Top 2025 LB Madden Faraimo Talks Notre Dame & More

There are plenty of reasons Madden Faraimo‍ has been so high on Notre Dame throughout the recruiting process and the 2025 California linebacker had some others cemented for him during his official visit to South Bend last month.

“I think the biggest thing for me about Notre Dame was feeling comfortable in that atmosphere and being so far from home,” Faraimo said. “I just wanted to find out if I'd be comfortable out there and then spend time with the players, get to know what the culture's like and how the coaches are behind the scenes.”

One of the players Faraimo spent a lot of time with was current freshman linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. The fellow Californian told Faraimo about why he chose Notre Dame. 

“You go to Notre Dame for a reason,” Faraimo relayed. “He said, 'You've got to stay focused and not only on football, of course on school.' They have one of the top degrees and Notre Dame is going to push you in all aspects. 

“He was touching on how good the coaches are and the energy that they bring. The fact that there are three levels of coaches who will be with the linebackers is something special that not all schools have.”

Faraimo and Viliamu-Asa were aware of each other when they played against one another back home, but didn’t really begin building a relationship until more recently. 

“When I started to visit, we started talking to each other more and more,” Faraimo explained. “On the visit, I connected with him very well. I believe if we were teammates, we would definitely connect well on and off the field. 

“Of course, him being from Southern California, it's comforting to me about going so far and all that uncertainty. I know that there's someone who came from the same area and that has done it and been successful so far.”

But Faraimo acknowledged that his official visit to Texas was eye-opening.

“It was,” he said. “I was definitely not expecting that…It was definitely a great visit.

“I think it was the access to the machinery and the equipment that they have in the nutrition, weight room, strength; the whole strength and conditioning program and how they use it. Some programs have the sciencey stuff and all that high-tech stuff, but they don't really use it to their full advantage. I feel like Texas' staff has a staff full of head strength coaches all on one staff working different things. It was just special to see that and see their philosophy behind the strength and conditioning and taking care of your body.”

Asked if Notre Dame and Texas represented his top schools, Faraimo said he would add USC to that group as well.

“That one's kind of a different story,” said Faraimo, who explained that communications with the Trojans have become serious more recently.

“They totally flipped the script because they just went off of their philosophy on recruiting and they had to check all the boxes and now they did,” he said. “We're building a relationship and I can get to USC any day of the week.”

Faraimo decided not to take an official to USC because it’s so close, but did make a “quick visit” last month to meet with coaches and watch a walkthrough.

Faraimo doesn’t know what his decision will be or when it will come.

“It’s a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “I wanted to commit the first week of July, but honestly, I don't want to rush anything. I'm not the type of guy to flip schools or linger on and do this whole recruiting stuff. I just want to commit and stick with my school. I just want to take my time and find the school that's right for me and make the decision when it's time.”

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