New Notre Dame Football GM Compares Role to Detroit Lions' Build

New Notre Dame GM Mike Martin met the media in South Bend on Thursday

Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and his players run to the field before playing against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Notre Dame has had a major overhaul in its coaching staff and front office following its run to the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Of all the big moves, perhaps the biggest was Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden leaving to take the same titled position at rival USC.

Mike Martin of the Detroit Lions was hired to fill the void and was officially introduced to the Notre Dame media on Thursday. He was asked about what his philosophy will be regarding the transfer portal and compared it to how his previous employer, the NFL's Detroit Lions, built their roster.

Notre Dame GM on Transfer Portal vs. Recruiting

Sep 10, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting get ready to run out of the tunnel before the game against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has spoken about Notre Dame's roster construction for years and shared how it will always be a recruiting-first program. On Thursday, Martin compared what building Notre Dame's roster will be like to what it was like to rebuild the Detroit Lions, his former employer.

“Similar to my beliefs in the NFL. I believed in the NFL throughout my career that you build through the draft, and you sort of supplement the roster in free agency. I mean, I’m sure you all heard that before. It’ll be very similar here. 

Notre Dame's Focus Will Always be on Development

Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish players huddle in gold helmets against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

“We’re, again, we’re in the development business. So, we’re going to lean heavily on our recruits and the guys that we recruit out of high school. We’re going to make sure that we get the right people, the right individuals there.

Mike Martin on Notre Dame Not Being for Everybody

Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jeremiyah Love (4) celebrates a touch down in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

“Look, we’re constantly looking to improve the roster. We’ll do some of that by going to the portal. We won’t live in the portal. Obviously, we have academic things here, right? The academic rigor, like we pride ourselves on that. So we won’t be able to reach out — we’re not looking to reach out to every single person in the portal. We’ll be very selective there. 

“But again, just all about bringing in the right people and also the right characters and the right fit for our team.”

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thought:

The most interesting thing to me with Notre Dame's roster this off-season has been the recruiting philosophy. Seemingly forever, Notre Dame's philosophy has been to land commitments early and try to hold onto as many as possible.

Martin, taking the job in the middle of a recruiting cycle, now takes over as Notre Dame tries to be a bit more selective in the entire recruiting process.

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