Irish Reload | 24 Signees Head to Campus in January as Notre Dame Raises the Bar

If it wasn’t clear by now, Marcus Freeman is intent on building Notre Dame into a monster.

The Fighting Irish currently hold the No. 3 recruiting class in the country and all 27 prospects signed letters of intent on Wednesday morning. 

Early enrollment has always been a popular topic following Signing Day, and it’s easy to explain this cycle. Tight end Ian Premer‍, offensive lineman Gregory Patrick‍ and offensive lineman Ben Nichols‍ will not enroll early, while every other signee will move to South Bend next month. 

Yes, that’s an unprecedented 24 of the 27 signees arriving in January to get a jumpstart on their collegiate careers on and off the field. 

“I've always said there can be two goods,” stated Freeman. “One is you come in early, it could be good. If you come in in June, it could be good. Each individual has to make the decision what's right for them. We fully support both instances of when you enroll at Notre Dame.

“To come in early, you get a head start on, obviously, the playbook. You get spring practice, you start your development right away and you get a head start in the classroom, which is important. You get a good foundation set before the summer and you start your true freshman year.” 

Freeman emphasized that players shouldn’t leave their final semester of high school solely to improve their chances of playing immediately. Notre Dame has proven that June arrivals can thrive and even become Freshman All-Americans.

“I don't want you to make the decision 'I'm coming in in January only because I think this is going to be the best chance to play right away,’” explained Freeman. “If you're good enough to play as a freshman, it doesn't matter what time you come, but there's positives in both.

“A lot of those guys that come in June are three-sport athletes or competing in the spring, so that's a good thing too, right? We're not going to make you give up the second half of your senior year just to come into school. If that's something you want to do, we support it. If not, we support that too.”

A major storyline from this cycle: Notre Dame signed arguably the nation’s top defensive back class, and all five will participate in spring ball. The Irish also landed one of their best defensive line groups in more than a decade, as it’s the first time since 2011 that Notre Dame has inked three composite top-200 defensive linemen.

Is it some luck Notre Dame pulled off elite hauls at the defensive line and defensive back positions? Sure. But it was also an emphasis to land the top players at those positions and Freeman hopes this becomes the new normal. 

“There's no great defense without a great D-line and some great DBs,” Freeman stated. “We knew that was an area we had to continue to enhance our roster. You talk about the guys we signed at those positions and the type of players, the rankings, but the type of players, those guys are.

“At the D-line, you've got a couple of inside guys, you've got two elite edge rushers and then to me, you've got the best DBs in the country and all of those guys that decided to sign with us. It's exciting. We are always going to pride ourselves on the type of defense we play here. Those guys are going to add to what we've already got started.”

Notre Dame will also have its quarterback enroll early in Noah Grubbs and if all goes as planned, the Irish are expect 2027 quarterback commit Teddy Jarrard to reclassify to 2026 and join the program in June. 

It’s a bold move, but also one that’s likely needed to enhance the room’s future. CJ Carr will be the face of the QB room, but Grubbs and Jarrard improve the talent level as Kenny Minchey is expected to go chase his shot to play following the season. 

The Irish have lacked the ability to be proactive at times, but this is a signal that the university and the football program are on the same page. It also speaks to Freeman and his staff wanting to be as prepared for the 2027 season as much as possible as if all goes to plan, Carr will be a Top 5 pick following next season. 

“My vision has always been to have a high school quarterback be the future of Notre Dame football,” said Freeman. “I know in my first two years I had to make decisions that we had to go in the transfer portal, but when Riley (Leonard) was our quarterback two years ago, I knew the future quarterback of Notre Dame was in-house. It was one of three people that I believed could be the future of our program.

“I have a strong belief Noah will get here and do some great things his first year. We're going to continue to make sure and hope that the future of our quarterback position is built through high school recruiting.”

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