Chad Bowden – Syndication Server

Notre Dame football gets great news as top recruiter says with the Irish

The Irish get another coaching staff win

There was some chatter that new Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore wanted Notre Dame football staffer [autotag]Chad Bowden[/autotag].

The Wolverines are reworking their staff after Jim Harbaugh left for the Los Angeles Chargers and took some of them with him. Moore had his sights on Bowden, but according to a report by FootballScoop, Marcus Freeman was able to retain his ace recruiter.

Bowen is viewed as an elite recruiting and personnel evaluator, so him remaining in South Bend should be viewed as a huge win. His hands have been all over Notre Dame’s recruiting classes, as they have jumped out to another hot start in the 2025 cycle, securing 14 commitments at the moment.

SIGNIFICANT College Football Personnel News: Multiple sources tell @FootballScoop that Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame (@NDFootball) are hanging on to recruiting director & personnel ace Chad Bowden after being pursued by Michigan, Sherrone Moore: https://t.co/WpUDPgiRS1

— John Brice (@JohnDBrice1) February 1, 2024

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Chad Bowden is Notre Dame’s New Defensive Director of Recruiting

Notre Dame found itself a nice asset when Marcus Freeman left Cincinnati to become the Irish’s new defensive coordinator.

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Notre Dame found itself a nice asset when Marcus Freeman left Cincinnati to become the Irish’s new defensive coordinator. It turns out the Bearcats, from whom Brian Kelly joined the Irish, are not finished losing personnel to South Bend. Chad Bowden has been the Bearcats’ director of recruiting. Not anymore:

Sources tell @ENQSports that Chad Bowden, the director of recruiting for the Cincinnati Bearcats football program, is following Marcus Freeman to Notre Dame. Bowden will be the defensive director of recruiting for the Irish.

— Keith Jenkins (@MrKeithJenkins) January 19, 2021

This move represents a shift in Bowden’s thinking. He recently told the Cincinnati Enquirer he was pleased with where he was at and who he was working for (Bearcats coach Luke Fickell). Now, he’s decided a change of scenery is in order. It makes the storyline for when these teams meet Oct. 2 at Notre Dame Stadium all the more intriguing.

Cincinnati also has lost associate head coach and running backs coach Dan Enos to Maryland, where he will be the offensive coordinator. All of this turnover on the coaching staff already has resulted in two de-commitments from the Bearcats. To say this has been a tumultuous month for that program would be an understatement. Alas, there’s no choice but to press on because college football stops for nobody, especially at the highest level.

Notre Dame staffer promoted to director of recruiting

A promotion!

Notre Dame football has a new director of recruiting as the 27-year old Chad Bowden has been promoted. Bowden replaces Aaryn Kearney who took a job outside of college football. Marcus Freeman made the announcement during his press conference on Wednesday.

Bowden got his break in coaching as he was an intern for now-Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Mason at Cincinnati in 2017. Mason was working as the Bearcats director of recruiting at that time.

Bowden clearly made a positive impression on both Mason and Freeman seeing as he was hired by Notre Dame less than two weeks after Freeman accepted the defensive coordinator job in January of 2021.

Bowden has already made an impact in recruiting for Notre Dame and is the son of former Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals executive Jim Bowden.

Marcus Freeman confirms Tommy Rees rumors

Chad Bowden making a big impact for Notre Dame on the recruiting trail

Bowden doesn’t get the credit he deserves

When you think of who is the face of Notre Dame football recruiting, Marcus Freeman’s name will most likely come up first. Well, that’s not exactly the case as many of the recruiting efforts are backed by either recruiting directors or in the Irish’s case, program director Chad Bowden.

According to 247Sports, Bowden is leading the way for Notre Dame, not just for their top rated 2023 class. Linebacker Jaylen Sneed’s high school coach BJ Payne said “Chad doesn’t get the recognition he deserves at times. He’s absolutely phenomenal… He’s just very real and his energy levels are through the roof.”

Like Payne says, Bowden’s work behind the scenes is very important, he’s a major player in Notre Dame’s success in previous classes and as we all have seen, in future classes as well.

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