Notre Dame football: What does linebacker Preston Zinter bring to the Irish?

Notre Dame football has landed 2023 linebacker Preston Zinter out of Massachusetts and now holds the No. 1 class in the country, passing up Georgia with the same number of commitments. Zinter was on campus recently to get to know the new coaches as the program started the Freeman era off with some visits.

Head coach Marcus freeman has been extremely high on Zinter and treated him like a top priority from the start, which was obviously huge for Zinter and his family. The combination of football and academic success was tough for Zinter to pass up, which is usually the case for most of recruits that show lots of interest in Notre Dame, and he decided to pull the trigger on Friday and commit to the Fighting Irish.

At the moment, Zinter holds 23 offers from the likes of Ohio State, LSU, Georgia and Penn State among many other top programs.

What does Preston Zinter bring to the Notre Dame football program?

The 6-foot-2 215 pound linebacker is extremely versatile and athletic. He actually plays on both sides of the ball, having a ton of success at tight end in high school and I wouldn’t count out him possibly playing on offense in South Bend down the road.

But Freeman and the staff want him at linebacker to start off that’s for sure. He brings tons of physicality to his game and isn’t afraid to lay the wood on his opponent, whether he’s on offense or defense honestly. He wants to be a wall at linebacker and will push you back if you try and square up with him.

Something else that’ll be extremely helpful early in his career is his football IQ, especially at linebacker. He has a great feel for the game and I think will excel great in the middle of the defense and running the show. At the end of the day if Marcus Freeman loves him, we all should too.

With Preston Zinter making it official, the Irish now hold nine commitments, with seven of those on defense and two on the offensive side of the ball.

Notre Dame football: 2023 recruiting class could yield nation’s best defense

The Notre Dame football program is loading up talent on their 2023 recruiting class, and the defense could end up being elite.

Zinter will be joining Drayk Bowen in the linebacker room and I wouldn’t be surprised if the class takes at least four linebackers again this cycle, similar to last year. This is the fastest start in a recruiting class that I can ever remember for Notre Dame and it’s honestly just getting started for Marcus Freeman and the Irish staff.