Category: Notre Dame Recruiting

Notre Dame in final group for elite California defensive back

The Irish will soon know if he joins the 2024 class

The Irish now have 25 players committed to their 2023 recruiting class but that doesn’t mean they might not add one or two more. It all really depends on who declares early for the NFL Draft or transfers.

What it doesn’t impact is the 2024 recruiting cycle, where Marcus Freeman is off to a hot start with seven commits, one of the best early classes in the country. The group has a very good early mix on offense and defense but there could be a massive addition brewing in California in safety Peyton Woodyard. The defensive back released this top 7 school and the Irish made the cut along with Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and USC.

We will know soon if the Irish will add Woodyard to their 2024 class, as he is expected to make an announcement on January 7th at the All-American game.

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Notre Dame PLOWS Their Way Out of South Bend

ND Plows Way To L.A.

What a fun senior day it was in South Bend. Wild weather, great individual performances, record-setting stats, and most notably a dominant blowout win against a heated rival. This victory puts Notre Dame in a prime position to potentially end the year at 9-3 after a trip to Los Angeles next week. Quite the accomplishment after suffering three losses by October 15th.

Notre Dame has been very unpredictable at home and has played its’ worst football against bad teams. Boston College certainly earned that description throughout the year and most certainly did today as well. A dominant win such as this was the perfect way to send the Seniors off with a memorable win, comfort the chilly Irish faithful at home, and turn all focus to sunny Southern California. 

Let’s take a look at 10 aspects of this performance that the Irish can use to power them into LA next week to face the Trojans with major momentum. 

247Sports says Notre Dame in the mix for three Top-15 2023 prospects

A trio of top 2023 prospects could end up in South Bend

The Irish just recently missed out on Sonny Styles, brother of wide receiver Lorenzo. It hurt but as an Ohio State legacy, we could have seen this coming. That doesn’t mean that the Notre Dame staff doesn’t have a few big fish they are still going after, it’s the opposite. As 247Sports updated their 2023 rankings, they looked at their Top-10 players and where they were leaning (premium). The Irish are in the mix for three of them and find out below who they are.

Notre Dame’s Quarterback Conundrum Must Be Solved

Solving Notre Dame’s quarterback conundrum

If you are a football fan to any degree, you know the following statement to be true. Quarterback is the single most important position in the sport. Coincidentally, this position has been a frustration for Notre Dame fans for well over a decade.

Sure, there have been some standouts. [autotag]Deshone Kizer[/autotag] comes to mind, [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] in recent vintage as well in terms of quarterbacks who made it to the NFL after their Notre Dame careers ended. But even when including these players, the Irish haven’t had a signal caller they win their biggest games because of. Not with, but because of.

This needs to change for Notre Dame moving forward and with the rumor mill ablaze regarding quarterback recruits and the Irish, let’s take a look at five things to consider about the current quarterback dynamic.

Notre Dame football: Jayden Bellamy

Meet new Notre Dame cornerback Jordan Bellamy

Notre Dame wasn’t able to hold onto every 2022 recruiting class commitment after the sudden departure of Brian Kelly from the program a few short weeks ago, but the Irish held onto the majority as the early signing period began on Wednesday.

Notre Dame’s advanced media team knocked it out of the park with its videos of each player this year. Cameos are made from former Notre Dame star football players, professional wrestlers, reality TV personalities and plenty more before Marcus Freeman ultimately delivers the good news for Irish fans.

Here are some fast-facts about cornerback Jayden Bellamy, who was the third Notre Dame player to send his national letter of intent in on Wednesday:

Name: Jayden Bellamy
Position: Cornerback
High School: Bergen Catholic (Oradell, New Jersey)
Size:  5-11, 175 pounds
Stars: 3-stars on both 247Sports and Rivals
Original Commitment Date: July 3, 2022

Related:  Notre Dame football 2022 recruiting class tracker

Notre Dame trending for Texas cornerback

Notre Dame looking to continue to change their Texas narrative

It appears Notre Dame has made a strong connection with 2024 cornerback [autotag]Leonard Moore[/autotag].  Moore, a three-star prospect from Round Rock, Texas, has been given a three crystal ball predictions of committing to Notre Dame.  All three were given on the morning of January 31.

Moore is listed at 6-2, 177-pounds and has offers from 15 different programs on a list that includes the likes of Oregon, TCU, and Wisconsin. Playing in the best high school football state in the nation, he is coming off a junior year that saw him named a Texas District 25-6A unanimous first-team selection.

Notre Dame currently has seven commitments in the 2024 recruiting class.  Just two of those seven are expected to play defense for the Irish; defensive end [autotag]Owen Wafle[/autotag] of Princeton, New Jersey and cornerback [autotag]Carson Hobbs[/autotag] of Moeller in Cincinnati.

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Just how impressive Notre Dame landing Brenan Vernon really was

Why stop at just one next recruiting cycle?

What might get overlooked about Urban Meyer’s time at Ohio State is how well he did at keeping elite talent from the state of Ohio home and getting the very best players from the football-crazy state to play for the Buckeyes.

After Meyer was hired following the 2011 football season he had an incredible run of landing five-star talent from Ohio. Since Meyer’s hiring and Ryan Day’s subsequent promotion, the Buckeyes have landed eight of the 10 five-star recruits Ohio has had to offer (source – 247Sports).

The only two not to attend Ohio State in that time were offensive tackles: 2016 Notre Dame signee Tommy Kraemer and 2018 Clemson signee, Jackson Carman, which means every five-star, non-offensive lineman from Ohio since 2012 has signed with the Buckeyes.

Nobody here is naive enough to think that recruiting simply ends when a commitment is given, but Notre Dame pulled a major upset by landing Brenan Vernon. Keeping him a commitment will remain a task, but one that everyone on Notre Dame’s staff is certainly thrilled to take on.

Praise of Marcus Freeman, Mike Elston and Brian Kelly is warranted for this upset of a commitment, but it’s also worth noting that recruiting the state of Ohio for the 2023 class is anything but done. Five-star defensive back Sonny Styles (brother of current Fighting Irish freshman Lorenzo Styles, Jr.) remains a target for Notre Dame. He remains uncommitted.

Related:

Notre Dame’s best recruits from each state since 2000

Notre Dame’s top-ranked recruits since 2000

Notre Dame lands elite offensive line commitment ahead of Ohio State game

Notre Dame’s second win of the week and it’s only Tuesday. Huge get!

For the second day in a row, Notre Dame has landed a top-tier offensive talent in recruiting.  Monday saw 2025 quarterback Deuce Knight announce his commitment while Tuesday evening saw one of the best offensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting cycle announce his.

Guerby Lambert, a four-star prospect from Massachusetts, chose the Irish over Ohio State while having offers from other powerhouses such as Alabama, Michigan, Penn State, and plenty of others.

Just how highly is Lambert regarded?

Lambert checks in as the the No. 49 overall player in nation according to the 247Sports composite rankings.  He’s the second-rated offensive tackle in the entire nation top-rated player from Massachusetts.

Lambert checks in at 6-6, 280-pounds and depending who potentially leaves for the NFL draft next spring, could be in the mix to start on Notre Dame’s offensive line as a true freshman next fall.

Lambert is the 23rd commitment in Notre Dame’s 2024 class and fourth offensive lineman commit.

College football recruiting: Notre Dame beats out bluebloods for elite running back

Huge win for the Irish!

Sure, eyes are focused on the 2023 recruiting classes being finished up nation-wide but Notre Dame received more tremendous news for their 2024 class on Friday night.  Running back Aneyas Williams announced his commitment to Notre Dame.

We don’t need to go over an evaluation of stars to see that Williams is an absolute beast and will be huge for Notre Dame down the road.  Williams chose the Irish over offers from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, USC, and plenty of the other biggest programs nationally.

At Hannibal High School in Missouri, Williams had a monster junior campaign.  He scored 34 touchdowns and racked up nearly 2,000 all-purpose yards.

The commitment from Williams furthers the giant imprint Notre Dame has made in recruiting the state of Missouri in recent years.  Running back Jeremiyah Love and cornerback Christian Gray are already in the 2023 class while Kyren Williams, Gabe Rubio, and Tyson Ford have all wound up at Notre Dame from the Show Me State in recent years.

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See it: Notre Dame two-sport great poses with future Notre Dame two-sport great

It’s probably too late for Samardzija to be any help to the Bears, isn’t it…

Notre Dame has had its fair share of multisport star athletes over the years.  During World War II, Edward “Moose” Krause starred in football and basketball while also lettering in track. Dick Arrington finished third nationally in wrestling in 1965 while earning All-American honors for helping protect Heisman Trophy quarterback John Huarte.

Bob Golic doubled up as an All-American wrestler while also starring on the football team. Raghib “Rocket” Ismail earned All-American honors in both football and track.

Perhaps the most well-known multisport star at Notre Dame in recent years was wide receiver and star pitcher, [autotag]Jeff Samardzija[/autotag].  Samardzija helped lead Notre Dame’s turnaround in 2005 and 2006 before opting to play professional baseball instead of taking his shot at the NFL.  The Valparaiso, Indiana, native crossed paths with incoming freshman [autotag]Drayk Bowen[/autotag] in a photo that was shared on social media Wednesday night.

Bowen was recently named the 2022 High School Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top high school linebacker.  Bowen plans to play baseball for the Irish in addition to football.

Related:  The best photos of Jeff Samardzija at Notre Dame

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