Notre Dame Built an Instant Connection With Elite Tackle Olu Olubobola and Won Big Recruiting battle

Some recruiting victories are built over years of relationship-building, endless in-home visits and a slow, methodical courtship that eventually tips in one program's favor. And then there are moments like this one — where Notre Dame identified one of the most athletically gifted offensive tackle prospects in the entire country, extended an offer, built a genuine and deep connection in a matter of weeks and walked away with a commitment that programs like Ohio State, Texas, LSU, Michigan and Florida State were pursuing for far longer.

Jersey City, N.J./St. Peter's Prep standout Oluwasemilore Olubobola has committed to Notre Dame, choosing the Fighting Irish over Miami and Texas A&M — and the story of how this recruitment unfolded is as impressive as the prospect himself. Notre Dame didn't just land a five-star offensive tackle. They did it faster, more decisively and more convincingly than anyone thought possible when the offer was first extended in late March.

This is what elite program building looks like at its very best.

Six Weeks, One Visit, One Decision

The numbers that frame this recruitment are almost hard to believe when you lay them out in sequence. Notre Dame didn't offer Olubobola until March 19th — at which point programs like Ohio State, Texas, LSU, Oregon, Florida, Michigan, Florida State, Penn State, Tennessee, Auburn and dozens of other elite programs had already been recruiting him for months. The Irish entered the race behind nearly everyone.

From that March offer, Notre Dame had exactly one opportunity to get in front of Olubobola in person — a visit for the Blue-Gold Game on April 25th. One visit. Not a home visit followed by an official visit followed by multiple campus trips over the course of a year. One single opportunity to show Olubobola what Notre Dame's offensive line program looks like up close, what the campus feels like on a football weekend and what Joe Rudolph's development pipeline has produced for the elite tackle prospects who came before him.

Notre Dame made that one visit count in a way that changed everything. Coming out of the Blue-Gold weekend, the Irish still appeared to have ground to make up. But something had clearly shifted inside the relationship — something genuine and real that the Notre Dame staff recognized and immediately accelerated. By early May, Notre Dame had gone from late entry to the clear frontrunner. Shortly after, Olubobola made it official.

Six weeks from offer to commitment. One campus visit. A decision that beat out programs that had been recruiting him for a year or more.

That is not a coincidence. That is connection.

What Notre Dame Did Right — Building Real Relationship at Warp Speed

The most important question surrounding this commitment isn't what Olubobola brings to Notre Dame — it's how Notre Dame built a bond strong enough in six weeks to beat programs with far longer head starts.

The answer lies in what the Irish staff prioritized from the moment the offer went out. Notre Dame didn't just sell Olubobola on rankings, facilities or conference affiliations. They sold him on something more personal and more powerful — a genuine belief in who he is as a player, a student and a person, communicated with an authenticity and urgency that prospects at this level immediately recognize as real.

Joe Rudolph and the Notre Dame staff made Olubobola feel like he wasn't just a recruiting target — he was exactly who Notre Dame needed, specifically and uniquely, in this class. That distinction matters enormously to elite prospects who have every program in America telling them how great they are. When a coach can articulate precisely why you fit, what you will become under their development system and what your specific role in the program's future looks like, it cuts through the noise in ways that months of generic recruiting communication never can.

The Blue-Gold Game visit did the rest. There is simply no substitute for standing on Notre Dame's campus, feeling the weight of the tradition, watching the program operate at close range and imagining yourself inside it. Olubobola took that visit and came away with something that six weeks of phone calls and text messages couldn't fully deliver — a visceral, personal understanding of what Notre Dame means. That understanding accelerated everything.

The Athletic Profile That Made Every Program in America Take Notice

To fully appreciate the magnitude of what Notre Dame has secured, you have to understand exactly what kind of athlete Oluwasemilore Olubobola is — because his physical and athletic profile is the kind that offensive line coaches spend entire careers searching for and rarely find at this stage of development.

Start with the frame. At 6-6 and 295 pounds, Olubobola is already built like a finished college offensive tackle before he has taken a single college snap. That size and weight at his age, combined with the room his frame still has to develop, gives Notre Dame's strength and conditioning staff an extraordinary foundation to work with. But size alone is common enough among highly recruited offensive tackle prospects. What makes Olubobola genuinely special — what makes him a top-20 national prospect and the No. 1 player in the state of New Jersey — is what that 6-6, 295-pound body can actually do.

Olubobola moves with an athletic fluidity that has no business existing in a player his size. His feet are nimble and quick, processing lateral movement with an ease and natural rhythm that you typically find in skill position players, not massive offensive tackles. That footwork is not the product of years of technique work — it is native athleticism, the kind that shows up on film immediately and makes experienced evaluators lean forward in their chairs. Light feet at 295 pounds is a gift. Olubobola has it in abundance.

His length is equally elite, and what separates Olubobola from other long-armed tackle prospects is that he already knows how to use it as an active weapon. He strikes pass rushers before they can get into his frame, extending with timing and coordination that creates a natural barrier most defenders at the high school level simply cannot overcome. That early hand usage, combined with elite length and nimble footwork, gives Notre Dame a left tackle prospect who already has the foundational athletic tools to compete at the highest level of college football.

In the run game, Olubobola's explosiveness off the line is immediately evident. He doesn't ease into contact — he attacks it, driving his legs through the point of contact with powerful lower body mechanics and finishing blocks with the kind of physicality that moves defenders off the ball. His burst off the snap combined with his power through contact makes him a legitimate force in the ground game right now, with a ceiling that has barely been touched.

His change of direction skills round out an athletic package that is genuinely rare at his position. Olubobola doesn't lumber from one assignment to the next — he redirects, adjusts and moves in space with a smoothness that tells you his athleticism extends well beyond the straight-line power game. In pass protection, that lateral agility is everything when an edge rusher tries to counter inside or set up a speed-to-power conversion. Olubobola already has the natural movement skills to handle both.

The technical refinements — particularly in the finer points of pass protection hand placement and anchor depth — will come with Rudolph's coaching. But here is the essential truth about developing elite offensive tackles: you can coach technique, you can refine hand usage, you can install protection schemes. You cannot manufacture the athletic foundation that Olubobola already has. That foundation is what makes everything else teachable — and what makes his ceiling as a college offensive tackle genuinely limitless.

Five Years Running — A Standard That Doesn't Slip

Olubobola's commitment extends Notre Dame's remarkable streak of landing a five-star offensive tackle in five consecutive recruiting classes — a run of elite tackle recruiting that stands as one of the most impressive position-specific streaks in college football.

That streak doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't happen because Notre Dame is simply throwing more resources at offensive tackle recruiting than everyone else. It happens because Joe Rudolph has built a reputation, a development track record and a relationship style that elite offensive tackle prospects trust — and because Notre Dame as an institution offers something that no purely football-based pitch can replicate. The combination of elite football development, genuine academic prestige and a program culture built on brotherhood creates a package that keeps landing at the top of the list when elite offensive tackle prospects make their final decisions.

Olubobola becomes the latest in that line — and if the development trajectory of the five-star tackles before him is any indication, he will not be the last.

A 2027 Offensive Line Room Built for Dominance

With Olubobola committed, Notre Dame's 2027 offensive line class now has three pieces that fit together with genuine intentionality. Olubobola anchors the left side with elite athleticism and a top-20 national profile. Pennsylvania standout James Halter brings physical toughness and right tackle upside from Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Wisconsin lineman Richie Flanigan projects inside with the size and temperament to develop into a power interior blocker.

Three different players. Three different profiles. Three different roles. One cohesive vision from Joe Rudolph about what this offensive line room needs — and the recruiting execution to go get it in a single class.

The New Jersey thread adds another dimension worth celebrating. With defensive end Aidan O'Neil already committed, Notre Dame now holds commitments from both the No. 1 and No. 3 players in the state of New Jersey in the 2027 class. Locking up the top talent from one of the most talent-rich states in the country on both sides of the ball reflects a regional recruiting dominance that has real long-term implications for the program.

Olubobola becomes the 15th overall commitment in Notre Dame's 2027 class, joining a group that already features quarterback Champ Monds, running backs Lathan Whisenton and Isaiah Rogers, wide receiver Jackson Coleman, tight end Titus Hawk, defensive end Aidan O'Neil, linebacker Amarri Irvin, cornerbacks Xavier Hasan and Ace Alston, safety Zayden Gamble, nickel John Gay III and long snapper Sean Kraft.

The Bottom Line

Notre Dame identified one of the most athletically gifted offensive tackle prospects in the 2027 class late, moved with precision and purpose, built a genuine connection in a matter of weeks and walked away with a commitment over programs that had been recruiting Oluwasemilore Olubobola for far longer.

The athletic package Olubobola brings to South Bend — the elite length, the nimble feet, the explosive power, the natural change of direction at 295 pounds — is exactly the kind of foundation that Joe Rudolph's development system turns into NFL-caliber offensive tackles. Notre Dame has done it five years in a row now.

The connection was instant. The talent is elite. The fit is perfect.

And once again, Notre Dame found a way to win.

2027 wr Jackson Coleman Became a Must-Have for Notre Dame and mike brown

There are recruits that programs pursue because a position need exists and a prospect fits the profile. And then there are recruits that a coaching staff identifies, locks onto and refuses to let go of because the film reveals something that transcends positional need — a player whose combination of physical tools, competitive instincts and football character makes him exactly the kind of person you build an offense around for four years.

Jackson Coleman is the second kind of recruit. The moment wide receivers coach Mike Brown got his eyes on Coleman's junior film from Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian, the evaluation process ended and the pursuit began in earnest. What Brown saw on that film — the length, the deceptive speed, the run-after-catch ability and a blocking presence that most wide receivers at any level never develop — made Coleman a priority take for the Notre Dame staff almost immediately.

The result was a recruitment that moved at a pace that reflected exactly how highly Brown and the Irish staff valued this prospect. From first in-person evaluation to scholarship offer in 24 hours. From offer to official Blue-Gold Game visit in days. From visit to commitment shortly after. Notre Dame didn't just want Jackson Coleman. They made sure he knew it — and they closed before anyone else could catch up.

From Film to Priority — How Brown Identified Coleman

The recruiting trail that led Notre Dame to Jackson Coleman tells you everything about how Mike Brown approaches the evaluation process. Coleman was not a nationally hyped prospect with a five-star label and a waiting list of blue-blood programs competing for his signature. He was a prospect whose junior production — 45 receptions, 975 yards, nine touchdowns and a 21.7 yards-per-catch average — had begun generating interest from elite programs, but whose three-star ranking still significantly understated what the film actually showed.

Brown got to Colorado on April 15th to see Coleman in person. Twenty-four hours later the scholarship offer was extended. That timeline is not coincidental — it is the direct result of a coach who watched the film, saw a priority-level prospect hiding behind an incomplete recruiting profile and moved with the urgency that kind of evaluation demands.

Oregon had been building a relationship with Coleman since January and was considered the frontrunner before Notre Dame entered the picture. Miami came in during early March. Auburn followed. Michigan offered a week before the Irish. None of those programs had the combination of genuine connection and decisive action that Notre Dame brought once Brown identified Coleman as a must-have target for the 2027 class.

When Coleman visited South Bend for the Blue-Gold Game on April 25th, the visit confirmed everything Brown had seen on film. The commitment followed shortly after, and Notre Dame had flipped a recruitment that Oregon had been leading for months — not because of facilities or conference affiliation but because Mike Brown made Jackson Coleman feel like the exact player Notre Dame needed, specifically and genuinely, in this class.

That kind of targeted, conviction-driven recruiting is how you beat programs with longer head starts. Brown saw Coleman first — clearly and completely — and never stopped pushing until the commitment was secured.

The Film Doesn't Lie — What Makes Coleman Special

Pull up Jackson Coleman's junior film and the first thing that registers — before you look at anything else, before you check any statistics or rankings — is the sheer physical presence he brings to the wide receiver position. At 6-4 and 195 pounds with a frame that still has significant room to grow, Coleman projects as the kind of boundary receiver that defensive coordinators game plan around specifically because there is simply no clean answer for what he brings to the outside.

But the size alone is only the beginning of the Coleman evaluation. What makes his film genuinely compelling — what turned Mike Brown from an evaluator into a recruiter in the span of a single tape session — is everything that lives inside that 6-4 frame.

Deceptive Speed That Changes the Entire Defense

Coleman ran a personal best 10.67 in the 100 meters as a sophomore — elite timed speed for a receiver of any size, let alone one who stands 6-4. But what makes Coleman's speed so valuable as a football player is not just the number attached to it. It is how deceptively that speed presents on the field.

Coleman does not look like a 10.67 receiver when he lines up. He does not telegraph his speed in the way that purely one-dimensional deep threats do — the kind that defenses identify immediately and double-cover into irrelevance. Coleman's speed reveals itself in a way that catches defenders off guard, appearing to accelerate past coverage at moments when defensive backs think they have him under control. That deceptive quality — the ability to look slower than you are and then suddenly be gone — is one of the most dangerous traits a wide receiver can possess because it eliminates the defensive adjustment that pure speed invites.

On Coleman's junior film, you see that deceptive speed create separation in multiple ways. It shows up on vertical routes where he appears to be running at three-quarter speed before suddenly pulling away from coverage in the final ten yards. It shows up after the catch, where a defender who thinks he has an angle to make a tackle suddenly finds Coleman accelerating past the point of contact and turning what looked like a seven-yard gain into a 20-yard play. And it shows up in the run game — which brings us to another dimension of Coleman's game that makes his film so compelling to elite offensive coaches.

Run After Catch Ability That Turns Completions Into Explosions

The 21.7 yards-per-catch average that Coleman produced as a junior is the statistical fingerprint of a receiver who does not simply catch the football — he weaponizes it. That number reflects a player who consistently turns receptions into significant gains through a combination of speed, vision, contact balance and competitive drive after the ball is in his hands.

Coleman's run-after-catch ability on film is immediately evident and consistently impressive. He catches the ball with his hands away from his body — a fundamental that many receivers struggle to develop — which allows him to transition into his run immediately without the wasted motion of tucking the ball into his body first. His vision after the catch is advanced for a prospect his age, showing the ability to identify leverage, set up blocks and choose running lanes that maximize yardage on every touch.

His contact balance is equally noteworthy. At 195 pounds with a 6-4 frame, Coleman is not a small receiver who goes to the ground on first contact. He absorbs hits, maintains his footing through contact and keeps churning for additional yards in a way that reflects both physical toughness and a competitive temperament that does not accept easy tackles. That combination of initial separation, acceleration after the catch and contact balance through contact is what turns a good receiving performance into a 21.7 yards-per-catch junior season.

The playoff performances put an exclamation point on what the regular season film suggested. In three consecutive postseason games Coleman delivered 100-plus yard performances — five catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the first round, eight catches for 161 yards in the state championship game. Big-game production against the best-prepared defenses a state tournament offers is the most honest measure of what a prospect truly is — and Coleman passed that test emphatically and repeatedly.

A Devastating Blocker Who Changes the Run Game

Here is the element of Jackson Coleman's game that separates him most clearly from the wide receiver prospects who share similar size and speed profiles — and the element that likely accelerated Mike Brown's evaluation from interest to priority fastest.

Jackson Coleman is a devastating blocker in the run game.

In an era where wide receiver blocking has become increasingly devalued — where skill position players are celebrated almost exclusively for their pass-catching production and their run-blocking contribution is treated as an afterthought — Coleman brings a physicality and commitment to the blocking game that immediately jumps off the film and marks him as a different kind of receiver entirely.

Coleman engages blocks with the kind of effort and physicality that offensive coordinators notice immediately because it is so rare. He does not go through the motions on running plays where the ball is going away from him. He seeks contact, sustains blocks downfield and finishes with the aggressive mentality of a player who understands that blocking is not a concession to the run game but an expression of competitive character. His size and length make him a natural fit for perimeter blocking assignments — sealing the edge on outside runs, cutting off pursuit angles on screen plays and creating the kind of downfield blocking that turns 10-yard gains into 20-yard gains on a consistent basis.

For a Notre Dame offense that demands complete receivers who contribute on every snap regardless of whether the ball is coming their way, Coleman's blocking ability is not a supplemental skill. It is a foundational one — and it makes him significantly more valuable to the program's offensive system than his receiving production alone would suggest.

The Perfect Complement to Notre Dame's 2027 Receiver Board

Understanding why Coleman became a priority take for Mike Brown also requires understanding the broader 2027 wide receiver recruiting picture for Notre Dame — because Coleman does not just fill a position need in this class. He fills a specific role within the receiver room that complements the more explosive, dynamic playmakers still on Notre Dame's recruiting board.

The Irish are actively pursuing some of the most electric wide receiver prospects in the 2027 class — receivers with elite burst, separation quickness and the kind of short-area explosion that creates mismatches in the slot and on quick-game concepts. Those receivers represent a different profile than what Coleman brings — and that difference is precisely the point.

Coleman's combination of 6-4 boundary size, deceptive deep speed, devastating blocking and run-after-catch ability gives Notre Dame's receiver room a physical complement to the more dynamic, explosive prospects the Irish are chasing elsewhere on the board. A receiver room that pairs Coleman's boundary presence and physical tools with the quickness and explosion of Notre Dame's other 2027 targets creates a diverse, multi-dimensional group that no defensive coordinator can solve with a single coverage concept.

You cannot play Coleman with the same coverage you would use against a smaller, quicker slot receiver. You cannot press the quicker, more explosive receivers the same way you would press Coleman. The combination forces defensive coordinators into impossible compromises — and that is exactly the kind of receiver room construction that produces explosive, balanced passing offsets at the college level.

Coleman is the foundation of that construction in the 2027 class — the physical, complete receiver whose presence on the boundary makes every other receiver on the roster more dangerous by his mere existence on the field. Mike Brown recognized that complementary value immediately when he watched the film, and it elevated Coleman from a prospect of interest to a must-have priority target before the evaluation was finished.

What Notre Dame Is Getting — The Complete Picture

Jackson Coleman arrives in South Bend as a prospect whose three-star label will feel like a distant footnote long before his Notre Dame career reaches its peak. What the Irish are actually getting is a 6-4 boundary receiver with deceptive 10.67 speed, 21.7 yards-per-catch junior production, three consecutive 100-plus yard playoff performances, advanced run-after-catch instincts and a blocking commitment that reflects the character of a complete football player.

He joins a 2027 class that continues to build toward something genuinely special — quarterback Champ Monds, running backs Lathan Whisenton and Isaiah Rogers, offensive linemen James Halter and Richie Flanigan, defensive end Aidan O'Neil, linebacker Amarri Irvin, cornerbacks Xavier Hasan and Ace Alston, safety Zayden Gamble, nickel John Gay III and long snapper Sean Kraft all already committed and the class continuing to grow with each passing week.

As the 13th commitment in Notre Dame's 2027 class, Coleman gives the Irish their first wide receiver — and does it with a prospect who brings dimensions to the position that go far beyond what the recruiting rankings currently reflect.

The Bottom Line

Mike Brown watched Jackson Coleman's junior film and saw a priority target. He moved to Colorado on April 15th, extended the offer on April 16th and had Coleman committed to Notre Dame within two weeks — flipping a recruitment Oregon had been leading for months in the process.

The film justified every bit of that urgency. A long, athletic boundary receiver with deceptive speed that defensive backs consistently underestimate, run-after-catch instincts that turn completions into explosions, a devastating blocking presence that makes him valuable on every single snap and a postseason track record that proves he performs best when the games matter most.

Jackson Coleman is not just a wide receiver commitment for Notre Dame's 2027 class. He is the physical foundation of a receiver room that Mike Brown is building to be as complete, as versatile and as dangerous as any in the country.

The recruiting services will catch up eventually. They always do — right around the time the player they undervalued is making plays in January when everything is on the line.

For Jackson Coleman, that moment is coming. And Notre Dame will be ready for it.

notre dame was counted out, but now the irish are coming to collect

There's a moment every great team knows. The moment the door gets slammed in your face — not because you weren't good enough, but because someone in a back room decided you weren't their kind of good enough. It's the moment that separates pretenders from dynasties. It's the moment that either breaks a program or builds a legend.

For Notre Dame, that moment came on December 7, 2025.

The selection committee looked at a 10-win Fighting Irish squad that had dominated opponents all season and said: not good enough. They handed a playoff spot to a three-loss Alabama team instead. No explanation would ever fully satisfy. No argument would change the outcome.

But Notre Dame didn't need an explanation. They needed motivation.

"Leave No Doubt."

That's the motto. That's the mission. That's the battle cry of a program that has been running on controlled rage ever since that December morning. And if you watched them this spring, you already know — this isn't a team that's moved on. This is a team that's been marinating in that slight every single day since it happened.

Athlon Sports writer Steven Lassan knows what this Irish squad is capable of, and he's not mincing words: Notre Dame's Revenge Tour is the No. 1 storyline in college football heading into 2026.

"With 15 starters returning from last year's 10-win squad, along with a favorable schedule, leaving no doubt doesn't just mean a trip to the playoff," Lassan explained. "The Fighting Irish clearly have their sights set on ending a national title drought that dates back to 1988. The goal in '26 isn't just to take a spot in the field — Marcus Freeman's team is set for a national-title-or-bust campaign."

The Receipts Are Already There

Here's what the committee chose to overlook.

For the first time since 1966, Notre Dame won at least nine regular season games — every single one by double digits. Their offense averaged 42.0 points per game and 7.3 yards per play, both modern program records. They were physically imposing, technically sound, and relentless from opening kickoff to final whistle.

Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr shattered the program's passer rating record in his first year as a starter. A freshman. He tied for second nationally in yards per pass attempt at 9.4 and threw 24 touchdowns. And he's only getting started.

Defensively? Yes, the Irish got punched early — giving up 98 combined points in their first three games while adjusting to a new coordinator. But what happened next is what defines a real program: they locked in, bought into the system, and held opponents to just 12.6 points per game over the final nine matchups. That's not a defense that collapsed under pressure. That's a defense that figured it out and went on a run.

Just like every great team that got overlooked does.

The Infrastructure of a Champion

What makes this Notre Dame squad different from previous revenge tour attempts isn't just talent — it's stability.

For the first time in Marcus Freeman's tenure, both his offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator are returning. Mike Denbrock enters year three running the offense. Chris Ash enters year two commanding the defense. These aren't coordinators still learning the roster. These are coaches who know exactly what they have and exactly how to use it.

"Carr's progression into one of the nation's elite quarterbacks is why Freeman's program can win it all," Lassan noted. "There's no shortage of talent at receiver with Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison returning, along with former highly touted prospects Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham arriving from Ohio State."

On defense, eight starters return — including All-American cornerback Leonard Moore. This unit doesn't need a transition period. It needs a postseason run.

Freeman himself is heading into year five. He's not a new coach still finding his footing anymore. He's a proven leader with a roster full of players who have played meaningful football, a chip on their shoulder the size of a playoff bracket, and an entire offseason to get ready for what's coming.

The Schedule Is a Statement, Not a Gift

Some will say Notre Dame has a favorable schedule. Some fanbases will point to the October gauntlet — potentially four ranked opponents in the final stretch of the regular season — and call it tough.

Call it whatever you want. Notre Dame is calling it an opportunity.

Because once you get into the 12-team playoff, every game is win or go home. The schedule doesn't matter anymore. The rankings don't matter. The committee's opinions don't matter. All that matters is who's left standing.

The Revenge Tour officially kicks off September 6 at Lambeau Field against Wisconsin. But the groundwork? That was laid back in December, in a quiet room somewhere, when a group of fighters watched someone else's name get called and decided they had one response:

Watch what happens next.

usa today ranks notre dame 2nd in post spring poll

USA Today has spoken — and the verdict on Notre Dame heading into the 2026 season is about as emphatic as a preseason ranking can be. Analysts Erick Schmidt and Paul Myerberg have tabbed the Fighting Irish as the No. 2 overall team in the country in their Post-Spring Top 25, trailing only Ohio State and ranking ahead of Texas, Georgia and Indiana in a list that reflects a program operating at the absolute peak of its modern era.

The ranking is not a gift or a projection built on hope. It is a recognition of something concrete — a Notre Dame roster that returns an experienced starting quarterback, a proven offensive supporting cast, a defense that kept its best players and a coaching staff with all three coordinators back for the first time in Marcus Freeman's tenure. When you stack those ingredients together and evaluate them honestly against every other program in the country, No. 2 is not a stretch. It might even be conservative.

Here is the full case for why Notre Dame belongs exactly where USA Today put them — and why 2026 could be the year everything comes together.

CJ Carr — The Heisman Front-Runner Nobody Should Be Sleeping On

Every conversation about Notre Dame's 2026 ceiling begins and ends with CJ Carr — and every conversation about the 2026 Heisman Trophy race should begin and end there too.

Carr enters his second season as Notre Dame's starting quarterback with something that no other signal caller in the country can claim in quite the same way — a full season of starting experience at Notre Dame, in a system he now owns completely, with the weapons around him upgraded and the continuity of returning coordinators giving him the most stable offensive environment of his college career. That combination of experience, continuity and talent elevation is precisely the formula that produces Heisman Trophy-caliber seasons.

In his first full season as a starter in 2025, Carr demonstrated command, poise and playmaking ability that immediately announced him as one of the premier quarterbacks in college football. He managed Notre Dame's offense with the kind of veteran intelligence that first-year starters rarely possess — reading defenses pre-snap, going through progressions efficiently and delivering the football with accuracy and timing in the most critical moments of the most critical games. The Carr-Faison connection that developed throughout 2025 became one of the most reliable quarterback-receiver partnerships in the sport, and that chemistry only deepens entering 2026 with a full offseason of concentrated work behind it.

What elevates Carr's Heisman candidacy beyond simply returning a quality starter is the trajectory. The jump from a first-year starter finding his footing to a second-year starter who knows every concept, trusts every receiver and operates from a position of complete offensive authority is one of the most dramatic developmental leaps in college football. Carr has already shown he can win games and manage a complex offense. In 2026, with the supporting cast around him upgraded on every level, the expectation is that he takes the next step — from excellent game manager to dominant offensive force — and the tools surrounding him make that leap entirely realistic.

The Heisman Trophy watch list will have many names on it when the 2026 season begins. CJ Carr should be at or near the top of every legitimate conversation about who wins it.

A Backfield Built to Replace Elite Production

The departure of Jeremiyah Love — selected No. 3 overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL Draft — leaves the most significant void Notre Dame needs to fill on offense heading into 2026. Love was one of the most dynamic running backs in college football, a unanimous All-American whose production and big-play capability defined Notre Dame's ground attack for two seasons.

But the Irish are not rebuilding the backfield from scratch. They are reloading it with proven talent that has been waiting for exactly this opportunity — and the players stepping into expanded roles bring legitimate credentials of their own.

Nolan James Jr. returns as the most experienced back in Notre Dame's room, a proven contributor who has demonstrated the vision, patience and contact balance to be a productive starter at the Power Four level. His ability to operate within Notre Dame's zone-blocking scheme, find cutback lanes and move the chains in critical short-yardage situations gives the Irish a reliable foundation in the backfield that Carr can lean on in the most important moments of games.

Aneyas Williams brings a complementary dimension to the backfield that gives offensive coordinator Tim Rees genuine flexibility in how he deploys the ground game. Williams's quickness, acceleration and ability to create in space provide a contrast to James's between-the-tackles style — giving Notre Dame a two-back approach that can attack defenses horizontally as effectively as it attacks them vertically. The combination of James's power and patience with Williams's quickness and space creation gives Notre Dame's ground game the kind of range that makes it genuinely difficult to defend with a single schematic approach.

Together, James and Williams represent a backfield that does not replace Love's individual brilliance but provides Notre Dame's offense with enough combined production, versatility and proven capability to keep the ground game a legitimate threat on every snap. That is all Carr and the passing game need — a running back room that keeps defenses honest and prevents them from loading the box against Notre Dame's receivers.

A Wide Receiver Room Transformed by Experience and Elite Portal Additions

Jordan Faison returns as Notre Dame's established No. 1 wide receiver — the team's leading receiver in 2025 with 40 receptions, 640 yards and four touchdowns — and does so as a completely different player than the one who led the team statistically last season. His offseason decision to give up lacrosse and commit entirely to football signals a level of investment and focus that should translate directly into elevated production in 2026. Faison gives Carr exactly what a second-year starter needs more than anything — a proven, trusted target who knows the offense, runs precise routes and makes the right play after the catch every single time.

Jaden Greathouse returns alongside Faison after a 2025 season that saw him emerge as one of Notre Dame's most explosive playmakers in the postseason. Greathouse's combination of separation quickness, yards-after-catch ability and big-play capability gives the Irish a legitimate second receiving threat that defenses cannot bracket without leaving Faison in one-on-one coverage outside. Two proven, experienced receivers at the top of the depth chart entering the season is a luxury Notre Dame has not had in recent memory.

The addition of Mylan Graham from Ohio State via the transfer portal elevates what was already a strong receiver room into one of the most complete groups in the country. Graham arrives with Big Ten experience, proven production at an elite program and the kind of physical tools that made him a highly recruited prospect out of high school. His ability to contribute immediately in a complementary role — taking advantage of the attention that Faison and Greathouse command from opposing secondaries — gives Carr a third legitimate receiving option that stretches defenses in ways that create opportunities for everyone on the field.

The combination of Faison's established No. 1 production, Greathouse's explosive playmaking and Graham's experienced portal addition gives Notre Dame's receiver room a depth and versatility that rivals any group in college football heading into 2026.

A Defense That Returns Its Best Players — And Added Elite Talent

If the offensive case for Notre Dame's No. 2 ranking is compelling, the defensive case is even stronger — because what Marcus Freeman's defense is returning in 2026 is not simply a group of experienced players. It is a collection of proven, dominant performers at every level of the field, supplemented by transfer additions that address the few areas where reinforcement was needed.

Leonard Moore — The Best Cornerback in America

The foundation of Notre Dame's defensive identity in 2026 is a player who has already been discussed at length in every preseason publication that covers college football seriously — and for good reason. Leonard Moore is the best cornerback in the country. Full stop.

Moore returns after a 2025 season in which he ranked first among all starting Power Four cornerbacks in both coverage grade at 91.4 and overall defensive grade at 90.9 according to PFF. He led Notre Dame with five interceptions — tied for sixth most in the entire country — while adding 31 tackles, seven pass breakups and a forced fumble across 10 starts. Opposing quarterbacks targeted him on only 11.5 percent of his coverage snaps — a testament to the reputation he built as a cornerback that the entire country's offenses chose to scheme away from rather than challenge.

PFF has ranked Moore the No. 1 returning cornerback in the country for the second consecutive season. ESPN has named him the lead candidate for the Jim Thorpe Award. He is a legitimate front-runner for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award. In a defense returning significant production across all three levels, Moore is the crown jewel — the player that every offensive coordinator game plans around specifically and still cannot consistently solve.

Drayk Bowen — The Defensive Engine

While Moore commands the attention of opposing passing games on the outside, Drayk Bowen commands the interior of Notre Dame's defense with the kind of instinctive, physical presence that makes the entire system function at its highest level. Bowen is one of the most complete linebackers in college football — a player who processes information quickly, fills gaps with authority, covers enough ground to be a factor in pass defense and brings a physicality to the run game that sets the tone for how Notre Dame's defense operates on any given Saturday.

His return for 2026 gives Notre Dame's linebacker corps a proven leader and production anchor that younger players in the group can develop around. Bowen's ability to quarterback the defense from the second level — making pre-snap adjustments, communicating coverage calls and reacting to offensive formation changes with veteran intelligence — is as valuable as his individual statistical contribution and perhaps more so in a defense that returns significant personnel but needs someone to tie all the pieces together.

Adon Shuler — A Safety Making His Move

Adon Shuler enters 2026 as one of the most intriguing players on Notre Dame's entire roster — a safety whose athletic profile and instinctive play have been building toward a breakout season that the 2026 campaign is set up to deliver. Shuler's combination of range, closing speed and ball-hawking instincts in the deep middle of the field gives Notre Dame's secondary a versatile, playmaking presence that complements Moore's dominance on the outside in a way that makes the entire pass defense more difficult to attack from any angle.

His ability to rotate into coverage, support the run from the second level and create turnovers in the deep part of the field gives Notre Dame's defensive staff the flexibility to disguise coverage looks and present offenses with pre-snap pictures that become something entirely different after the snap. That kind of safety versatility is invaluable in a modern college football landscape where offenses are increasingly sophisticated in their ability to identify and attack predictable coverage structures.

Boubacar Traore — Pressuring the Quarterback

Boubacar Traore returns as one of Notre Dame's most important pass rush weapons — a player whose combination of athleticism, first-step quickness and relentless motor makes him a consistent threat to disrupt opposing quarterbacks on every passing down. In a 2026 defensive front that has added significant reinforcement through the transfer portal, Traore's returning production and established role give the Irish a proven disruptive presence that new additions can build around rather than having to establish from scratch.

His ability to win one-on-one matchups against offensive tackles, create pressure from multiple alignments and finish plays in the backfield gives Notre Dame's defensive line a dynamic, production-proven element that elevates the entire group's ceiling. Opposing offensive coordinators cannot simply account for the new additions on Notre Dame's defensive front without also accounting for Traore — and that collective burden on an offensive line makes everyone on the Irish front more dangerous.

Bryce Young and the Transfer Portal Additions Transform the Front Seven

Notre Dame's returning defensive core is impressive enough on its own. Add the transfer portal additions and the front seven becomes one of the most formidable groups in the country.

Bryce Young arrives as the leader of a defensive line that also added Francis Brewu from Pittsburgh and Keon Keeley from Alabama — two transfers whose production and credentials at elite programs give Notre Dame's defensive front an immediate infusion of experienced, proven talent that addresses the depth and pass rush concerns that any program faces when losing contributors to graduation or the NFL.

Brewu brings interior disruption capability from a Pittsburgh program that regularly produces NFL-caliber defensive linemen. Keeley arrives from Alabama with the pedigree and physical tools that made him one of the most coveted defensive line recruits in his class — and Notre Dame gets the benefit of Alabama's development infrastructure having already invested significant time and resources into maximizing his potential.

Together with Traore and the returning pieces up front, Young, Brewu and Keeley give Notre Dame a defensive line rotation that can go deep into games without losing effectiveness — matching the physical demands of a Power Four schedule snap for snap, series for series, against the best offensive lines the sport produces.

Christian Gray and DJ McKinney Complete an Elite Secondary

Behind Moore, Notre Dame's secondary is anchored by Christian Gray — a versatile, proven defender whose ability to play multiple positions in the back end gives defensive coordinator Al Golden the flexibility to present different looks without sacrificing production at any individual spot.

The addition of DJ McKinney from Colorado via the transfer portal completes what USA Today identified as potentially the biggest strength on Notre Dame's entire roster. McKinney arrives with starting experience, proven production against Power Four competition and the physical and athletic profile to step in immediately and contribute at a high level alongside Moore and Gray. A secondary that starts Moore, Gray and McKinney — with Shuler patrolling the deep middle — is as complete and as dangerous a group of defensive backs as any program in the country can put on the field in 2026.

The Continuity Factor — Why This Year Is Different

Every element of Notre Dame's 2026 roster case is amplified by something that has never existed before in Marcus Freeman's tenure — complete continuity at the coordinator level. All three coordinators return for the first time under Freeman, bringing with them the accumulated institutional knowledge, player relationships and schematic sophistication that only develops when a coaching staff stays together long enough to truly master their system.

Carr does not have to learn a new offensive system. Moore does not have to rebuild trust with a new defensive coordinator. The entire roster — from the most experienced starters to the youngest contributors — enters 2026 operating within a framework they already know, already trust and already know how to maximize. That continuity is worth several wins over the course of a season, and in a college football landscape where coordinator turnover is constant and relentless, Notre Dame's stability entering 2026 is a genuine competitive advantage.

The Bottom Line

USA Today ranked Notre Dame No. 2 in the country after spring practice — and the case for that ranking is as strong as any program in America can make. A returning Heisman-caliber quarterback in CJ Carr. A backfield reloaded with Nolan James Jr. and Aneyas Williams. A receiver room elevated by Jordan Faison's leadership, Jaden Greathouse's explosion and Mylan Graham's portal addition. A defense returning Leonard Moore, Drayk Bowen, Adon Shuler and Boubacar Traore while adding Bryce Young, Francis Brewu, Keon Keeley and DJ McKinney to an already elite group.

Stack all of it together under three returning coordinators with a head coach entering his fifth season and the program's deepest, most talented roster to date — and No. 2 in the country is not just defensible.

It might be the most honest thing USA Today has published all offseason.

2027 qb Champ Monds Commitment adds to growing Notre Dame Quarterback Legacy

Every elite program thinks about quarterback succession. The best ones solve it before it becomes a problem — identifying the right player, building the right relationship and securing the commitment before the need becomes urgent. Notre Dame has done exactly that with the commitment of Champ Monds, the 6-2, 225-pound signal caller from Vero Beach, Florida whose decision to choose the Fighting Irish over Ohio State, Florida State and Florida does more than fill a roster spot in the 2027 recruiting class.

It secures the future of the most important position on Notre Dame's football team at exactly the right moment.

CJ Carr has been everything Notre Dame hoped he would be as a starting quarterback — and if his 2026 season matches the trajectory his first year as a starter established, the NFL Draft conversation surrounding him will be impossible to ignore when the season ends. The possibility of Carr departing for the NFL after 2026 is real, it is reasonable and it is something the Notre Dame coaching staff is planning around right now. Champ Monds is the answer to that planning — a quarterback with the arm talent, accuracy, anticipation and competitive character to step into one of college football's most prestigious roles and thrive from the moment his number is called.

Notre Dame didn't just land a quarterback recruit. They secured the future of the position — and they did it with their first choice, on their first offer, through a relationship built with the kind of genuine connection that defines everything great about how Marcus Freeman's program operates.

Planning for the Future — Why the Timing of This Commitment Matters

The quarterback position at Notre Dame operates on a different timeline than most programs because of the standard the Irish hold themselves to. Notre Dame does not patch the position with portal solutions or recruit quarterbacks without genuine conviction about their long-term fit in the program. They identify the right player, invest in the relationship and commit to a vision of what that quarterback can become under elite coaching and development.

With CJ Carr entering his second and likely final season as Notre Dame's starter in 2026, the quarterback room's future beyond this season requires a clear plan. If Carr's 2026 campaign produces the kind of Heisman-caliber performance that the preseason projections suggest is coming — and every indicator points toward exactly that — the NFL Draft will come calling with the kind of urgency that is impossible to turn down. Notre Dame needs to be ready for that moment with a quarterback already in the building who has the tools, the preparation and the relationship with the coaching staff to step into the role without a transition period.

Champ Monds is that quarterback. He arrives in South Bend in 2027 with a full senior season at Vero Beach behind him, a relationship with quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli already deeply established and a physical and mental profile that projects as one of the most complete quarterback prospects to come through Notre Dame's program in recent memory. The timing of his arrival — potentially stepping in immediately after Carr's departure — is not coincidental. It is exactly the succession plan a program with Notre Dame's standards builds when it is operating at the highest level of organizational foresight.

The Arm, The Accuracy, The Anticipation — What the Film Reveals

To understand why Notre Dame made Champ Monds their first call and only quarterback target in the 2027 class, you have to watch the film — because what Monds does on a football field reveals a quarterback whose physical tools and mental processing are operating well ahead of where most high school signal callers are at the same stage of development.

The Arm

Monds is built like a quarterback. At 6-2 and 225 pounds as a high school signal caller, he carries the kind of physical foundation that college strength programs accelerate rather than create from scratch. The arm strength that comes with that frame is immediately evident on film — Monds throws with the kind of velocity and carry that allows him to fit throws into windows that smaller-armed quarterbacks simply cannot access.

His ability to drive the ball into tight coverage, zip passes over the middle against zone defenders and deliver the football on rhythm without taking velocity off the throw to compensate for questionable mechanics reflects a quarterback whose arm is already a genuine weapon rather than a tool he is still learning to fully utilize. The deep ball is equally impressive — Monds shows the ability to change arm angles, layer throws over coverage and drop the football into the back shoulder of receivers on go routes with the kind of touch and placement that separates elite passers from quarterbacks who simply throw the ball hard.

For a program that has developed quarterbacks at an elite level and understands exactly what arm profile is needed to succeed in a Power Four offense against elite college defenses, Monds's arm strength registered immediately as a priority-level trait — one that cannot be developed through coaching but can be refined and weaponized with the right instruction.

The Accuracy

The statistics that define Champ Monds's high school career are built on a foundation of exceptional accuracy — and the numbers tell a story that the film confirms on every snap.

As a true freshman at Vero Beach, Monds completed 67.5 percent of his passes while throwing 23 touchdowns against just five interceptions. Four of those five interceptions came in his first two starts — the predictable adjustment period of a freshman signal caller navigating the speed and complexity of varsity football for the first time. What happened after those first two games is the number that matters most: one interception in the next ten games. The adjustment was total, immediate and self-correcting in a way that reflects a quarterback who processes his mistakes analytically rather than emotionally and refuses to repeat them.

His sophomore season pushed the accuracy numbers to an entirely different level. In limited action before an injury ended his year prematurely, Monds completed 81.4 percent of his passes — a completion percentage that reflects not just accurate throwing but the kind of precise, timing-based delivery that comes from a quarterback who trusts his reads, trusts his receivers and delivers the football on schedule rather than waiting for routes to fully develop before committing to the throw.

That 81.4 percent completion rate is particularly meaningful because it was produced against defenses that were game-planning specifically to stop Monds and a Vero Beach offense that was averaging 51.3 points per game. Defenders knew what was coming. They prepared specifically for Monds. And he completed more than eight of every ten passes he attempted anyway. That is not a system completion percentage inflated by scheme — that is a quarterback whose accuracy is genuine, repeatable and built on sound mechanical foundations.

The Anticipation

The most difficult quarterback trait to evaluate on film — and the one that most directly predicts success at the college and professional levels — is anticipation. The ability to process defensive coverage pre-snap, identify where the ball needs to go before the snap, read post-snap rotations and deliver the football to the right place at the right time before the window closes is what separates quarterbacks who can execute in high school from quarterbacks who can execute at Notre Dame, in primetime, against the best defenses college football produces.

Monds shows genuine anticipation on film in a way that is rare for a high school quarterback his age. He does not hold the ball and wait for receivers to come open — he anticipates the opening, begins his throwing motion before the receiver has fully separated and delivers the football into space rather than to a stationary target. That anticipatory release is the mechanical expression of pre-snap read quality — and Monds demonstrates it consistently enough that it reflects an ingrained processing habit rather than an occasional lucky read.

His dual-threat ability amplifies the anticipation element by forcing defenses into the kinds of structural compromises — pulling linebackers off coverage assignments, holding safeties in run-fit responsibility — that create the openings his anticipation allows him to exploit immediately and efficiently. As a freshman, Monds rushed for 502 yards and nine touchdowns — not as a scrambler looking for broken plays but as a designed threat who added a genuine rushing dimension to the Vero Beach offense that defenses had to account for on every snap.

The combination of arm strength, accuracy and anticipation in a 6-2, 225-pound frame is the profile that NFL scouts and elite college coaches identify as the foundation of a starting quarterback at the highest levels of the sport. Notre Dame identified it in Champ Monds from the moment the evaluation began — and everything that followed in this recruitment reflects just how highly they valued what they saw.

Gino Guidugli and the Relationship That Won the Room

The most important element of any quarterback recruitment — more important than facilities, depth charts or conference affiliations — is the relationship between the prospect and the quarterbacks coach who will be responsible for his development. Elite quarterbacks choose the coach they trust most to make them better, and the program that coach represents becomes the destination regardless of what anyone else in the recruitment offers.

In Notre Dame's case, that coach is Gino Guidugli — and the relationship he built with Champ Monds from the moment Notre Dame entered this recruitment is the foundation upon which everything else was constructed.

Guidugli is a quarterback developer whose track record and communication style resonates with the kind of intelligent, process-driven signal caller that Monds's film suggests he is. From the first conversation between the two, a genuine connection developed — not the transactional kind that recruiting generates between programs and prospects who are simply going through the motions of a recruitment, but the authentic kind where a young quarterback recognizes a coach who genuinely understands the position, communicates development with clarity and specificity and makes a compelling case for what the prospect can become under his instruction.

Notre Dame made Monds their first offer at the quarterback position in the 2027 class — and Guidugli was central to that decision. His evaluation of Monds's film aligned with the staff's conviction that this was the right quarterback for this class, and his ability to build a relationship quickly once the offer was extended accelerated a recruitment that might otherwise have taken months longer to resolve.

The campus visits that followed were equally important. Monds made the trip to South Bend and experienced Notre Dame's campus, program and culture up close — and each visit deepened both the relationship with Guidugli and the conviction that Notre Dame was the right place for his development. There is something that happens when a quarterback prospect walks into Notre Dame's quarterback room, sits across from the coaching staff and begins to visualize himself developing within that system. For Monds, that vision became compelling enough to choose the Irish over Ohio State, Florida State and Florida — programs with enormous resources and legitimate development track records of their own.

The relationship Guidugli built with Monds is not just the reason Notre Dame won this recruitment. It is the foundation for everything that Monds's Notre Dame career will become — the coaching relationship through which his arm strength gets refined, his anticipation gets developed and his understanding of the game gets elevated to the level required to succeed as a starting quarterback at Notre Dame.

From Recruit to Recruiter — Monds's Role in Building the 2027 Class

The moment a quarterback of Champ Monds's caliber commits to a recruiting class, his role in that class changes immediately and fundamentally. He stops being a target and starts being a weapon — the most powerful recruiting tool a coaching staff can deploy is a committed quarterback who is genuinely excited about his program and genuinely invested in bringing the best possible teammates to join him.

For Notre Dame's 2027 class, Monds's commitment creates a dynamic that simply did not exist before he made his decision. Every offensive skill player on Notre Dame's 2027 recruiting board — every wide receiver, tight end and running back the Irish are pursuing — now has the opportunity to build a relationship with the quarterback they will be playing alongside. That relationship is one of the most powerful closing tools in recruiting because it transforms an abstract commitment decision into something concrete and personal. A wide receiver who commits to Notre Dame in the 2027 class is not just choosing a program — he is choosing to play for Champ Monds, to build chemistry with Champ Monds and to develop the kind of quarterback-receiver partnership that defines great offenses.

Monds understands this dynamic and embraces it. His genuine excitement about Notre Dame, his relationship with the coaching staff and his personal investment in the success of the 2027 class make him an organic and authentic recruiter for the program in a way that cannot be manufactured or coached. When Monds reaches out to a wide receiver on Notre Dame's board, that conversation carries a weight and authenticity that no assistant coach's recruiting call can fully replicate.

The wide receivers, tight ends and skill players on Notre Dame's 2027 recruiting board are about to discover that Champ Monds is not just a committed quarterback. He is one of the most compelling reasons to choose Notre Dame — a signal caller with elite physical tools, a championship pedigree from Florida's most competitive high school football environment and a genuine, personal investment in assembling the best possible class around him.

For a Notre Dame 2027 class that already features running backs Lathan Whisenton and Isaiah Rogers, wide receiver Jackson Coleman, offensive linemen James Halter and Richie Flanigan, defensive end Aidan O'Neil, linebacker Amarri Irvin, cornerbacks Xavier Hasan and Ace Alston, safety Zayden Gamble, nickel John Gay III and long snapper Sean Kraft — Monds's commitment as the 12th overall pledge gives the class its most important piece and its most powerful recruiting voice going forward.

The Bottom Line

Champ Monds committed to Notre Dame as the staff's first choice, first offer and only quarterback target in the 2027 class — and what he brings to South Bend goes far beyond a scholarship decision.

He brings a strong arm that can access every area of the field. He brings accuracy that produced a 67.5 percent completion rate as a true freshman and 81.4 percent in limited sophomore action. He brings anticipation and football intelligence that reflect a quarterback processing the game at a level well beyond his years. He brings a relationship with Gino Guidugli built on genuine trust and a shared vision of what his development at Notre Dame can become.

And he brings the timing that Notre Dame needed most — arriving in South Bend in 2027 at precisely the moment the program may need a new face of the quarterback position, ready to step in with the foundation already built and the future already bright.

CJ Carr is building toward something special in 2026. Champ Monds is building toward something special in South Bend for years beyond that.

Notre Dame's quarterback future is in excellent hands. Both of them.

What Notre Dame's Spring Tells Us About the 2026 Offense

Spring has officially come to a close for Notre Dame, and while the practices themselves don't generate a stat sheet, last year's did — and it's the clearest way to measure what this offense showed this spring against what it actually has to replace. The Irish still have summer workouts and 25 fall camp practices ahead before their opener against Wisconsin in the Shamrock Series, but between the 2025 production and what offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterback CJ Carr have said about this group, a real picture of where the offense stands is starting to form.

WHAT WE KNOW

Notre Dame's 2025 offense ran the ball 203.4 yards per game (31st nationally) against 255.1 passing yards per game (61st), a split built almost entirely around Jeremiyah Love's 1,372 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns, with Jadarian Price adding 674 more. Through the air, Carr — in his first year as a starter — completed 66.6% of his passes for 2,741 yards with a 24-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 168.1 passer rating, spreading the ball across Jordan Faison (640 yards), Malachi Fields (630), Eli Raridon (482) and Will Pauling (381).

With Denbrock heading into year three and Carr into year two, the expected uptick in efficiency showed up this spring, and Denbrock has pointed to the same root cause the numbers suggest: last year's stat line was produced by a quarterback and staff still installing the offense in real time. This spring looked different because that install is already done. "This is the first time in a while we weren't trying to break somebody in," Denbrock said, adding that the continuity "makes the process a lot easier."

Carr's growth as a leader has been just as visible as his growth as a passer, and it's showing up in how much operational control he's been given. "They give us a lot of freedom to check plays," Carr said of Denbrock's system. "All the protections are on us." That's a meaningful shift from a year ago, when Carr was still earning the job — a 24-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio put up while learning the offense reads very differently than the same numbers would if repeated by a quarterback now diagnosing coverages and setting protections himself.

The skill positions have gotten faster, too, and Denbrock noticed it in the very first practice. Watching a group that now includes Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham alongside Faison and a healthier Jaden Greathouse, he called it simply a different-looking group — a notable comment given that no Notre Dame receiver cracked 700 yards last season, with Faison's team-leading 640 the high mark.

The offensive line also settled into a group that held for the entire spring: Will Black at left tackle, Anthonie Knapp at left guard, Guerby Lambert at right tackle. A five-man front that stays intact through 15 practices is a different foundation for a young quarterback than the one Carr operated behind for stretches of 2025.

REMAINING QUESTIONS

The receiving room's overall talent is not in question — Denbrock's own read on the group's speed settles that — but production is. Faison's 640 yards led the team in 2025 by only 10 yards over Fields, and spring didn't produce separation at the top of that group. Ohio State transfer Quincy Porter missed the spring with injury, and how he, Graham, Greathouse and returning depth split targets is a question that will carry into fall camp.

The tight end room's pass-catching hierarchy is similarly unresolved. Eli Raridon's 482 yards was a solid number in 2025, but no clear successor emerged as the room's top target this spring, even as run-blocking improved.

The single biggest open question, though, isn't really about spring at all — it's about replacing the 2,046 combined rushing yards Love and Price took with them to the NFL. Nolan James Jr. and Jonaz Walton showed promise this spring, but Notre Dame hasn't yet seen this offense with Aneyas Williams (224 rushing yards in 2025) or Kedren Young at full strength, since both were working back from injury. Denbrock has talked about scheming around that loss with pace, formation and personnel mismatches rather than looking for a single feature back — a philosophical shift from the run-it-behind-Love approach that produced last year's 203.4 yards per game, and one that can't really be evaluated until fall camp puts a healthy backfield on the field together.

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT

Carr has identified his own next step, and it's a specific, correctable one: red-zone decision-making. Given his 24 touchdown passes against just 6 interceptions in 2025, the room for growth isn't accuracy or ball security broadly — it's the shrunken-field decisions that show up disproportionately inside the 20, the same maturation Denbrock described watching Carr force a throw into coverage on a play he'd handled correctly just one snap earlier during spring practice.

Health remains the same variable it always is. Greathouse, Porter, Young, Williams, true freshman Javian Osborne and center Ashton Craig all missed meaningful spring time. Given how directly Young's and Williams' availability ties into replacing Love and Price's production, and how much Greathouse's return matters to a receiving room still searching for a No. 1 target, a fully healthy fall camp would do more to move Notre Dame's 2026 offensive numbers than any single technical fix.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Every 2025 number Carr produced — the 66.6% completion rate, the 168.1 passer rating, the 24-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio — was set by a first-year starter still being taught the system. Denbrock and Carr's own comments this spring point toward those numbers being a floor, not a ceiling, for a quarterback now running the offense with real autonomy. The run game is a different story: 203.4 yards per game was a name-driven number, and with that name now in the NFL, whatever the ground game produces in 2026 will be a product of Denbrock's scheme rather than a repeat of last year's production.

What Notre Dame's Spring Tells Us About the 2026 Defense

Spring football doesn't come with a box score, but it doesn't need one. The clearest way to read what Chris Ash's defense showed this spring is to hold it up against what that same group actually produced on Saturdays in 2025 — and ask which numbers are poised to climb, and which ones still need work before September.

The Baseline: What 2025 Actually Looked Like

Notre Dame's defense finished last season as a two-speed unit. Early stumbles against Miami, Texas A&M and Purdue dragged down the overall numbers, but from late September on, the Irish were one of the more disruptive defenses in the country.

The run defense was the headline. Notre Dame allowed just 99.3 rushing yards per game (11th nationally) and 3.0 yards per carry (also 11th), a sharp jump from the 138.1 yards and 3.8 yards-per-carry marks the year before. They also ranked 8th in the country in rushing touchdowns allowed (8) and 5th in 20-yard runs surrendered (6).

The pass rush and takeaway numbers backed that up. Boubacar Traore led the team with 7.5 sacks, with Drayk Bowen (3.5), Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (3.0) and Jaylen Sneed (3.0) rounding out a rotation that finished inside the top 25 nationally in sacks. On the back end, Leonard Moore's 5 interceptions paced a secondary that finished tied for the national lead in picks, with Tae Johnson (4), Luke Talich (3) and Christian Gray (2) all contributing. Notre Dame also ranked inside the top 25 in yards per attempt, completion percentage and passer rating allowed, and 5th in plays of 30-plus yards surrendered.

In the tackle column, Bowen (67), Adon Shuler (55), Jaiden Ausberry (51) and Johnson (47) were the four leading producers — a group that, notably, includes a linebacker who wasn't even playing his natural position by the end of spring.

Defensive Line: A Number That Should Only Go Up

The run-defense marks above were built with a defensive front that, entering this offseason, looked thin beyond the starters. That's exactly what changed this spring. A rotation now nine deep inside — Jason Onye, Elijah Hughes, Armel Mukam, Tionne Gray, Francis Brewu, Cole Mullin, Sean Sevillano Jr. and Christopher Burgess — paired with an edge group adding Alabama transfer Keon Keeley and a healthy Loghan Thomas to returners Traore and Bryce Young, is a straightforward numbers play: more high-level bodies rotating through the same run fits that already produced a top-11 rushing defense.

If 99.3 yards per game and 3.0 per carry were achieved with defensive end depth that was, by spring's own admission, "two incoming freshmen" as a fallback, the floor for 2026 should be higher than the 2025 baseline — not because the scheme changes, but because fresher legs sustain the same numbers deeper into games and seasons.

Linebackers: Replacing Snaps, Not Talent

Bowen's 67 tackles and 3.5 sacks, plus Viliamu-Asa's 3.0 sacks, were produced by two players who missed time this spring with injury. That both were absent and Jaiden Ausberry — a career Will linebacker — stepped into the Mike role and looked capable of holding it says less about a drop-off and more about depth that can absorb an injury without the production numbers cratering. The open question isn't whether the room can replicate 2025's linebacker stat line; it's how coordinator Brian Jean-Mary carves up snaps between three players (Bowen, Viliamu-Asa, Ausberry) capable of playing at a level that produced a combined 6.5 sacks and 118 tackles last fall.

Secondary: Defending a Nation-Leading Number

Leading the country in interceptions is the hardest number on this defense to simply repeat — takeaways are volatile year to year even for good units. But the 2026 secondary isn't just returning Leonard Moore (5 INT) at boundary corner; it's adding a freshman class in Joey O'Brien, Ayden Pouncey, Chaz Smith and Nick Reddish that spring reports graded as talented enough to push for early snaps, plus a full season of Christian Gray's move to nickel and Dallas Golden's continued development. More competent bodies at more spots doesn't guarantee the interception total holds at a national-leading pace, but it raises the number of possible ball-hawks on the field, which is the input that number depends on.

The stat to watch, though, isn't takeaways — it's the top-25 completion percentage and yards-per-attempt marks. Spring evaluators flagged corners and safeties allowing free releases and un-contested catches in zone, a technique issue that, if uncorrected, is exactly the kind of thing that erodes a top-25 pass-efficiency defense into a middling one regardless of how many turnovers get created elsewhere.

The Variable That Actually Determines Which Way the Numbers Move

Every projection above assumes continuity of scheme and health — and 2025 was a testament to how much those two variables can swing a stat line. The Miami/Texas A&M/Purdue version of this defense and the September 27–November 29 version of this defense were, statistically, almost two different units. Whether Ash tightens back up or lets the aggressive, attacking version of the scheme run for a full 12-to-13 games is likely to move Notre Dame's defensive numbers more than any single position group's development.

Health matters just as much. Onye, Bowen, Viliamu-Asa, Golden and Moore were all limited or missing time this spring — five players who, healthy, accounted for a significant share of last year's sack, tackle and interception production. A defense that gets a full season out of that group, rather than replacing snaps for stretches, is the single clearest path from "top-11 run defense, top-25 pass defense" in 2025 to something better in 2026.

notre dame offense wins blue & gold game 41-40

Notre Dame's offense beat its defense 41-40 in the 95th annual Blue-Gold Game on Saturday, but the final scoreboard was less a product of the action than of a decision head coach Marcus Freeman made himself. With the Gold defense having forced a stop to seemingly clinch a 40-38 win, Freeman used his authority over the unconventional scoring format to knot the score at 38-38 and send Purdue transfer Spencer Porath out for a 43-yard, walk-off field goal try in front of 45,308 fans — the second-largest crowd in Blue-Gold Game history. Porath made it, and the offense won 41-40.

That Freeman engineered a game-deciding kick rather than simply letting a defensive stop end the afternoon says something about how he's approached this entire spring — not as a results exercise, but as a chance to manufacture pressure and see how his team responds to it.

Freeman has been consistent all spring about what separates this team from his previous four at Notre Dame, and it isn't scheme or talent — it's how the group handles each other. Just weeks before the Blue-Gold Game, he called this squad the closest he's coached in his tenure, pointing specifically to how the team moves past conflict. "The ability to move past conflict, right? The ability, like you do in families, you have conflict and you move forward, and to not take things personal," Freeman said, describing it as a reflection of strong leadership within the roster.

He made a similar point after a live practice period roughly three weeks before the scrimmage, calling it probably the closest group Notre Dame has had under him — one that competes hard enough to get into "a couple scuffles" but moves forward from it. A Blue-Gold Game built around manufactured late-game pressure, rather than a clean, low-stakes exhibition, is a fairly direct extension of that stated philosophy: if competitiveness and the ability to handle conflict are what define this team, then engineering a walk-off moment in a scrimmage is Freeman testing exactly that trait in a controlled setting before it matters in the fall.

Freeman opened spring by explaining the mindset driving the program after Notre Dame's playoff snub last December, built around a new motto: "Leave No Doubt." He was careful to frame the approach as ownership rather than grievance. "How do I use that situation that happened in December and not lose it," Freeman said. "I think you lose it when you blame somebody else for the situation you have." He extended that framing to newcomers who didn't live through the snub themselves, describing the program as a family that has to share the pain of its past the way a marriage shares expectations — "This is a family. This is a brotherhood," as he put it.

That context reframes Saturday's ending. A dramatic, self-inflicted finish to spring practice isn't just theater for a crowd — it's consistent with a coach who has spent the entire offseason trying to manufacture the kind of high-leverage moments his team fell short of a year ago, in a setting where the only cost of failure is bragging rights between two rosters wearing the same jersey.

None of Freeman's spring comments were about the specific quarterback competition or backfield questions the scrimmage exposed — Blake Hebert's 103 yards on 7-of-11 passing outproduced CJ Carr's 55 yards on 7-of-15, and the running back room is still adjusting to life without Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. But Freeman's broader message all spring has been that outcomes like this one matter less than how the team responds to them. If a walk-off field goal in an exhibition scrimmage is the low-stakes version of the moment Notre Dame is trying to build toward, the real test of everything Freeman has said this spring won't come until the games start counting in September.

notre dame offers ‘28 illinois OL joseph frierdich

This past weekend was full of big-time visitors to South Bend and 2028 offensive lineman Joseph Frierdich of Carbondale (Ill.) Carbondale Community was one of those talented players who came to experience what Notre Dame had to offer and he got what he came for as they extended an offer to him.

When he arrived on campus, the 6-7 260-pounder held three offers from Illinois, Arizona, and Wisconsin. He was in contact with the staff leading up to his visit, which he eagerly looked forward to because of the history and tradition of Notre Dame. Getting an offer this past weekend wasn’t a thought, but it is a moment that will always stands out as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“The visit was great,” Frierdich told LL. “We got a chance to sit in the team meeting and get up close and personal during practice. We had a great campus tour and got to see and learn about the history and tradition.

“The offer was unexpected,” Frierdich continued. “This honestly feels amazing. They just gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity. I had a meeting with them (Coach Rudolph and Delaney) and that’s when they offered me.”

Frierdich is very well aware of the rich history of offensive line play and development at Notre Dame, and getting a chance to watch offensive line coach Joe Rudolph and assistant offensive line coach Rob Delaney operate during practice confirmed for him that the staff knows what they’re doing.

“The practice was great,” Frierdich said. “Everything ran smoothly and the all of the players looked like they were having a lot of fun competing. The o-line looked good.

“The way the coaches coached stood out for me,” Frierdich continued. “They said things in a way that was very understandable and professional, and I like that in a coach. I think it’s the best way for players to learn. Their coaching style is awesome.”

It’s still early in his recruiting process, but the talented lineman saw enough during his visit to place the Irish firmly at the top heading into the summer, with a return to South Bend already penciled in.

“As of right now, Notre Dame is my top school,” Frierdich said. “The next thing I need to do is get some more visits in and hopefully go to some games in the future. I already have a visit (Irish Invasion) set up for the beginning of June. I’m excited about all of this.”

His length and athleticism jump of the screen as you watch film, whether stifling opponents with blocks in the run game or  stretching the middle of the field as pass-catching tight end. He makes plays on the other side of the line of scrimmage as well. His talents are not limited to the gridiron, as the two-sport athlete shines in track and fields in the discus and shot-put.

2027 Speedy Athlete Brennen Lacey Can See Himself At Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish were looking for explosive playmakers and  2027 ATH Brennen Lacey of Frisco (Texas) Frisco became one of their target after receiving an offer from running backs coach Je’Juan Seider back in February.  Since then, the Irish have added two running back commitments from Lathan Whisenton of Waco (Texas) Midway and Isaiah Rogers of Springfield (Mass.) Springfield Central. After that, it was clear to many of the top running backs that visited South Bend during the spring, like Tre Segarra, immediately shifted gears seeing that 2027 ball-carrier quota was filled.

The all-around weapon posted 812 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns in 9 games as a junior playing running and wide receiver. So, when Lacey became a surprise visitor in South Bend this past weekend, it showed that there was still mutual interest despite commitments from Whisenton and Rogers. The staff made him feel like the visit would be well worth his time and they didn’t disappoint.

“I’ve always dreamed about playing at Notre Dame,” Lacey told IB. “The visit was great. I got to spend some time with Coach Seider and the recruiting staff and it felt better than I expected. I knew a lot about Notre Dame, but getting to feel in person was amazing. The people are really nice too.

“They’re recruiting me at running back and wide receiver,” Lacey continued.  They talked to me about how they can use me and get the ball in my hands in the offense. They said they had a plan for me and I was able to see it.”

The 6-1 187-pounder runs a 4.32 in the 40 and that speed clearly translates to the gridiron as one views his film. During his visit, the biggest impact was time spent watching practice, where he was able to see himself in the offense as he watched the running backs, wide receivers and one player in particular. He also got a chance to meet meeting some of the players afterwards.

“The practice was great,” Lacey shared. “They play fast and I like how they get the ball to a lot of different guys on offense. There were a lot of guys making plays, and one of the guys that stood out for me was Bubba Frazier. I think our game is kind of the same.

“I got to talk to some guys after practice,” Lacey continued. “We were just talking about the school and how things are on campus. I know the history and tradition and I love the campus, but I wanted to know what it was like. It’s an amazing place and I’m blessed to be in this position.”

When he was offered, the Irish staff shared how they loved his big play capability and versatility as a runner and pass-catcher. He’s a great athlete that is just beginning to scratch the surface as a running back after starting at wide receiver as a sophomore. The Fighting Irish just produced a Heisman finalist running back (Jeremiyah Love) that was viewed as a great athlete coming out of high school and Lacey is a big fan that has experienced the culture that helped develop him.

“The staff kept telling me I was a fit for Notre Dame,” Lacey explained. “They like my versatility. I know they can develop me because I watch Jeremiyah Love a lot. He’s the number one guy I watch to take things from for my game.”

Lacey is currently a three-star according to 247 Sports but holds major offers from programs like Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, and Kentucky amongst others.

Bryce young sees the benefit of better technique

Notre Dame's defensive line continued to improve against the run and pass over the past two seasons. At the conclusion of the 2025 regular season, they led the country in total pressures and played a major role in the Irish rattling off 10-straight victories to end the year. The departure of Al Washington eventually led to the hiring of defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, who is known as a great teacher and developer on the college and NFL level. Junior Bryce Young was incredibly physically gifted when he arrived in South Bend, and injuries pressed him into service as a true freshman. Since then, heavy expectation have followed him, and he somewhat met them in 2025, trailing only senior Boubacar in pressures.

Young has taken to being challenged by the teaching and focused approach to technique from Partridge this off-season and he's seeing the benefits with each rep and practice.

“Yeah, he’s challenged me in so many places. There's always areas I can grow. But I would say one of the things is consistency in my pass rush and the run game, consistently getting that crush we need on the edge in terms of pass rush. The details, like getting my hips in position to be able to counter or make a move, all that. It all ties into seconds off the clock that I can get back there faster.”

Yeah, I would say there's definitely a learning curve at first, but once it starts clicking, it clicks. What he's teaching is really sound stuff, because he's had a lot of experience everywhere, and I appreciate his knowledge, and I'm taking it into account and being consistent with what he's telling me, and I've seen it already pay off.”

The talented edge rusher still has profound respect for former defensive line coach Al Washington, who recruited and coached him during his first two years in South Bend before heading down south to coach in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins. He excited about what he’s learning from Partridge, but he gives both shared responsibility for his success and growth.

"First of all, I want to thank Coach Washington for everything he’s done. He helped me a lot as a player and on this journey. He’s given me so much insight and I’m extremely grateful for that. Adding Coach Partridge to my journey has been great too. He has so much knowledge of the game. He’s been in the game forever. He knows things and he’s telling me things he’s seen from his many years of experience that I’m actually seeing on the field and I can apply it. It’s really cool."

Young has spent a lot of time this spring battling new starting left tackle, Will Black. Marcus Freeman said one of the reason he’s been happy with how much further ahead they’ve been in early practice, was because of the depth of talent that’s been acquired that’s allowed his team to go “best on best”. That has created a fast paced, competitive atmosphere that makes everyone better. Both are physical freaks and seen as candidates for breakout seasons, and Young has taken notice of how they’re making each other better.

"Will is great. We compete every day. He is definitely helping me get better and I’m helping him get better. So the collaboration is there and also being a good teammate. We’re talking to each other after each rep and ask each other what do you feel I have to work on. He has all the athletic traits. He’s a freak of nature, he's huge and quick out of his set. It’s been great to have someone like that to go against every day." 

The collective pass rush that Coach Partridge has his guys focused and the added talent on the interior of the defensive line should put Young and Traore in more 1-on-1 situations on the edge, and that could lead to both guys having their best seasons in a Fighting Irish uniform.

joe rudolph may have his best 5-man combo on the offensive line

Joe Rudolph has done an amazing job recruiting size, length and talent to the Notre Dame offensive line room. His efforts may lead to the Joe Moore Award returning to South Bend next winter, if things go as planned. Entering spring practice, the first unit has been freshman left tackle Will Black, junior left guard Anthoine Knapp, junior center Joe Otting, junior right guard Sullivan Absher and Sophomore right tackle Guerby Lambert. Senior center Ashton Craig is expected to make a full recovery from the leg injury that ended his 2025 season prematurely, and junior guard Charles Jagusah is still dealing with complications from surgery to remedy his injured left arm due to a ATV accident last summer. Despite missing two highly talented linemen this spring, the early returns from coaches and players signal great things ahead for the group.

Rudolph spoke to the media on Wednesday and began with sharing how pleased he’s been with the right side of the first unit, which features Guerby Lambert being moved from right guard to right tackle, and Sullivan Absher replacing him at the right guard spot.

“Those two guys really kind of called each other out about guys that they are confident in, guys that they really look to for leadership, guys that they really trust. and that's always a unique situation when you can kind of create that or build that into your five-line. And then it would have been easy to leave Knapp outside and Guerby inside. What was just the basis of moving them around, too? Guerby has a real comfort on the right side of the line, which is cool.”

Knapp has always been a devastating run blocker and will serve as a more than comparable replacement for former left guard standout Billy Schrauth, who is preparing to be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft. Freshman Will Black came to South Bend with a lot of buzz as a 5-Star in the 2025 class, and head coach Marcus Freeman said there some early growing pains that he had to endure and overcome to begin reaching his full potential. He’s a natural tackle with great length and athleticism that should benefit from being next to a veteran like Knapp, who was ranked as top returning offensive tackle in college football before being moved inside,

With all of the movement this spring, Rudolph has been impressed with the performance of the Black-Knapp combo on the left side and the performance of the line as a whole.

“Knapper, we felt, has done a great job playing left. But we thought to get each guy in maybe the spot that would allow them to shine the most would be the chance to move Knapp in and create a good competition at the left, which Will's done a great job of, but there's still good competition there. And really what you don't know is how the guys will embrace it. And there's a lot of differences, right? It's like, I've been really good here, and now you want me to move here. And Anthony's just embraced it, and he wants to know the intricacies of the position and the differences. And that's really kind of created it. And then what you can't anticipate is how well they work together, the pre-snap communication, how they work in the meeting room, how they talk, their plan, their trust for one another. So I've been impressed by it.”

Another bright spot this spring has been the performance of freshman guard Matty Augustine, who can play both guard and tackle for coach Rudolph. The Irish have 4-5 experienced linemen that have the flexibility to play multiple positions and that should allow a group that has suffered from injuries over the last three seasons to maintain a dominant level of play throughout the 2026 season.

Charlie Partridge looking to turn up the pressure

The impact of new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was on display as several Irish defensive linemen met with the assembled media after their seventh practice. Before they walked to the podium, their new leader shared his thoughts on how he’s re-shaping how the front four has been challenged to focus on consistently pass rushing collectively. .

Last season, the Irish sacked opposing quarterbacks 43 times and hurried them 210 times, but they were key moments in games where they allowed open lanes for players like Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed to scramble for first downs. Partridge has set the tone for his position room by setting a focus for each day.

“We're leaning in on pass rush lanes. I know Coach Freeman talked about that the other day with the media group.”

“That's something we've put a big emphasis on while still pass rushing aggressively, pass rushing together as a unit. Because so many times, if you don't pay attention to that, you may have somebody have a great rush and win on one side, but if you're not in good lanes on the other, it was for naught. So we put a big focus on that, and today's focus, like I said, was aggressively attacking our keys in the run.”

As he learns his athletes, Partridge has been able to lean on the familiarity he has with defensive coordinator Chris Ash to help with his transition. The relationship is built on mutual respect with an understanding that disagreement is not about personal feelings. They haven’t worked together since 2013, when they were both on the Arkansas Razorback staff. However, they’ve always been in contact with one another, including last season when he was a defensive line coach in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts.

“It's kind of what I said when I got here, guys. I mean, me and Chris, our background goes so much. We've been through so much together in the football world that we can argue or discuss things that maybe we don't see the same way, and there's no feelings. You don't have to worry about hurting each other's feelings. Even if we get to a point where we're maybe arguing about something, it's all about getting together and getting on the same page, and then it's very, very healthy. He hasn't let me down one bit.”

“It's been a while since we've worked together. Last time we were together was Arkansas in 2013. Yeah, it was 2013, so it's been a while, but we talk all the time, and he's exactly what I knew he would be.”

With returning edge rushers like Boubacar Traore and Bryce Young, and the additions of defensive tackle transfers Francis Brewu and Tionne Gray. the Fighting Irish are working hard during spring practices to have four pass rushing threats that should lead to a more disciplined and consistent rush for opposing offenses. The linebacking corp added 13.5 sacks last season, but that number could decrease if the plans being laid by Partridge and his players continue to manifest through the rest of spring and fall camps into the regular season.

Mike brown likes what he sees this spring at wr

Notre Dame wide receivers coach Mike Brown has now held multiple press conferences this spring, and taken together, they paint a clearer picture of this room than any single practice report could. Brown is entering his third season with this group, but the room in front of him is not the one he coached a year ago — Malachi Fields and Will Pauling, two of last season's top four receivers by yardage, are both gone, leaving Jordan Faison and a supporting cast largely still building a track record.

Asked how he balances developing new arrivals against continuing to push his veterans, Brown didn't frame it as two different jobs. "Regardless of who's in and who's in the room, there's got to be a standard and the standard doesn't change," Brown said. He acknowledged the wrinkle created by turnover in the room: "We've got a lot of new faces which puts a lot more of the leadership on myself and some of the older guys that have been around." Brown credited those returning players — the "second and third year guys" — with stepping up to hold that standard while the room absorbs new pieces, calling it "a process, and it's a tricky one" that the group is handling well.

That framing matters given who's actually walked out the door. With Fields and Pauling both gone, the room's institutional knowledge now rests more heavily on fewer shoulders than it did a year ago, which is exactly the gap Brown described his veterans stepping in to fill.

Faison giving up lacrosse to focus solely on football was the single biggest structural change in the room this offseason, and Brown's press conference comments made clear he sees it as more than an availability boost. "It's been great having him," Brown said. "Obviously the player is the player, but more important than that is his leadership and the way guys look up to him. He's a great example for the young guys in how he goes about his business, how he studies film and how he works, how he practices."

Brown also detailed the collaborative process behind the decision, describing conversations about nutrition and target weight involving Faison, sports dietitian Alexa Appelman and performance director Loren Landow. "We collectively put together a plan for him," Brown said. "He's a rock star; he's awesome."

Brown's read on Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham, delivered in the same press conference cycle, was built around processing speed rather than raw measurables. "He's a really good athlete," Brown said. "He's gifted and he's just so smart. He has a lot to learn but he picks things up really well." Brown recalled Graham repeating back details from a film session minutes after seeing a play just once during his recruiting visit — evidence, in Brown's telling, that Graham is "hungry" and "locked in" even this early in his Notre Dame career.

Quincy Porter, the other Ohio State transfer, has been absent from Brown's practice-field evaluations for a different reason: he's been out all spring recovering from a knee injury, with a return targeted for summer. That leaves Graham as the only new arrival Brown has actually been able to coach on the field this spring.

Micah Gilbert has been a recurring subject in Brown's press availabilities, and the message has stayed consistent across multiple sessions. "He's done a really good job this spring," Brown said. "He's maturing really well. He's doing a great job of leading the new guys and he's competing every single day." But Brown has been just as direct about what's still missing: "The big thing for him is consistency. He's shown flashes in the past but he's got to be consistent. That's one thing he's done so far this spring." Brown has also pushed back on the idea that Gilbert is injury-prone, attributing past missed time to what he called freak, unrelated incidents rather than a durability pattern.

Across every press conference this spring, Brown's message has had the same throughline: talent isn't the question in this room, standard and consistency are. With Fields and Pauling's production gone and replaced by a mix of a fully committed Faison, a fast-learning transfer in Graham, and a talented-but-inconsistent Gilbert, Brown's own words point to a room that has the pieces to be productive — but one where he's still the first to say the proof has to come from steadiness over a full season, not flashes in spring practice.

Brayden Parks Visit This Weekend Could Be The Start Of Great Things In Chicago

It was a crisp October Friday evening on the south side of Chicago as I stood on the home sideline at Gary Little Stadium, and I was approached by a Crusaders’ staffer that noticed my credentials. He began to inquire about who I was there to see and immediately started sharing information about the players I mentioned. He was effusive in his praise for the character of players like 2027 DL King Liggins, 2028 DE Kameron McGee, and 2028 TE Jack McNamara. As he began to wrap up his comments about 2027 4-star DT Brayden Parks of Chicago (Ill.) Brother Rice, he mentioned that a certain coach (former defensive line coach Al Washington) for the Fighting Irish had visited during the week and told the Brother Rice coaching staff that he was going to do whatever it took to get Brayden Parks.  At that moment, I felt that the Fighting Irish were without a doubt the team to beat for Parks.

Since that evening, the Irish defensive coaching staff has gone through some twists and turns leading to three new assistants on that side of the ball. The changes put some top targets in a holding pattern as they waited to see who the new coaches would be. The 6-3 305-pounder was disappointed that changes were being made, but he was patient and confident that the next man was going to be a good coach.

“I wasn’t worried about it,” Parks told LL. “I just wanted to see who it would be. Coach (Marcus) Freeman and Coach (Nick) Sebastian were talking to me a lot, and I talk to Coach (Charlie) Partridge a lot now, so we’re building a good relationship.”

The Fighting Irish made the recent top 8 schools list for the 164th ranked player according to 247 Sports, and they are joined by Michigan, Ohio State, Georgia, Illinois, Oregon, Miami, Georgia and Tennessee. He plans to visit all of those schools this spring, with Notre Dame getting the first crack on his spring visit tour this weekend, and it will be a chance for Parks to get a better grasp on everything he’s learned about Charlie Partridge to this point.

“I have a lot of respect for him (Partridge),” Parks shared. “He’s developed a lot of guys in college and the NFL just like me, so he knows what it takes to get there. I know we’re going to spend some 1 on 1 time together, so I’m excited about that.”

This weekend will  be Parks’ fourth visit to South Bend, so he’s very comfortable with the campus, fanbase, and culture. His relationship with Charlie Partridge is important, but he’s going to use the practice to see how the defensive linemen are responding to the coaching.

“The practice will show me a lot,” Parks explained. “I want to see how his guys react to how he’s coaching and how they work together and get better.”

The Fighting Irish remain at the top of his remaining suitors because he values everything the program has to offer on and off the field. His recruitment in the home stretch with some of the best defensive line coaches in the country like Oregon’s Tony Tuioti, Ohio State’s Larry Johnson, and others preparing to make their pitch heading into the summer and official visits. Parks will return to South Bend for his official visit June 12-14.

“Notre Dame has everything,” Parks continued. That’s why they’ve always been one of my top schools. Relationships and development are what I’m looking at. I’m going to make another cut after my spring visits and then take my officials. I’ll make a decision after.”

His recruitment signals a more intensified effort when it comes to securing elite talent from the Chicagoland area. It seems like the words of former Irish defensive line coach (Al Washington) have been passed like a baton to the entire coaching and recruiting staff, and this weekend will be another step towards doing whatever it takes to get Brayden Parks in the 2027 class.

2027 4-Star WR Cade Cooper Is A Program Changer On And Off The Field

The Fighting Irish coaching staff scoured the country during the January contact period connecting with a tons of elite targets during in-home and school visits. After one of those visit to Malvern Prep from wide receiver coach Mike Brown, 2027 6-3 192-pound wide receiver Cade Cooper of Malvern (Pa.) was energized, and jumped on the road the next day heading to South Bend for an impromptu unofficial visit that led to a film session with Coach Brown and eventual offer that has the Penn prep star still raving according to Malvern Prep head coach Dave Guereira.

“He still raves about the Notre Dame trip,” Guereira told LL. “His talents, character and the way he was raised is well-suited to Notre Dame. He fits with the way the overall culture of academics and athletics are stressed. Part of it was Coach (Marcus) Freeman and wanting to be part of doing something special. He fell in love with it.”

Coach Guereira fell in love with the talented pass-catcher the first time he saw him on the gridiron in 7th grade at St. Thomas Catholic. He was taller than the other kids, but his movement made what can sometimes be a difficult projection process much easier.

“I remember seeing at St. Thomas in 7th grade,” Guereira said. “He was taller than all of the other kids and you have to project where a kid is going to end up as a junior. But, when I saw him move, he was like a baby deer running. He was so fluid and physical for his frame. I was super impressed.

“We play the hardest schedule in the state,” Guereira continued. “So, we need guys that physically and mentally strong in our program. Parents see us as a college and NFL factory, which we are, but we work really hard to find out about the families and character of the kids that we take. We don’t want talented kids that don’t fit our culture.”

Since that day, he’s still impressed every day with how the unquestioned leader of the Friars’ handles his business in the classroom, the wide receiver room, the community and in front of his teammates. He’s already the best wide receiver in the state, but the Friars are excited about what he’s going to bring to their defense in the fall.

“He’s so athletic and getting better, Guereira explained. “I’m impressed by his dedication to the craft of the game. He’s a sponge and wants to know everything from everybody. I’m excited for people to see him as a full-time safety this year. He’s the unquestioned leader of out team and he does it both ways. He leads by example and not afraid to say what needs to be said to his teammates when it’s needed. He’s the hardest worker in our program and that helps us as coaches tremendously.

“He works even harder off the field,” Guereira continued. “He’s a great student, and a great human being. He’s so honest and empathetic with his teammates and in the community.”

As the 4-star receiver’s recruitment speeds to the decision stage, Guereira remains ready when called upon by the family for his consultation and wisdom. He’s been through this process with plenty of top targets over the years and his involvement depends on the individual player.

“Cade and his family are doing a great job,” Guereira shared. “They know exactly what they want and he has a lot of great options. Whenever they ask me something, I give my honest assessment. The one thing I told him is to trust his gut.  You’re the one that has to get up for 5 am workouts, so you better go where it feels right.”

But, this process is one that has him ecstatic about his athlete’s future and a bit somber about Malvern Prep’s future without him.

“I don’t want to think about it,” Guereira replied. “He means so much to me personally and I’m going to miss our relationship and what he stands for. This program is going to miss him a lot, because his impact on the coaches has been even greater. You have once in a lifetime talents, but the combination of talent and people at that level doesn’t happen often. That’s who he is.

“He helped the culture,” Guereira continued. “We don’t call them 50-50 balls anymore. We just say,” Cade has it.”

Cooper has a strong connection on the current Irish roster in 7 on 7 teammate and Notre Dame safety Joey O’Brien, that aids in the level of comfort he felt back in January, and will continue during his March 28th spring visit and return for his official visit June 12-14.

The Fighting Irish staff led by Mike Brown have done an incredible job making Cooper and his family feel prioritized, and that puts them right at the top amongst others like Penn State, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Wisconsin.

returning qb and coordinators give marcus freeman a better feeling this spring

For the first time since 2020, Notre Dame will have a returning starter under center. as quarterback CJ Carr returns to become the face of the Irish offense heading into a very important spring practice schedule. Carr had an impressive start to his 2025 season, but leveled off towards the end of the season. Despite disappointing late season performances, he threw for 2,741 yards and completed over 66 percent of his passes with 24 touchdowns, and seven interception. Head coach Marcus Freeman recently sat down with On3's JD Pickell and talked about his confidence in what he’s seen from his second year signal-caller.

"It's exciting," Freeman stated. "It's my first time having a returning starting quarterback along with all three coordinators returning as well. There's a level of comfort knowing who they are as people, knowing that they know the schemes, knowing who CJ Carr is and the work ethic that he puts in as well as the work our coaches put in. There's a level of confidence we have but we still have to continue to do the work."

According to FanDuel, Carr is currently the favorite to win the Heisman and widely considered one of the best returning quarterbacks according to several outlets. Multiple outlets project Carr to be the number one quarterback in college football with a chance of being a top 10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. The off-season buzz matches the buzz generated by his arrival during bowl practices for the 2023 Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl. Since then, the sound coming from his talent and preparation have been unavoidable.

"He's prepared," Freeman answered when asked about Carr. "From the moment he stepped on campus, he's prepared to be the starter. It's just a reflection of the way he was raised, being obviously a coach's kid and a coach's grandson. He prepares tremendously. That's the one thing you appreciate about CJ Carr is there is no finish line for him and that's what I'm excited for."

Now, the pressure ratchets up for Carr and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, who will also have the same conductor for his offense returning for the first time since returning prior to the 2024 season. Both Freeman and Denbrock have high expectations for their quarterback, and his maturity is greatly needed as the offense loses almost 73 percent of it’s production with players like Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price, Eli Raridon, and others leaving for the NFL. The passing game must take a step forward with Carr becoming the focal point of the offense.  

"The thing that you're seeing him do now is him truly let his leadership shine," Freeman explained. "He's making the guys around him better. You see him getting the wide outs, tight ends and the running backs together saying, 'Okay, we're going to throw on Saturdays at this time and you have to be there. Then they're going to watch film at this time and they have to be there. He is always looking for ways to improve." 

Defensive coordinator Chris Ash has continuity in the coaching staff with the hiring of Charlie Partridge, Aaron Henry and Brian Jean-Mary. All three coaches had existing relationships with Ash and understand how he wants things communicated to the players. That may have been difficult with the previous staff that had coached under former defensive coordinator Al Golden. Going into his second year, Ash has a better feel for what the players can do and the defense should benefit from it.”

"Every year before this, I was spending time with a certain side of the ball trying to make sure we understand what the new scheme was," Freeman stated. "You're trying to figure out how we're going to script practice to get enough reps for this quarterback competition. Every year is different, but this one's different. I don't need to go spend a whole bunch of time figuring out what we're doing on offense, defense and special teams because the coordinators are back."

Marcus Freeman has an early season hurdle to get over in the form of his team getting off to slow starts, and the continuity flowing from his quarterback and coordinators has him extremely confident about the Fighting Irish being able to fulfill his mantra for the season. “Leave No Doubt”.

brian jean-mary loves talent and experience in lb room

While at Michigan and other stops like Tennessee in his coaching career, Brian Jean-Mary has consistently developed tough minded linebacker room that were good against the run and the pass. Now, he brings that magic to South Bend to replace former linebackers coach Max Bullough who returned to Michigan State, his alma mater, to be the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Pat Fitzgerald.  

He was the last hire of three new defensive assistants for head coach Marcus Freeman along with new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and new defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Aaron Henry. The linebacker room that he inherits is not short on talent or experience with five players totaling more than 100 snaps in 2025, and that’s something that has Jean-Mary excited.

"I had a little bit of an idea of what we were doing defensively and watched player wise some crossover tape," Jean-Mary explained. "I always admired from afar and now that I'm here, every new coach is going to try to dive into the film and try to learn as much as you can about the system. You have to build trust with the players and they have to get to know me the same way I have to get to know them. They've done a great job of opening themselves up and letting me pour into them. It's been great." 

The Notre Dame defense got off to a slow start last season, but managed to remain stout against the run for the second straight season, giving up 98.9 rushing yards per game (9th in the nation) and 3 yards per rush (7th in the nation). That type of production from a unit that found a better footing in Chris Ash’s defense with each game is a great foundation, and a little pressure for the veteran coach.

"It's one of the best jobs in the country," Jean-Mary stated. "It's a blessing to be in a situation where we know what the expectations are every week; we know what the expectations are at the end of the year. Some people look at that as pressure. There's only certain schools that have that type of pressure. So when the standard is to be the best, that's a challenge for us as coaches and that's what you want to be a part of. I've been at those other places where the challenge is to just have a good season. I know that's not the case here."

One of the biggest advantages that he brings to the Irish staff is the relationship he has with some of the top 2027 and 2028 recruits that began while he was at Michigan. The 2027 board suffred the loss of Ellis McGaskin once Max Bullough left for Michigan State, but connections with players like Kaden Henderson, Noah Roberts, Roman Igwebuike and Brayton Feister immediately upgraded the board for the Irish.  

cj carr ranked as top returning qb in college football

Fighting Irish starting quarterback, CJ Carr, is the betting favorite to win the Heisman trophy according to FanDuel, and was recently picked by ESPN analyst Bill Connelly as the top ranked returning quarterback in the country.

The ESPN ranking is based on "stats, trends and recent performances." That equation led to Connelly placing Carr as the nation's top quarterback, ahead of Ohio State sophomore Julian Sayin. Carr will be Marcus Freeman’s first returning starter at the position and the success of the Fighting Irish rest on what many expect to be an impressive season.

Connelly’s Take:

"He sort of looked like a redshirt freshman against Miami in Week 1 of last season, but that was about it. He fell just short of leading a comeback win against the Hurricanes, then pretty much torched all other opposition. Sure, he had a spectacular run game at his disposal -- Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combined for 2,046 yards and 29 touchdowns (and are both gone now) -- but Notre Dame ranked first nationally in third-and-long success rate (7 or more yards to go). When Carr had to make a throw, he did so.

"Carr isn't exactly your modern dual-threat guy; he doesn't scramble much, and he's not a threat to punish defenses for turning their backs on the QB in man coverage. But he also doesn't take sacks, both because of quick decision-making and the fact that he might have the best offensive line in the country protecting him. He's accurate, he has a big arm, and by the end of 2025 he was one of the most reliable passers in the sport.

"While three of last year's four main wideouts are gone, the return of Jordan Faison, plus 2024 playoff hero Jaden Greathouse (back from an injury redshirt) will help, as will the addition of two recent blue-chippers from Ohio State (Mylan Graham, Quincy Porter). Carr should have most of what he needs, and even if the run game regresses a bit, there's no reason to think he won't continue to come through on third down." - Connelly

Carr earned second team Freshman All-American honors last season after passing for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing just under 67-percent of his passes. He ranked second in all of college football with a 9.4 yards per attempt average and ranked fifth with a passer rating of 168.06, and his passer rating set a new Notre Dame record, shattering the mark that was previously tied by Jimmy Clausen in 2009. Carr also ranked 4th in the country with a 14.1 per completion average.

Notre dame offer ‘27 ath brennen lacey

The Fighting Irish continue to search for explosive playmakers and they recently offered 2027 6-1 187-pound ATH Brennen Lacey of Frisco (Texas) Frisco,  who posted 812 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns in 9 games. Lacey was more than excited to get the call from Irish running back coach Je’Juan Seider.

“It’s not even a feeling man,” Lacey told Lucky Lefty. “I’m just blessed. I’ve always dreamed about playing for Notre Dame. I’ve been talking to Coach Seider lately, but when he called and gave me the offer, I couldn’t believe it.”

Lacey is unranked right now, but has picked up offers from Notre Dame and Ohio State in the last 24 hours. He already has three spring visits lined up, but the Fighting Irish will definitely be getting his fourth.

“Yes, I’m going to be visiting them,” Lacey said. “Right now I’m visiting Oklahoma State, TCU and Western Kentucky. I’m going to finalize things this week and I can’t wait to get there.”

The Irish staff loves his big play capability and versatility as a pass-catcher. His film shows a great athlete that is just beginning to scratch the surface as a running back after starting at wide receiver as a sophomore. The Fighting Irish just produced a Heisman finalist running back (Jeremiyah Love) that was viewed as a great athlete coming out of high school and Lacey has been one of his biggest fans.

“They like my big play capability,” Lacey shared. “I’m very versatile and I feel like I’m very elusive and efficient. I watch Jeremiyah Love a lot. I study Saquon, Jeremiyah, and a few others. But, him (Jeremiyah) and Ashton Jeanty were my number ones.”