So there's a lot of secondary sell aspects that come from having talent like this around and interacting with other recruits.

This is a massive deal getting these guys on campus, but I also don't want to sell a false narrative.

I would be shocked if Notre Dame eventually lands and you do these guys, just to be clear.

I think it's great that they're getting Flugitz on campus because he's got so much potential.

He is... a rock star.

I don't think he's a sure thing, but man, there's so much to like about him athletically as a passer.

He could play safety.

But these guys are fits, and I could see Nordheim getting them.

What are your thoughts on that recruitment, his process overall, his status with Ohio State, and where does Miami stand in all of this?

you bringing up the moment he actually committed makes me feel like I was literally in this position with DJ on the other side where you were and his family on a couch.

And I was probably like 10 minutes before he announced and he's just like, I was like, DJ, where are we going, bud? What's going on? And he's like, and he looks at his phone, hold on a second.

And he goes and makes the phone call to Ryan Day.

And like it was...

It was pretty wild how that all played out behind the scenes.

He was that torn.

A couple guys that you would bring to the table for Miami right now.

But obviously with the board going it, it seems like they're kinda just waiting for some other dominoes to fall to kinda action this one.

Yeah.

I, I don't have, I don't have much on, on his recruitment, but I do wanna touch on him as a player.

So I was at that game last week and 'cause they were playing Loyola was taking on IC Catholic and, and Grant Bowen.

But, um, there's a couple of guys at Loyola I, I believe Notre Dame should be on, and Brock has a shot.

I think he's better served to potentially be a guard at the next level or slide him inside.

But man, he, he keeps a clean pocket for another guy that I think Notre Dame should be on, and that's quarterback Matthew Lee.

So if that's, you know, two verse three, two undefeated programs in November, what kind of momentum would that get for Notre Dame in terms of just a recruiting perspective?

Are there any of those prospects who could be playing out of position? And anymore, does the staff exhaust those options now that recruiting is running so smoothly?" Tom, we'll start with you.

I mean, you see, you see a lot of that, uh, a lot of receivers turn into tight ends in college, so that's pretty, pretty normal just from the pure physical growth.

Um, but I think ours, our, I think our team at, at 24/7 Sports, led by our director of scouting, Andrew Ivins, and you mix in Hudson Standish and Gabe Brooks, like, I feel like we do a better job now of sniffing out the guys earlier and labeling them tight ends in high school, even though they're, you know, a lot of these tight ends that we, we talk about, they're basically glorified receivers at the high school level.

You also see it at the defensive back level, uh, in high school.

You see guys eventually transition to linebacker.

Again, they just ph- fill out, they physically change, they grow up, they mature.

Um, I'm looking at No- I mean, thinking about Notre Dame's roster.

Talented guy

It's just the nature of it.

Yeah, I think in the secondary, since you brought it up, I think Notre Dame made a move with both of the visitors this weekend when you're adding Langston Pridgen and you're adding Gio McKnight, top 247 safety from Ohio.

I mean, these are the two that Notre Dame...

These are the kids you want to land that take your program or keep your program on that upper tier.

Because I think Langston is tremendously talented.

I think he's a great fit within the program and the school.

And I think he sees that as well.

Now with game day visits commencing, how many historical commitments do we normally have with the class ahead before the regular season ends? Hence, how many numbers should we expect to occur before the end of the year in the class of 2028? And if you had to guess five names who are likely to commit here this fall, regardless of whether it's to ND or elsewhere, who are some names you're looking to see make early decisions? Tom, we'll start with you.

Um, you know, there's, there's a couple of guys who are just really, really good players expected to come here, so.

Just a couple that stick out from those two.

Um, Austin Phillips for sure, the 2029 linebacker.

He actually goes to where my wife went to high school.

Um, so I'm in, I'm in Kendallville, Indiana a lot.

Um, and I've known about Austin Phillips for, like, I feel it's, like, two years now.

But really burst on the scene last year in the state, in, as they were kind of in the state playoffs.

It's a multifaceted question, right? Uh, Tom, you wanna take a stab? [laughs]

I want deep polls, you guys.

Yeah, I felt I was wanting to being asked a question and being told like the rules of my question or my answer.

But you know what? Like and yeah, I do feel like the guys that he mentioned, Theo Shaw, Jack McNamara would probably be on my list, but we will.

We'll take it a step further.

I think I'm going to go a little bit more than five because I just want to kind of provide some context.

At quarterback, I do believe it'll end up being, whether people love this or don't, I think it'll end up being Brady Quinn or Hunter Fujikawa.

I do believe that Josiah Boyd, like I've mentioned a couple weeks now, he's absolutely a contender to get the next scholarship offer from Notre Dame at quarterback.

But if you come in here and do the things we ask you to do, like Marcus Freeman said the other day, clear your plate and keep asking for more, like we're going to get you on the field.

What does the 2028 quarterback board look like? Is Notre Dame going to try and flip one of their top targets who committed elsewhere, or are they making inroads with any uncommitted prospects? Tom, we'll start with you on this one.

Man, this has been, uh, this has been something to track closely.

They look, like, if we could just look at a couple names.

They love Donald Tayron II, but I'm expecting him to pick, uh, Texas A&M on Saturday.

They have not made a run at Anthony Turner, a guy that I'm a huge fan of, in our top 100.

They obviously lost Demon Lawrence.

They weren't gonna get him.

Who are some guys from the Freeman era or heck even the Kelly era with whom Notre Dame actually had a good shot with but that many Notre Dame fans might not know about?

They fit some of the recruiting areas for Notre Dame here in this class.

I mean, I have no argument with any of those guys.

I mean, if Notre Dame lands any of them, they are in a great spot, and those are three of the top players.

So that's three priority targets, like you said.

But I'll take it a different direction.

I'm going to go, for the most part, defense, but I want to throw in one guy on offense.

I think the guy that everybody would be jumping for joy to land is top 100 linebacker Taj Gray.

I

But Tom, what does this mean for the class to have him in the fold?

Yeah, this is a home run all the way.

I mean, I'm one of Julius Jones' biggest fans.

I mean, I get it.

He's light in stature.

He's not 6'2".

He's probably 5'9", 5'10".

But yeah, I don't, I don't know that it's a major factor in the Chicago land area specifically.

the following weekend, but they have five priority prospects and two commits on campus.

Yeah, I mean, I'll start with, I think Abraham Cisse is probably the one that everybody's going to be looking at because this is a big-time player, top prospect, one of the most elite edge rushers in America, and I think Notre Dame's in a really good spot.

We've made that very clear at Irish Illustrated that we like Notre Dame's chances, and when you talk to people inside the goo, there's a lot of confidence in this one.

Like, you know, there was some chatter about Duke potentially pulling off, and there was some chatter about LSU, but...

In the end, I think that this kid sees a fit at Notre Dame that's tremendous.

I think that the entire defensive staff has made him a priority.

They're pushing for him, and he's connecting with them extremely well.

Do you think that's significant for Notre Dame, that they're going to maybe get the last word before he presumably shuts it down and makes a decision?

So it's an exciting time to kind of track the quarterback recruiting because it's about as much motion as we've gotten in, I don't know, two years? Yeah.

Yeah.

Just to kind of like put a bow on everything.

I think once the decision was made to cancel the visit with Peter Bork, it was, the writing was on the wall that the wonderful Mons was likely bound for Notre Dame.

So we'll see what happens there.

But yeah, I mean, it's hard to argue with everything we've heard behind the scenes, like the Irish in a really good spot there.

And then with Neiman Lawrence, look, man, we, I sat down and had a great conversation with him recently in Dallas at the OT seven regional there.

Terms and conditions apply.