To find the strongest statement about Notre Dame’s 2022 four-man linebacker class, look at who’s not in it.
In June, following a midweek official visit to Notre Dame by Rivals100 Hilton Head (S.C.) High linebacker Jaylen Sneed, Notre Dame did not host Evanston Township (Ill.) High’s Sebastian Cheeks for a scheduled official visit that upcoming weekend. Cheeks, who holds about 30 offers, is the nation’s No. 105 recruit regardless of position.
Notre Dame purportedly halted pursuit of a top-125 player because it foresaw what was next.
The Irish coaching staff knew a pledge from Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka was imminent. Sure enough, the four-star recruit and No. 144 overall player in the class committed June 19.
A month later, Sneed is the fourth and presumably final member of the linebacker class. The No. 46 overall player in the 2022 cycle announced his commitment Monday, picking the Irish over Oregon. He, Tuihalamaka, Traverse City (Mich.) Central’s Joshua Burnham and Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central’s Nolan Ziegler comprise arguably the nation’s best linebacker haul.
Three top-150 prospects. A quartet of four-star recruits.
The latter has happened only nine times since 2014 among Football Bowl Subdivision teams: 2021 (Alabama), 2020 (Alabama, LSU, Michigan), 2018 (USC, Ohio State), 2017 (Alabama), 2016 (UCLA) and 2015 (USC).
Not every team tries to sign four linebackers in a class, of course, but to achieve that mix of quantity and quality is still a rarity. It’s also the kind of haul the Irish need at a position or two each cycle if they’re going to make up ground on the select few teams that have kept them at arm’s length.
Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Marcus Freeman vowed to help Notre Dame close that gap — an oft-used and sometimes tired term in Irish recruiting talk he willingly leans into — when he arrived in January. And not just at linebacker. He has been involved in defensive line recruiting and defensive back recruiting with those position coaches.
Freeman and defensive line coach Mike Elston pried 2023 Mentor (Ohio) High top-10 prospect Brenan Vernon away from Ohio State. He has played a part in the Irish landing a pair of four-star defensive backs in Naples (Fla.) High’s Devin Moore and Corona (Calif.) Centennial’s Jaden Mickey. Notre Dame is also in strong position to land Phoenix Brophy Prep four-star corner Benjamin Morrison.
The linebacker class, though, is mostly his work. He helped push Notre Dame to the top for Burnham, and targeted Sneed and Tuihalamaka shortly after taking the job. It’s worth noting former defensive coordinator Clark Lea and defensive analyst Nick Lezynski recruited Ziegler and initially offered Burnham.
The four-man group was built on Freeman’s two-part philosophy: 1) Never let himself be outworked. 2) Identify the best players, learn their priorities, see if they’re a fit at Notre Dame and go after them. No matter their location, background or prior thoughts about Notre Dame.
“We have to make sure we build relationships so we can see, for us and for them, are they going to have success at Notre Dame?” Freeman told BlueandGold.com. “It’s not for everybody, but there are a lot of kids who can have success at Notre Dame that we have to make sure understand what Notre Dame offers them.”
That approach paid off with Sneed long before his commitment.
“He’s a really down-to-earth kind of guy,” Sneed said of Freeman in May. “He really gets to know you. It’s more about the relationship than it is coaching with him.”
Freeman can level with highly coveted recruits in a few ways. The former Ohio State linebacker was once one of them and went through the process they’re immersed in now. Notre Dame even recruited him. He understands the weight recruits place on wanting to win national titles and play in the NFL. He says those were once his goals and made Ohio State hard to pass up for an Ohio native.
He brings up his second recruitment — choosing between Notre Dame’s and LSU’s defensive coordinator jobs this year — just as often, though.
“I just knew I wanted to be part of something different,” Freeman said. “I didn’t want to do what people thought I was going to do. I think a lot of people had the expectation I was going to go somewhere else.
“Now that I’m here, I know why Notre Dame is unique. I know what makes Notre Dame special. I know the people, the education, the network you’re joining.”
But he wants to push beyond just recruiting players who are predisposed to Notre Dame because of a family tie or because they attend a private school. That’s how the Irish will reach higher in the recruiting rankings, and by extension, can reach higher in the postseason.
“The expectation of just knowing Notre Dame is so unique and we’re going to go to Notre Dame because it’s Notre Dame, that doesn’t happen much anymore,” Freeman said. “That’s the challenge for us as coaches, to get these young people to really visualize what it’s like to be a graduate of Notre Dame.”
Four blue-chip linebacker recruits liked that vision.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @tbhorka and @ToddBurlage.
• Like us on Facebook.
