Notre Dame Recruiting Roundup – February 4th

Who said that the offseason was boring? Notre Dame football certainly didn’t get the memo. This past week brought a ton of news, including news that director of recruiting Chad Bowden was remaining with the program after Michigan made a strong push. The coaches were also once again on the road, visiting the schools of top 2025, 2026 and even 2027 recruits.

The 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl also concluded on Saturday, featuring a week of practice with five former Irish standouts. Quarterback Sam Hartman, cornerback Cam Hart, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, and linebackers JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau spent the week down in Mobile, Alabama hoping to impress NFL scouts and decision makers in attendance.

Let’s recap the busy week. Here is everything that you may have missed.

LATEST RECRUITING NEWS

Notre Dame is hoping to get some good news on Thursday, February 8th at 5 PM eastern time when 2025 Waukesha (Wisc.) Catholic Memorial offensive tackle Owen Strebig is set to make his commitment between finalists Notre Dame, USC, Florida, Florida State and Wisconsin. The Irish have been the assumed leader for a leader for the 6-8, 290-pound behemoth. The staff has the chance to continue to put together an impressive offensive line class in 2025.

There were also several players that were offered by the program this week. That includes 2025 Greater Latrobe (Pa.) High School linebacker Alex Tatsch, who is one of the more versatile second level defenders in the 2025 class. As it turns out, Notre Dame is a school that Tatsch has been thinking about for a long time.

The staff also extended an offer to 2027 Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne athlete Jamier Brown. He attends the same high school that Marcus Freeman and Mike Mickens attended, and Brown has already begun to really blow up as a recruit. It isn’t often that Notre Dame extends offers to freshman but Brown is that talented.

One of the most talented cornerback targets on the 2025 board is Buford (Ga.) High School star Devin Williams. Earlier this week, the staff made the trip out to Buford to see the dynamic cover man. They continue to push extremely hard for Williams.

In those travels, Mike Denbrock traveled to Goodland (Kansas) High School to check in on star 2025 tight end Linkon Cure. The 6-6, 220-pound pass catcher is one of the top tight ends in the 2025 class overall. There had been a break in communication with the transition from Gerad Parker to Coach Denbrock. It appears that contact is beginning to heat up.

Over the weekend, 2026 Newbury Park (Calif.) High School quarterback Brady Smigiel visited Oregon. He had a tremendous visit but despite that, Smigiel spent a lot of time talking about Notre Dame. The program seems to have made a very strong early impression on him.

As we sit here in February, Notre Dame already holds 14 commits in the 2025 recruiting class. They are well on their way to signing an elite safety class, which includes Connecticut standout Ethan Long. The standout defender went in depth on his relationship with fellow commit Ivan Taylor and top remaining target JaDon Blair.

Taylor is an elite player on the field, but may be an even better person. He is a perfect fit for the Notre Dame program.

The Irish staff also has a chance to sign an outstanding offensive line class in 2025. Notre Dame currently holds a commitment from Will Black, who is arguably the top player in the state of Connecticut. Black is now helping the program push for several other talented offensive linemen, which he already has great relationships with.

Speaking of talent, there may not be a more underrated commit in the 2025 class for Notre Dame than Honolulu (Hawaii) Punahou linebacker Josiah Kia. He is the type of versatile second level defender that the Irish staff gravitates towards.

The Notre Dame coaches also spent time stopping into schools, scouting and potentially finding new targets to add to the board. One player to keep an eye on is 2025 St. Augustine (Fla.) High School pass catcher Carl Jenkins Jr. Mike Brown was out to see him this week.

Coach Denbrock was also out to see elite 2026 Saint George (Utah) Pine View tight end Brock Harris. He is arguably the most talented player at his position in the class. It appears Notre Dame has made a good impression on him early.

Gino Guidugli has spent the last couple of weeks visiting several quarterbacks in the 2026 class. That includes Darien (Conn.) High School signal caller Ben Rolapp. He spent some time throwing in front of Coach Guidugli.

2024 REESE’S SENIOR BOWL

Over 100 of the top 2024 NFL Draft prospects traveled to Mobile, Alabama this past week to participate in the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Included in that group, former Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman, cornerback Cam Hart, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, and linebackers JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau were all represented the blue and gold proudly.

Jean-Baptiste was originally set to attend the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl earlier this week. The talented defensive end got the call up to hopefully impress some of the talent evaluators on site.

After the week of practice, several Notre Dame players really impressed those in attendance. It was considered a success as a program, turning some heads and potentially raising their draft stock.

On Saturday, the former Irish stars played in the game with hope of capping off solid weeks.

NEW OFFERS

Here are the players that were extended offers by Notre Dame this past week.

WR VERNON ALLEN III – BALTIMORE (Md.) CITY COLLEGE

LB ALEX TATSCH – GREATER LATROBE (Pa.) HIGH SCHOOL

CB JAMIER BROWN – HUBER HEIGHTS (Ohio) WAYNE

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