What we learned about Notre Dame football recruiting in October
October was a very busy month for Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coaching staff. BlueandGold.com gives you five things it learned from the busy month.
1. Notre Dame is after five-star LSU pledge Walker Howard
BlueandGold.com broke the news that Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More class of 2022 five-star quarterback and LSU commit Walker Howard would be unofficially visiting Notre Dame for the Cincinnati game Oct. 2. However, on Oct. 1, Howard suffered a fractured left fibula during his high school game and did not make the trip to South Bend.
The feeling was that flipping Howard was a complete long shot, but it seems somewhat more realistic after LSU fired Ed Orgeron in mid-October. The Fighting Irish finally got Howard on campus on an official visit for the USC game Oct. 23.
“We had a great time,” Howard’s father, Jamie, told Rivals.com. “The history and the culture there is so impressive. The tradition there is great, and the culture is so different than what we’re used to.
“[Brian] Kelly and [Tommy] Rees were both super impressive. Walker was super impressed.”
The flip will still be tough to pull off, — Howard’s father played quarterback at LSU in the 1990s, and he has a deep love for the Tigers. The new LSU coach will certainly make keeping Howard in the class the No. 1 priority. Additionally, Ole Miss is in pursuit of Howard and will host him for a visit this weekend.
Entering October, Howard had completed 100 of 175 passes (57.1 percent) for 1,391 yards with 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. Rivals ranks him as the nation’s No. 2 pro-style quarterback and No. 26 overall player.
The Irish already have a quarterback commitment from Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic’s Steve Angeli, an Under Armour All-American.
2. Notre Dame’s big month lived up to the hype
The Fighting Irish had their three big recruiting weekends of the fall (Cincinnati Oct. 2, USC Oct. 23 and North Carolina Oct. 30) last month. There were no new commitments to come out of October, but the Irish laid the groundwork in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 classes for future commitments.
There are so many big-time prospects who visited campus; neither you or I have the time in our day to go through all of them. Here are some key notes:
• Notre Dame had the following Rivals’ five-star recruits on campus in October: 2023 athlete Alex “Sonny” Styles, 2022 safety Xavier Nwankpa, 2022 quarterback Walker Howard and 2023 offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor.
• A few other October visitors are ranked just on the cusp of five-star status and have a great chance to reach it as prospects in the 2023 class: linebacker Drayk Bowen, running back Justice Haynes, athlete Samuel M’Pemba, quarterback Dante Moore, defensive tackle Jason Moore and defensive end Brenan Vernon (Irish commit).
• Of the 26 prospects currently committed to Notre Dame (which includes the 2022 and 2023 classes), a little over two-thirds of them visited South Bend in October.
• Notre Dame had dozens of future big-time prospects in the 2024 class, especially with a handful of very good-looking recruits who visited to the North Carolina game Oct. 30.
3. Fighting Irish continuing to battle for major 2022 recruits
Notre Dame has 21 commitments in the current cycle and should be able to take a full boat of at least 25 prospects. Who exactly those recruits that join the class are and at what positions six weeks ahead of the early signing period remains a mystery.
This article already mentioned Howard, and it’ll be interesting to see if Notre Dame goes after another quarterback prospect if he doesn’t pick the Irish.
Right now it seems unlikely that Notre Dame takes a second running back in the 2022 class, but it’s still a possibility.
Notre Dame has more work to do at receiver and that includes holding on to Ponchatoula (La.) High’s Amorion Walker, who visited South Bend Oct. 23 but has taken trips to Alabama and Michigan, too. The Irish extended an offer to Raleigh (N.C.) Millbrook’s Wesley Grimes in mid-October. The Wake Forest commit is a prospect to keep an eye on.
Fond du Lac (Wis.) St. Mary’s Springs offensive guard Billy Schrauth seems torn between Notre Dame and Wisconsin. He visited South Bend for the USC game but remains uncommitted. Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne offensive tackle Aamil Wagner was also on campus that weekend, and Notre Dame is a finalist for him ahead of his Nov. 11 decision date. Kentucky and Notre Dame appear to be the main two schools to watch.
Notre Dame hosted defensive line recruits Hero Kanu and Anthony Lucas for the USC game. Both prospects will be very tough gets, but Notre Dame is in the running.
Five-star safety Xavier Nwankpa is yet another elite prospect who visited Notre Dame Oct. 23, and the Irish are still in the hunt for his services.
There’s even Park City (Utah) High’s Carson Tabaracci, an “athlete” recruit who officially visited for USC weekend. He’s on the board as well to help Notre Dame somewhere on the field, but his position isn’t locked in yet.
You got all of that? Good.
4. Notre Dame setting up for monster defensive class in 2023
The Irish are off to a great start with its defensive end pledges Keon Keeley and Brenan Vernon. Safety Adon Shuler has been outstanding as a junior this season, too.
Notre Dame hosted Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean linebacker Drayk Bowen for the Cincinnati and USC games, and the No. 22 overall player in America per Rivals will announce his commitment Wednesday night between Auburn, Clemson and the Fighting Irish. Landing a commitment from Bowen would be huge news for Notre Dame.
On the defensive line, the Irish are heavily involved for top-100 recruits Luke Montgomery and Jason Moore. Five-star rover Alex “Sonny” Styles may end up choosing Notre Dame. The group of realistic defensive back targets is jaw-dropping, which includes the No. 1 cornerback in the land, AJ Harris.
This defensive class may be the best Notre Dame has ever seen on paper when it’s all said and done.
5. Quarterback recruiting heats up
We’ve covered the quarterback storylines in 2022, but it’s been active in 2023, 2024 and, heck, even 2025.
Notre Dame has six offers out to uncommitted quarterback recruits in the 2023 class, and three of them were on campus in October: Detroit Martin Luther King’s Dante Moore, Maize (Kan.) High’s Avery Johnson and Denton (Texas) Guyer’s Jackson Arnold.
The three who didn’t make it in were New Orleans Isidiore Newman School’s Arch Manning (no surprise there), Downey (Calif.) Warren’s Nico Iamaleava (visited in September) and Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian’s Christopher Vizzina (just received his offer last week).
Manning is a total long shot, but the other five are realistic prospects who Notre Dame can land.
Notre Dame has three early quarterback offers out in the 2024 class, and two of those prospects were on campus for the USC game in Carlsbad (Calif.) High’s Julian Sayin and Saline (Mich.) High’s CJ Carr. Both signal-callers are on Rivals’ top-100 watch list.
The Irish don’t often offer prospects during their freshman year of high school, but Findlay (Ohio) High’s Ryan Montgomery, the younger brother of the aforementioned Luke Montgomery, received an offer from offensive coordinator Tommy Rees while on campus. The class of 2025 prospect also has offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and others.
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