‘26 cb khary adams visits notre dame on april 4th
6-2 180-pound four-star defensive back Khary Adams of Towson (Md.) Loyola will visit Notre Dame on April 4th to continue building a strong relationship with the Fighting Irish coaching staff. Adams already has an official visit set for June 13 th, and the Maryland prep star is excited to see what Notre Dame offers.
“They’ve been on me from day one,” Adams told Irish LLM. “Coach (Mike) Mickens and I have a great relationship, and I really like what coach (Marcus) Freeman is building up there. I’m excited to see practice and everything.
“I want to play early,” Adams continued. “I want to see how they’re going to use me in the defense.”
Mike Micken and Khary Adams
Adams ranks 78th nationally according to 247 composite and has other officials set to Auburn (May 16th), South Carolina (May 30th), USC (June 3th), Penn State (June 6th), and Oregon (June 20th).
former nd recruiting target hits transfer portal
Notre Dame has been judicious and successful in how they use the transfer portal to solidify their roster. Marcus Freeman has consistently stated that his program will always have a foundation of recruiting high school players to South Bend. With that being said, some recent news might become intriguing to the Fighting Irish defensive staff as news broke early Friday morning that Stanford LB/DE David Bailey had entered the transfer portal.
With Stanford general manager Andrew Luck’s decision to part with Troy Taylor as head coach, look for several Cardinal players with 1 or 2 years of eligibility to explore their options elsewhere. The dominoes might have began falling with star pass rusher David Bailey, who entered on Friday.
In 2022, the Fighting Irish offered and made a strong push for the Mater Dei standout. He held offers from Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, LSU, Oklahoma, and USC among several others. He was ranked as a top 50 player in his class across several top recruiting services. The 6-3, 250-pound pass rusher was able to record 111 total tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, and 14.5 sacks in three seasons. Bailey also managed to record seven forced fumbles.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator has a good group of pass rushers returning from a highly ranked defense. Guys like Joshua Burnham, Junior Tuihalamaka, Jordan Bothello (injury), Boubacar Traore (injury), Bryce Young, Loghan Thomas, Cole Mullins, and highly touted incoming freshman Christopher Burgess Jr.
That’s a pretty deep group of pass rushers, but with Bothello and Traore returning from serious leg injuries, the Fighting Irish could possibly think about adding Bailey’s talents and not feel the need to rush either back to service for week 1 of college football. Bryce Young and Loghan Thomas are talented players that are still developing and probably aren’t ready to take a heavy number of snaps. Burnham and Tuihalamaka are solid guys that stepped up for the Fighting Irish after losing their top two guys during the regular season, but passing rushing is not their forte. This makes Bailey and intriguing conversation for the Notre Dame staff. He has one more year of eligibility, and should want to play for a high profile contender that can compete for a national championship. He also might be ready to leave the comforts of California for the midwest. Either way, the Fighting are working from a place of strength, and addition like Bailey would definitely signal that Marcus Freeman is not satisfied until he wins a championship.
mike denbrock needs wr drops to stop
Notre Dame’s spring practice talk has been dominated by the three man quarterback competition, new coaching hires and big time recruits visiting South Bend. In the midst of all of that, OC Mike Denbrock is focused on getting the entire Fighting Irish offense to elevated to match the dominance of it’s defefnsive counterpart.
Denbrock’s offenses have a history of making significant strides in yards per game and points per game in his second season as the play-caller at Cincinnati, LSU and his first stint at Notre Dame.
Mike Denbrock stats in first 2 years as OC
The numbers show that his offense is about balance and efficiency, highlighted by a strong run game and big play passing game that allows his teams to increase the points per game with an efficiency rating of 1 point added per 7.3 yards per game.
The Notre Dame offense was 51st in the nation in passing efficiency, and that wasn’t a result that solely laid at the feet of starting quarterback Riley Leonard. The offensive suffered injuries and an inability to secure time to throw consistently, and the wide receiver group was unable to provide separation along with developing a habit of dropping passes in big moments. In order for Denbrock’s offense to continue his 2nd year trend, catching the rock has to be a top priority this spring.
'“From their stanpoint, we dropped the football way too much last year,” Denbock said. We gotta make the plays. I don’t know if you’d call them ordinary plays, but we need to make the plays.
“The ones that are 100 out of 100,” Denbrock continued. We gotta be 100 out of 100. That comes with consistency in depth, consistency in route running. For a wide receiver, to be honest with you, it really shouldn’t matter who the quarterback is.”
The Fighting Irish added transfers Will Pauling and Malachi Fields to the room with budding stars like Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse coming off big moments during the College Football Playoffs. There are several younger receivers getting opportunities this spring due to due to injuries like Cam Williams, Micah Gilbert, KK Smith, Logan Saldate, and freshmen Jerome Bettis Jr. and Elijah Burress. Securing the ball is the priority for WR coach Mike Brown and his group this spring and it’s an important facet independent of the ongoing quarterback battle.
notre dame pro day results
Xavier Watts was one of the main attractions as NFL coaches, executives and scouts descended upon South Bend for the 25th Pro Day. Watts has a chance to be selected in the top 50, and his performance helped those chances.
The 6-foot, 204-pound Watts put a number on his speed with a 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds. That time seemed to please several onlookers and confirmed Watts to be one of the best ball hawking safeties in the NFL Draft.
“I’m pretty satisfied with it," Watts said. "A lot of people thought I was like really slow, so I’m glad I came out here and did what I needed to do. I’m satisfied with what I did.”
It was good to see Riley Mills out of the walking boot and supporting his fellow teammates throughout the day. Mills says he progressing nicely in his rehab, and expects to start running again soon. His running mate, Howard Cross, put up solid results across the board without running the 40-yard dash.
The two Fighting Irish WRs showcased their skills with Kris Mitchell running the fastest 40 yard dash at 4.5, and Beaux Collins displaying 4.52 speed and 10-10 broad jump. They both ran crisp routes as they caught passes from Riley Leonard, who looked good on most balls he threw. Leonard threw several beautiful deep passes to receivers and was accurate outside the pocket. Another one of his pass catchers was Mitchell Evans, who showed he’s getting back to his original form running well in the 40 yard dash (4.68) and drills.
Jack Kizer followed up an impressive performance at the NFL combine with a solid day, and defensive back Jordan Clark showed well as his father, Ryan Clark, watched from nearby. New General Manager, Mike Martin, was seen working the crowd of scouts and coaches along with head coach Marcus Freeman and several assistant coaches.
Notre Dame football released the results from Pro Day in the Irish Athletics Center, which all 32 NFL teams sent a representative to attend.
5-star pass rusher set to visit notre dame march 27th
2027 6-5 220 pound DE DJ Jacobs of Roswell (Ga) Blessed Trinity received an offer from the Fighting Irish on Monday and immediately made plans to visit South Bend on March 27th. The 4-star elite pass rusher ranks 5th nationally according to 247. composite and shows incredible speed and quickness on film. Blessed Trinity also produced former Fighting Irish LB JD Bertand, and the two have spoken about how special of a place Notre Dame is.
“He’s (JDBertrand) told me about Notre Dame,” Jacobs told LLM. “I’m looking to actually seeing things for myself and getting to create my own experience.”
The recruitment has been a collaborative effort from the Fighting Irish staff, and that’s made an impression on Jacobs and his family.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of the coaches,” Jacobs continued. “I’ve been talking to Coach (Nick) Sebastian and Coach (Al) Washington for the most part. I really enjoy talking to them both and they really wanted to get me on campus, so I’ll be up there soon.”
Jacobs currently holds offers from schools like USC, Texas, Texa A&M, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.
5-star rodney dunham sets commitment date
Notre Dame made a great impression with 2026 5-star edge Rodney Dunham of Charlotte (NC) Myers Park on his recent visit to South Bend with several recruiting services predicting that the Fighting Irish will land the services of the talented pass rusher. We’ll find out soon where he’ll be going as he’s announced that a commitment will happen on April 10th.
The 6-foot, 4-inch and 227-pound pass rusher is the nation’s No. 33 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings,
There was a time very early on I would have argued that Notre Dam led, but when the big boys from the south and some teams with big NIL budgets started to get involved the Irish fell behind a bit. The Fighting Irish were relentless in their pursuit of Dunham during the open period and that energy persisted well into his visit with his family accompanying him. The staff would love to land both Dunham and another Carolina prospect, Ebenezer Ewetade, as a ddminant pair of pass rushers in the 2026 class.
His other finalists are Duke, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina, as Dunham has set official visits for all of them. Time will tell if he makes them following his commitment, but the Fighting Irish definitely have the momentum, and being chosen on April 10th would only be the beginning of the battle to secure his services on national signing day.
Film:
http://www.hudl.com/v/2Qdw19
ja’ juan seider has a clear plan for his running backs
When new Fighting Irish running back coach Ja’ Juan Seider departed Penn State, he knew he was stepping into an uber talented running back room. However, he also knew that he would be challenged to gain the trust of young men that had strong ties and belief in former running back coach Deland McCullough, who departed South Bend for a similar position with the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL. Coach Seider met with the assembled media and laid out his plan for his room during spring practice.
“Let's make the rep count because we in spring,” Seider explained. “We’re still in the process of learning new teaching, new read keys. I mean a bunch of newness, right? So we talked early when we first got here being uncomfortable and now it's time for us to be comfortable as a group and I think we're starting to get to that point where they trust me, I trust them and it's evolving.”
Seider’s Nittany Lion backfiield tandem combined for 2207 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns on the ground last year. By comparison, the top two Notre Dame running backs combined for 1871 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground. Notre Dame also got contributions from Freshman Aneyas Williams who thrived as the third down back. He rushed for 219 yards and two touchdown in addition to 18 receptions for 172 yards. The depth and versatility is an incredible luxury for Seider, but he feels that the room will go as the best player in the room goes.
Notre Dame RB Coach Ja’ Juan Seider
“Then with a guy like Jeremiyah who's obviously on a natural scale,” Seider said. How do you push in on this? Listen, my whole life and philosophy, how I grew as a coach, it doesn't matter if you are a national player, you coach your best players hard because if you don't, you fell on that kid in that moment, he don't improve, right? Last year is last year, nobody cared about last year. This is a new year. We talked about new year, new us. I wasn't here, nobody cares what Jeremiyah Love last year, it’s what Jeremiyah Love is going to do this year. So that's kind of been our mindset because you have to have a growth mindset, otherwise you could complain.”
That's definitely the type of coaching great players like Jeremiyah Love want because it sets the stage for evolution. You want to be able to take your game up from the next level, read keys and change the game, but your knowledge is supposed to expand and grow. Seider definitely seem like a coach that's going to promote that in new and fresh way. He has to keep the running backs on their toes and continue to push these guys forward so that they don't get comfortable in the sense that they can rely on the things that they could get away with last year. Whenever you're in a new relationship, there's a lot of proving that has to take place in regaining or building trust, and Seider’s design for his players seems to be resonationg. Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price both spoke about Seider’s playing experience as a quarterback and how it gives them both a new pre-snap perspective and understanding that they look forward to implementing in spring and fall practices.
One difference from last season for a talented six man room may be the usage of Jeremiyah Love on third downs and in clutch moments;
“I mean it's hard to go in a game, say you're going to play six, Seider explained. “ To me, that's impossible. I can always go back to what I'd done in 19. I had four freshmen hadn't separated they self, so we were trying to figure out who was going to be the guy and then eventually we had a kid named Jamie Brown, separate from everybody and then became a star player. And then you kind of balance even you got a star player. He shouldn't take every snap, right? He need balance. He need to be fresh for the fourth quarter. He need to be fresh for game winning situations. So here we got a good depth because you got Jay Love, you got your JaDarian, you got Gi’ Bran, you got Aneyas and you got Kedren. All those guys play. You just got to find out how you're going to fit those guys.”
‘27 qb trae taylor is okay with notre dame’s process
Notre Dame’s plan for quarterbacks in the 2027 class has been
mysterious to say the least, especially when “Pot of Gold” offers
concluded on March 17 th without zero offers being extended to signal
callers. Several of those highly ranked signal callers would be visiting
South Bend in the days to come, and one of those highly ranked
prospects was four-star 6-3 195-pound quarterback Trae Taylor of
Mundelein (Ill.) Carmel Catholic. When Taylor released his top five
schools in mid-February, the Fighting Irish were notably absent from the
list and there is a simple explanation as to why they were excluded.
“They were very understanding of why I didn’t have ND in the top 5,”
Taylor told LLM. “I can’t put a school in who hasn’t offered.
But best believe if I'm not committed, I’ll keep doing my due diligence
with other schools.”
Taylor and his father arrived in South Bend this past Friday with clear
plans. They were intent on viewing the practice to see how the offense
looked being led by the current quarterbacks amid a highly contested
battle, having a conversation with head coach Marcus Freeman and
Gino Guidugli, and assurances of an open line of communication. His
checklist was accomplished during the visit, and he couldn’t be more
pleased with the results.
“The practice was really good and fast,” Taylor elaborated. “I can see the
changes being made for the quarterbacks in that room now. I see myself
in the offense and it fits me. Coach (Mike) Denbrock told me let’s do
Jayden Daniels’ things together.
“Had a good talk with Coach Freeman,” Taylor continued. “He just said
I’m a priority and the process for quarterbacks is different, and that I
need to be somewhere where the coach has my back. We also talked
about what comes with being a Notre Dame quarterback.”
2027 QB Trae Taylor and Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman
Those conversations also yielded when an offer may be forthcoming,
and the smooth passer isn’t bothered one bit by the direction the
Fighting Irish have chosen.
“Sounds like no quarterbacks will be offered until May,” Taylor stated.
Coach Guidugli will go out and watch the quarterbacks throw at the end
of April, and then the offers will go out. They said I’ll be their first stop on
the way out.
“My commitment date is still June 6 th ,” Taylor continued. “So many have
asked me if I’m turned off by not having the offer. The answer is NO. As
long as the communication is there and the relationship is building, I’m
good. If the offer comes, then great. If not, I’ve built relationships with
some great people. Who knows where our paths may cross again.”
The Fighting Irish staff is not bruised because of Taylor’s top 5 schools.
They respect how Taylor has handled his recruitment, and the visit
seems to have intensified things on both sides moving forward. Taylor is
looking forward to the rest of the process and deciding on his school.
“I’ll be ready when they come to see me,” Taylor shared. “All the
coaches said they loved how I handled my recruitment, and they
appreciated it. They loved how I’m moving forward, not waiting but being
flexible.
“I started going to game day visits in 5 th grade,” Taylor continued. “I
started going to college camps in 6 th and my first offer was in 7 th . I’ve
been doing this for a long time, so I know what i want from a school and
program. That’s why I went back to Notre Dame. They offer what I want
on and off the field. I can’t believe it’s all about to be over. Once I
commit, I’m done unless the staff leaves.”
SHAUN M. DAVIS
Lucky Lefty Media
ND BUILDS WITH TALENTED ‘26 CB JAZIEL HART
Notre Dame knows a thing or two about talented, smart and confident corners, so it should come as no surprise that recently offered Jaziel Hart fits that mold perfectly. Irish secondary coach Mike Mickens offered Hart in February, and the relationship building since then has made the Irish a major contender for the Roanoke (Va.) North Cross standout. It was an impactful offer for Hart.
"The offer was huge,” Hart told LLM. "I’ve been talking and building the relationship with coach (Mike) Mickens and coach (Jevaughn) Codlin. I like the high energy they bring to the conversations."
Hart worked quickly to set up a visit to Notre Dame, which he is making next week on April 2nd.
"I want to meet the coaches and watch them practice,” Hart said. "They have good corners. I like the aggressive style they play, because that’s the way I like to play.”
The conversations with Mickens have also included discussions about the Virginian prep star’s game as he’s focused on getting better this offseason. Hart is looking forward to watching the Fighting Irish defensive backs and coaches in person during his upcoming visit.
"He (Mickens) told me that he loves my film,” Hart stated. "He said what he likes most about my game is my IQ and how I read things before the play and my athleticism. He’s told me some things I can work on as well.”
The tradition of Notre Dame is no secret to Hart, and he’s excited to see it all up close and personal when he makes his spring unofficial visit, and hopefully a summer official visit. They are both in advance of his pending July 3rd commitment announcement.
"Notre Dame has the tradition,” Hart elaborated. "I’ll be looking on how I fit into the program, the lifestyle outside of the school, getting closer to the players and just enjoying everything that comes my way.”
Hart has three official visits scheduled with Virginia Tech, Penn State and Michigan. The Fighting Irish are trending towards receiving his fourth visit spot in June if things continue to trend upward after the visit.
"We’ll talk about setting it up,” Hart stated. "Like I said, we’re just building the relationship now, and if things go well, I’ll probably get back up there again.”