SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Exiting the spring evaluation period and entering summer camp season, Notre Dame’s class of 22 commitments sits No. 1 nationally on multiple recruiting services, even if the Irish aren’t poised to stay there.
Still, the story of Notre Dame’s recruiting momentum in 2025 is more about how the Irish got here than exactly where they’ll finish in December.
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Recruiting under Marcus Freeman may not have been the sea change predicted when he replaced Brian Kelly as head coach, but there’s ample evidence that it’s better across the board. And Notre Dame can settle any remaining arguments on that front with a strong finish this cycle.
Here’s what we’ve learned about the Irish haul under construction and who we’ll be watching as the recruiting calendar moves into summer.
Irish we BACK!!☘️☘️ pic.twitter.com/srunJADREV
— JaDon Blair (@Jadon_Blair2025) May 22, 2024
Historic level of DBs recruiting
Notre Dame is on track to do something it’s never done in the Rivals/247Sports rankings era: sign three top-100 defensive backs in a single cycle, per the 247 rankings.
Safety Ivan Taylor (No. 41 overall), cornerback Mark Zackery IV (No. 59) and cornerback Dallas Golden (No. 92) represent three of the top four prospects in Notre Dame’s class, with quarterback Deuce Knight the other. On3 and Rivals aren’t as sold on the three defensive backs, but aren’t that far off either, with Zackery’s rating (No. 247 overall) on Rivals the outlier.
To put three top-100 defensive backs in one class in perspective, Notre Dame signed two top-100 defensive backs total in the previous decade on 247Sports: Kyle Hamilton and Troy Pride Jr. The last time the Irish signed two top-100 cornerbacks in the same class, 247Sports didn’t even exist. That happened with Darrin Walls and Raeshon McNeil during Charlie Weis’ first full recruiting class in 2006.
Defensive backs coach Mike Mickens has been instrumental in this recruiting success story, from developing Benjamin Morrison to landing Christian Gray. Defensive back has been a challenge spot for Notre Dame in modern recruiting, more of a developmental position than an instant impact one. But Mickens has been changing that under Freeman, starting in that first game at Ohio State with Morrison and Jaden Mickey playing as freshmen.
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How Mickens develops has turned into a recruiting signal that top prospects have picked up. And the Irish might not be done either, with four-star safety JaDon Blair set for an official visit in June and Notre Dame in decent position to land his scheduled commitment on July 5, with Florida State, Michigan and Penn State the strongest competition.
The Irish also have a commitment from three-star safety Ethan Long.
The Irish should be fine at receiver
When Notre Dame looked at its receivers board a year ago, it didn’t necessarily like what it saw.
The Irish had already landed Cam Williams and Micah Gilbert, with Logan Saldate a late flip from Oregon State. In a cycle when Notre Dame needed to hit home runs at a position woefully under-recruited in the final years of Kelly, the Irish recruiting department cleared the fences. Still, the outlook for 2025 didn’t inspire much confidence based on the talent available and its fit for Notre Dame. And then the Irish passing game disappointed. And then Notre Dame fired Chansi Stuckey, the recruiter of record on the previous class.
Notre Dame may ultimately be right and wrong about that recruiting outlook.
The Irish won’t sign a class of receivers on par with last cycle. The Irish also may tick the boxes they need ticked if they can finish with one more receiver to go with commitments Elijah Burress, Shaun Terry and Jerome Bettis Jr., who could develop on defense.
Notre Dame will host four receivers for official visits during June, and if the Irish land any of the four, they’ll each represent the highest-rated wideout in the class.
Five-star Derek Meadows is the headliner and probably the best bet considering the Irish were on him long before Alabama and Georgia made their moves. He’s expected to choose among those three, with Michigan and LSU also in play. Meadows stars at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas and impressed at Irish Invasion last summer, when the Irish got to work under Stuckey. They’ve kept up the pace with Mike Brown since.
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Three four-star prospects will also visit in Tanook Hines (Houston), Talyn Taylor (Geneva, Ill.) and Dylan Robinson (La Verne, Calif.). Hines and Taylor have already seen Notre Dame. Robinson, whose official visit is scheduled for midweek (June 11-13), has not. All three prospects rank in the top 300 nationally on 247Sports.
Did Notre Dame go too developmental on the defensive line?
Notre Dame will lose all four starters from its defensive line after this season. On paper, that could have opened the door for an instant impact lineman to join if depth charts were top priority. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way.
Four-star defensive end Chris Burgess from Chicago is the jewel of Notre Dame’s defensive line haul, and he could be that player who pushes his way into the depth chart early. He’s a fringe five-star prospect on Rivals and a top-200 prospect everywhere else. But Notre Dame’s other four commitments — Dominik Hulak, Joseph Reiff, Gordy Sulfsted and Davion Dixon — may need more development. Each is a three-star on 247Sports, although Reiff is a four-star on On3 and Rivals.
Last year, Notre Dame signed five-star Bryce Young, plus four-star Loghan Thomas and three-stars Sean Sevillano Jr. and Cole Mullins. And maybe that group offers a case study in how defensive line coach Al Washington evaluates prospects who aren’t at the top of every national list.
Understanding why Young was a take involves no analysis, just a first look at the 6-foot-7, 246-pound athlete. But the other three require a closer look. Thomas enrolled at under 200 pounds and has the length of a receiver, but he’ll need time in the weight room to fill out. Sevillano is a project in terms of droppingweight, but he flashed during spring ball. Mullins was a surprise, too, getting second-team reps during practice. If that’s the start for Notre Dame’s freshman class, it’s a good one.
Can Notre Dame’s five-man haul follow suit? It’s not going to win on national signing day, but based on how Washington evaluated talent and developed it early this spring, there’s reason to dig further into this five-man haul.
Irish positioned to stay in the top 10
This might sound like moving the goal posts considering Notre Dame has the No. 1 recruiting class on 247 and Rivals, just like the previous two cycles at this stage of the calendar.
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It’s not.
Notre Dame’s modus operandi has been getting its work done early and holding onto its class late, just like last season when the Irish had just one decommitment after June 1 (wide receiver Isiah Canion, who signed with Georgia Tech) and just three total for the cycle.
Point being, Notre Dame dropping from the No. 1 spot is a sure thing considering its 22 verbal commitments are nearly double the average of the other nine teams in the top 10 on 247Sports. Those nine programs have an average of 12 commitments, with No. 3 Oklahoma the most at 15. Teams doing their work late will make up ground. That’s math. And that means staying in the top 10 will take work for Notre Dame.
Here’s the path. If Notre Dame lands its three top official visitors in June — Meadows, Blair and IMG Academy linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng — it would represent 281.28 recruiting points in the 247Sports Team Rankings. In the previous five cycles, that total would have finished seventh, eighth, sixth, eighth and seventh. It would also out-rank the five classes the Irish actually did sign from 2020-24, including last year’s group that included CJ Carr, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Bryce Young.
A class with Meadows, Owusu-Boateng and Blair would also be a reminder of how difficult it is for Notre Dame to climb higher under Freeman, regardless of the recruiting operation, NIL, facilities race, etc. The hypothetical haul would still trail all five classes signed by Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia from 2020-24. It would trail four LSU classes and three Texas classes during that time period. Miami, Oregon and Texas A&M would each have beaten this potential Notre Dame class twice, meaning the Irish have the edge.
Back-to-back top-10 classes would also make it four top-10 hauls for Notre Dame over a five-year window. That’s the kind of recruiting that should keep the Irish as a perpetual participant in the new-look College Football Playoff, especially if/when it moves to 14 teams.
(Photo of Marcus Freeman: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Pete Sampson is a staff writer for The Athletic on the Notre Dame football beat, a program he’s covered for the past 21 seasons. The former editor and co-founder of Irish Illustrated, Pete has covered six different regimes in South Bend, reporting on the Fighting Irish from the end of the Bob Davie years through the start of the Marcus Freeman era.
