There’s zero doubt that the Notre Dame football team is on quite the heater over the last few weeks. After landing yet another elite defender on Friday morning, the Irish continue to rocket up the ranks for the 2026 football recruiting class.
That rise in the ranks comes after the Blue and Gold entered March having some people wonder if Marcus Freeman’s magic touch was starting to fade a bit. Turns out the lack of confidence in the head coach’s recruiting acumen was very misplaced.
Notre Dame football rises into top five as another commitment decision looms
Adding Jakobe Clapper put the Notre Dame football team in the Top 5 in all the major recruiting rankings and even got it up to No.2 in the 247Sports list. The argument can be made that Freeman is doing more with less, considering that USC is at No. 1 in those rankings, thanks largely to already having a whopping 26 commitments, compared to the Irish having 13.
Granted, other recruiting analysts also believe that the Trojans are having a heck of a year with volume as Lincoln Riley’s squad is also ranked at the top of the Rivals board. That site has Notre Dame sitting at No. 4, behind just USC, Clemson and LSU.
On3 also has the Trojans occupying the top spot in its rankings with LSU at No. 2, Ohio State at No. 3 and then Notre Dame in that fourth spot again.
While there’s already plenty of reason for ND fans to be excited about the direction of the program and it’s recruiting, there’s a very good chance its class is only going to get better later tonight.
4-star running back Javian Osborne is set to announce his commitment on Saturday afternoon and while it’s coming down to the Notre Dame football team and Michigan, most analysts believe that the Irish will win that head-to-head battle as well.