In the past, Notre Dame had lightly knocked on the door to a breakthrough recruiting class. Maybe a couple taps one year, or a solid early tap or two that never came good. As the 2025 regular season has concluded, the Fighting Irish have finally put together something within shouting distance of the best recruiting class in the country.

It all started with a verbal from the lightly recruited Dylan Faison (younger brother of current receiver Jordan Faison) way back on March 18, 2024. That was just over a couple months after the super weird Sun Bowl win over Oregon State. Now that feels like ages ago in the Marcus Freeman era! Here we are now waiting for the 2026 players to finally sign their letters of intent to play football for the Irish.

This year the Early Signing Period runs from Wednesday, December 3rd through Friday, December 5th.

Notre Dame’s 2026 Recruiting Class

Your 2026 verbals as of Wednesday morning. 

Class Size: Swollen

This is the largest freshmen recruiting class at 27 players since the 2021 class with that same exact number. The opening of the NIL era seemed to make programs pull back on taking larger freshmen classes, by just a little bit, in favor of acquiring more proven players in the transfer portal. Now with the 105 roster era concluding its first full recruiting class I think Notre Dame is a little more willing to pack the freshmen class with 3 to 4 extra players compared to Freeman’s early years.

Flip SZN: Smart Shopping

If you don’t like drama, the 2026 Notre Dame recruiting class may be among your most favorite in school history. Notre Dame landed a nice collection of their top targets and didn’t spend much effort this cycle chasing other players committed elsewhere.

That the Irish would be open to and/or actively working to move on from quarterback Noah Grubbs was a thing several months ago in some media circles. However, it appears this was never really in the cards–particularly the Irish potentially flipping Texas quarterback commit Dia Bell (0.9937).

Notre Dame was seriously looking at Penn State safety commit Matt Sieg (0.9283) late in the process following the firing of James Franklin, although as we’ll see below this doesn’t look like it’s happening.

The Losses: Bought In

No decommits in a recruiting class isn’t unheard of but it’s still pretty neat, and a positive sign that recruits are bought into Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman, and we should add the NIL opportunities being provided to them. Last year was less great giving us a total of 7 losses with a couple high profile defections. Although, several of the other decommits left the Irish better off. For the record, the top decommits were Alabama corner Ivan Taylor (played mostly special teams this year) and Auburn quarterback Deuce Knight (started the penultimate game of the season for the Tigers but didn’t play last week against Alabama).

Freeman Impact: Coming Good?

Without heaping too much praise on the operation and throwing a recruiting party just yet, Notre Dame has to be pleased with the direction and increase in recruiting visibility under Marcus Freeman. This was perhaps the major selling point for him when he took over the program from Brian Kelly. With BK jettisoned from the Bayou 37 days ago, things are starting to round into form for Freeman in the recruiting world at Notre Dame.

Whats Up Wit All Deez Books GIF - Whats Up Wit All Deez Books - Discover & Share GIFs

What’s up with all these 5-stars!?

Being able to pick up more higher-end talent has been a weakness for the program and that’s now trending in a very positive direction. The 247 Sports page of commits inset above uses their 247 rankings only (highly annoying), but in the Composite the Irish have 4 players with 5-star status backed up by 19 recruits who are 4-stars. Impressive stuff all around.

Adding More Talent: Don’t Hold Your Breath

There are only 5 players holding Notre Dame offers who are not committed as of this writing:

OT Sam Utu – The Californian recently left Alabama’s class and is expected to flip to SMU.

DE Calvin Carter – The low 3-star product from Houston has very little recruiting news released this year.

DT Tavian Branch – A former Penn State commit, he appears to be choosing from Ole Miss or Auburn.

LB Maurice Barnes – A native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania also with little recruiting updates.

LB Charles Belser – This low 3-star officially visited Michigan State and Virginia Tech but no recent updates.

The aforementioned Matt Sieg (still technically committed to Penn State) will be announcing this Wednesday from a group of the Nittany Lions, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech. One would assume he won’t be picking Penn State if he’s going through this selection process. He officially visited the other 3 schools this fall and Notre Dame has moved on–perhaps he’ll reunite with Franklin in Blacksburg?

Most Underrated Prospect: WR Kaydon Finley

Coming out of Aledo, Texas southwest of Fort Worth I may be stretching the definition of underrated for Kaydon Finley (as a top 150 Composite recruit). He’s the son of former Packers tight end Jermichael Finley (2,785 yards and 20 TD’s over a short 6-year career cut short by a spinal injury) and played at the 5A-1 level of Texas high school football–the 2nd highest level if my research is correct. He’s definitely underrated if we’re going off the 247 scouting report with him ranked as the 36th best receiver in 2026.

Well, that’s nonsense. Finley had a huge final 2 years of high school totaling 142 receptions, 2,553 receiving yards, and 38 touchdowns in 26 games. He’s drawn a lot of comparisons to current Irish wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (also from Texas with a super productive HS career) which before this season would’ve drawn a lot of praise. Greathouse hasn’t played much in 2025 thanks to a lingering leg injury but Finley is looked at as a twitchier and more explosive version who will be polished enough to maybe see the field as a true freshman.

Strengths: Secondary

It speaks volumes that Notre Dame could entertain someone like Sieg down the stretch, with the Irish apparently wishing him the best, and it’s seen as no big deal in this class. Sure, safety Nick Reddish (0.8767) is the second lowest rated recruit of Notre Dame’s haul, but he had a big, big season a sophomore before an injury cut his junior season short–a lowered rating for a quality defensive back is maybe justifiable.

Plus, who isn’t trusting Mike Mickens at this point?

How is Mickens still coaching here!??

Some years, Chaston Smith (0.9207) would be getting rave reviews in the class but he’s also getting lost in the shuffle behind a trio of top 100 defensive backs, including a pair of 5-stars. Khary Adams is the no. 1 Composite corner in the class! You love to see it.

Weaknesses: Defensive Interior

We bring this up all the time in the scholarship/roster articles that are sprinkled on the site throughout the year–Notre Dame remains intent on not over-recruiting big bodied defensive linemen, and/or hopes others grow into these roles, while targeting veterans in the transfer market. I don’t love it, but I get it.

Golden’s name is a great fit!

This is a hard, hard position to recruit for Notre Dame and remains an area where the Irish haven’t consistently improved under Marcus Freeman. Here are the Composite rankings for interior defensive line recruits under Freeman since the 2023 class:

0.9654
0.9364
0.9236 ^
0.9164 *
0.8988
0.8867
0.8856
0.8742

That actually doesn’t look like that bad, especially with last year’s class having Chris Burgess at the top of the list and already weighing 275 pounds. However, both (^) includes a player basically never seeing the field and (*) has moved to offensive line. Bringing in Elijah Golden from Cardinal Mooney in Florida is a nice pull, but ideally you’d like 2 or 3 players of his caliber in every class on the defensive interior.

5 Questions for the Class

#1 Did Notre Dame settle at quarterback?

Noah Grubbs was offered by the Irish nearly 2 years ago and had camped with the program back in the summer of 2023. He saw the field as a freshman at Lake Mary High School in Orlando and then really exploded as a sophomore with 49 touchdown passes. When Grubbs committed to Notre Dame ahead of his junior season he was nearly a top 100 prospect nationally. After 2 more seasons at Lake Mary he exits with nearly 11,000 passing yards and 153 total touchdowns to 37 interceptions. But, questions persisted about his development and level of competition in Florida.

I’m not sure it makes a ton of sense what happened in the crazy world of ranking high school kids. Grubbs ended up dropping around 250 spots in the overall Composite rankings and finishes as someone barely hanging on as a 4-star for 2026. That’s a wild swing for someone who stayed productive and played a ton of high school football.

#2 What’s going to happen with all these wideouts?

I don’t know, but it’ll be fascinating to see things unfold. Five wide receivers in a class is crazy work, especially followed up by three receivers (all currently taking a redshirt) in the previous class. That’s a combined 32 years of eligibility for the freshmen and sophomore academic classes headed into the 2026 season. Plus, there are 6 more players in the upper-classes for next year, too. When you think about the possibility of adding a transfer or two this off-season, it makes you wonder if at least a couple wideouts currently on the roster will be moving on. Or, maybe they’ll just roll with 20 receivers in this new 105 roster era.

#3 Did Notre Dame need to target another linebacker?

It never looked like it was part of the plan to take 3 linebackers this cycle. When you see things like the KVA injury it makes you reevaluate things, although at this point in the cycle it’s far too late to do much about it. Even if Jaylen Sneed moves on for 2026 the linebackers should be fine in the short-term, especially with true freshman Madden Faraimo showing flashes already and a candidate for serious minutes next year. Ideally, I’d like to see one of either Thomas Davis Jr. or Jakobe Clapper showing signs that they could push their way onto the field if needed in 2026. I think the upcoming 2027 class–with 2 linebacker commits already including a recent verbal from Amarri Irvin (0.9192) out of IMG Academy–will be a position they hit hard.

#4 What are realistic expectations for Rodney Dunham’s freshman season?

Dunham is the 6th highest rated recruit to come to Notre Dame in the modern era. Can you guess the top 5 above him? From the top it’s Jimmy Clausen, Jaylon Smith, Manti Te’o, Sam Young, and Aaron Lynch. It’s funny, you see so many pictures of these recruits and Dunham has always looked to me like he’ll be more in a jumbo end mold but he’s listed way below that type of weight. I think the program expects him to come in around 240-250 pounds as a freshman which would be ideal.

Dunham is currently listed in the 220-230 lbs. range. 

If Dunham is elite of the elite the door will be open to a significant role next fall. Jordan Botelho and Junior Tuihalamaka will be moving on, and while Boubacar Trarore will remain a centerpiece of the defensive line, we really haven’t seen a ton of development from some of the younger players–including fellow Charlotte native Bryce Young who has been inconsistent as a true sophomore this year.

#5 How likely is it that one of the freshmen defensive backs carve out starting-level minutes in 2026?

At first I thought, no way. But, maybe!? Jalen Stroman hasn’t played that much (except for turning into Ed Reed against Syracuse recently) so there won’t be that much of a hole when he’s gone. DeVonta Smith will for sure be missed at nickel, more so when Karson Hobbs has been sent to the shadow realm since the Texas A&M game. We’d probably need to see a transfer from someone reliable if anyone from the 2026 class has a large role in their freshman season. Someone like (no info here) Christian Gray deciding to play his senior season elsewhere. Then maybe there will be a shuffling around leading to a door opening for the freshmen. Perhaps Dallas Golden is the future at nickel corner, but I’m sure that position is going to be an off-season battle and potentially a target in the transfer portal again anyway.

Notre Dame’s Predicted Final Team Ranking for 2025: 5th

There aren’t that many uncommitted recruits out there to see big swings in the rankings down the stretch. As of this writing, there are only 4(!) players who have not made a verbal with the 97th ranked player being the most highly regarded of that bunch. In the NIL era, I’m sure we will see several high profile flips this week. For example, the nation’s top player and no. 1 quarterback Jared Curtis is expected to flip from Georgia to Vanderbilt (Clark Lea DGT™) on Wednesday when he officially signs. That loss alone would drop Georgia from 2nd currently all the way down to 7th in the national team Composite rankings.

One wonders if USC’s 34 commit class (currently no. 1 in the Composite rankings) will stay in tact. Oregon (only 19 commits but currently in 5th right behind Notre Dame by just 1.73 points) is surely a threat to add some players and jump past the Irish. Or maybe they’ll stay put–the Ducks’ 94.08 player average in the Composite comfortably leads the nation.