2026 DE McHale Blade Returning To Notre Dame After Landing Offer

A little over a week after visiting Notre Dame for the first time, McHale Blade‍ received an offer from the Irish as part of their Pot of Gold push on St. Patrick’s Day.

“It means so much,” the 2026 Illinois defensive end told Irish Sports Daily afterward. “Notre Dame being so close to home, I understand how big the school truly is. I just feel so blessed to receive such a big offer.”

Blade, who also has offers from schools like Illinois, Florida, Miami, Nebraska, Boston College and Indiana, enjoyed his trip to South Bend for the opening of the Irish’s spring practice on March 7th.

“I loved it,” he said. “The coaches, they showed a real amount of love. I really felt the love as soon as I walked through the door.”

The Irish staff truly stood out to the Hillcrest High School standout.

“I spent a lot of my time with Coach (Dre) Brown,” he said. “I spent time with Coach (Chad) Bowden and I also spoke with Coach (Al) Washington, the d-line coach, and his assistant, Coach (Nick) Sebastian.

“I really loved all of them. Those are some really genuine people. I feel like I can really bond with those guys.”

And, he already has plans to return to South Bend this Saturday.

“I understand that they're going to be in pads this practice, so I'm really excited for that action,” he said. “My first visit, although they didn't have any pads, it was still very intense, so I'm only imagining that it's going to be with pads on and I'm just really excited.”

Blade visited Northwestern a couple weeks ago and while he doesn’t have any other trips locked in, he’s hoping to make stops at Miami and Nebraska this spring. 

He’s in no rush to make a final decision.

“I really would like to visit every school that's offered me and just build relationships with everyone,” he said. “I want to get to know everybody.”

But it’s clear the Irish are off to a great start.

“Those are really my guys. I felt the love when I was there. I really feel close. It being so close to my house, the relationships for me are really more important. And I feel like with Notre Dame, I really have that.”

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