Notre Dame football sophomore safety Luke Talich reflects on the process of being awarded his scholarship by head coach Marcus Freeman, the most important takeaways from his freshman season, what value he can bring to Notre Dame’s defense and more.

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Notre Dame football senior tight end Mitchell Evans discusses where he’s at in the recovery process after suffering a torn ACL, excitement for how tight ends are utilized in offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock’s system, what he’s noticed from watching linebackers in practice and more.

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The Notre Dame baseball team got strong pitching and some bottom-of-the-ninth-inning fireworks Saturday at Eck Stadium against second-ranked and visiting Clemson.

Just not enough of either.

Brady Gumph’s two-out, pinch-hit solo home run in the ninth was followed by a groundout, and Clemson held on for a 3-2 ACC victory. The Tigers (27-3, 9-2 ACC) go for the three-game series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m.

Notre Dame (14-14, 2-12) got five strong innings, a career high, from freshman right-handed starter Jack Radel, but Clemson tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth on a home run by Jacob Hinderleider and took the lead for good in the top of the fifth on a solo shot from Cam Cannerella.

Estevan Moreno had given ND the early lead on a sacrifice fly.

CLEMSON 3, NOTRE DAME 2: Box Score

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Garrett Witherington, a three-star recruit out of Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian, picked up an offer from Notre Dame football during his visit on Saturday.

UAB, California, Troy and Northern Arizona are his four other offers. Alabama and Clemson have each shown interest.

Per Rivals, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound defender is the No. 16-ranked player in Alabama in the 2026 recruiting class.

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Notre Dame football extended an offer to 2026 linebacker Noriel Dominguez last month during Pot of Gold Day, and the three-star inside linebacker out of Missouri City (Tex.) Fort Bend Marshall made it to South Bend, Ind. this week for his first campus visit.

Per Rivals, Dominguez is the No. 8-ranked inside linebacker in the 2026 recruiting class. He has 15 total offers including Baylor, LSU, Florida, Oregon and Texas A&M.

The 6-foot-3, 233-pound linebacker is high on the Aggies and head coach Mike Elko after visiting in January and again in March, but the Irish impressed him on his multi-day visit to campus.

As a sophomore, Dominguez finished with 92 total tackles, including 49 solo, to go along with 12 for loss. He also registered six quarterback hurries, four sacks, four forced fumbles and one pass breakup.

I caught up with Dominguez on Saturday evening to learn details of his visit, his interaction with the Irish coaching staff and more.

On takeaways from his trip:

"It was good," Dominguez told Inside ND Sports. "I got to see how I would make an impact in the team if I was to go there ... they are big on keeping it real and they would care and talk to you like if you are one of their own kids. I really like the way how [linebackers] coach [Max] Bullough and [defensive coordinator] [Al] Golden keeps the linebackers flexible in the defense."

On seeing the campus and watching the practice environment:

"On the tour of the campus, I got to see that Notre Dame makes sure that you have a great career plan after football. At practice, I liked how they got competitive..how they compete and how violent the defense can get."

On his potential fit in Notre Dame's defensive scheme:

"I like to do it all, I like to be a flexible linebacker but I mostly like to pass rush and be a blitz player ... but I don’t have a problem with dropping back in coverage."

Dominguez said he definitely has to set another visit to Notre Dame and wants to catch up with Bullough, Golden and head coach Marcus Freeman again soon.

In addition to Texas A&M, he has also visited Houston, TCU and Texas State in his recruitment. ND was his first recruiting trip to the Midwest.

Link to full story:


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MIKE DENBROCK

How do you feel like the offense has been progressing this spring?

“Boy. I love it and I hate it (laughs) at the same time, if that makes any sense. As we get more familiar, we’re only seven [practices] in or whatever it is. So, we’re about halfway home, maybe a little bit over halfway home. I love our attitude towards work. I love our ability to learn. I love our competitiveness. We’ve got really, really good unit strength as far as on the offensive side of the ball. The details are a little fuzzy. The more those come into focus and the more we continue to learn and grow, and I think more than anything how we adjust the base scheme based off what the defense is doing, those things come with time. We’re kind of in the process of that, so when we get it right, it looks really good. And when we don’t get it quite right, it can get pretty ugly pretty fast. We’ve just got to continue to work on it, we’ve got to rep it, we’ve got to show them it. Obviously, playing against coach Golden’s defense every day doesn’t help our learning curve, because he’s got so much scheme-wise. I love it. It’s going to prepare us really well for the fall. But right now, it makes it a little bit painful here and there.”

When the details aren’t there quite yet, is that what you’d expect?

“Oh, sure. We’re just in the middle of the spring. We didn’t really get a chance based off of when I got here it’s recruiting time and then you get off the road and you try to get some of it to the guys. But this is really their first introduction to ... We’re still, as I said earlier when I talked to you guys, if we can get to the spring where we’re past assignment football and we can start digging into the details of how to adjust the base scheme of what we do based off of the problems that the defense is giving us, we’re going to be pretty good. We’re in that process. We’re still kind of in the, ‘Well, yeah, I know what to do on that play.’ If I ask you, one of the players, they’ll tell me exactly what they’re supposed to do. But there could be some adjustments based on the look that we’re seeing from the defense that need to be made or need to be communicated to people around them. Those sort of things are things that are going to take some time to get to.”

How have Cooper Flanagan and Jack Larsen done at tight end this spring?

“Coop has been fantastic all spring. Very, very encouraged by where he’s headed. Love his work ethic. He’s tough as nails. Love all that.

“Jack is swimming. Just getting him lined up is a chore. But he’s really athletic. He can get out in space and run and catch the football. I’m happy with both of those guys.”

What are you seeing from Mitchell Evans staying engaged?

“He’s been great as far as being detailed about learning the things that we’re going ask him to do when he does get back and healthy. It’s very encouraging, obviously. I think he’s a guy that really understands the game. We can do a lot of things with a guy that understands the game the way he does. There’s going to be some things we can do with him versatility-wise that I’m excited about. But we gotta get him back healthy first.”

We saw you a couple weeks ago when the offense was making plays that you were saying this is what we do. When did you adopt that mindset as a coach? Why is it important to instill it?

“We just want to continue to drive that point home. What is winning offense? Well, it’s one that consistently, drive in and drive out, puts pressure on the defense and comes away with points, hopefully touchdowns. That emphasis is something that we’ve talked to them about since we got here, but definitely during spring football about, hey, we can’t have a good period and a bad period. Let’s be the steadying force of this football team and just be the ones that are always up in the face of people and playing aggressively. Good things are going to happen if we play that style.”

How do you feel they’re absorbing that approach?

“They’ve been awesome. They have. Wednesday, we had a short-yardage goal line period where we couldn’t really be stopped. That’s the mentality. But then we did another team pass period where we couldn’t complete a pass. That consistency needs to continue. That dominant mentality that we carry with us in the run game has got to carry with us to the pass game as well. When we get that, we’re going to be hard to deal with.”

How did the flight simulator help Jayden Daniels? Do you expect to use that here?

“Yeah, I hope we can. We had a company come in and kind of help us design it and work through that. I thought it was very helpful to him. It’s kind of like reps when you’re not out there actually physically having to do all that much. It would probably make me sweat, because I’m fat and out of shape. I don’t think it’s that taxing on them, but at the same time, the mental reps that they can bank, the different looks and the different things that we could give him to try to help his development and his vision. Whether it’s a movement key or a coverage recognition or whatever that happened to be, up to even putting him in opposing teams’ stadiums before we went on the road to play, so he could familiarize himself with where the 40-second clock was and all that kind of stuff, I thought was very helpful.”

You don’t have that yet, but it could be something that could help Riley Leonard catch up?

“We hope. We hope. We’re working on it.”

Are you using headset communication in practice? How’s it going?

“We are. We’re using it in practice. The kids like it, because it keeps me from yelling at everybody else. Because I gotta talk to the quarterback. I think it’s got some advantages to it. Some quick reminders to the quarterback once you get the play call in, provided I’m not stuttering into the headset too much, helps them, especially young quarterbacks. Hey, based on gameplan, let’s keep our eyes on the weakside. Whatever it happens to be. Give them a little something to help them in their journey of getting the play executed the right way. That’s helpful. Getting them the play and the information as early as you can in the play clock gives them a chance to kind of settle in and get everybody else lined up.”

Does the helmet communication influence your thoughts on tempo or slowing it down?

“I don’t know. We’re still going to have a way to kind of accelerate the speed of what we do. I don’t know that it affects it. I haven’t found that so far. Now we’ve only been doing it for, what, five, six practices probably. So, maybe some of that information will come a little bit more clear as we move. But I like it so far, and the quarterbacks like it, because they’re not staring at the signal. They’re actually just looking at the defense or getting the offense lined up. When he gets his information that he needs to give to the line, he’s communicating that. Then he’s getting everybody else, making sure the formation’s set. I think actually in the long run, it will help us run more plays than less.”

What’s the process of evaluating your team to identify your best personnel?

“We’re in the middle of that. We’re halfway through spring and the evaluation is of everybody on the offensive roster and who presents themselves in a way that we know we can rely on to make consistent plays. Maybe that’s Jeremiyah Love being more versatile in his role. Maybe that’s two tight ends. Maybe that’s four wide receivers. Whoever emerges and proves that they can consistently play winning football for us and be as dynamic as we need, especially the guys on the perimeter, to be, we’ve got to utilize those guys in any way we possibly can. If that means manipulating personnel groups or what that looks like, we’re kind of in the process of trying to determine that right now.”

Does it make it difficult at all to evaluate with not a lot of Jordan Faison, no Beaux Collins, no Mitchell Evans?

“They’re going to have to carve out their niche early in fall camp and over the course of the summer when these guys work together. We’ll see where that goes. It won’t take very long to figure out. I’ve watched Jordan on tape. I know Beaux from his time at Clemson. So I’ve already got some idea of where those guys would fit no matter whether they’re out there practicing presently or not. That’s a piece of it. They’re going to have to get on the field in the fall and make some plays and earn their reps.”

How has Steve Angeli handled more of a role this spring as Riley Leonard went out?

“Steve’s done a great job. He really has. There were a couple instances today where some things we talked about over the course of the last week came to fruition. He adjusted a protection, he got us in a good check and we scored a touchdown. Those things, that progress from him, in particular, has been really, really good. The consistency now for him, in particular, needs to just continue to be as good as it can be.

How has the offensive line handled the challenges Al Golden’s defense throws at them?

“The entire group’s been probably — I’ve been as pleased with that group as I have with any group so far during the spring. I love the direction that they’re headed. Those guys are tough. They like to play the style of football that we’re playing. They’re pretty good at it. Just the communication alone, the ability of those guys, even though there’s some new faces in there, to communicate with each other and be on the same page has been really, really good. I’m excited about where the offensive line’s headed.”

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Notre Dame has extended a scholarship offer to 2026 athlete Shavar Young during his visit Saturday. The Irish are recruiting Young as a cornerback.

Young has more than 20 offers as a sophomore at Knoxville (Tenn) Webb School. The list includes Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, Oregon, and Florida. Rivals ranks him as the No. 11 athlete and No. 114 overall in the 2026 class.

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Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to the media after the eighth practice of the spring, on Saturday. It was his first interview since singing a four-year contract extension in February. Here's everything he had to say:

After some speculation this winter about you possibly moving on, you returned and signed a four-year contract extension. What influenced your thinking?

“I'm excited to be here. It's a blessing obviously to be on the staff and work for this institution. And it's even a greater blessing to be able to coach these kids. So, to me that's what's fun. That's what makes you get up, work hard and do all the little things you’ve got to do to make these kids as good as they can be. And that's what's fun.”

You had some staff changes with Chris O’Leary leaving, Max Bullough being promoted, Mike Mickens taking on some more responsibility, and Marty Biagi helping coach DBs. How do you feel like all those changes are playing out this spring?

“I love our staff. Max deserved the promotion. Mick deserves his promotion. Marty has been great in his supporting role. And we brought in some young talent in terms of quality control and GAs who have really, really fortified the room. So, I love our staff. I love the direction that we're going. Again, we're in the first inning of this season. I mean, we’ve got a long way to go. I don't even know if we're out of the first inning and yet we’ve got to see who we are and how we develop and then go from there.”

It seems when you’re out there coaching in practice, you're spending more time with the defensive backs and safeties, but you're able to bounce around a bit more. What has it been like for you to have that freedom to be in different areas and not just one?

“Just trust. I mean, we ask the players to be empowered and to lead and make decisions on the grass, and it's no different for the coaches. If I have a lot of coaching points or a lot of things that I want to talk about with the coaches, we do that upstairs. And then when we get down here, just complete trust in what they do, and my role is to support them, to make sure they have everything they need and maybe pull somebody aside after Mick has taught or after Max has taught and say, ‘You know, look at this. Try to do this a little bit better.’ So, from that standpoint, it's been great, and it really allows me to plan ahead and really delve down. And that's been great, just being able to operate that way this spring.”

What did you see out of Max Bullough maybe a year ago that let you know when a spot came open this spring, he’d be ready?

“He's smart. He's talented. He has experience, because he played the position, and I think he's tough. There's a mental toughness aspect to going through what he did as a GA, whether it's at Alabama or here. I did it for three years. It's tough. It's hard, and he exemplified that. Whether it's drawing cards or doing the breakdown or all the little details that are going to make you a better coach, he did that at a really high level. And he earned that opportunity. So, I'm glad he's with us.”

What's the toughest thing you remember doing as a GA? What was the longest day you might have had?

“Whoa. [Laughs]. We didn't have all these cut-ups like these guys. We had to make our own cut-ups. You were doing scouting reports by hand, but all of that is part of it. Like coach O'Brien said when I first started, ‘You don't want to skip that. If you skip that learning, or that step, there's a hole in who you are as a coach.’ And being a young GA and breaking down all these different offenses and learning how offenses are attacking you as you're breaking it down and trying to help your staff understand on Sunday, Monday of game week, ‘Hey, this is how they're attacking us’ — like that's a big step. And I think that's probably what I remember most.”

Speaking of attacking offenses, what's it like interacting with Mike Denbrock and what are your impressions about his scheme?

“I think they do a great job and obviously excited about what he's doing for us as a team, and then also excited when — I just saw Mitch [Evans] walk by — when Mitch gets back and Riley [Leonard] is healthy. And there's some other guys I don't know if I could talk about them or not. But just the full accompaniment. So, I'm excited for that and we're really glad Mike's here.”

Luke Talich made a lot of his impact on special teams last year. What have you seen this spring on defense?

“Luke’s smart and he cares. I think the biggest thing with Luke is how quickly can we get him to transition from knowing it to playing with his heart to playing with energy and doing all that. And that's a tough little journey for a lot of guys, and everybody takes it at a different speed, if you will. And that's the journey we're trying to help him through right now — to have it go from his head to his heart, so he's not thinking as much, so he's not worried about this, or ‘if they do that …’ Just go play. And so, it gets a little bit challenging in the spring, because we're installing a lot, but I expect him to catch up here shortly.”

From a coaching standpoint, your team has changed from year to year. You go from having a bunch of fifth-year linebackers to sophomores. What's the process like for you as a coach as you evaluate, OK, here's what these guys can handle compared to maybe what you had? How do you build up certain guys?

“I think that's it. I mean, that's what the spring is for, to figure out who you are and what you do best. And we're not the ’23 defense. We’re the ’24 defense. We could certainly learn a lot from what we did last year, but you can't really carry it forward, if you know what I mean. Each group has its own personality, its own leadership. So, we're waiting for all those things to kind of emerge, and we're trying to decide as we go.”

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Notre Dame football sophomore safety Adon Shuler talks about his comfort level in spring practice, excitement for a larger role, meetings with defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator Mike Mickens, what he’s learned from safety Xavier Watts and more.

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Notre Dame signee Garrett Sundra and his Chantilly (Va.) Paul VI team beat No. 7 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, 101-89, on Thursday at the Chipotle Nationals in Browsburg, Ind.

Sundra scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and dished two assists in the victory.

No. 2 Paul VI will play against No. 6 Branson (Mo.) Link Academy on Friday at 2:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2.

Notre Dame football sophomore tight end Cooper Flanagan on developing as a pass catcher this spring, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock, building chemistry with the new offensive tackles, how he feels physically this spring, adjusting to new offensive scheme and more.

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Mike Brown would like to have a rotation of six wide receivers he can trust to make plays.

Notre Dame baseball scored three runs early in Friday's series opener against No. 2 Clemson, but that was nearly enough to hold off the Tigers.

Clemson scored all seven of its runs in the final four innings in a 7-3 victory at Notre Dame's Frank Eck Stadium.

The Irish lit up the scoreboard first with a solo home run by left fielder David Glancy in the first inning. A two-run double by second baseman Estevan Moreno in the second inning gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead. But Notre Dame's bats went cold with only three more hits in the final seven innings.

Notre Dame starting pitcher Matt Bedford kept Clemson scoreless in 4 2/3 innings of work. The right-handed senior allowed two hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Reliever Nate Hardman, who started his outing by picking off a runner in the fifth inning, surrendered the first run to the Tigers in sixth inning. Clemson managed a two-out rally with a hit batter, a single and an RBI single to scratch out a run.

Notre Dame's failure to score runners on second and third with just one out in the seventh inning proved to be a bad omen. With catcher Carson Tinney on third and Moreno on second, center fielder TJ Williams struck out. Then following an intentional walk of Glancy, first baseman Connor Hincks also struck out.

Clemson took the lead in the eighth inning. A pair of RBI doubles by Blake Wright and Jacob Hinderleider tied the game. Then Will Taylor hit a two-run homer to put the Tigers on top.

Clemson added two more runs on a Jimmy Obertop homer in the ninth inning. Notre Dame reliever Ricky Reeth (1-4, 6.91 ERA) allowed all the Clemson damage in the final two innnings to take the loss. He gave up six runs on seven hits with one walk and one wild pitch in 2 2/3 innings.

Clemson (26-3, 8-2 ACC) and Notre Dame (14-13, 2-11) will meet for game two on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Notre Dame is expected to send righty Jack Radel (2-0, 2.96) to the mound against lefty Ethan Darden (4-0, 5.23).

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I might be in the minority, but giving up a home game to play at a neutral site is a bad idea.

Having a home field advantage is a too important to give away, particularly when ND is often one game away from making the playoff. ND has only 6 home games of a 12 game schedule (Michigan has 8, USC has 7). The recruiting argument is weak and recruits do not seem that enamored that ND played in Yankee stadium etc....

When should return to 7 home games and wear the Shamrock uniforms at home.

My 2 cents anyway.

Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. discusses the recent Notre Dame visits for 2026 quarterback targets Brady Hart and Noah Grubbs, why the Irish are checking boxes for elite QBs, what makes each of them different, if ND is a contender for 2025 wide receiver Jayvan Boggs, the talent level of Notre Dame's commitments in Florida, if the Irish are resonating at IMG Academy, the potential of 2025 WR commit Jerome Bettis Jr. and more.

Then @Eric Hansen and I answer questions from Twitter and The Insider Lounge (27:04).

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Caitlin Clark won the Dawn Staley Award each of the past three seasons. Her streak ended Friday when Hannah Hidalgo was given the honor.

Good scoop here from @John Garcia Jr.: Rivals100 WR Jayvan Boggs, a former Ohio State commitment, has scheduled a visit to Notre Dame for April 19-20 to catch the Blue-Gold game.


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Notre Dame signee Kate Koval and her No. 1 Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran team are currently playing in the semifinals of the Chipotle Nationals. Long Island Lutheran leads Montverde (Fla.) Academy 43-30 at halftime.

The game is being televised on ESPNU.

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@Adam Gorney's list of the top 10 most intriguing recruiting visits this weekend across the country includes 2025 wide receiver Talyn Taylor visiting Notre Dame.


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“Those new receivers are actually fast," CB Christian Gray said. "They’re fast, fast, fast actually. When I guarded Kris Mitchell, Jayden Harrison, I’m like, ‘OK, wow. I’ve never seen this before.’ The speed they have is really right. They do run like 10.1s and stuff. It’s great that all of us are going against them, because I feel like that’s what’s out there. Texas A&M, FSU all of them other kids. SEC and Florida fast kids, it’s great that we’re going against them.”

Notre Dame signee Cole Certa impressed in a loss for IMG Academy at the Chipotle Nationals in Brownsburg, Ind., on Thursday.

Story from Rivals basketball recruiting analyst Jason Jordan:


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Part II of the series. Part III, the final one, will be published on Sunday.

Also, who are some names of women who ND may pursue in the portal?