Notre Dame has a clear reason to recruit 2028 prospect Braxton Rein: his tight end skills make him one of the best players in the class. Rein also appears to understand that Marcus Freeman and Co. have established themselves as one of the best producers of NFL tight ends in college football today.
Rein recently told On3’s Mike Singer that he’ll be taking a visit to South Bend this fall to get his first look at the Fighting Irish in person. Ahead of that visit, the prospect also told the analyst that what has really grabbed his attention is how ND uses and develops tight ends.
“I talk to Coach Harris Bivin a good bit — the entire staff is great,” Rein told Singer. “I really like what they’ve done with their tight ends.”
The good news for Notre Dame is that Rein looks interested in the program, and the Fighting Irish could shake up his recruitment. Rivals national recruiting analyst Chad Simmons recently made predictions for where some of the top uncommitted 2028 recruits will end up. While Simmons predicted Rein to Ole Miss, he listed Notre Dame as the biggest potential threat in this recruitment.
Four-star TE Braxton Rein has his first Notre Dame visit scheduled. It's a big one 👀☘️
— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) August 27, 2026
“I talk to Coach Harris Bivin a good bit — the entire staff is great. I really like what they’ve done with their tight ends.”
Full story: https://t.co/cEhAxTZPs5 pic.twitter.com/D2fmH7Hpm3
Braxton Rein praises Notre Dame football tight end development before November visit
Simmons wrote that Rein’s recruitment remains wide open, but Ole Miss has consistently stood out and built the best foundation entering fall camp. However, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Florida remain firmly involved.
The Fighting Irish have one commit in the 2027 class at tight end in Titus Hawk, and if Rein did move away from SEC country, he would be the addition to the position group from the 2028 class. He’s good enough to fill that role and be the only guy at TE that Freeman and his staff would need to reel in.
The 6-foot-6, 235-pound 4-star tight end from Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a two-way prospect who has also played defensive end/EDGE and helped Baylor finish 12-0 and win the Tennessee Division II-AAA state championship during his sophomore season.
Rein is ranked as the No. 141 player in the 2028 class, the No. 7 player at his tight end position and the No. 9 player in the state of Tennessee according to the latest publicly available 247Sports Composite Rankings. The individual 247Sports rankings are considerably higher on him, placing Rein No. 43 nationally, No. 2 among tight ends and No. 1 in Tennessee.
In addition to Notre Dame, Rein has offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin, among others. The tight end has more than 30 offers.
It’s not just that Rein plays on both sides of the ball, but he excels both on offense and defense. As a freshman in 2024 at Starr's Mill, Rein recorded 49 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and one interception on defense while catching 6 passes for 84 yards and one touchdown offensively. He transferred to Baylor for his sophomore season and earned MaxPreps Sophomore All-America honors. Rein caught the game-winning six-yard touchdown in Baylor's 28-24 state championship victory over Brentwood Academy.
With Rein coming to see Notre Dame on November 7 against Miami, the Fighting Irish have a chance to make a very good first impression.
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