The Notre Dame football staff received some great news over the weekend when 2025 tight end James Flanigan verbally committed to the Fighting Irish. The 6’5″/220-pound out of Green Bay, WI is the seventh commit in Notre Dame’s recruiting class of 2025 — a class which currently ranks third in the country behind Georgia and Alabama.


James, a legacy recruit and the son of former Irish defensive tackle Jim Flanigan, has been a long-time target for the Notre Dame staff. After the decommitment of Nate Roberts a couple of months ago, he became a very important recruit for the Irish as they were back to zero commits and no other perceived leans at the position in 2025. Flanigan become the #1 priority at the position and, despite some buzz from Michigan insiders claiming Notre Dame was running third behind Wisconsin and Michigan, it was only a matter of time before he committed to Notre Dame. He visited South Bend for the USC game and decided he didn’t need to see any more.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports Composite — 4 star (.9418), #143 overall, #3 TE, #2 in WI

On3 Consensus — 4 star (92.00), #127 overall, #5 TE, #2 in WI

The 247 Composite and On3 Consensus both combine 247, On3, Rivals, and ESPN rankings.

247Sports — 4 star (90 rating), #116 overall, #5 TE, #1 in WI

On3 —4 star (92 rating), #92 overall, #5 TE, #1 in WI

Rivals — 4 star (5.8 rating), #243 overall, #7 TE, #3 in WI

ESPN —4 star (81 rating(, #177 overall, #4 TE, #2 in WI

Friend of the Stripes Jamie Uyeyama does the recruit evaluations for ISD, and we trust his evals as much as anyone’s. So while the 247 Composite and the On3 Consensus don’t factor in ISD evals, we put a lot of weight on them ourselves.

Irish Sports Daily — 4 star (92 rating)

Cohort

James chose the Irish over other offers from Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, Stanford, Louisville, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa State, and Illinois.

Highlights

James is a well-rounded player whose size and athleticism should prove to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. Most linebackers are going to struggle to run with him and most defensive backs will be at a serious height disadvantage against him. He’s not just a receiving threat, though. He’s also a very willing blockers who’s shown a lot of potential in the trenches. He’s got some bulking to do, of course, but this will allow him to be used with some versatility.

As always, take a look at ISD’s Film Don’t Lie piece on James Flanigan for a professional’s perspective.

Impact

This is a great re-start for Notre Dame at tight end recruiting for the 2025 cycle. Whether the Irish are finished recruiting the position will likely depend on what happens with 2024 tight end prospect Carter Nelson. Nelson is committed to his in-state Nebraska Cornhuskers, but he did come out to Notre Dame to make a surprise visit for the USC game. It’s going to be hard for a rural Nebraska kid to decommit from the Huskers, but Notre Dame will continue to work on him and see where things go.

If the Irish do miss out on Nelson, there was another 2025 tight end on campus for the USC game — Linkon Cure out of Kansas. He’s seen his stock rise quite a bit over the few weeks and was even bumped up into On3’s Top 50 recently. He received an offer from Notre Dame during his visit and the Irish are likely going to be a major contender for him moving forward.

Welcome to the Irish family, James!