auman is the best recruiter out there, man," he said. "He's a great kid. We think the world of him. It's just great people there at Notre Dame.

O’Brien’s father to me about Auman:

“Carter Auman is the best recruiter out there, man. He’s a great kid. We think the world of him. It’s just great people there at Notre Dame.” https://t.co/dTrXU1x3zz

— Kyle Kelly (@ByKyleKelly) June 21, 2025

And to think back just a few months at how much fear there was about Notre Dame's ability to recruit because Chad Bowden had accepted the general manager job at USC. Sure, the positions aren't the same and Notre Dame has its own new GM in Mike Martin, but despite signifcant staff losses since January the results keep improving.

And Auman clearly has a role in that.