Notre Dame football lands first 2026 commitment

Another family affair for the Irish

After Sunday’s “Pot of Gold Day,” many wondered what ramifications it would have for Notre Dame football recruiting.

Well, that answer was a quick one for 2026 wide receiver [autotag]Dylan Faison[/autotag], who made his verbal pledge to the Irish on Monday. The brother of current receiver Jordan, the younger brother stands 5-foot, 11-inches and weighs 170-pounds.

Dylan isn’t ranked by any major services at the moment, but not many in his class are. The Irish offer was his only reported one at the moment, and it obviously didn’t take long for him to make his decision to join his brother in South Bend.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame Football: Irish reportedly losing key staffer to Big Ten

More moves for Fighting Irish football…

According to FootballScoop, Notre Dame is losing a key member of their football staff.

Butler Benton joined the Notre Dame staff as Assistant Athletic Director for Player Personnel in April of 2023 after spending the two previous seasons as the General Manager at the University of Arkansas.

Accoring to the FootballScoop report:

Sources tell FootballScoop that Benton has left his post as the assistant athletic director to become the new GM for DeShaun Foster at UCLA.

The report goes on to mention that the deal could be announced as early as Monday.  Benton heading to UCLA sets him up to return to the Big Ten where he served as the player personnel coordinator at Michigan State under Mark Dantonio.

Notre Dame football gets a commitment from 2025 legacy wide receiver

The legacy continues in South Bend for the Bettis family

Notre Dame football has been no stranger to getting commitments from former NFL players prospects and also former Irish legends.

On Sunday, both happened, as [autotag]Jerome Bettis Jr.[/autotag], the son of “The Bus” committed to Notre Dame. The younger Bettis was clearly introduced to the game by his father, but ultimately forged his own path as a wide receiver. At 6-foot, 2-inches and 190-pounds, Jr. fits the mold.

He isn’t extremely highly ranked, as Bettis Jr. is the No. 671 overall prospect and 113th rated receiver recruit according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. The Irish 2025 class now has 18 total commitments, and now three receivers.

Bettis Jr. is the second legacy commit of the receiver group, joining Elijah Burress, son of Michigan State star Plaxico Burress.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame makes top list for in-state 2025 pass rusher

The Irish could land the states best 2025 prospect

It should come as no surprise that Notre Dame football is among the top schools for in-state 2025 defensive end [autotag]Damien Shanklin[/autotag].

The 6-foot, 4-inch and 230-pound edge trimmed his list to twelve schools, with the Irish obviously making the cut. Many believe that Notre Dame is the front-runner as they have received multiple 247Sports Crystal Ball picks.

Shanklin is the top player in the state for his class and the No. 10 edge rusher and 107th overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. The Irish currently have Christopher Burgess Jr., Dominik Hulak and Joseph Reiff committed at the position, but Shanklin would be the top rated prospect of the lot.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame football has two of the top returning defensive tackles according to PFF

The Irish are set in the middle of their defensive line

One unit that Notre Dame football shouldn’t have many worries about this coming season is at defensive tackle.

The Irish saw two major contributors at the position return, [autotag]Howard Cross III[/autotag] and [autotag]Rylie Mills[/autotag], solidifying the middle of the defensive line. Both players were named by Pro Football Focus in their top 10 returning defensive tackles for the 2024 season.

Cross III has been a consistent force for Notre Dame, having his best season in 2023 with 66 total tackles, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Mills tackle numbers weren’t as big, with 47, but he also had 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Due to their positions, neither will ever put up massive stats, but they obviously get the job done.

With Cross III and Mills in the middle, it frees up the ends along with linebacker to make plays. Expect more of the same in the fall.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame football cornerback Cam Hart continues rising up draft boards

The Irish corner continues to impress NFL teams

As we all know by now, Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart has been rising up NFL teams draft boards after an impressive performance at the combine.

Hart also participated in the Senior Bowl and the executive director of that game, Jim Nagy went to social media to rave about the Irish corner even more.

Nagy created a thread just to hype up Hart, saying that he’s “arguably (the) most talented true big corner in the draft.” He expanded on the impressive combine performance, Nagy noting that Hart “posted one of the most impressive AND least talked about combine performances.” High praise indeed.

It will be an interesting next month plus until the draft to see how much higher Hart can go on draft boards.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Former Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne on the move again

The third change for the former Irish quarterback

Although former Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Drew Pyne[/autotag] showed he can play at the highest level, he has yet to find a permanent home.

The Connecticut native started his career in South Bend, before transferring to Arizona State this past season. The idea behind the move was to be able to get more playing time, but that didn’t happen as Pyne attempted just 49 passes on the year.

The Sun Devils have at least two quarterbacks above him on the depth chart, so Pyne looked to the portal again to find a new home. He will return to the Midwest as on Sunday it was announced that he will transfer to Missouri.

Pyne will take full advantage of the super-Senior status, as he will have three years of eligibility remaining in Columbia. Most likely he won’t be QB1 entering the season, as the Tigers starter Brady Cook returns, but he could be the backup this fall and then take over the starting job in 2025.

Check it Out – Photo Gallery of Drew Pyne’s Time at Notre Dame

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame football offers 2026 Florida cornerback

The Irish are looking ahead to 2026 already

Notre Dame football has gotten off to a fantastic start to its 2025 recruiting class, so they can look ahead to the 2026 cycle a bit earlier.

One of the prospects that the Irish staff liked was Florida cornerback [autotag]Dominick Kelly[/autotag], who was offered on Thursday. The 6-foot, 1-inch and 175-pound member of the secondary isn’t currently ranked, but will be soon,

Kelly’s offer list includes Georgia, Penn State, USC, Florida and others, so just reading into who has interest, he will get ranked shorty and be fairly high.

Notre Dame currently does not have any commitment for the 2026 class, but they are doing a great job of identifying talent and getting offers out to them.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame football lands a commitment from preferred walk-on offensive tackle

The Irish add an intriguing PWO offensive tackle

Anytime you can add a quality player without using a scholarship, it should be viewed as a win and Notre Dame football was winning on Friday afternoon.

Minnesota offensive tackle [autotag]Robbie Wollan[/autotag] committed to the Irish as a preferred walk-on, giving Notre Dame a solid frame at 6-foot, 4-inches and 275-pounds to work with. The lineman had multiple other smaller schools after him, but when the opportunity arose to play in South Bend, he couldn’t turn it down.

Sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough with walk-ons and Wollan could ultimately be that. It will be very interesting to follow his Irish career.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

Notre Dame Football: Former Walk-On Safety Earns Scholarship

When betting on yourself goes according to plan…

Notre Dame recruited preferred walk-on Luke Talich a bit differently than most preferred walk-ons are recruited.  The Wyoming product chose to walk-on for Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish instead of take a scholarship offer from a variety of Division I programs.

On Thursday it was announced that his belief in himself paid off in becoming an official scholarship player for the Fighting Irish.

He’s earned that right,” Freeman said of Talich. “He’ll be in the competition with [fellow sophomore safety] Adon (Shuler) and everybody that’s there. It’s good. Those two guys make each other better.”

It’s safe to assume returning All-American safety Xavier Watts will be one starting safety in 2024 but the other spot is up for grabs.  Talich is included in that as is Northwestern graduate-transfer Rob Heard and Shuler.

Talich played in eight games as a freshman, primarily on special teams.  His season ended prematurely with a broken collar bone, but he was a full-go in Thursday’s practice to kickoff the spring season.