Brian Kelly wants to return to South Bend and learn a few things from Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman. It’s no surprise that the recently-fired former LSU coach is seeking pointers. After all, while Kelly made improvements for the Fighting Irish before leaving for Baton Rouge, Freeman is achieving recruiting results rarely seen in Touchdown Jesus-land.
Marcus Freeman has Notre Dame football recruiting at a level Brian Kelly never sustained
Freeman had one heck of a 2026 recruiting class, but it’s possible his 2027 cycle will be even better. Assuming that the school holds onto everyone it’s brought into the fold - and flips have been rare in this era - the Irish will have at least five top-100 prospects. Freeman has done that in three of the last four years. And while it does indeed sound rather rare, there’s context that demonstrates just how much of an upgrade Freeman’s recruiting has been over his predecessor.
Before Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame had gone a decade without five top-100 players in a cycle. Oluwasemilore Olubobola is the highest-ranked of this year’s bunch with Rivals ranking him the No. 17 player of the cycle. The 5-star offensive tackle committed to the Irish earlier this week, essentially securing that third class with so many top-100 commits. This year, he’s joined by offensive tackle James Halter (57th), cornerback Xavier Hasan (60th), edge rusher Aidan O’Neill (73rd), and cornerback Ace Alston (97th).
Marcus Freeman keeps proving Notre Dame football is recruiting at a different level
Notre Dame has had success in attracting some of the best players in the country over the last few years, and it looks like this class will be the jewel of the Freeman era. Olubobola's commitment pushed the Irish to No. 4 in the country according to 247Sports’ ratings. The jump inside the Top 5 is great; that they leaped over old rival USC makes it all the sweeter.
ND has been in this situation before. They carried the No. 1 ranking for quite a while last year before eventually fading a bit. This time around, it looks like the team might have more staying power, as only Texas A&M has fewer commitments. Considering the Golden Domers are expected to add several more commits and possibly yet another top-100 or two, there’s a chance the program could keep moving on up.
Brian Kelly’s potential return to South Bend won’t be without some pomp and circumstance. It might also include protests from fans who want one of the least-liked former coaches to just stay away and not bring his “curse” on them. One has to wonder if he’ll honestly learn something or just talk about how things were when he was in charge. He seems like someone who would love to pretend as though times were better.
It’s very clear that times were, in fact, not better under Brian Kelly. Notre Dame is moving into a position where claims that it hasn’t been better for about 80 years won’t be entirely out of line. If the Fighting Irish can do what’s expected of them and win a national title this year, the Freeman era could take its position amongst the best in the history of the program.
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