Three for Tuesday
The 2024 campaign is just around the corner as Notre Dame will begin fall camp in just about two weeks.
It’s been a wild summer on the recruiting trail, while it’s been somewhat quiet within the program, which is positive as no news is good news at this time of the year.
There seems to be a quiet confidence surrounding the program, but those around The Gug also know this is a big year for Marcus Freeman given the Irish have the depth and talent to make a run to the College Football Playoff.
LOVE
- Riley Leonard has done everything he possibly can to put himself in a position to have success. The injuries simply came at the wrong time of the calendar as it relates to building chemistry. One can easily argue they came at the right time compared to needing them in the fall.
That said, the Alabama native made sure to build relationships inside the locker room and catch up to speed on Mike Denbrock’s playbook. It was mentioned previously, but the fact Leonard wanted to take reps against air behind the play during scrimmages and the spring game might seem like a lost detail, yet it speaks to his competitive drive.
Notre Dame receivers traveling to Alabama to workout with Leonard in May made headlines, but it also spoke to the trust he built with his guys. It’s easy to invite players to workout and it’s another for that many players to show up.
Sam Hartman improved the quarterback position from where it was a year ago and I expect Leonard to do much of the same in 2024. And it’s not that Hartman didn’t come to embrace what Notre Dame could for him, but it’s very evident Leonard embraced it the second he stepped on campus. I have a feeling Notre Dame will wish he had another year after the fall.
- Notre Dame’s secondary recruiting needed to make a jump in around 2018-2020. It didn’t and the Irish paid for it at times. Mike Mickens has completely turned it around and Marty Biagi will have a chance to put his stamp on the safety position starting in 2026.
You can probably find a higher-ranked secondary class somewhere, but Notre Dame is clearly bringing in a top-five haul on the back end in 2025. Perhaps the most exciting thought is Mickens has found success developing raw athletes such as Sauce Gardner and Cam Hart, but now he’ll get to develop elite athletes in Dallas Golden, Mark Zackery IV and JaDon Blair.
Sure, the loss of Ivan Taylor stings, but the silver lining is every program is going to lose top 100 talent at some point. The good news for Notre Dame is that they have other elite talents in the secondary school, so it’s not a class killer. Notre Dame’s next step as a whole will be to start recruiting more top 100 talent so when flips happen, you move on to another elite prospect.
UP IN THE AIR
- Notre Dame’s receiver recruiting also needed to take a step forward in the same years as the secondary. Chansi Stuckey flipped the room in two years on campus with two impressive classes bringing in Rico Flores Jr., Jaden Greathouse, Braylon James and KK Smith in 2023 before landing Micah Gilbert, Logan Saldate and Cam Williams in 2024.
The Transfer Portal cost the Irish some young talent, but it also brought three experienced receivers who should be more than capable of improving the offense this fall.
It’s no secret Notre Dame has struggled to recruit for the position in 2025. Elijah Burress and Jerome Bettis Jr. didn’t have too much competition for their commitments - and that’s not a shot on them as players. If Notre Dame can land Derek Meadows on Saturday, then everything will change for the better, as Mike Brown will have a No. 1 receiver in the class, and then he can search for someone with speed.
Now, if Notre Dame misses on Meadows, then the staff will start from ground zero at the receiver position. It’s not a positive by any means, but the way college football recruiting is structured in 2024, it’s not a death sentence either. It will take hard work and some luck to get the talent the staff desire in South Bend, but as you saw with Ivan Taylor, kids will flip for the smallest of reasons.
At the end of the day, Brown and Notre Dame need to figure this out moving forward. Brown definitely walked into a tough situation where he had to sell a new program to players who another coach had recruited, but that’s half of college football these days. The x-factor in the whole situation could very well come down to what Denbrock’s offense does on the field this fall. If Notre Dame is lighting up teams in the air or even the ability to show more of a passing game, it could open the doors to receivers becoming more interested in the Irish.
FAVORITES
While on vacation, I took time to watch a lot of 2026 prospects. It’s not a secret that I’ve been high on 2026 Forney (Texas) running back Javian Osborne, which isn’t really going out on a limb as he’s a top 100 player, but he’s going to be special.
2026 Aledo (Texas) receiver Kaydon Finley is a name you’ve heard before as he visited in the spring for practice. The 6-foot, 200-pounder gives me some Jalen Guyton vibes as both are around the same size and have deceptive speed as they can pull away from a defender. Finley also just seems to be playing the game with ease and it looks effortless to him, which is always a good thing.
Finley caught 42 passes for 703 yards and seven scores as a sophomore. He’s also the son of former Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley.
Finley Sophomore Highlights
Guyton Senior Highlights
2026 Katy (Texas) linebacker/edge Kosi Okpala is a very intriguing player given his athletic traits. There is some Jaylen Sneed in there as he can play off the edge at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. If he gets taller, then his position becomes easy, but he’s a tweener right now. Yet, it’s hard not to love the aggression, violence and flat out hustle Okpala plays with and Notre Dame has thrived with those types of players.
Rover seems like a position he could thrive in as he plays off the ball sometimes, but that’s likely something he’ll need to show more of and work his way into. And I don’t blame his coach for rushing him off the edge because he’s an absolute menace.
Okpala Sophomore Highlights
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