Notre Dame recruiting has reached a level that once seemed unattainable for the program.
The Fighting Irish followed up a Top 5 class in 2026 with a 2027 recruiting class that currently ranks No. 2 nationally while leading the country in average player rating (93.32).
Marcus Freeman made a point of giving credit to his support staff, including general manager Mike Martin and director of recruiting Carter Auman, for Notre Dame’s rise on the recruiting trail.
But it goes deeper than that.
Notre Dame is embracing analytics in a way few programs can match.
Martin, Anthony Treash and Matt Jansen all have extensive analytics backgrounds, and the Irish have developed proprietary tools to help sort through thousands of prospects each recruiting cycle.
Elite five-star talent is easy for everyone to identify. Where Notre Dame believes it has created an edge is using analytics to separate elite prospects from the pack while also uncovering undervalued players before the rest of the country catches on.
“What Treash, Jansen and Mike Martin can do in a room, and utilizing analytics to kind of expedite the process, can really help us,” Freeman stated. “It can help us identify a prospect who maybe isn't well known, right? I think it is a huge benefit to what we're doing.”
Freeman was careful to emphasize that analytics don't replace traditional scouting. Film study and in-person evaluations remain the foundation of Notre Dame's recruiting process, but the data helps the staff work more efficiently, which is something that has become increasingly valuable in the Transfer Portal era.
As January demonstrated, recruiting boards can change overnight. Having another layer of evaluation allows the Irish to react quickly while remaining confident in their assessments.
“They've used it in evaluation of the Transfer Portal,” explained Freeman. “They use it in evaluation of high school prospects. I think it maybe can expedite the process. I don't want to be 100 percent depending on analytics, right? There's a human eye element to it.”
Still, it's obvious the investment Notre Dame has made in analytics is paying dividends.
“We have to continue to use AI, science, these algorithms and formulas,” stated Freeman. “These guys are so intelligent, my God, you know what I mean? I trust them and then I can watch it and say, ‘I see why you liked him.’ It speeds up time.”
Finding the right prospects is only half the battle. Landing them is the other.
NIL has undoubtedly become part of that equation and those around the university have more than fully embraced the current landscape. That commitment has allowed Notre Dame to remain competitive for elite recruits instead of watching top targets leave solely because of financial limitations.
Will Notre Dame outbid every school? No.
Freeman believes that simply being financially competitive allows everything else the university offers to become the deciding factor.
“Our administration and support, NIL, our recruiting and scouting department led by Mike Martin and their ability to not only identify talent, but to attract the talent, to develop relationships with those guys, to our position coaches and coordinators,” Freeman said when asked why Notre Dame can sustain its recruiting success.
“It's like people misconstrued us like it's just money right now. No, it's not. It's relationships. The top teams are gonna probably offer this guy the same amount of money. When everything is equal, that's where relationships matter.”
The final piece of the puzzle is Freeman himself.
Freeman understands recruiting drives championship programs, but more importantly, he genuinely believes in what Notre Dame offers.
That conviction comes through every time he sits down with a recruit.
“For me, it's a strong belief and conviction of what you're offering people,” Freeman explained. “There's not a better place to play college football and be a student than Notre Dame. I believe that and I hope everybody that's discussing the opportunity of Notre Dame has that same conviction because we have to make sure they feel the passion we have for this place.”
That authenticity has also made Notre Dame more efficient on the recruiting trail.
The Irish aren't trying to convince every prospect. They're focused on identifying recruits who truly want everything Notre Dame offers.
Moving on from certain prospects isn't always easy, but it allows the staff to spend its time building relationships with players who genuinely fit the program.
“Certain kids, right away you go, he's not interested in that,” said Freeman. “It helps us go, ‘OK, let's use our attention and effort and energy on guys that want that, that might want this.’
“I think the ability to identify that sooner, the quicker we can do that, the more we can spend time and energy on a guy that is interested in that. But it's a collaborative group. It's not me. It's them and there are so many. It takes all of us to do this.”
It’s hard to argue against the results of the last two cycles or even the recruiting foundation set since Freeman’s arrival.
The process has transformed Notre Dame into one of college football's premier recruiting powers and it doesn't appear to be slowing down.
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