Notre Dame's Long-Awaited Recruiting Success: The Freeman Factor Now in Full-Swing
- Noah Wehby
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
Marcus Freeman and company are currently curating one of the best recruiting classes in the entire country, with presumably more commitments on the way. How has Freeman continued to raise the bar, and what makes this class so special?

Photo by The Irish Tribune
For years, Notre Dame has assembled impressive and competitive classes relative to the rest of college football. Usually ranked somewhere between 7 and 14, Notre Dame's classes over the last decade or so contained a few blue-chip prospects, but they were never able to assemble a truly elite group of high school prospects despite plenty of on-field success. Whether it was the old coaching staff, the academic standards, or even the location, Notre Dame struggled to establish itself amongst the nation's best on the recruiting trail. The 2026 recruiting class is beginning to tear down those narratives, and a lot of it is thanks to Marcus Freeman.
After struggles in his first two years at the helm, Freeman's year three at Notre Dame returned the Irish to the pinnacle of the sport. Although Notre Dame fell a game short, he put college football on notice that Notre Dame was back. Not only did their run to the National Championship show the country that Notre Dame is capable of winning it all, but it also placed Freeman squarely in the national spotlight. At this time, Freeman's player-first coaching style was on full display, whether it be through nationally televised interviews or press conferences before playoff football games. It showed everyone Freeman's unique ability to connect with his players while also amplifying his charisma and command as a leader of the program. All of this, combined with his fiery and emotional nature on the sidelines, surely made Notre Dame an attractive and "cool" destination for future recruits - Something that's been missing at Notre Dame for a very long time. Yes, there is no denying that Notre Dame's NIL compensation is up there with the best in the country, but it is Freeman who has leveraged Notre Dame's 2024/2025 season in all the right ways to lift Notre Dame recruiting to new heights.

Despite being the face of Notre Dame, it is not just Freeman who has done all the heavy lifting. Notre Dame's coaching staff as a whole has shown an impressive ability to land talent on both sides of the ball. Most notably, Mike Mickens, Ja'Juan Seider, and Joe Rudolph. Mickens has continued to recruit the secondary at an incredibly high level, with recent commitments from elite DBs Joey O'Brien and Khary Adams. Former Penn State running back coach Ja'Juan Seider, has already landed two of the best running backs in the country with the commitments of Javian Osborne and Jonaz Walton. Lastly, Notre Dame's offensive line coach, Joe Rudolph, has shown no sign of slowing down, as he continues to add to what will already be one of the best offensive lines in 2025. With Freeman at the helm, directing the vision and public perception, backed by an elite group of position coaches working hard on the recruiting trail, the bar for what's reasonably achievable at Notre Dame in a recruiting sense just keeps getting higher.
So, what is so special about the 2026 recruiting class? Well, to start, it has already become a top-three highest-ranked recruiting class for the Irish since tracking began on most major recruiting sites. With only 22 commits and possibly more blue-chip talent on the way, that ranking will only continue to climb, assuming the staff can hold on to the high-end talent they've been able to accrue thus far. The 2026 class is stacked with phenomenal talent, featuring players that Notre Dame is not used to getting in bulk. The class contains a multitude of players ranked inside the top 100, headlined with ferocious talent along the defensive front and in the secondary. Most recently, Notre Dame cashed in on some very successful visits to land the commitments of Joey O'Brien, Khary Adams, Ian Premer, and Grayson McKeogh. All of these players were highly sought after by the very best in college football. Altogether, the 2026 class has one of the highest blue-chip ratios in college football as it stands. This means that the majority of the class is ranked as four or five-star recruits. This culmination of talent has landed Notre Dame within the top five nationally across recruiting sites. The Fighting Irish and their fans hope that there is more to come, as this class continues to surge with the momentum created by the recent round of big-time commitments.

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