It’s National Signing Day on Wednesday for Notre Dame Football and the rest of the country. Over the years we have seen the calendar change several times for the recruiting cycle, and this year brings another change as the early period for Signing Day is sooner than it’s ever been — which is fine. Now Notre Dame fans get to see the fruits of what a Marcus Freeman recruiting class really looks like even earlier.
When Marcus Freeman was hired as the new head coach for the Irish football team, there was a general consensus that recruiting would take off due to everything that Marcus brings to the table with Notre Dame, and his relentless passion and work ethic with recruiting. There was a slight problem though… the game changed.
NIL and the transfer portal changed EVERYTHING about college football recruiting, and Marcus Freeman (along with the Notre Dame administration) had to adjust on the fly to the new way of things. There were definitely some hiccups along the way, but with a 43-11 record since his first season in 2022, those “hiccups” weren’t all that bad. It was never more evident than Notre Dame’s run in the college football playoff last season as they won 3 playoff games to get to the National Championship game — and with the youngest team in the playoffs.
But there have been a lot of questions regarding the state of recruiting at Notre Dame. Would the Irish ever sign a top five class, which was nominally made as the standard for teams chasing national titles? It was a major problem for RKGer and different aisle shopper, Brian Kelly, and the first few classes under Marcus Freeman weren’t overly encouraging as, again, they navigated the new world of roster management with NIL.
Freeman and Notre Dame finally kicked things into gear with his 4th class — the upcoming 2026 recruiting class. This 2026 class is the highest rated class (currently ranked #3 by the 247 Team Composite) in the internet era (since 2000), and it’s likely the best since the days of Lou Holtz. It’s truly incredible.
So yeah… the 2026 class that is going to sign on Wednesday is going to be a Top 5 class (#2 on the Rivals Industry ranking) and it’s the absolute BEST that we have seen — maybe ever.
The Notre Dame momentum is real with Marcus Freeman leading the way. Notre Dame is truly back to being one of the elite programs in the sport of college football, rathwer than that blue-blood that’s still a step or two away.
