Notre Dame makes surprising top-four leap in 2025 recruiting rankings

Notre Dame is doing a lot of work on the recruiting trail, and it seems to be paying off as the Fighting Irish now have 16 recruits for the Class of 2026 and potentially even more incoming. Marcus Freeman has worked hard over the last few weeks and during official visit weekends to get guys in the building, and it is being noticed in On3's latest recruiting rankings.

Freeman has been hot on the recruiting trail, and clearly others are noticing, as On3 moved Notre Dame from No. 12 to No. 4 on its 2026 Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Rankings. The Fighting Irish may not have had the biggest jump by any team, but from not even cracking the top 10 to now being in the top four is something to take notice of.

Notre Dame's latest commit came back on the first day of June from four-star quarterback NoahGrubbs out of Lake Mary, Florida. Grubbs is the only quarterback commit of the 2026 class so far and was a huge score for Freeman and his staff. The Fighting Irish also have five-star EDGE rusher Rodney Dunham, who committed back in April as their only five-star commit so far.

Freeman is still working hard on the recruiting trail, and with the month of June being one of the biggest recruiting months of the year, with official visits and commitments coming from every direction.

Notre Dame is just starting to gear up for official visits

Notre Dame has not had many official visits up until now, but the program is getting ready to welcome in quite a number of visits over the next few weeks. The Fighting Irish don't do a lot of just weekend visits, but have prospects come when they can and put on a show for each and every one.

With two visitors on he books coming in tomorrow, Notre Dame is gearing up for a busy month. Not every player will make the choice of Notre Dame for their future, but the coaching staff and players are going to fight tooth and nail to get as many guys in the building as they can.