How big is Notre Dame landing Madden Faraimo? 8 thoughts on 2025 Irish recruiting class

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Eight thoughts on Notre Dame’s 25-man recruiting Class of 2025, which got a major boost as the early signing period began on Wednesday.

1. And just like that, the perception of Notre Dame’s recruiting class changed.

Notre Dame signed four-star linebacker Madden Faraimo on Wednesday, beating out perceived favorite USC and former finalist Texas. Marcus Freeman broke his own news, casually mentioning the addition to open his news conference.

This was the kind of recruitment Notre Dame needed to win, for a linebacking corps that’s developed into one of the nation’s best and to fortify the notion that recruiting has taken steps forward. Faraimo is a top-100 prospect from Oceanside, Calif., roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. There was no organic connection to Notre Dame, only the one the program could create. Signing Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa last year helped. Mixing with alumni — football and regular — helped. A staff that includes Freeman, Al Golden and Max Bullough helped.

But Faraimo had to say yes, which he wasn’t ready to do Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Freeman told Faraimo to “choose hard,” which can be a losing pitch with the wrong prospect. When Faraimo made his decision, he told Freeman that he “chose God,” which underscores both the fit and the necessity of landing him.

The best in California choose Notre Dame@MaddenFaraimo has officially signed #2TheeIri5h#GoIrish☘️ | @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/D8RN2L7qIV

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 4, 2024

To put it another way, USC and Texas didn’t need to sign Faraimo. They had other options near the top of the recruiting food chain. Notre Dame did not have other options, unless you’re counting Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, who faded from consideration late and committed to Michigan. The necessity of signing Faraimo doesn’t make it any easier to close the deal, though. It just makes getting his signature that much more rewarding for Notre Dame.

“Yes, there’s some truth to the recruiting rankings, but I think more important is that we still have to trust our evaluation and our eyes in terms of bringing in the right guys to this program,” Freeman said. “Obviously you’ve heard me say this before. We can’t recruit everybody. We’ve got to recruit the guys that fit this place, but we want to get the best players in the country that do.”

2. In the 247Sports Composite, Faraimo ranks as the No. 2 player in Notre Dame’s class, behind offensive tackle Will Black. That makes him the top-ranked defensive prospect in a haul that was outstanding in the back seven. The Irish couldn’t have done better at defensive back than the six signed, which included Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery IV.

Linebacker production on the field turned into linebacker production in recruiting, and that happened at defensive back, too. There aren’t better recruiting billboards than the seasons of Xavier Watts, Christian Gray and Leonard Moore, with the freshman cornerback’s the most compelling pitch.

Not every freshman will play right away. That’s fine. But showing prospects that the staff isn’t afraid to go young at least gives the recruiting office an angle to play.

3. Offensive line recruiting has been strong enough at Notre Dame during the past decade that it hardly moves the needle when the Irish land three four-star prospects and a single three-star prospect who’s 6 feet 6, 287 pounds. And Matt Augustine is the smallest of the three offensive tackle prospects signed by Notre Dame, joining Black (6-7, 292) and Owen Strebig (6-7, 292). The Irish also landed center Cam Herron from Indianapolis.

The best part about the class for Notre Dame is the Irish probably don’t need it to contribute for years. That’s how healthy offensive line rooms are built: two years in the weight room and the practice field before breaking into the lineup. Notre Dame couldn’t afford to play that waiting game with Anthonie Knapp and the offense suffered for it. With back-to-back-to-back strong classes up front, the Irish shouldn’t have to go down that road again.

4. Freeman repeated what he said a year ago when asked about the plans to take a transfer quarterback this winter. After going in for Riley Leonard, Notre Dame didn’t want to spend in that market again. Freeman confirmed the Irish won’t. It’s a smart business move considering the costs associated with defensive tackles and the needs at wide receiver. It’s also good news for Notre Dame because it means CJ Carr remains on track to compete for the job this spring.

5. Freeman keeps talking about wanting to “major in high school recruiting” and only doing a “minor” in the transfer portal. I get it. Notre Dame doesn’t work if it builds its roster like Colorado. Different approaches for different programs and different universities.

But why can’t the Irish double major?

Notre Dame has a higher hit rate in transfer recruiting than high school recruiting the past two cycles, which makes sense with how much available film is out there. Yes, it’s more complicated and more expensive to go heavy in the portal. It’s probably not sustainable. But the Irish didn’t leave themselves much choice at wide receiver or defensive line with this recruiting class. And the maturity of a graduate transfer maybe plays better at Notre Dame than a high school prospect, anyhow.

6. When Freeman was asked about wide receiver recruiting on Wednesday, he seemed taken aback by the insinuation Notre Dame didn’t nail the position and didn’t have a good product to sell.

It’s worth remembering the Irish have had one 100-yard performance by a wide receiver in the past three seasons combined. The leading receiver on this year’s team is Beaux Collins (34 catches, 427 yards, two touchdowns). Irish wideouts have nine receiving touchdowns total this year. Kris Mitchell had six by himself at FIU last season.

“We’re looking for speed but also really good football players. That’s what we feel like we got with this class in wideouts,” Freeman said. “We’re extremely happy about it, and we’ll continue to recruit wideouts at a high level.”

Maybe Elijah Burress, Scrap Richardson and Jerome Bettis Jr. — all outside the top 250 nationally, with Bettis the lowest-rated position player in the class at No. 853 overall and No. 125 at receiver — will exceed expectations. But while Notre Dame has earned the benefit of the doubt at defensive back in terms of development, the opposite is true at receiver. How Notre Dame treats the portal at wideout will say plenty about how the staff views the haul.

7. The biggest sleeper in this class might be running back Nolan James Jr.

The running back from DePaul Catholic in New Jersey was a longtime commitment to Boston College before the Irish decided to upgrade their running back class as Justin Thurman (Kansas) and Daniel Anderson (Northwestern) moved on. James is stronger than both and the kind of all-purpose back who plays bigger than 5-9, 200 pounds. He’s not Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price, but he’ll fit better into the Notre Dame running back room than either previous commit.

8. Notre Dame’s class ranks 12th in the 247Sports Composite as of Wednesday evening, with three top-100 signees and 14 four-stars. Overall, Notre Dame’s class has enough talent to settle the debate (assuming there still is one) that the program is recruiting better under Freeman than it did under Brian Kelly. This is another byproduct of landing Faraimo at the end.

Now that we have Notre Dame's final recruiting class numbers after Madden Faraimo's signing, here are ND's last 16 classes

It's certainly a step back from the 2022-24 classes but the average player rating is still higher than all but two Kelly classes pic.twitter.com/WC6ZYMaFoY

— Notre Dame Football Stats & Analytics (@ND_FB_Analytics) December 4, 2024

Are the Irish closing the gap on Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama? It’s hard to make that case with conviction. But Notre Dame is still improving in the recruiting department from where it was much of the past decade.