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OT: Ohio State hiring Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator

Dotting The Eyes, our Ohio State Rivals site, has confirmed the original Pete Thamel report that Bill O'Brien, the 2023 offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, will be hired as Ohio State's offensive coordinator.

His interesting career arc over the last 15 years:
Patriots QBs (2009-10)
Patriots OC (2011)
Penn State HC (2012-13)
Texans HC (2014-20)
Alabama OC (2021-22)
Patriots OC (2023)

Recruiting Trail Tracks: Notre Dame football coaches hit road for contact period, 1/17

Notre Dame's stops today are expected to be in California, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware.

@Charleston Bowles with today's Trail Tracks:

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Recruiting New 2026 ATH offer in Nevada

Jett Washington, a 2026 athlete from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, reported a Notre Dame offer Thursday after Notre Dame's coaching staff visited the school.

Rivals lists Washington as a wide receiver, but he primarily played safety for Bishop Gorman last season. He recorded 37 tackles and two interceptions as a sophomore.

Notre Dame joined an offer list for Washington that includes Georgia, Washington, Arizona and Nebraska.

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Recruiting New 2025 WR offer in North Carolina

Nas Newkirk, a 2025 wide receiver from Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley, reported Thursday an offer from Notre Dame. The Irish joined an offer list that also includes Georgia, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and others.

Newkirk totaled 51 catches for 1,123 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior last fall.

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Request for Eric and/or Tyler re: Kylee Kazenski

Before the women's basketball game on Sunday, I noticed the energetic and spirited Leprechaun, Kylee Kazenski, posing for a videographer. She was doing the usual boxing poses, etc., but then she started dribbling a basketball fluidly, including numerous between the legs dribbles. A little while later, while she was talking to people courtside, I told her that I had seen her dribbling between her legs and asked her if she played high school basketball? Yes. For four years? Yes. Were you a point guard? Yes. She then said that she had played basketball since the 2nd grade.
If you guys get the time, could you interview Kylee about her athletic career before she became the Leprechaun ? She is also an excellent dancer, probably the best dancing Leprechaun that I have seen over the years... ☘️ 🏀☘️
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Recruiting New 2025 WR offer in Pennsylvania

Lex Cyrus, a 2025 wide receiver from Harrisburg (Pa.) Susquehanna Township, reported a Notre Dame offer Thursday. Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has been recruiting in the area this week.

Cyrus won the PIAA Class 3A state championship in the 100-meter dash in May with a 10.67. But he set a personal record the week before with a 10.45.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Cyrus then followed that up with a junior football season in which he totaled 67 receptions for 1,115 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

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Recruiting Commits returning to campus for Notre Dame's Jan. 20 junior day

The bulk of Notre Dame's junior day visitors list on Jan. 20 will likely be current 2025 commits.

We previously reported that the targets expected on campus that weekend include 2025 WR Daylan McCutcheon, 2025 OL Owen Strebig and 2026 QB Brady Smigiel. We're working to confirm some other targets as well.

So far, two commits have informed us they plan to be on campus that weekend: QB Deuce Knight and DE CJ May.

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We'll update this thread when we hear from the other commits expected to visit for the January junior day.
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Recruiting Confirming more targets expected for Notre Dame's junior day (Jan. 20)

We've been continuously updating our running visitors list for Notre Dame's junior day event on Jan. 20.

The latest to confirm he will attend is 2025 WR target Jerome Bettis Jr.

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Bettis is a longtime Notre Dame target and considered by many to be a Notre Dame lean. I submitted a Notre Dame FutureCast for the son of former ND running back Jerome Bettis back in September.

Recruiting Video: Watch Marcus Freman and ND coaching staff depart South Bend Tuesday morning for recruiting

Inside ND Sports gathered video Tuesday morning of Notre Dame football’s coaching staff departing South Bend to head on the recruiting trail.

Head Coach Marcus Freeman was joined by
offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, wide receivers coach Mike Brown and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli.

Watch below:

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Here is our Trail Tracks story for Tuesday by @Tyler James:

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Recruiting Latest update to The Heat Index (1/17): Humes recruitment fizzles

I updated The Heat Index tonight to reflect that Notre Dame won't be pursuing four-star CB Kevyn Humes in the 2024 class anymore. The Irish originally chose to push for Humes after he decided to reclassify from the 2025 class, but ND has since backed off. He's no longer expected to make an official visit to Notre Dame.

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That should wrap up Notre Dame's 2024 class recruiting efforts.

Final grades for top 50 QB transfers of 2023

Notre Dame Sam Hartman


Transferred from: Wake Forest

2023 stats: 2,689 passing yards, 24 TD passes, 8 interceptions, 3 rushing TDs

Midseason grade: A-
Final grade B

Final analysis: Hartman's efficient start to his Notre Dame career -- he had 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions, while passing for 1,236 yards in the first five games -- had him on the early Heisman radar. But his performance fell off as Notre Dame's competition level went up midseason, and he threw seven interceptions during a four-game stretch that included road losses to both Louisville and Clemson. Much like Notre Dame's offense as a whole, Hartman feasted on weaker defenses, showcasing accuracy and production. But aside from a solid effort against Ohio State -- a game the Fighting Irish arguably should have won -- Hartman didn't help Notre Dame meet its annual goal of becoming a national contender. The Irish are looking for a bigger spark from another ACC transfer, Duke's Riley Leonard, in 2024.

Recruiting Notre Dame 2025 RB commit Justin Thurman talks junior day excitement

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Notre Dame 2025 running back commit Justin Thurman was one of the most frequent visitors on game-days last season. He visited the Irish four times, including for October's win vs. USC and November's win against Wake Forest.

The Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit running back is expected back at ND this weekend for junior day, where he plans on developing his relationship with the staff and pitching visiting targets on joining ND's top-ranked 2025 recruiting class.

Per Rivals, Thurman is a four-star recruit and the No. 20 running back in the 2025 class. He is not ranked inside the Rivals250, but his 5.8 rating means he's among the top 300-325 prospects in the class according to the Rivals recruiting rankings formula. As a junior, he received 169 carries for 812 yards and 14 touchdowns.

I spoke with Thurman this weekend to discuss his excitement for this weekend, thoughts on his junior season, running backs coach Deland McCullough and more.

On what he liked from watching Notre Dame's running backs:

"All the running backs played a key role in the success that Notre Dame had this season," Thurman told Inside ND Sports. "I know Jeremiyah [Love] pretty well. He really showed out this year [and] showcased what he can do. He's already a great player and proved that to the whole world. I liked the way that coach McCullough coaches, teaches and his whole coaching style is something I'm looking forward to being part of."

On his bond with ND's recruiting staff:

"I think they have a very electric energy, I mean, even after you commit, that energy is still ongoing and going to always stay in contact. They frequently call us, they frequently text us asking how we were doing, ask how school was, any other parts of life ... they really stay in contact with us and I really like that. They treat us like family."

On his recruitment of 2025 four-star OT target Jack Lange:

"I had a great conversation with him about explaining how the process was for me and how basically Notre Dame was the right decision for me, and it was. It's just great being able to showcase why I chose my decision to commit to Notre Dame firsthand to the recruits is amazing."

The 6-foot, 183-pound Thurman is gearing up for track season where he said he'll work on perfecting his running technique and footspeed.

Link to full story:


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