LB Madden Faraimo Gives Unexpected Jolt To Notre Dame 2025 Class

Talk about not burying the lede.

Marcus Freeman walked into his press conference to mark National Signing Day on Wednesday afternoon and the Irish coach immediately dropped a bomb.

“I just got a call about 10, 15 minutes ago as we were coming over here that Madden Faraimo‍, his papers just came in and he signed,” Freeman said somewhat matter of factly. “That was a huge get for us that obviously came down to the last minute.”

Indeed.

Faraimo, a top California linebacker, was considered a strong Notre Dame lean for much of the process. Although schools like Ohio State, Texas and Washington made strong pitches throughout, it was USC that proved to be the biggest competition.

And by the time the Irish beat USC this past Saturday to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff, it seemed the Trojans had earned a small victory via Faraimo, who visited USC for the game.

That sentiment only grew stronger through the end of the weekend and into the final hours leading up to Wednesday. Even on Wednesday morning, sources were saying that USC felt good about landing Faraimo while Irish sources hadn’t expressed any such confidence since Thanksgiving.

But things swung back in the Irish’s direction on Wednesday morning and he informed Freeman of his decision shortly before the head coach addressed reporters.

“I heard Coach Freeman screaming, so I didn't know if something was going on,” Irish general manager Chad Bowden laughed when asked about the moment. “I really wanted to check on him.

“We were fired up. The whole staff came out. Everyone was hugging each other. It was a really special moment, a moment I'll never forget.”

Freeman called the recruitment “a unique one.”

“One that came down to today,” he continued. “We talked last night, and his mind wasn't made up. We talked this morning. His mind wasn't made up. Sometime after his conversations with our coaching staff, myself, Chad Bowden, he came to the realization that this was the place he wanted to be.

“It was funny, I was talking to him, I kept saying, ‘Man, choose hard, choose hard. That's what we use around here.’ He said, ‘Coach, I chose God.’ I thought that was a powerful statement and speaks volumes about the young man and his family.”

Still Freeman acknowledged being “on pins and needles” until the signing was official.

Bowden credited Freeman along with defensive coordinator Al Golden and linebackers coach Max Bullough with landing Faraimo.

“The reason we got Madden is because we have the best coaches in the country recruiting him,” he said. “We have Coach Freeman, he's a linebacker guy as our head coach. You have Coach Bullough, who will obviously coach the linebackers, and Coach Golden, who in the NFL coached linebackers.

“Those three are the reason why Madden is here today and why he signed with the Irish.”

Freeman said it was “important” to add Faraimo to a linebacker group that already included Hawaii’s Ko'o Kia‍ and Pennsylvania’s Anthony Sacca‍.

“It's coast to coast, almost worldwide,” he said. “You've got to travel a lot of miles, but we feel really good about this linebacker class.

“I think he is a huge piece of what we're looking for defensively. We wanted to get three linebackers. We had two for a long time. He's the third linebacker that adds a huge piece to what we were looking for defensively.

“Obviously he's a highly recruited kid, but I think he's a heck of a football player along with those other two guys.”

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