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We will be speaking with head coach Marcus Freeman shortly, but I'll share some quick notes while we wait.

UPDATE: Full observations are in posts below.

Notre Dame's starting offensive line was the same it used in the Sun Bowl: LT Charles Jagusah, LG Pat Coogan, C Ashton Craig, RG Billy Schrauth and RT Tosh Baker.

Rocco Spindler took reps at the No. 2 RG.

A position change for Devyn Ford: he's moved over to safety from his running back role.

WR/lacrosse player Jordan Faison was at practice but didn't participate.

Also sitting out: TE Mitchell Evans, TE Kevin Bauman, DE Aiden Gobaira, DT Armel Mukam and DE Loghan Thomas.

TE Eli Raridon was dressed but didn't take many competitive reps.

Special teams coordinator Marty Biagi assisted Mike Mickens in individual drills for defensive backs.

I thought the wide receiver group looked physically impressive even if that didn't lead to a ton of success.

ND lined up with these WR spots

Field: Kris Mitchell, KK Smith, Cam Williams
Slot: Jaden Greathouse, Jayden Harrison
Boundary: Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie and Micah Gilbert.

Beaux Collins, the Clemson WR transfer who is finishing his courses to graduate this spring, can't practice, but he was still there following the WR group around.

@Eric Hansen and I will record our next Inside ND Sports podcast Friday morning, so we'll have seen Thursday's first spring practice. Send us some questions you'd like us to discuss. We like to give priority to questions submitted on The Insider Lounge.

If you have multiple questions, try to be succinct and ask them separately. Thanks!

I think the one-handed interception wasn't completed in bounds, but it was impressive regardless.

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Notre Dame 2025 defensive end target Damien Shanklin confirmed to Inside ND Sports on Thursday he plans to take his official visit to ND from June 7-9.

Minutes before confirming those plans, Shanklin reported an offer from Ohio State. The Buckeyes are expected to be a serious contender in his recruitment moving forward along with Michigan, Tennessee and Texas. Georgia also recently offered as well.

Shanklin, a four-star recruit, has visited Notre Dame four total times in his recruitment. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound defender out of Indianapolis Warren Central also plans to visit campus April 20 for the Blue-Gold Game.

Per Rivals, Shanklin is the No. 208 overall player and No. 9 weakside defensive end in the 2025 recruiting class.

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Notre Dame football added Chad Bowden as defensive recruiting coordinator and Dre Brown as offensive recruiting coordinator in 2021.

The two have continued to rise in the program with Bowden as assistant athletic director for player personnel and Brown as director of recruiting.

Players featured include quarterback Steve Angeli, quarterback Riley Leonard, quarterback CJ Carr, running back Jadarian Price, running back Aneyas Williams, wide receiver Kris Mitchell, wide receiver Micah Gilbert, tight end Jack Larsen, defensive end RJ Oben, defensive end Bryce Young, linebacker Jaiden Aubserry, cornerback Jordan Clark, safety Xavier Watts, safety Adon Shuler and more.

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Inside ND Sports has confirmed two dates in April with a couple of prospects in the 2026 recruiting class that have early interest in Notre Dame.

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2026 linebacker prospect Colsen Gatten plans to visit campus on April 6.

Gatten, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound inside linebacker, is not yet ranked or rated by Rivals but has eight offers including Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State and Tennessee.

The Pittsburgh Central Catholic defender visited Notre Dame for the Pitt game last October.

“I loved everything about the visit,” Gatten said. “The thing that stood out most was the individual time [head] coach [Marcus] Freeman and [defensive coordinator] coach [Al] Golden gave to me while speaking to myself and parents. That was cool … especially on game day."

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We also confirmed on Thursday that 2026 offensive tackle prospect Darius Gray is scheduled to check out the Irish on April 10.

Gray, a Rivals100 member, is the No. 97 overall player in the 2026 class. He stands 6-5, 285-pounds and attends Richmond (Va.) St. Christopher’s.

He’s up to 20 offers including Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Penn State, Syracuse, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph also recruited Gray during his time at Virginia Tech.

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We are keeping tabs on all expected visitors this spring and summer on the running visitors list thread.

Right here:

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Inside ND Sports has confirmed that Notre Dame 2025 running back target James Simon is down to seven schools as of Thursday.

Simon, a four-star recruit out of Shreveport (La.) Calvary Baptist Academy, has cut his list to Notre Dame, LSU, Texas, Alabama, Miami (Fla.), Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech. Simon reported over 20 total offers in the recruitment process.

The 6-foot-0, 200-pound Simon visited Notre Dame for the USC game last October and has been the final target for Deland McCullough in the 2025 recruiting class for the third running back commitment after Justin Thurman and Daniel Anderson.

Simon, the No. 21 running back in the 2025 class per Rivals, is listed as Mild on The Heat Index. There are two Rivals FutureCast predictions for LSU. He has visited the Tigers six times in his recruitment.



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Just 11 practices into Notre Dame's preseason camp last year, then-safeties coach Chris O'Leary called walk-on safety Luke Talich a freak.

Now Talich is a scholarship player for the Irish.

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Notre Dame 2025 four-star wide receiver target Talyn Taylor plans to see the Irish on April 6. He was last on campus for junior day in January.

Ohio State, Georgia and Michigan are other programs expected to receive visits from Taylor, the No. 31 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class, this spring

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Notre Dame women's basketball signee Kate Koval was named a Naismith Trophy Second Team All-American. Apparently, a center wasn't need on the first team.

Here's the full list:

Head coach Marcus Freeman is expected to hold a press conference on Thursday at 10 a.m. EST following Notre Dame football’s first spring practice earlier this morning.

Inside ND Sports is in attendance and will have coverage from the press conference and practice throughout the day. I'll post live updates below in this thread.

You can also watch on YouTube here:

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As spring practice gets underway this morning, I ask the biggest question for each position group that can be answered between now and the Blue-Gold Game.

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Inside ND Sports has confirmed Notre Dame 2025 wide receiver target Koby Howard has set a commitment date for March 31.

Howard also announced he is down to a top eight of Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, Ole Miss, Miami (Fla.), LSU, Tennessee and Missouri.

The 6-foot-1, 174-pound Howard last visited Notre Dame for the USC game in October. He attends Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna.

Per Rivals, Howard is the No. 24 wide receiver and No. 138 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class.

Howard is unlikely to commit to Notre Dame and is listed as Mild on The Heat Index.

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A couple of 2025 wide receiver targets are planning to be on Notre Dame's campus on the same day in April.

Four-star recruits Koby Howard and Tanook Hines have scheduled visits to Notre Dame for April.

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Howard, the No. 24 WR in the 2025 class, has been a long-time Notre Dame target. He last visited for the USC game last season. The Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna product also has unofficial visits scheduled to Florida (March 8), Miami (March 16), Tennessee (March 23) and Florida State (March 28).

Hines, the No. 54 WR in the 2025 class, received a Notre Dame offer shortly after new wide receivers coach Mike Brown was hired in December. The Houston Dekaney product plans to be at Oklahoma this weekend and wants to visit Texas and Alabama before he gets up to Notre Dame.

Inside ND Sports gives a rundown on which recruits are expected on campus to watch the Irish in their first spring practice on Thursday.

Inside ND Sports looked at each of Notre Dame's top-ranked targets and prospects in the 2025 recruiting class and detailed their movement in the latest Rivals150 and offered latest feelings in their recruitments.

Notre Dame baseball extended its win streak to five on Tuesday by defeating Purdue 11-2 in its home opener at Frank Eck Stadium. It also marked the fourth consecutive game where the Irish scored double-digit runs.

In the victory, infielder Estevan Moreno made history by becoming the first player in program history to hit three homers in three different games.

Moreno's homers came in the bottom of the third, sixth and eighth innings. Moreno's homer in the sixth was timely, as the Irish held just a 3-2 lead entering the inning.

Just before Moreno homered in the sixth, the Irish also got a scoring punch from outfielder Brady Gumpf. The senior out of South Bend St. Joeseph hit a double and sent infielders Simon Baumgardt and Connor Hincks in for scores to put the Irish up 5-2. Moreno's homer also sent Gumpf in for a score.

After its four-run sixth inning, Notre Dame kept its foot on the pedal by scoring three more runs in the seventh inning. Outfielder DM Jefferson connected on a triple that resulted in infielder Jack Penney scoring. On the next at-bat, Hincks hit another triple that sent Jefferson to home plate for a score. The Irish finished the inning off with a Hincks score after outfielder Tito Flores hit a single to left field.

Right-handed pitcher Matt Bedford received the start on the mound and finished with 30 strikeouts while allowing two hits and no runs in three innings pitched. Each of Purdue's two runs came in the fifth inning against right-handed pitcher Radek Birkholz, who was replaced by right-handed pitcher Bennett Flynn at the top of the sixth inning.

Purdue senior catcher Connor Caskenette hit a two-RBI single off Birkholz that accounted for scores from Boilmakers outfielder Mike Bolton Jr. and infielder Ty Gill.

In his three innings pitched, Flynn allowed one hit, a single from Boilmakers junior infielder Logan Sutter, in the eighth. Flynn was substituted for right-handed pitcher Sammy Cooper at the top of the ninth, who closed for the Irish. Cooper allowed two hits on the mound but threw a strikeout before Caskenette hit a fly ball that resulted in a third out.

The Irish (9-2) return to the diamond at Virginia Tech (8-3) on Friday for the start of a three-game weekend series. Friday's game is slated for 4 p.m. EST

FINAL STATS

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Next up in the first edition of The Heat Index for Notre Dame’s 2025 class is the offensive line position.

Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph started the new year strong with a trio of commitments from four-star offensive tackle Owen Strebig and three-star offensive tackles Will Black and Matty Augustine.

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Notre Dame is willing to settle for three offensive linemen in the class, but only after exhausting its options with four-star recruit Jack Lange. I’ve assigned a heat rating of Hot to Lange.

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For more details on Lange, follow the link below.


Coming Monday: a defensive end update.