Notre Dame Football: Impact of the 2022 and 2023 Recruiting Classes
By Blake Soffa
Notre Dame Football: Impact of the 2022 and 2023 Recruiting Classes
2022 Class
I am going to once again tip my cap to the hiring of Marcus Freeman because the Irish are off to a flaming hot start recruiting on the defensive side of the ball in 2022. Notre Dame currently sits at number 2 in the national team rankings according to 247 sports as a result of the most recent commit, Joshua Burnham.
The athletic linebacker from Traverse City, MI is ranked 85th overall and this recruitment is thanks to the hard work of Nick Lezynski and Freeman. The north Michigan native was seemingly headed to Ann Arbor for months, but some changes to the Wolverine defensive staff were key for the Irish to swoop in on this recruitment and ultimately end up winning it.
There’s still more work to be done and the Irish staff knows it. They are still putting work on top-notch elite football players across the country and won’t stop pursuing them until signing day next year.
What’s the impact of this?
The program has seen a new light and has found a new approach to connect with these young talents. They are more active on a day-to-day basis in contacting these young men and are putting a different perspective in play about the University.
Several top 2022 recruits were able to make their way to South Bend in late 2019 and early 2020 before the pandemic hit, and this only helps the Irish further along the journey. The efforts and new style of recruiting we are seeing translates to the 2023 recruits and the coaches have put together a solid method to approach this.