We are working our way through Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class composed of 24 signees from all over the United States. Today we’re taking a look at the players looking to follow up the legacies of Stonebreaker, Te’o, Owusu-Koramoah, and Calabrese.

Linebacker Anthony Sacca

Bio:

Sacca played high school football at St. Joseph’s Prep aka The Prep where numerous big-time recruits like Marvin Harrison Jr. and De’Andre Zwift called home. His dad played quarterback at Penn State while his uncle played quarterback at Rutgers. Early in his high school career, Sacca was a safety before transitioning to linebacker during his junior season. He flirted with Alabama before committing to Notre Dame on March 30, 2024.

Ranking:

233rd overall, 25th LB, 5th in Pennsylvania with a 0.9168 Composite score.

Size:

Pictures of Sacca early in his career show a far skinnier athlete when playing safety made more sense at the high school level. There’s no doubt he’s been visiting the weight room often leading up to Notre Dame because he’s added significant size over the past couple years.

Sacca is not enrolling early but his recruiting page from Notre Dame lists him at 6’3″ and 225 pounds. He should be at a sufficient playing weight immediately in 2025.

Hype Factor: 5/10

This class does seem to be filled with a lot of players who are underrated nationally. I don’t think Sacca quite fits that mold, though. I’d put him up there as a surprising ranking nationally as he’s generally not one of the more talked about recruits in Notre Dame’s class.

Outlook: Versatility

Sacca drew some comparisons to last year’s recruit Teddy Rezac as they were both former safeties who converted to linebacker. However, Rezac was quite undersized (listed at 207 pounds as a freshman) and Sacca is far bigger coming in to South Bend. I don’t think he’ll be athletic enough to play outside in a Rover-style role although maybe he will surprise. Is he a future weak-side linebacker?

Linebacker Madden Faraimo

Bio:

Faraimo played prep football at JSerra Catholic in the southern part of Orange County, California (not to be confused with Junipero Serra near San Francisco nor the Junipero Serra in Gardena in Los Angeles County). Originally from San Diego and his older sister was an All-American softball player at UCLA. Also another player who grew from a safety into a linebacker during high school. Faraimo was offered by Notre Dame in March 2023 and ended up committing and signing this past December.

Ranking:

66th overall, 3rd LB, 5th in California with a 0.9663 Composite score.

Size:

Not only did Faraimo enroll early, he participated in the practices during the post-season so we’ve already seen brief clips and pictures of him on the field with the Irish. The school lists him at 6’2″ and 220 pounds.

He’s very put together and looks larger than 220 pounds. He was listed at 230 and 235 on various recruiting sites and that heavier number looks more accurate to me. He’s just big everywhere, although not overly tall for a linebacker. I bet we’ll see an updated weight soon.

Hype Factor: 9/10

Faraimo wasn’t the California Player of the Year like KVA last year, but he was all-state as a junior and a senior. He also played most of his senior season with a club on his arm dealing with an injury. Faraimo had a light wrap on his left arm/wrist during bowl prep so hopefully he’ll be completely healthy for spring practice. He has big, big potential and should push for playing time even with good depth at linebacker.

Outlook: Man in the Middle

The comparisons to KVA are fair, the players have similar profiles. KVA is a little taller and heavier at this point of their careers and forced his way on to the field in 2024. For a top 100 prospect, no one should be too shocked but I do think Faraimo’s speed, explosiveness, and sideline to sideline tackling ability are going to jump out immediately for Irish fans. He’s certainly the future starter at one of the inside linebacker positions but also could be deployed early in his career as a third down pass rushing specialist.

Linebacker Ko’o Kia

Bio:

Kia comes out of Punahou School in Honolulu where his older brother Kahanu (currently at Notre Dame) played in addition to the likes of Marist Liufau, Roby Toma, and Manti Te’o. Notre Dame was the first non-west coast offer for Kia and he ended up committing to the Irish on January 15, 2024.

Ranking:

568th overall, 59th LB, 2nd in Hawaii with a 0.8836 Composite score.

Size:

I’ll get to Kia’s rankings in a second down below but size could be a limiting factor in his college career, at least early on. He was listed at 6’2″ on recruiting sites but is dropped down to 6’1″ on Notre Dame’s recruiting page.

Kia can certainly fly on the field but will need a little more bulk. The Irish list him at 209 pounds so his profile is a lot more similar to Jaiden Ausberry who was also an explosive but under-sized linebacker coming in to South Bend.

Hype Factor: 3.5/10

Oregon commit Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele is one of the top quarterbacks in this class and the top player in Hawaii according to the 247 Composite. There’s a 501 spot difference in the rankings between JKS and Kia, the latter being the 2nd best recruit in Hawaii. Yes, Kia’s size isn’t impressive but he was extremely productive at Punahou and qualifies as a hidden gem for 2025.

Outlook: Playing to Strengths

Continuing with the comparisons to Ausberry, I think there’s a place for Kia to see the field early in his career, especially on special teams. He could be a real weapon on kickoff and punt coverage. We also have to factor in the possibility that he will take a mission like his brother did. If he’s really as athletic as he looked in high school, Kia may not redshirt in 2025.

Long term, with a little more size Kia should grow into a serviceable outside linebacker. I have no doubt he’ll be an aggressive downhill tackler with playmaking ability. Will he be able to understand the nuances of pass coverage and excel in that area of the game too?