Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 AUGUST 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME own institution, plus a Bentley, enough money for a cushy apartment or town- house, etc. Tampering? Nah. That's happening all over the place. Just not as shamelessly at Notre Dame. "We will still supplement in the transfer portal at specific positions of need, and that can change every year," Freeman said. "But Notre Dame football is going to be built based off high school recruiting, and I feel more strongly about that now than I ever have." As of early July, Notre Dame was slot- ted at No. 6 in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking Team Recruiting Rankings behind Ohio State, LSU, Georgia and Alabama and ahead of Clemson. Those other four teams accounted for all nine national championships from 2014-22. Elite teams recruit high school pros- pects at an elite level. Now, the afore- mentioned programs might also add a higher concentration of portal players, both qualitatively and quantitatively. But you cannot scoff at what Freeman did this offseason in luring in a pro- gram-record eight transfer additions in a single cycle. One of them is expected to start at quarterback in Duke's Riley Leonard. His Blue Devils teammate RJ Oben is slated to start at defensive end. South Carolina's Mitch Jeter will handle weekly placekicking duties. Arizona State's Jordan Clark should start at nickel while Northwestern's Rod Heard II should start at safety. Wide receivers Beaux Collins of Clemson, Kris Mitchell of Florida Inter- national and Jayden Harrison of Mar- shall should all play a role. The former two might even start on offense while Harrison could be Notre Dame's No. 1 kick return man. So, if your first thought when Free- man says he's doubling down on high school recruiting is, "Notre Dame is falling behind in the transfer portal" — think again. He's all over that, too, without touting bells and whistles. "It's evolving every day," Freeman said of the portal. "It evolves every year. The changes that have been made in col- lege football and the impacts on Notre Dame football in my first two years are tremendous. When the portal first opened, 'Oh my God, this is like free agency. Let's go into this portal and let's find guys.' Then you realize, 'OK, one, you can't get everybody into school.' And then two, you're like, 'Is this what's best for your football team?'" The not being able to get kids into school point is still a very valid one on the Notre Dame front. Leonard told Blue & Gold Illustrated in early June it was "surprisingly" a hassle to get his credits transferred over, even from a university as prestigious as Duke. "Both schools, Notre Dame and Duke, academic schools, they want you to take the majority of your courses toward your major at their school," Leonard said. "It was kind of difficult getting them over." Other places? Nah, come on in. Here's a helmet and some cleats. We'll worry about the pencils and paper some other time. That's just another example of Notre Dame not giving into changing times and keeping intact what the blue and gold has always been about — integrity. That comes into play on the topic of paying players, something that gained national notoriety in May when the House vs. NCAA settlement laid the foundation for a salary-based system in college athletics — the universities directly being able to pay their student- athletes for the first time ever. Free- man is as transparent as possible on that front. No promises, just a proclamation — if you deserve a bag for your on-field performance, you'll get it. That's no different than the NFL. But it's entirely different than Tennessee boosters telling 17-year-olds they're guaranteed six figures for just sign- ing on the dotted line and enrolling at school in Knoxville. "I still, in my heart of hearts, believe that you're going to get paid based on how good of a football player you are," Freeman said. "And that's my message to them: 'Hey, this is no different than now. You're making money off your name, image and likeness based off how good of a player you are.' So continue to focus on that. You're going to get paid just as well at Notre Dame as anywhere else in the country." That last line is one that Freeman might not have been fully comfort- able uttering a year ago. Or two years ago. The House v. NCAA settlement is a ploy to even the playing field. That helps a program like Notre Dame that hasn't overstepped lines or too boldly pushed boundaries in the NIL space. Once again, it just goes to show that, yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Notre Dame didn't get caught up in any NIL circuses, for instance, like 2023 quarterback recruit Jaden Rashada su- ing the University of Florida and coach Billy Napier. Rashada, who spent 2023 at Arizona State and is now at Georgia, claimed those parties defrauded him millions of dollars in NIL money. Imag- ine reading a headline like that coming out of South Bend. It still all gets back to winning, of course. Freeman and Notre Dame doing things the right way and staying out of not-so- flattering news breaks won't mean as much if the Fighting Irish don't routinely qualify for the College Football Playoff and threaten to end a national championship drought that is quickly approaching 40 years. Or, heck, end it entirely. Freeman understands the most im- portant thing are Ws. He wants to obtain them his way — the Notre Dame way — but like anyone else, he just wants to obtain them, period. "We're going to be great," Freeman said. "We're in a great situation here. I couldn't be more excited for where our athletic program will be amongst col- lege sports." ✦ UNDER THE DOME "I still, in my heart of hearts, believe that you're going to get paid based on how good of a football player you are. And that's my message to them: 'Hey, this is no different than now. You're making money off your name, image and likeness based off how good of a player you are.' … You're going to get paid just as well at Notre Dame as anywhere else in the country." FREEMAN