Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 APRIL 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY KYLE KELLY M ike Martin's introductory news conference March 6 concluded with a pop quiz. Standing on the podium like a lec- turer, in his gray suit embellished with a Notre Dame pin on the right lapel and arms resting on the lectern, the foot- ball program's new general manager prompted a question to reporters. "Can anyone here tell me the signifi- cance of March 17, St. Patty's Day, on our recruiting program?" Martin said. "Pot of Gold Day," reporters quickly responded, referring to Notre Dame football's annual recruiting event. The last three years, it has sent out upwards of 75 scholarship offers to high school sophomores on St. Patrick's Day. It was a question too easy for a press pool with more professional experience in college athletics than the new hire. Martin was an NFL lifer before he ac- cepted the Irish's top personnel position in February. He previously served as the director of scouting advancement for the Detroit Lions. In total, Martin has spent more than two decades in scouting departments for the Lions, Carolina Panthers, Hous- ton Texans and Tampa Bay Bucca- neers. His limited familiarity with col- lege came during his playing career at Vanderbilt in the early 2000s. Though Martin's expertise lies in the professional ranks, he felt his best op- portunity for career advancement came in college football. He's always wanted to be a general manager, and Notre Dame afforded him the opportunity. He accepted it despite not completely meeting one of the prerequisites. High school recruiting is one of the primary job requirements. The extent of his involvement in this newly defined college football role is still to be deter- mined, but it will undoubtedly be cru- cial. Martin said as much. When commenting on roster build- ing, Martin told reporters, "We're going to lean heavily on our recruits and the guys we recruit out of high school." That requires building relationships with high school prospects, their par- ents and coaches, and helping sell them on the value of attending Notre Dame. Martin has no exposure in that area. The extent of recruiting experience in the NFL was courting undrafted free agents or veteran players who hit free agency. Those interactions were limited and confined to a few weeks out of the year. In college, high school football re- cruiting is an all-year affair. Martin is not shying away from that. But to start, he'll have to rely on Notre Dame's di- rector of recruiting Carter Auman, on- campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough II. Notre Dame hopes to add at least two others to the department in the coming months. "I will lean heavily on my staff," Mar- tin said. "Fortunately, I've walked into this awesome staff that is well versed in the recruiting world. I'm coming in saying, 'Where can I add value?' "This team made it to the national c h a m p i o n s h i p b e fo re I eve r eve n stepped foot here. … I'm learning just as much from them as I look to teach." It's Martin's role to construct the team. He'll wear the praise and criticism for what players Notre Dame does and does not sign. Even though he'll have to depend on the program's recruiting de- partment to get him up to speed, they'll also have to adapt to his roster-building process. "I know that this is a little bit of a crazy deal," he said. "There are players all over the country, and you're hear- ing this guy's a five-star, this guy's a four-star, this person's a three-star. I'm just trying to figure out ways that we can evaluate them and put our own thoughts on individuals. "We won't be driven or led by maga- zines, and we'll work closely with a lot of different people that we respect. But we'll have our own evaluation of players." The first real iteration will come March 17 on Pot of Gold Day. There is no word of how many scholarship offers Notre Dame will send out to 2027 class recruits this year, but Martin's finger- prints will certainly be on them. Besides becoming the theoretical teacher at the end of his first press con- ference, he will be introduced to high school recruiting on Pot of Gold Day. And he's already embraced the practice. "Pot of Gold Day is a unique experi- ence," he said. "We made an experience out of the whole thing. I just want to point out that this place was the first to do that. I think it's the best place to do it. I want all of you to remember that March 17, St. Patty's Day, belongs to the Irish." ✦ F O O T B A L L RECRUITING Notre Dame General Manager Mike Martin Ready For New Challenge Martin, a former Detroit Lions executive, was officially hired Feb. 27 to be Notre Dame's general man- ager despite his lack of collegiate experience. PHOTO BY TYLER HORKA