Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SUMMER 2025 33 BY KYLE KELLY M arcus Freeman quickly had to swap out his headset for a hard hat dur- ing his fourth offseason as Notre Dame football's head coach. Four days after the Fighting Irish played in the national championship game Jan. 20 in Atlanta, Freeman's right-hand man, general manager Chad Bowden, bolted from South Bend to Southern Cal for a seven-figure pay raise. He brought with him director of player personnel Zaire Turner, a valu- able behind-the- scenes member of the program. Then, to add in- sult to injury, San Diego State stole Caleb Davis at the end of February, naming Notre Dame's longtime recruiting staffer as its general manager. Although Davis' departure was a promotion, it was still an untimely exit with the program preparing for its 2027 class Pot of Gold Day offer spree and re- cruits to visit campus for spring ball. In total, three key losses required re- placements. Rather than plugging and playing a couple of qualified candidates, Freeman took his time reimagining and reconstructing his personnel department. The most important hire came first. Freeman hired Mike Martin, the Detroit Lions' director of scouting advancement, as his general manager. Martin has an eye for talent and experience negotiating contracts, making him the ideal replace- ment for Bowden, whose exceptional ability to connect with recruits helped him rise in the personnel ranks. Then, Freeman replaced Turner with Colorado's assistant director of high school relations, Jourdan Blake, an ace recruiter with the chops to connect with prospects as Bowden did. As does My- ron Tagovailoa-Amosa, whom Free- man yanked from LSU to become Notre Dame's director of recruiting advance- ment — a brand new position for the for- mer Fighting Irish captain who was a de- fensive graduate assistant with the Tigers. Freeman also made several notable promotions. He elevated assistant to the general manager Carter Auman to director of recruiting and director of on-campus recruiting, Becca Sites, to director of recruiting operations. Meanwhile, he retained high school re- lations analyst Deland McCullough II and appointed former Virginia State director of football operations Ariella Ellis to Sites' previous position. Director of scouting Matt Jansen and director of analytics An- thony Treash also remained on board. W h i l e Fre e m a n re s h a p e d No t re Dame's personnel department, he ex- panded it from seven staffers to nine. In doing so, he added more members with differing skills, giving his program a bolstered force to compete with col- lege football's other powers. "Change creates an opportunity to bring in new personnel, and with any change, you want to feel like you enhance what you're doing," Freeman said. "And that means, when you lose one guy do you replace him with the exact same, or do you be creative and say, 'Where do I see college football going? And who has strengths in the area that I see college football going?' "If we lost this strength with a staff member, how do we replace that in an- other way? I'm extremely pleased with the people that we've decided to bring in to be a part of this program." The Irish announced their completed personnel package March 18, one day after the program's St. Patrick's Day- themed Pot of Gold Day recruiting event and one day before spring ball. The turn- around was so quick that specific duties and job descriptions of their positions were put on hold. Now, those don't mat- ter as much as ensuring recruits have the best experience on campus. "Right now, everybody's wearing a recruiting hat," Freeman said. "Every- body from me to Mike Martin to Jourdan to Myron — everybody. All hands are on deck because there are a lot of kids and families on campus. "As we get through this spring cycle, we'll be able to decipher what exactly is Myron's only role when we talk about outside of recruiting. I think all of them are responsible for talent acquisition, evaluation and help- ing coaches prepare. Everybody does a lot of different things, and so I don't always think a title reflects exactly what a person does. All those guys encompass a lot of different things." Their efforts are already paying off. Since the start of spring ball, Notre Dame has secured verbal commitments from seven recruits. Those pledges have helped the Irish climb to the No. 4 spot in the 2026 Industry Ranking football Team Recruiting Rankings, trailing only Southern Cal, LSU and Ohio State. More declarations are expected, with official visits occurring soon. The Irish expect to host more than 30 2026 class targets on campus in June. Even though Freeman's duties have been somewhat administrative rather than coaching to kick off Year 4, he has made decisions that are already paying dividends. And each one has been built on the integrity and principle of a cul- ture committed to winning. "I think at the end of the day, the most important thing is that they're people of character," Freeman said. "That's most important to me. … This place attracts people of character. Then you're com- petent and do what's required of you; you're the best at what you're required and asked to do. "It's been a short time frame, but I'm excited for all the personnel hires we've made." ✦ F O O T B A L L RECRUITING Marcus Freeman Reinvents Notre Dame's Recruiting Machine Amid Key Departures Jourdan Blake, an ace recruiter who can con- nect with prospects, came from the University of Colorado to join Notre Dame's revamped recruit- ing staff as its director of player personnel. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER