Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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76 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he sustained recruiting surge for Notre Dame football didn't happen by accident. The class of 30 recruits that signed to play for head coach Marcus Freeman in the 2026 recruiting cycle comprised a group that finished in the pro- gram's highest position in the Rivals Industry Team Recruit- ing Rankings, which has been retroactively applied through 2004. Notre Dame's No. 2 rank- ing in the 2026 cycle set a new standard in the internet re- cruiting coverage era. Notre Dame's best class fin- ish in the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings previously was No. 4, which occurred three times: 2006, 2008 and 2013. Head coach Charlie Weis managed to take advantage of a suc- cessful 2005 season. He sandwiched a fifth-ranked class in 2007 between his best two classes. Head coach Brian Kelly turned Notre Dame's run to the BCS National Cham- pionship Game to conclude the 2012 season into a coveted 2013 class. But the Irish couldn't keep up that level of recruiting and dropped down to No. 11 in the 2014 cycle. Freeman has made sure Notre Dame doesn't suffer a dip in recruiting in the 2027 cycle. The Irish entered August with the No. 2-ranked class in the country, which consists of 23 commitments, and it might be better than the 2026 class. Notre Dame might be amid the pro- gram's recruiting peak for the 21st cen- tury, but the Irish are proving it's more sustainable than an outlier. "There's so many different people and departments I can point to," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "Our administration and the support through NIL. Our recruiting and scout- ing department led by [general man- ager] Mike Martin and their ability to not only identify talent but to attract the talent and to develop the relation- ships with those guys. To our position coaches and coordinators. "People misconstrue this like it's just money-driven now. No, it's not. It's relationships. The top teams are go- ing to probably offer this guy the same amount of money. When everything is equal, then that's where relationships matter." Notre Dame football is undoubtedly competing at the top level in terms of funding expectations in NIL and rev- enue sharing. When On3 national col- lege football insider Pete Nakos sur- veyed general managers, agents and NIL collectives across college football in June, Notre Dame was among four other schools — Texas A&M, Miami, Oregon and Texas Tech — perceived to be top spenders in the recruiting cycle. But if programs are making similar offers to recruits, there must be some- thing that separates one school from the others. That's where the messaging and the messengers still matter. "The other thing is, for me, a strong belief and conviction in what you're of- fering people," Freeman said. "I truly say this. There's not a better place to play college football and be a student than Notre Dame. I believe that. And I hope everybody that's discussing the oppor- tunity at Notre Dame has that same con- viction, because we have to make sure they feel the passion we have for this place. And what it can do — I'm talking to you guys as parents — for your child beyond the game of football. "Certain kids, right away, you go, 'He's not interested in that.' It helps us go, OK, let's use our attention and efforts and en- ergy on guys who might want this. The ability to identify that sooner, the quicker we can do that, the more we can spend time and energy on a guy that is interested in that. "It's a collaborative group. It's not me. There's so many. It takes all of us to do this." Finding out if Notre Dame aligns with what a recruit is interested in requires a lot of legwork and conversations that happen earlier in the process. Notre Dame has already offered more than two dozen 2029 recruits who will play their sophomore seasons this fall. Offering recruits that early can be a bit of a guessing game. But the Irish are trying to be as well informed as pos- sible when furthering the recruitment of a prospect. Martin, director of player evaluations Matt Jansen and director of football strategy Anthony Treash even use analytics in helping add some sci- ence to the art of recruiting. "They use it in evaluation of high school prospects," Freeman said. "I think it maybe can expedite the process. I don't want to be 100 percent depend- ing on analytics. There's a human eye, an element to it; there's conversations. "What Treash, Jansen and Mike Mar- tin can do utilizing analytics to kind of expedite the process can really help us. It can help us identify a prospect who maybe isn't well known. I think it is a huge benefit to what we're doing." Recent results suggest the process is working for Notre Dame. With Freeman leading the program, it's hard to imagine it going any other way. ✦ After landing the No. 2 recruiting class nationally in 2026, head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff had the second-best collection of 2027 recruits heading into August. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER No Signs Of Slowing Down Tyler James has been covering Notre Dame athletics since 2011. He can be reached on X @ TJamesND FIRST AND LAST TYLER JAMES