2026 TE Sam Hamilton Fired Up For Notre Dame Return

Sam Hamilton‍ has been to Notre Dame a couple times already, but the 2026 Ohio tight end hasn’t been for a game yet, although that is about to change.

“I'll be there Saturday,” Hamilton said of the Irish’s home opener.

“I talked to the Director of Recruiting, Caleb Davis. He invited me out for a game and I talked to Coach (Mike) Denbrock about it last time after camp, about getting up the game and Coach (Marcus) Freeman too.”

Hamilton has camped in South Bend multiple times in the past. 

“I'm excited to get back up,” the Archbishop Moeller standout said. “I just want to see how the game day environment is. I've always heard about how crazy and rowdy it gets in Notre Dame Stadium and I've watched it on TV. 

“I'm just excited to see what it would be like to play there as a player and get to watch tight ends in warmups and how the team actually uses their tight ends on the field.”

Those tight ends are a major reason why he’s interested in the Irish to begin with.

“They send so many tight ends to the NFL,” he said. “I really trust Coach Denbrock to develop me into the best time I could possibly be. 

“I've known Coach Freeman for a good amount of time, played with his son (Vinny) in grade school a little bit. I got to know him. I feel like it's more of a family environment and that's what I like. That's what I'm looking for out of college. So that really just keeps me coming back.” 

Hamilton has offers from Kentucky, Central Michigan, Kent State, Miami-Ohio, Toledo, East Carolina and UMass

He visited Kentucky last weekend.

“That was really cool,” he said. “They sold it out. Even though there was a rain delay, all the fans stayed and it was really cool.”

He’ll continue hitting the road throughout the fall.

“I'll probably be at Rutgers on November 9th against Minnesota. I'll probably make it out to Ohio State and Michigan and maybe Coastal Carolina and Miami-Ohio.”

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