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Eric Thomas
Senior Notre Dame football recruiting analyst and content contributor for Irish Illustrated (247Sports), formerly a walk-on in the University of Notre Dame football program.
14
APPEARANCES
2
PODCASTS
012
DEC 30
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Sep 17, 2026
Recruiting Roundup With Eric Thomas: '27 Commits Shine, Kaden Henderson Buzz, QB Recruiting, and Top '28 Targets
2:43
3:01
28:00

Tyler WojciakHOST
So which 2027 commits have been turning heads at the start of their senior seasons or I guess junior seasons for the guys who reclassified?
Eric ThomasGUEST
He went up against modern day the other the other weekend or they went up against modern day and despite the fact that.
25 MINS LATER

Tyler WojciakHOST
Who are some of the other top prospects in the 2020 class who are trending toward Notre Dame right now?
Tracking the Trail: Analyzing Champ Monds’ Injury, Notre Dame Visitor Preview for Rice, MSU
40:45
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17:10speaker_8ADVERTISER
For more information, see Kalshi.com/regulatory.
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17:13Eric ThomasGUEST
Yeah, for this weekend, there's a few guys, uh, and obviously we're, we're still working to confirm, but there's two guys that really jump out at me.
23 MINS LATER

Tom LoyGUEST
So he is the guy in '28 that they need to go out, spend every dollar possible to get him, and make sure he ends up at Notre Dame.
Tracking the Trail: Post-Fall Camp Notre Dame Recruiting Mailbag
10:22
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2:12Drew MentockHOST
Eric, quickly, just to start us off, could you provide the latest on offensive tackle Jackson Hill, interior lineman Richie Flanagan, and 2028 safety Andre Jones, the younger brother of Julius Jones Jr.?
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2:38Eric ThomasGUEST
Before the game, it was made clear that he was unavailable, but no further comment was made.
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2:42Eric ThomasGUEST
After the game, Eric Sondheimer of the LA Times, he's like the Don of West Coast football recruiting, man.
8 MINS LATER

Tom LoyGUEST
And you know what? Kudos to Marcus Freeman because he is a big game hunting across the country.
Tracking the Trail: 2028 Notre Dame Quarterback Updates, Recruiting Down Memory Lane
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27:12Eric ThomasGUEST
He was talking about taking visits in the summer, and the Notre Dame staff was like, "No, no, no, you should visit in the fall.
10 MINS LATER
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37:14speaker_3HOST
They are pushing all the right buttons.
Tracking the Trail: Roman Igwebuike Commits; Who Are the Best Notre Dame Fits in 2028?
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12:43Eric ThomasGUEST
And the first one, I mean, he's a consensus blue chipper, cornerback Langston Pridgen from DeMatha Catholic.
26 MINS LATER
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38:43Drew MentockHOST
That being said, if you had one position in 2028 that would be great to shatter and get a true five-star recruit, is it wide receiver, running back, or quarterback perhaps? And what chances and who do we have a reasonable chance of winning a composite five-star there?
Tracking the Trail: What Does Notre Dame Need to Finish with Top-3 Recruiting Class in 2027?
33:37
8 MINS LATER

Tom LoyGUEST
If it was my system and my department, I mean, these are the guys that I'm going all in for.
Tracking the Trail: Notre Dame Lands One Five-Star, Loses Out on Another
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16:05Eric ThomasGUEST
Yeah, I mean, we continue to hear that things are in a good spot for Notre Dame and Braden Parks.
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16:19Eric ThomasGUEST
There was definitely a lot of confidence and momentum coming out of the weekend.
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16:22Eric ThomasGUEST
But as I mentioned, like myself, my colleague Brian Donut, 247 Sports and several others were told at the time that like it doesn't sound like the Oregon business is going to happen.
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16:30Eric ThomasGUEST
And now that that is happening, he's supposed to fly out there if he's not now or already tonight.
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16:36Eric ThomasGUEST
Now that that is happening, there's a little bit of concern, right? Like even when you get the crystal balls and the excitement and everything that kind of comes with that coming out of the last official visit, like he's still taking this trip.
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21:42Drew MentockHOST
So he's much closer to those other two schools, similar to parks is much closer to South Bend than he is to Oregon.
Eric Thomas Shares Latest Notre Dame Recruiting Intel Before Major Official Visit Weekend
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4:41

Tyler WojciakHOST
So can you just walk us through the timeline with Kayden Henderson and how we got to this point from the time Notre Dame first started to gain traction to when they became the perceived favorite, and what ultimately changed over the last couple of days?
Eric ThomasGUEST
Yeah, I guess if you wanna start with Notre Dame getting traction, it goes back to his visit this spring.
Eric ThomasGUEST
Uh, Henderson was high on Notre Dame coming into that trip, but that really was kind of a landmark trip in his recruitment.
Eric ThomasGUEST
It really reshaped things, and from that point, Notre Dame just continued to rise and rise and rise.
Eric ThomasGUEST
And look, at, at, at various points there was a lot of confidence in other places.
6 MINS LATER
Tracking the Trail: Official Visit Season Arrives at Notre Dame
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12:17Drew MentockHOST
The fact that he's still taking a visit sounds like that's a positive development.
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12:21Eric ThomasGUEST
Yeah, with him, because of how up and down the recruitment had been and so many different lead changes over the course of the spring, it was clear that he was still taking on new data and kind of setting his footing on who are going to be the finalists moving forward.
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12:34Eric ThomasGUEST
So as we got into the official visits, it felt like if any of the visits were standout, especially for the Buckeyes, who he called the leaders heading into that period, it could be a situation where he decided to close things off.
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12:51Eric ThomasGUEST
And for the Fighting Irish, I think the biggest thing with Fakitu is they were very very close to landing him like it was not even outright favorites is a nice way to put it when Al Washington was still in place and obviously his departure for the Miami Dolphins after briefly being named a linebackers coach through wrenching things and for him the relationship side of things with Notre Dame felt like it started over but the Irish have really bridged that gap and they've done it despite not having him on campus a ton of times um Charlie about making those connections and making sure that they're building the relationship moving forward and this is a prime opportunity for Notre Dame to snatch back the lead and show him hey here's why you were close to committing before even with new leadership in town you know this is why you want to be here now and kind of going that direction in that angle and on the midweek thing I mean obviously it's it's suboptimal from the perspective of like We want to get in there on the big weekends and surrounded by people and there's a different energy on the weekends and there's a total focus on the visits.
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13:51Eric ThomasGUEST
But at the same time with a small group like this, when you have, you know, especially top priority guys, but a small group, you really are still able to dedicate quite a bit of focus and you can still replicate those experiences, even if it's less about the group communal aspect with your peers and more about, hey, we want you to spend time with current players.
10 MINS LATER
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23:48Drew MentockHOST
What are your thoughts on those two players as they get to campus next weekend? Well,
Irish Illustrated Insider: On Notre Dame’s 2026 Defense, Irish Invasion Standouts, Recruiting swings, Underrated Coaches and Overrated Positions
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0:47Tim O'MalleyHOST
Who stood out for you among the three that we kind of highlighted off, off air?
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1:00Eric ThomasGUEST
He stood out to me throughout the workout, really probably a head above everybody else just because of the combination of, like, accuracy, the ability to throw off platform.
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1:10Eric ThomasGUEST
It wasn't the best, like, consistent velocity of the group, but it was more than enough to do what he needed to do.
13 MINS LATER
Tracking the Trail: With Jackson Vaughn in the Fold, Who’s Notre Dame’s Next 2027 Commit?
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15:20Drew MentockHOST
Um, why is he somebody you, you wanted to put on this list and, and where does Notre Dame stand in his recruitment?
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15:26Eric ThomasGUEST
Yeah, it's, this is the one that folks have been, uh, have been asking about for a long time.
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15:32Eric ThomasGUEST
And obviously when you have a legacy like this, especially a high-ranked one, it, it, it captures a lot of intrigue.
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15:37Eric ThomasGUEST
But even beyond that, I think Notre Dame losing, uh, Trent Mosley last cycle to USC really kind of put a bad taste in some people's mouth with the legacy thing.
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15:45Eric ThomasGUEST
So that kind of put the, the onus more on Julius Jones from a fan perspective.
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15:51Eric ThomasGUEST
Um, he has a tentative commitment date, and I say tentative because, uh, it's scheduled on 247Sports for June 27th.
10 MINS LATER
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25:57Drew MentockHOST
You, you mention him as a wild card, so, so why is that the case and, and what do you see shaping up for him over the next few weeks?
Recruiting Roundup With Eric Thomas: DL Recruiting Momentum, Charlie Partridge’s Impact, LB Concerns, and Updates on Top Targets
5:03
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Tyler WojciakHOST
So what have you heard about his recruiting approach and why he has been so effective so quickly?
Eric ThomasGUEST
They feel that he's trustworthy, he's loyal, he's someone that's really, not to be overly denigrating to other coaches, but, like, he's really human.
28 MINS LATER
Tracking the Trail: Fighting Irish Land David Folorunsho, Notre Dame’s Third Top-100 Commit in May
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1:53Eric ThomasGUEST
So Fulh dunso is a player that, uh, started to really appear on national radars, uh, you know, in 2025, but his really big, uh, the, the explosion of his profile really came this off-season.
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2:07Eric ThomasGUEST
I think he had, like, eight offers coming into the calendar year 2026, and now he's over 30.
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2:12Eric ThomasGUEST
Um, he leaped from, like, three-star status to four-star stat- or to, you know, top 100 four-star status, borderline five-star.
13 MINS LATER
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15:11Drew MentockHOST
So Eric, what did Notre Dame, though, see in these two lesser well-known prospects who maybe aren't getting the hype that these top 100 guys are right now?
Tracking the Trail: The Latest on Notre Dame Quarterback Recruiting, Blue-Gold Game Visitor Recap
6 MINS LATER
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9:36Drew MentockHOST
So Eric, where are they kind of with the quarterback board in the next three classes?