The Notre Dame football team's Friday was about as good as could be expected for Marcus Freeman's program. Considered the front runners for some of the best defensive back recruits in the country, the Irish hauled in not one but two commits.
4-star cornerback Khary Adams kicked off the festivities with a morning pledge. While that was a big deal for Mike Mickens and his unit, it was another announcement the Irish knew was coming on Friday night. When Joey O'Brien also picked Notre Dame, it became a party.
Notre Dame football vaults to No. 2 recruiting class after big Friday additions
That party carried a Notre Dame football team that was already having an incredible recruiting run to new heights in the 2026 class. Marcus Freeman's program is now the second-ranked class among all teams in the 2026 cycle. This comes after spending a decent amount of time among the top-ranked teams in the 2025 class. Freeman has taken his squad to levels not seen in South Bend in quite some time.
On3 has the Irish ranked behind bitter rival USC, though there is a caveat. The Trojans have 30 commits compared to ND's 19. That site has an average rating for players, and Freeman's class does have a better per-player rating than Lincoln Riley's.
The same can be said on 247Sports, where the Irish are again ranked behind USC but have a per-player rating of 92.72 compared to the Trojans' 91.89 rating per commit.
Rivals show the same level of success for Notre Dame football. It's not just that they're ranked second in the country, but they would jump Riley's squad if the per-player rating applied to the same number of commits. With several other top-notch recruits expected to announce their commitment to the Blue and Gold soon, the Golden Domers have at least a shot of vaulting into the top spot.