Brian Kelly exits Notre Dame with big shoes to fill
The Fighting Irish are no strangers to top recruiting classes. During the Brian Kelly era, the Irish often finished in the top 15 each year. Kelly recruited and coached many top-level prospects like Quenton Nelson, Ronnie Stanley, Manti Te’o, and Jaylon Smith.
Brian Kelly was very successful in building a roster and competing at a high level but struggled to get his teams over the top. The Irish struggled in the 2013 National Championship, 2018 College Football Playoff, and the 2020 College Football Playoff.
While Kelly often finished inside the top 15 recruiting classes, the Irish often found themselves lagging behind top programs. While Notre Dame is considered a “blue blood” program in college football, the Irish have not been able to consistently get top-level recruits to commit.
Marcus Freeman’s era begins with a bang
Marcus Freeman has already done in one offseason what Kelly could not accomplish in the entirety of his time with the Irish, recruit a #1 overall class. The Marcus Freeman lead Irish tentatively already have accomplished that, twice.
Currently, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have the #1 overall recruiting class in 2023 and 2024. A lot can change by the time 2024 rolls around for the Irish, but this overall interest and draw from the coaching staff is hopefully a great sign for things to come.
One thing in common with all the Notre Dame teams under Kelly was the lack of an elite quarterback. Notre Dame has had competent, and sometimes great, quarterback play throughout the Kelly era.
Big haul in 2023 with QB of the future
2023 and 2024 classes loaded with talent
Notre Dame received nine recruit commitments from the 2023 and 2024 classes in the last month. 2023 recruit offensive lineman Joe Otting on June 7th, and cornerback Christian Gray on July 4th. There were five more commitments in between Otting and Gray, including CJ Carr.
CJ Carr committed to the Irish in 2024. A top 5 recruit nationally, Carr has an opportunity to play a significant role early in his career playing under Freeman. The Irish need a top-level signal-caller in order to compete with top-tier football programs like Alabama.
Top five recruit over the last decade commits to Notre Dame
The gem of the 2023 recruiting class is defensive end, Keon Keeley, from Berkeley Prep.
Pete Sampson from The Athletic states that “Keeley is ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect nationally on On3, No. 9 on 247 Sports, No. 14 on Rivals and No. 23 on ESPN. According to 247Sports player ratings, he’s behind only Jimmy Clausen, Jaylon Smith, Manti Te’o and Sam Young as the highest ranked Irish commits of the internet rating era. He’s the highest ranked recruit in a decade to commit to Notre Dame. He’s the highest rated defensive lineman in more than 20 years, or at least since that that stuff started to get tracked.”
Marcus Freeman has yet to prove that he is a great head coach, but he has shown that he is a great recruiter that will usher in a new era of Fighting Irish football.