Notre Dame football makes the cut for top tight end as recruiting battle heats up

The Notre Dame football team prides itself on being the new version of Tight End U. And in order to keep that promise going. Specifically, the Irish are trying to land some talented prospects in the 2026 class. And one of those targets just announced that Marcus Freeman’s squad is among his favorites.

Gavin Mueller is one of the best tight end prospects in the cycle and that’s especially demonstrated when looking at the teams that are still fighting for his services. Muller is down to his Top 8 and all of those eight teams are Power conference squads.

In addition to the Notre Dame football team, Mueller named North Carolina State, Arkansas, Colorado, Ole Miss, Purdue, Wisconsin and Texas A&M. 

Notre Dame football among favorites for 3-star tight end prospect

The tight end prospect from South Elgin, Illinois stands 6-foot-5 and weighs in at 230 pounds. That frame is likely one of the reasons he’s so sought after.

At the moment, On3 has the Badgers as the team that is the front runner, though obviously there’s plenty of time for the Irish to change that. 

The fact that Notre Dame football came in rather late with an offer for the 2026 prospect could be a sign that they’re making up a gap rather quickly. The next step is going to be trying to get Mueller to take an official visit to South Bend. The talented player is obviously going to have plenty of schools battling with the Fighting Irish for those visits.