Fifty-one players were named Thursday to the Butkus Award preseason high school watch list. At least one of them is a college freshman, that being Notre Dame linebacker Preston Zinter. I've notified the Butkus folks, so they can fix that and also correct their listings of ND recruits Bodie Kahoun and Kingstonn Viliamu-Asa, listed as Bodie Calhoun and Viliamu-Asa Kyngstonn, respectively. ND defensive end recruit Bryce Young, who had been an outside linebacker, also made the list. Four players who eventually signed with Notre Dame have won the award, which recognizes the nation's top high school linebacker and was first given out after the 2008 season — All-Americans Manti Te'o and Jaylon Smith, Prince Kollie — now a junior at Vanderbilt, and freshman Drayk Bowen.

2023 BUTKUS AWARD® HIGH SCHOOL PRESEASON WATCH LIST

Jeremiah Beasley, Bellville, Mich. (Belleville)
Ja’Qualin Birdsong, LaGrange, Ga. (Troup County)
Jaylen Boardley, Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove)
Sammy Brown, Jefferson, Ga. (Jefferson)
Cam Buffington, Winfield, Iowa (Mount Union)
Bodie Calhoun (Bodie Kahoun), Roanoke, Va. (Patrick Henry)
TJ Capers, Miami, Fla. (Christopher Columbus)
Aaron Chiles, Olney, Md. (Our Lady of Good Counsel)
Fred Clark, Winona, Miss. (Winona)
Kolaj Cobbins, Destrehan, La. (Destrehan)
Chris Cole, Salem, Va. (Salem)
Mason Curtis, Nashville, Tenn. (The Ensworth School)
Frank Cusano, Granite Bay, Calif. (Granite Bay)
Sterling Dixon, Mobile, Ala. (Mobile Christian)
Myles Graham, College Park, Ga. (Woodward Academy)
Wendell Gregory, Marietta, Ga. (Walton)
Zavier Hamilton, Navarre, Fla. (Navarre)
Adarius Hayes, Largo, Fla. (Largo)
Rodney Hill, Bunnell, Fla. (Flagler Palm Coast)
Andrew Hines, College Park, Ga. (Woodward)
Kari Jackson, West Bloomfield, Mich. (West Bloomfield)
Cayden Jones, Arden, N.C. (Christ School)
Kristopher Jones, Fairfax, Va. (Fairfax)
Viliamu-Asa Kyngstonn (Kygnstonn Viliamu-Asa) , Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco)
Melvin Laster, Liberty, Mo. (Liberty North)
Cameron Lindsey, Aliquippa, Pa. (Aliquippa)
Jordan Lockhart, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco)
William Love, Camden, N.J. (Eastside)
Jeremiah Marcelin, Miami, Fla. (Norland)
Willis McGahee IV, Miami, Fla. (Columbus)
Booker Pickett Jr., Tampa, Fla. (Wharton)
Payton Pierce, Allen, Texas (Lovejoy)
Brayden Platt, Yelm, Wash. (Yelm)
Demarcus Riddick, Clanton, Ala. (Chilton County}
Preston Ries, Monticello, Iowa (Monticello Community)
Jayshawn Ross, Kansas City, Mo. (Liberty North)
Bradley Shaw, Birmingham, Ala. (Hoover)
Colin Simmons, Duncanville, Texas (Duncanville)
Tylen Singleton, Many, La. (Many)
Montrez Smith, Carrollton, Ga. (Carrollton)
Tyanthony Smith, Jasper, Texas (Jasper)
Anthony Speca, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Pittsburgh Catholic)
Edward Spillman, Nashville, Tenn. (David Academy)
Garrett Stover, Sunbury, Ohio (Big Walnut)
Derek Weisskopf, Williamsburg, Iowa (Williamsburg)
Maurice Williams Jr., Pearland, Texas (Shadow Creek)
Gabriel Williams, Baltimore, Md. (Saint Vincent Pallotti)
Dylan Williams, Long Beach, Calif. (Poly)
Ashton Woods, Marietta, Ga. (Walton)
Bryce Young, Charlotte, N.C. (Charlotte Christian)
Preston Zinter, Lawrence, Mass. (Central Catholic)

ALL-TIME BUTKUS AWARD® HIGH SCHOOL RECIPIENTS

2008: Manti Te’o, Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii)
2009: Jordan Hicks, Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio)
2010: Tony Steward, Menendez (St. Augustine, Fla.)
2011: Noor Davis, Leesburg (Leesburg, Fla.)
2012: Jaylon Smith, Bishop Luers (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
2013: Raekwon McMillan, Liberty County (Hinesville, Ga.)
2014: Malik Jefferson, Ralph H. Poteet (Mesquite, Texas)
2015: Caleb Kelly, Clovis West (Clovis, Calif.)
2016: Dylan Moses, IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
2017: Solomon Tuliaupupu, Mater Dei (Claremont, Calif.)
2018: Nakobe Dean, Horn Lake (Horn Lake, Miss.)
2019: Justin Flowe, Upland (Upland, Calif.)
2020: Prince Kollie, David Crockett (Jonesborough, Tenn.)
2021: Shawn Murphy, Unity Reed (Manassas, Va.)
2022: Drayk Bowen, Andrean (Merrillville, Ind.)

Anyone going to watch CJ play Friday night, my daughter and I are planning on going to watch?

Have an extra 1 bedroom unit at VC, 4 miles from campus. Great amenities including full buffet breakfasts, optional shuttle to/from game, pool, workout area, ND memorabilia, etc. Best ND spot to stay. Priced well below retail rate. Contact: johnmichie51@aol.com

Former Central Michigan head coach Heather Oesterle announced she will be joining the Notre Dame women's basketball coaching staff. An official announcement from Notre Dame is expected in the future.

Oesterle was fired by Central Michigan earlier this year after four seasons leading the program. She had been with the program since 2010 as an assistant before eventually being promoted to replace retired head coach Sue Guevara.

The Chippewas were 41-16 in Oesterle's first two season as head coach, which included a regular season MAC championship in 2020 and a MAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. Then Central Michigan dropped to 10-48 the past two seasons before she was let go.

Oesterle, a 43-year-old coach from Mason, Mich., played collegiately at Michigan (1998-2002). She became a volunteer assistant coach at Stanford in 2002 and served on the staffs at Miami (Ohio) from 2003-08 and Northern Illinois from 2008-10 before joining Central Michigan's staff.

An NCAA rule change earlier this year allowed women's basketball coaching staff to add up to two more coaches to the staff who can coach but aren't allowed to recruit off campus.

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Notre Dame offered 2025 shooting guard Braylon Mullins on Sunday evening. I spoke with the 6-foot-5, 185-pound recruit on Tuesday to catch up about his offer, head coach Micah Shrewsberry, playing with 2025 power forward Trent Sisley and more.

The Irish began showing interest in Mullins earlier this summer. You can read that story about his background, role at Greenfield (Ind.) Central High and knowledge of Notre Dame here.

Director of Recruiting Brian Snow watched Mullins play on the grassroots basketball circuit with Indiana Elite during July. Mullins plays on Indiana Elite with Notre Dame 2025 power forward target Malachi Moreno. Before Mullins traveled to Louisville last weekend for the Battle of the Bridges tournament, Snow said Shrewsberry would call him in the next week.

"He called me Sunday night and we had a good five, 10-minute conversation together," Mullins told Inside ND Sports. "They offered me a scholarship and I was very appreciative. It was definitely [an] exciting moment."

Mullins' team went 6-0 in Louisville this weekend and played with Sisley, a four-star recruit and Notre Dame target.

"It's definitely fun playing with him knowing that I can just throw it up there and he'll go catch it," Mullins said. "We definitely got a little bonding in and overall, it was a great weekend."

Mullins admitted he didn't follow Penn State much but knows what Shrewsberry is capable of from his NBA experience coaching the Boston Celtics. He said he's eager to learn about the program and watch them this season.

Although he isn't currently rated or ranked, Mullins has 13 offers including Notre Dame, Kent State, Iowa, Toledo and Virginia Tech. He's also receiving interest from Butler, Cincinnati, Indiana, Northwestern, Ohio State and West Virginia. He told me he'll look closely at culture, coaching staff and how players bond with one another during visits.

Mullins has already set a date to visit Notre Dame on Sept. 23. He'll watch the Irish practice and attend the football game against Ohio State later that day. He told me he's really excited to see the game day environment. He will also take unofficial visits to Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern and Ohio State.

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Link to full story:

@RivalsFriedman is still on the Guerby Lambert-to-Notre Dame bandwagon.

Inside ND Sports spotlights five recruits who don't currently have Notre Dame offers but have enjoyed successful sophomore and junior campaigns during the first month of high school football.

Recruits include:

2026 QB prospect Dia Bell

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2026 RB prospect Isaiah Ene

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2025 WR prospect Eugene Hilton Jr.

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2025 DE prospect Israel Oladipupo

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2025 LB target Maddox Arnold

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Link to full story:

Spoke with Jacey Zembal of our NC State, pulled stats from the UConn game and dove into PFF grades to preview Notre Dame's first road opponent.

It's time for round 2 of Place Your Bets for the 2023 season with Saturday's home game against Tennessee State (3:30 p.m. EDT on NBC).

I detailed the results of the Navy prop bets here.

@Eric Hansen's leading the way with five correct bets. We have five subscribers with four correct bets. I had three correct bets.

We'll share our predictions for the Tennessee State game Friday on YouTube, but you can start submitting your predictions through the Google Form now.


Here's our five prop bets for Notre Dame-Tennessee State:

• Over/Under 262.5 rushing yards for ND
• Will ND's Bryce McFerson punt?
• Over/Under 1.5 turnovers for ND’s defense
• Will Tennessee State score a touchdown?
• Over/Under 5.5 passes for ND QB Steve Angeli

Remember the top two subscribers in the Place Your Bets standings at the end of the 2023 season will get one year (first place) and six months (second place) of a free subscription.

Get your picks in before voting closes prior to kickoff on Saturday. Make sure you include the same email address with your submission as you did last week. And if you haven't shared the username associated with your entry, please email it to insidendsports@gmail.com.

Who do you think wins the game and what will the final score be?

I checked in tonight with 2025 QB Bear Bachmeier, who received a Notre Dame offer in July, and he told me he's scheduled to make an official visit to Notre Dame for the Central Michigan game on Sept. 16.

It would be his first visit to Notre Dame as a recruit. The Irish are serious players for Bachmeier, whose grandfather was a big Notre Dame fan.

Of course, Notre Dame's been all over Deuce Knight as its primary quarterback target in the 2025 class, but it doesn't want to wait forever on a decision for Knight. So it's pushing ahead with the recruitment of Bachmeier, and we'll see who wants to jump in the class first.

In the first two games of his junior season, Bachmeier completed 41 of his 62 passes (66.1%) for 552 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions at Murrieta (Calif.) Valley.

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Thanks to all who submitted questions for me and @Eric Hansen on our latest podcast. These are the questions we answered with timestamps.

27:31 • @NotreDameExpert: 2023ND is best prepared & focused team since 93. I get it’s USNA/TSU, don’t want to get too far ahead of my skis, but minimal holding/false starts, no delay of games, personnel mixups, blown TOs. Feels different. Looks a lot different than LSU and UF. Credit to MF. Thoughts?

30:09 • @CharlesWWolfe: Can you comment on why you think the hit on Ford wasn’t even reviewed? I didn’t agree with the Antonio Carter call, but I at least understood the decision to look at it (Tyler, please don’t kill me for asking)

32:05 • @GreenDay182: I am not one to complain about the referees but the lack of consistency with regards to the targeting calls Saturday was really bad. My question is, has ND considered employing their own referee crews as an independent or is that not possible? I’m told the referees come from the visitors conference, so ND has to adjust to their styles and points of emphasis in every game. Thanks and keep up the great work.

34:57 • @ldlgoirish: I saw Rocco Spindler block and fall to his knees after contact. I can see where the coaches are coming from. His technique on follow-thru, didn't bring his hips up and legs under, caused this. I saw Tyler's report about a downfield block. My question is do drills and strength and conditioning continue to shape a players body and work on enhancing footwork during the season? How? A football player needs to be strong ( a given) but also agile. mobile and hostile. Spindler is hostile but lacks agility and mobility . Your thought as always are appreciated.

39:15 • Marie Biafore - @biafore_marie: What are you biggest concerns for the NC State game, including ND weaknesses they are suited to exploit, and strengths of NC State, that could bother ND?

42:33 • @Bob_Oxnard: Should Ausberry spy Armstrong?

45:55 • @ldlgoirish: During the Spring it seemed, and validated by input from both of you, that Kiser, Liufau & Bertrand would most likely split the reps inside. ND would also try and play younger LB's at times especially Nolan Ziegler who , as we know, has been unavailable due to personal issues. And until late in camp Kiser seemed to be ahead of Liufau. Please explain how Kiser got only 14 snaps. How is he to be ready if needed? Why would he stay and not be the next Lacey? Marist has a higher pass coverage grade. Not sure how that works as Kiser has been thrown at once, a completion, for 5 yards but a 2 yard gain. BTW-IMO Bertrand has looked slow. Is he okay? Shouldn't Kiser have more reps? Other than Kiser I thought coaches did a good job getting key players experience.

51:30 • @Rydan41: Did ND see enough from angeli to make him a legitimate contender for QB1 in 24 or does ND need to see more still?


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@Eric Hansen and Pete Byrne of WSBT discuss the challenge ahead for Notre Dame at NC State on Saturday.

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If there was a question I didn't get to and you asked ... ask it now, and I'll answer it tonight.

Showing off the threads on the Mishawaka Riverwalk.

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I've considered starting a master list thread that shares NIL opportunities from Notre Dame athletes. Would you all be interested in that?

Conor O'Neill, publisher of Devils Illustrated and Deacons Illustrated for Rivals, discusses Duke's upset of Clemson on Monday night, how good Duke truly is, how Mike Elko has changed the program, what Notre Dame should expect from NC State on Saturday, how Sam Hartman has adapted at ND, whether the ACC expansion makes sense, if Clemson's problems are fixable, how Wake Forest will do without Hartman and more.

Then @Eric Hansen and I answer questions from Twitter and The Insider Lounge (27:21).

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Put Notre Dame's offensive guards and defensive pass rushers under the microscope in my Tennessee State rewatch.

I found a struggling Rocco Spindler in pass protection and a pass rush that created pressure but too often lost contain.

How much better we would have been if he had not decomitted

Pat Coogan on his first two starts at Notre Dame: “It’s been a dream come true honestly. Coming from where I from, there’s a lot of passion and a lot of pride for Notre Dame football.”

I don't know enough to evaluate an offensive linemen's game, but for those who have such knowledge, how are Coogan and Rocco doing? From the success in the running game especially on the left side, it would seem Coogan is doing well in that area. Rocco was going against a gargantuan human and it seemed he would sometimes stop his feet when trying to move the guy? Any thoughts on all the other interior players that got playing time? Thanks.

Matt Salerno's lower leg injury against Tennessee State appears to have come in the final two minutes of the game.

Plus updates on Drayk Bowen, Devyn Ford and Gabriel Rubio.

Just checking on him. Not looking good for his Cajun midget hero.

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker spoke to local beat writers Tuesday night ahead of Saturday's game against NC State. Below is a transcript of that conversation. Questions may be paraphrased.

GERAD PARKER

How did Pat Coogan evolve to become a starter?

“Of course, always and forever it’s performance based in everything we do. Then Coogs has done a great job getting himself there by becoming a very physical player, very conscientious in the way he approaches the game. He’s detail-oriented. All the things that you would want to say, the adjectives you would use in describing a guy. Then for his inexperience, he’s made up in effort and learning what to do and knowing exactly where coach Rudolph wants him to be. That’s what Coogs has done. All that I just said has developed trust with his teammates and his O-line and certainly with us as coaches. It’s put himself in a position to play at a high level so far.”

Is putting Coogan and Rocco Spindler on the move essential to what you want to do?

“Yeah. And again, I think I said it last week, it’s weird to say me — us. It’s something that we want to do. It makes us harder to attack in our run fits, certainly with our pass protections and all those things. We’re always hunting ways to make sure we do that. It’s critical to us staying ahead of it.”

What do you make of Sam Hartman’s struggles against NC State in the past? Do you talk to him about that?

“It’s not dodging the question, but we haven’t had one conversation. There’s too many ways and too many things that are already hard enough about this job and certainly hard enough about his job. We don’t want to bring up ghosts. We’re going to make sure we put him and the rest of this football team on offense in a position to just play to the best of their abilities and find ways to attack the defense we got for this week. This one is a big challenge for us, and we know it. We’re going to keep him confident by him knowing what to do and feeling very confident in the game plan. That’s a real answer.”

How much does his previous success against NC State matter?

“It’s like the two-minute drills and those things. He’s been in those fires. So he’s been in that stadium. That helps anything when you already know an environment, so you can step in with confidence and know what it’s going to be and then take whatever it is. In this case, our game plan together and hopefully go down there and play at a level we expect ourselves to.”

Have you looked at what NC State tried to do? Or is it not applicable because Wake Forest ran a completely different offense?

“Right. That would be fair to say. We certainly looked at what they do, but you want to look at what they do and how we believe they’ll do the things to defend us.”

How would you assess your depth on offense?

“I would hope to believe that’s what we have to do as a staff. We believe in our guys that we brought in here as a recruiting staff all the way down to our staff members and coaches. If we don’t let these guys grow and empower them to get better and try to assess where our depth is, we won’t know. The only thing we can do is continue to give them guys opportunities that they’ve earned, because it is performance-based, but also let them go out there and have some pieces of success. Then if there is some small failures, that we allow them to fail up and keep moving forward. That’s what these two games have allowed us to do so far.”

Have you guys run a two-minute drill in practice that was quicker than the one on Saturday?

“We haven’t done that. (Laughs) We have not done it to where it’s went that fast.”

Why is Sam Hartman able to do that so well?

“No. 1, what creates a good, accurate passer is certainly arm talent and those things, but a clean pocket helps. If you go back and look at that deal, the clean pocket of it all. Then of course, I think experience does matter. It’s not the only thing that matters. We had guys show up on time. Coach Freeman pushing us on a weekly basis to make sure — those are situations in football you have to work. Us knowing what we’re going to call, how we’re going to call it, when we’re going to do it. The details of— if you look at Jaden Greathouse’s catch, he got to the ticks, ran, got all he could get. He knows now I can only be tackled out of bounds. Clock stops. Little details of all of it that were impressive. And there’s only one way to gain those and build confidence, and I thought that did that for our guys.”

The Timeouts, is that all Marcus or is that you?

“It’s collaborative. It sounds like a dugout in baseball when you get in those things to make sure what we need to do and when. Why not have as many checks and balances as we can? It’s all of us together. But he’s the boss.”

9-for-9 touchdowns on first-half drives in your first two games. Can you remember at any level of football that kind of efficiency?

“Don’t do that. (Knocks on wood).”

You have to not score someday. It’s fine. You have the luck of the Irish.

“Yeah, let’s ride the wave, baby.”

What do you attribute it to?

“It’s cliche to say it, but it’s prep. It’s good preparation. Give credit to a good summer that our guys put together installing our base offense, then growing it to the variations we need and we have good players. We have a quarterback that’s playing at a high level and those things all attribute hopefully early success and we can keep it rolling now.”

What kind of growth have you seen in DE Joshua Burnham?

“It was noticeable probably midway of fall camp. You started to notice, ‘OK, Burnham’s showing up.’ This stuff and how he’s starting to show up in games is no surprise to us. It started to be a noticed thing about him making that transition, how hard he plays and how he rushes.”

What is the challenge NC State’s defense presents?

“They do a helluva job. That’s a veteran staff. Gibby (defensive coordinator Tony Gibson) is a veteran football coach, has a great reputation and the statistics speak for themselves. It’s hard because it’s multiple, but also they do what they do. And what does a great defense do? They run to the football and read and react and fit. If you turn on the film and you watch them this year early and last year, and all their tape through his years, this team fits. They fit and fit fast. What better compliment to a defense than that? That’s what makes it a tough challenge for us.”

Do they do a good job of making it cloudy for teams?

“They do a really good job. They can go from adding zero coverage to looking like zero and falling out and having eight pairs of eyes and playing drop eight. That’s the beauty of it. In a three-down front, it kind of affords them the ability to do those things in coverage that are very hard to prepare for. And two different ends of the spectrum. You’re talking about zero compare to drop eight at a flip of a switch. Then the run fits — you say it’s a three-down front, it’s easy to fit. Well, they do a great job muddying up the fits, muddying up the front and coming to fit you too. That’s what makes it hard.”

Do you have a sense of how good you are offensively yet based upon who you’ve played?

“Yeah. It’s always growing. You’re always going to think that way, because we’re always paranoid. All of us coaches, we’re paranoid. And we’re perfectionists. I want to enjoy things and whatever, but the biggest thing we can do is play the team. And I’m telling myself this, because it’s a good question and it’s a good thought. I get it. But we have this one. This one will tell us a lot, and this is our next one. We need to answer this challenge.”

When you see an MA, maybe that worked against Tennessee State. Do you think maybe it won’t work this week?

“Fair. I think you say, ‘That window would’ve closed.’ Or, “Hey, we can’t start that way.’ Because there were a couple little small things in that game to start that we overcame with great plays. But at the same time, as things progress through this season’s schedule, that window tightens.”

What have you seen from Sam’s pocket presence? Is that just natural with his experience?

“Think about how many times he’s played in a pocket. So that’s helped him have a lot of confidence in the pocket. Their system, and I’ve said this before in the preseason, of him walking to the line of scrimmage and some of their schemes got him really good at being comfortable throwing in a really tight area. He’s comfortable in a pocket where sometimes guys can get skittish. You don’t feel that sense with him, because he’s been in that fire.”

Is it reassuring to see the tight ends come through in the two-minute drill after being used sparingly before that?

“I told them Sunday after the Navy game. There’s just different game plans and different things, especially for a team that plays a certain way like Navy did that makes it very difficult. You’re not going to sit back there and say ‘Hey, let’s drop back pass’ against an operation like that. So that takes away some of the opportunities for tight ends. That’s all. We knew they were capable. We knew Mitch was very capable. We knew Holden was as well. It was good to see them have some production out there in front of the home crowd.”

What has it been like to start the first two games of your Notre Dame career?

Left guard Pat Coogan: “It’s been a dream come true honestly. Coming from where I from, there’s a lot of passion and a lot of pride for Notre Dame football. The first game I came to as a fan was like 2012 against Texas when they won like 40-0. It’s been a great process. It took a lot of hard work and obviously it’s paid off now. Just trying to take it day by day. One of coach Freeman’s big things is win today. I’ve really taken that to heart and tried to just stack the days.”

That Texas game was actually in 2015 and ND won 38-3.