Coach | Notre Dame Could Be Great Fit For Top 2026 QB Troy Huhn

Things are progressing at a decent pace between Troy Huhn‍ and Notre Dame.

Back in January, Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli made it out to Mission Hills High School to watch the 2026 California quarterback throw.

Then, late last month, the Irish offered the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder a scholarship. 

Later this month, Huhn will make his way to South Bend to take in spring practice with the Irish.

Huhn has emerged as one of a handful of top targets for the Irish at the position in the 2026 cycle and Chris Hauser, head coach at Mission Hills, is not surprised.

“Right off the bat, he passes the eyeball test and that's where it begins for people outside of California who don't get to see him in person,” says Hauser. “They're going to look at him on tape and go, 'He's a good-looking kid in a uniform. Let's watch him play now.' 

“Then, when you watch him at the quarterback position doing the different things that we do and doing them well, seeing his arm strength, decision-making attributes, it jumps out at you, I believe. When you're studying him, you see that he is training the footwork, tying into what he's doing conceptually.”

As college coaches dig deeper, they start asking Hauser about Huhn’s character; what he’s like as a leader.

“I start answering those questions and he starts checking off all those boxes,” the coach says. “He is a weight room guy. Just last week, he put up 275 pounds on the power clean. That's outstanding for a quarterback as a sophomore in high school. And he's a true sophomore age-wise, he's not a holdback kid. He just got his driver's license the other day.

“He does come from an athletic family. His oldest sister is a freshman playing basketball at Miami of Ohio. His next oldest sister is a senior softball player committed to Iowa State. So there's athletic prowess in the family. He's got an eighth-grade sister who's a dual-sport softball-basketball as well. Mom is a high school head basketball coach, so she's involved in athletics, played college basketball. When you look at that piece that stands out to college coaches to see the lineage, what kind of family he's coming from.

“He's got that Cali look. He's a good looking blonde-haired kid. He's easygoing, smiling all the time, super gregarious, kids like him. The student body likes him, teachers like him. He treats people so well. He's not pretentious. He's not a look-at-me kid. You would not know his world is very different than most high school kids on our campus when it comes to the college recruiting. He doesn't pound his chest. He just works. And that's what we love about him. He works and he comes down to our offices probably three to four days a week and just watches film from last year and learns and studies. He's doing all those things to be a college quarterback.”

And then when they come out and see Huhn for themselves, especially for informal workouts during the contact period, it all makes sense.  

“They get to watch him throw the ball around a little bit,” says Hauser. “They really like what they see and how he orchestrates getting his guys on the field and taking charge, putting them through a workout. Nothing is coach-led by any means. It's all Troy-led, so they see the leadership qualities in him in person. 

“There's a lot of upside to Troy Huhn in my opinion. These next two years in front of him, he's just going to continue to get bigger. He's 6-4, fluctuates right in the 200-pound range. He's going to probably leave here at about 215 in two years and be a 220, 225-pound quarterback in college. He's going to have that nice big frame that you like.”

Huhn has already started digging into the recruiting process and based on his sisters’ college choices, it’s obvious the family isn’t against sending a child to the Midwest.

“He's been to a handful of places already,” says Hauser. “He's been to Texas, LSU. He's been to some schools in Florida. Now he's going to make his way up to visit Notre Dame over spring break and just get to know it, get to know what it's about.”

Hauser visited Notre Dame himself back in 2015.

“I've been there once,” he says. “So I know how special it is. I'm not sharing much about my experience. I'm just looking forward to hearing what he has to say after his experience.

“I just think that format at Notre Dame fits him. It's not a fraternity-driven university because that doesn't exist there. It's a football town. He loves that, being all in on football. Obviously, Notre Dame's great in other sports as well, but football is iconic at Notre Dame. It probably has the largest brand across the country. 

“The history that's there, he'll appreciate that, going into that building where all the history's at. He'll appreciate that because he's that kind of kid where a lot of the modern kids just don't know history. It's not important to them. We talk a lot about history here because I'm an older guy, I'm almost 60 years old. For me, that's kind of how I grew up and how I was raised, you respect the history that you're involved in because they helped open doors to get you there, the people who have kind of paved the way. I could see it being a really cool fit for Troy and that's kind of why I want to let him discover it on his own.”

Hauser isn’t sure Huhn is going to rush any final decision, but he also doesn’t anticipate him prolonging the process any longer than he needs to.

“I think he's doing his due diligence,” the coach says. “His family's very supportive, so they're going to go out and see things and together make that family decision. I think Troy's going to lead the way because he's the one that's going to go play and go to school. Ultimately, it becomes his decision, but he has a very close family, very supportive family, so I'm sure they're going to have or have already had great conversations about his future. 

“As I said, I've been to Notre Dame and a few places in the country, so it allows me to have those conversations with him. I think Troy's the kind of guy who when he feels what's right, I think he'll pull the trigger. I really do. I don't think he's into the whole, 'I'm going to drag this thing out and keep everybody on pins and needles.' I don't sense Troy being like that.”

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