Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2025 67 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY TODD D. BURLAGE A strange collision of events that ul- timately worked out very well for Notre Dame took place the Junior Day recruiting weekend of Jan. 13-14, 2024, when the Irish coaches ended up wel- coming in two recruits, from the same family, at the same time, sort of. A class of 2021 Irish recruit, line- backer Kahanu Kia was returning to the Notre Dame campus that weekend af- ter spending two years away from the football program while serving his mis- sion with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Along for the ride that weekend to help with the move was Kahuna's little brother, Ko'o Kia, a high school junior at the time, and another coveted line- backer who was in the thick of his busy college recruitment out of Punahou High School in Honolulu. With Kahanu settled in his dorm, the Irish coaches went to work on Ko'o to try and get the three-star recruit to eventually join big brother in South Bend. The plan worked. Despite being on campus for an unofficial visit — and mainly to help his brother relocate and not there to make a critical lifelong decision — Ko'o liked what he saw (snow and all) and committed to Notre Dame one day after arriving back home in the Aloha State. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman had extended an offer to the 6-foot-1, 209-pound linebacker in January 2023. But with about 20 elite offers to comb through, Ko'o didn't make any quick decisions, until he came to Notre Dame. "The biggest thing for me is life after football," Ko'o said in a story for ka- punahou.org. "There are a lot of great football programs, and Notre Dame is one of them. But out of all the schools, I felt that Notre Dame would set me up the best outside of that. "As much as I love football — and I love it so much — it ends at one point. People stop playing when they are 30, maybe mid-20s, and you still have so much of your life left to live after that." Between the start of his freshman high school season and the end of his junior season, Ko'o added more than 30 pounds and now seems sturdy enough physically to shift inside if that's where the Irish coaches prefer or athletic enough to play outside if that's where he ends up. "The Irish coaches said they liked my versatility," explained Ko'o, who proj- ects as a solid freshman candidate to at least earn plenty of reps on special teams this fall. "It's good for me to be able to play all over. That will just help me get on the field as quickly as pos- sible, wherever I end up." Ko'o Kia's father Nate Kia — who coached his sons at Punahou — agrees. And as a former all-conference defen- sive end at Utah, the elder Kia knows of what he speaks. "Definitely a strength of Ko'o's is that he can fit in pretty much any system, whatever the defense needs," said a proud papa. Ko'o explained that the father-son football bond runs deep. And despite the fact that maybe Ko'o was coached harder during practice than his high school teammates, the critiques came out of love. "And it doesn't end on the field," Ko'o shared of his father's influence. "Com- ing home, he is always talking to me about what I could improve on. It's been good to have someone who's done it be- fore helping me through the process." Kia becomes the eighth Hawai- ian player overall, and the fifth player from Punahou High School (Manti Te'o, Robby Toma, Marist Liufau and Kahanu Kia) to play for Notre Dame. ✦ Ko'o Kia Completes A Two-Man Package Punch Kia will join his brother Kahanu, also a line- backer, at Notre Dame. PHOTO BY TOM LEMMING KO'O KIA LINEBACKER 6-1 ∙ 209 PUNAHOU H.S. KAHALU'U, HAWAII RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪ ✪ ✪ — 58 2 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 49 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 85 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 51 7 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 40 5 STATISTICS • Tallied 87 stops, 15 tackles for loss, 5 passes broken up, 2 quarterback pressures and 1 fumble recovery during his nine-game senior year. • Posted 73 stops (17 for loss), 8 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 7 passes broken up, 1 interception and 1 touchdown as a junior. NOTABLE • 2025 Polynesian Bowl and U.S. Navy All-Amer- ican Bowl invitee. • 2023-24 Hawaii Open Division All-Star selection. • His father, Nate Kia, played for the Utah Utes in the mid-1990s. • His older brother, Kahanu, is a rising junior linebacker for the Irish. • Comes from the same high school that pro- duced 2012 Heisman runner-up and Notre Dame legendary linebacker Manti Te'o. • Was nominated for the High School Butkus Award. RECRUITMENT • Committed to the Fighting Irish on Jan. 15, 2024. • Picked the Irish over Oregon, Texas, USC, Utah and Washington. • Recruited by linebackers coach Max Bullough. • Visited Notre Dame three times as a recruit, including his official visit on June 7, 2024. 2025 PROJECTION • Expected to redshirt. THEY SAID IT Prep Football Report recruiting analyst Tom Lemming: "Kia shows the length, quickness, ath- letic ability and toughness needed to remain at linebacker and play for a Power Four school. He's excellent in pursuit and very tough to block be- cause of his quickness. "He needs to fill out and add strength, but he certainly has what it takes to make a name for himself at the next level. I was impressed with his closing speed and ability to hit." On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power: "He's physical and a very solid, form tack- ler. He looks to move pretty well in space. He's aggressive and physical. Another takeaway from watching Kia is that he fits what Notre Dame goes for at linebacker. "Those guys are physical at the point of attack, instinctive, strong tacklers and can play the run really well. I think he shows that skill set on his film."