Notre Dame football getting a second shot at top LB prospect

While the Notre Dame football team is busy focusing on a playoff run. It sounds like Marcus Freeman and company are also going to be doing some pretty heavy recruiting.

That was most recently evidenced by the fact that they’re working to get yet another visit by one of the best linebackers in the 2026 class. In the process, the Fighting Irish look like a front runner for an early commit from Thomas Davis Jr.

Freeman and the coaches have managed to use the by week to get some visits scheduled for later in the season. That includes Davis taking his third trip to South Bend when the Notre Dame football team takes on the 1-7 Florida State Seminoles.

Notre Dame football hooking into top-rated linebacker

“Pretty much every week, I've been talking to Coach (Max) Bullough, Coach (Al) Golden and Coach (Marcus) Freeman and Carter Auman,” Davis recently told Irish Sports Daily “I talk to Carter almost every day.”

“They're great people,” he continued. “Football and non-football, great people.”

The Irish do indeed look like a team that is making a great impression on Davis. On3 currently rates the Notre Dame football team as having a 93.7% chance of landing the 4-star prospect who is the 14th best linebacker in the 2026 class and an 10th best player in the state of North Carolina.

Though the Irish are close to landing him, it’s not sewn up yet. 

“I went to an Oregon game and I went to a Tennessee game,” Davis said. “That's pretty much it.”

He’s planning a trip to Ohio State for its annual rivalry game against Michigan at the end of the month. It’s possible that Notre Dame football could see a hit in its lead at that point.

Davis expects to trim his list down sometime after the season. Though at the moment there isn’t an official date.