Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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60 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MIKE SINGER For the second recruiting cycle in a row, Notre Dame's class started with a specialist. In the 2027 class, it was long snap- per Sean Kraft from Swannanoa (N.C.) Asheville Christian Academy, who picked the Irish before his junior season. For the 2028 cycle, Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy kicker Owen Davies was the first to jump in the boat. Davies, whom Kohl's Kicking ranks as the No. 2 kicker in the 2028 class, had several powerhouse programs pursuing him, but the only schools from which he publicly announced scholarship offers were Notre Dame and Tennessee. "It wasn't even a question for me," Davies told Blue & Gold Illustrated about his decision to pick the Fighting Irish. "I visited six schools last fall and a few more in the spring. The second I went to Notre Dame, I realized that there was nothing like it — from the coaching staff to the way they run their program. "It was the first school to get me thinking about life after football, and I really got along with Coach [Marty] Biagi. I like how he runs his specialist room." When the 6-foot, 190-pound Davies privately informed Biagi, who enters his fourth season as Notre Dame's special teams coordinator, of his commitment June 2, it didn't catch him by surprise. It was something the two parties had been discussing as a possibility for a couple of months. Davies first visited Notre Dame April 11 to watch a spring practice, and he returned two weeks later for the Blue-Gold Game. He made his third trip to South Bend June 2, where he partici- pated in a prospect camp and earned his scholarship offer from Notre Dame. Davies didn't feel any pressure going into the camp with an offer on the line. "It felt more like a practice," Da- vies said. "Coach Biagi made it clear they had already seen everything they wanted from me. It was more of a prac- tice to get with Sean Kraft, the long snapper commit, and get work with him. It wasn't high pressure, but at the same time, it was a little bit because it was their first time seeing me kick in person." Davies came into the camp confi- dently after a strong kicking workout a couple of days prior and clearly did well, earning the offer. He committed privately to Biagi and the staff later that evening and announced his decision publicly June 10. Soccer was Davies' first love. He s ta r te d p l ay i n g t h e sport as a young boy and played throughout his youth. He started kicking a football in middle school, but the majority of his focus remained on the pitch rather than the grid- i ro n . T h a t c h a n ge d i n De ce m b e r o f h i s freshman year when he performed well at the Kohl's Professional Camps Midwest Winter Showcase. "I started thinking about shifting my focus toward football because it would be better for the long term," he said. Davies stopped play- ing soccer as a sopho- more to give his full attention to football, a move that clearly worked out. His father, Gareth, was born and raised in Durban, South Africa, and moved to the San Diego area for work in 2006, where he met his wife, Dusti. Owen, the oldest of their three chil- dren, was born in Carlsbad, Calif., and the Davies family moved to Tennessee in 2019. Davies transferred from Brentwood High to Brentwood Academy following his freshman season, forcing him to sit out his sophomore season in 2025. Though Notre Dame has primarily relied on graduate transfers to fill the starting place-kicker role under Biagi, the Irish have also aggressively recruited kickers. Notre Dame signed scholarship kickers out of high school in back-to- back classes: Erik Schmidt in 2025 and Micah Drescher in 2026. "I knew from the first second I stepped foot at Notre Dame that it was different and where I wanted to be," Davies said. "It was pretty straightfor- ward. I didn't want to wait and draw things out. I was ready to get it done, play my high school season and get ready for college in a couple of years." ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE OWEN DAVIES Notre Dame Kicks Off 2028 Class With A Pledge From Another Specialist FILM ANALYSIS "Owen Davies is a standout specialist in the class of 2028, currently developing his talent under the elite instruction of coach James Wilhoit. Based in Brentwood, Tennessee, Da- vies has quickly established himself as a top prospect, combining technical precision with the leg strength necessary to compete at the collegiate level. "He made his mark at the December 2025 Kohl's Midwest Winter Showcase by finishing as one of the camp's strongest performers. He won the kickoff competition, demonstrating impressive skills with a top ball of 69 yards and a hang time of 4.1 seconds, while earning 15 points in field goal charting and posting 109.45 points in kickoffs." — Kohl's Kicking Professional Camps Davies, the No. 2 kicker in the 2028 class per Kohl's Kicking, picked Notre Dame over Tennessee. PHOTO COURTESY KOHL'S KICKING PROFESSIONAL CAMPS