The Heat Index has been updated with the following changes:

QB Deuce Knight’s commitment description now reflects his recent Notre Dame visit.
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RB James Simon’s heat check now reflects his latest visit schedule.
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WR Derek Meadows’ heat rating has been upgraded from Hot to Extremely Hot following his recent Notre Dame visit.
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WR Raiden Vines-Bright’s heat rating has been downgraded from Medium to Mild following his recent Notre Dame visit.
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WR Brandon Finney’s debut with a heat rating of Mild following his recent Notre Dame visit.
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WR Koby Howard’s heat check now reflects his cancellation of his commitment date and Notre Dame visit.
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WR Jayvan Boggs' debut with a heat rating of Plain following his decommitment from Ohio State.
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OT Jack Lange’s heat check now reflects his latest visit schedule.
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Sam Highfill stifled Notre Dame for eight innings, and the NC State offense made sure the visiting Irish didn’t even get a chance to bat in the ninth Thursday night in a 10-0 ACC baseball victory in Raleigh, N.C.

The game was shortened to eight innings because of the 10-run rule. NC State (16-7, 6-4 ACC) scored the 10th run when Luke Nixon raced home from third with one out in the bottom of the eighth, capping a four-run scoring burst.

Highfill, a sixth-year grad right-hander, allowed doubles to Estevan Moreno, Joey Spence and Simon Baumgardt, with no walks. He struck out 10 and lowered his ERA to 3.09.

Brandon Butterworth doubled and drove in three runs for the Wolfpack. Alec Makarewicz homered, doubled and knocked in two runs, while Garrett Pennington singled, doubled and collected two RBIs.

Starter Matt Bedford was tagged with the loss for the Irish (14-10, 2-8), yielding five earned runs on six hits and a walk over 3 ⅔ innings with one strikeout.

The two teams meet in game 2 of the three-game series on Saturday night (8 EDT; ACC Network).

NC STATE 10, NOTRE DAME 0 (8): Box Score

Let's use this thread for anyone who wants to chime in on games throughout the men's tournament. I didn't have much time to watch games Thursday, but I'm already getting sucked into Northwestern-FAU.

What a terrible final possession for FAU.

UPDATE: Ethan Utley has committed to Tennessee.

Rivals coverage from @Greg Smith:


Tennessee coverage from Vol Report:


PREVIOUSLY (3/1):

I just updated The Heat Index with news that four-star DE Ethan Utley, who the Irish are targeting as a defensive tackle, has set a commitment date for March 28. It seems Notre Dame tried to get in the mix too late.

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Here's the update from The Heat Index:

Heat check (3/1): Utley has been making college visits and receiving scholarship offers since 2021. It wasn’t until this January that Notre Dame finally pulled the trigger on an offer for the four-star recruit. Now it looks like the Irish are too late to the party. Utley plans to make a commitment decision March 28. Back on Christmas Day, announced a top five of Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Michigan and Syracuse on Christmas Day last year. Tennessee should be considered the favorite.

A couple items in @RivalsFriedman's Fact or FIction have a Notre Dame tie.

First, he asked me if Notre Dame is Tight End U.

Second, he asked @Dylan Callaghan-Croley of Happy Valley Insider if Penn State leads Notre Dame for 2025 safety target JaDon Blair.

Enjoy.


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It’s been a busy stretch for Notre Dame hosting visitors alongside spring practice for the last week-plus. With Notre Dame taking a practice break for Easter, the visits will resume next Wednesday.

Here’s some intel I’ve gathered on a number of recruits who visited since the Irish returned from spring break.

We have to start at quarterback. It was important for Notre Dame to get 2025 quarterback commit Deuce Knight with the wave of poaching attempts being mounted by the likes of Alabama and Ole Miss. And it seems like Notre Dame struck all the right notes as Knight continues to be an active recruiter for the Irish.

One source called Knight’s visit the best he’s had to Notre Dame so far. One interesting nugget I picked up is that Notre Dame didn’t spend time asking Knight about making visits to other schools during his time on campus, because it doesn’t want that conversation to affect how the visit is going.

Notre Dame certainly needs to keep monitoring the situation, but it seems like the Irish are in a good place.

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As for 2026 quarterbacks, both Noah Grubbs and Troy Huhn arrived on Notre Dame’s campus. And while the Irish love Huhn, the stronger mutual connection is with Grubbs. He’s been given the green light to commit, but he’s not the only one that will have it. Brady Hart, who is scheduled to visit next week, could be swayed to commit following his trip to South Bend. It might be a race to see who wants to commit first, but these guys will also have other visits to consider making too.

With Grubbs and Hart both ranked among the top four pro-style quarterbacks and top 50 overall in the 2026 class, the Irish are in a very good position right now.

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Notre Dame hosted three 2025 wide receiver targets in the past week. As evident by my new FutureCast for Derek Meadows, I feel best about him eventually ending up in Notre Dame’s class of that trio.

I think Notre Dame entered Meadows’ visit as the leader and stretched the lead with his time on campus. He’s still going to make visits to some of his newer offers like Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Michigan, but those programs will need to blow him away to catch up with Notre Dame. That’s not inconceivable by any stretch, but ND’s pursuit of Meadows won’t slow down.

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As I suspected, I’ve started to hear more of a willingness for Notre Dame to push for five receivers if it can get a dynamic pair to join its current trio of commits. I’m not sure there’s an obvious answer for who the fifth would be if Meadows is the fourth. Talyn Taylor and recent Ohio State decommit Jayvan Boggs will be coveted, but the Irish have plenty of work to do in those recruits.

What does seem unlikely is that Raiden Vines-Bright or Brandon Finney end up in Notre Dame’s class despite their recent visits. One source was even under the impression that Vines-Bright didn’t like his visit to Notre Dame, which is rare feedback. Not everyone clicks with Notre Dame.

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A pair of 2025 cornerback targets made it to Notre Dame’s campus last week.

I already have a Notre Dame FutureCast logged for cornerback Mark Zackery, and I feel even more confident that I won’t need to change that one in the future. The Irish continue to sit pretty with the in-state target. I expect Zackery to make a visit to Florida, which is one of his three other finalists besides Notre Dame, but I don’t think the Gators can overcome ND’s lead.

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Landing Chuck McDonald III was always going to be a longshot for Notre Dame. But getting him on campus makes it seems just slightly more realistic. And McDonald has expressed a desire to make a return visit as well. The Irish have a chance, even though it’s still a slim one. Notre Dame will continue to try to make up ground with the elite cornerback.

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A source described 2025 DT target Darren Ikinnagbon’s visit as great. The Irish would really like to add him to the class, but the competition is stiff with Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Rutgers and Duke in the mix.

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With a visit from 2025 LB target Gavin Nix, the Irish actually feel like they’re now in the mix for his recruitment. The visit was a long time coming after he visited last April. Notre Dame will need this visit to produce more momentum than the last one did, but the Irish should have a chance to stay in the hunt for Nix.

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Notre Dame football 2025 outside linebacker target Anthony Sacca has set a commitment date for Saturday, he confirmed to Inside ND Sports on Thursday after posting a cryptic tweet on X/Twitter.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound defender out of Philadelphia St. Joseph’s is down to Notre Dame, Alabama, Wisconsin, Duke and Ohio State.

Per Rivals, Sacca is the No. 7 outside linebacker and No. 57 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class.

@Tyler James officially placed a Rivals FutureCast for Notre Dame to land Sacca on Thursday morning. The Irish last hosted Sacca on an unofficial visit last September for the Ohio State game.

Link to full story:


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Junior season highlights:

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Thought the board might find it interesting…haven’t digested the metrics yet but ND by far out in front of the ACC(without being a full time member)..surprised USC is considered more attractive than ND..maybe it’s the media market or basketball success

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Enjoy.

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Notre Dame football junior running back Jadarian Price discusses how he’s grown since last fall camp, associate head coach/running backs coach Deland McCullough’s teaching principles, what he’s most excited for, how he feels physically, benefits of offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock’s offense and more.

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Notre Dame football hosted 2026 offensive tackle target Gregory Patrick on an unofficial visit for spring practice on Wednesday. It was Patrick's first time back on campus since attending last September's Central Michigan game.

Patrick, a four-star recruit out of Portage (Mich.) Northern, received his offer on Pot of Gold Day. As an increasing number of offensive tackle recruits don't begin playing the position until high school after focusing on other sports in their earlier years, Patrick isn't new to the offensive line at all. He's played offensive tackle his entire life and is a Michigan State legacy recruit.

His father, Joseph Patrick, played offensive guard for the Spartans in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Gregory has 16 total offers including Baylor, Michigan, Michigan State, Kentucky, Stanford, Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Gregory did not allow a sack or quarterback hurry as a sophomore and is ranked as the No. 22 offensive tackle and No. 208 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class.

Here are highlights from my conversation with Gregory on Wednesday evening:

"I learned a lot about the university and the football team with the coaches," Gregory told Inside ND Sports. "I learned about the academics and also what Notre Dame provides after football as well. I spent a lot of time with [offensive line] coach [Joe] Rudolph and I was able to talk to [head] coach [Marcus] Freeman."

More on Rudolph:

"My relationship with Coach Rudolph has grown a lot lately, especially after taking the visit. I like how he pushes his players a lot in practice stressing the details. He also cares about his players a ton while demanding the most out of them every rep."

On spring practice:

"One thing that stood out the most was the physicality of the practice. Every drill the pads were popping loudly. Another thing that stood out was the competition level. And it was awesome talking to coach Freeman again ... I was super excited."

Gregory said education and player development will be the two most important factors in his college decision. Because of those priorities, ND figures to be a consistent fixture moving forward along with Michigan, Michigan State and other Big Ten schools like Penn State and Wisconsin.

Link to full story.


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2026 CB Elbert Hill made visiting Notre Dame a priority this spring.

“It’s just a great place out there,” Hill said. “South Bend’s beautiful. The coaches always show me a lot of love, so I had to get back there.”


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Want to receive certification from Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough? You better have your details down.

“On this level you don’t have a lot of opportunities to make up for what happened three plays ago,” McCullough said. “You got to hit it when it’s there. Because that’s the type of environment we’re in and that’s the standard that we have for our running backs here.”

Notre Dame football freshman running back Aneyas Williams tells reporters about his transition to college after enrolling in January, how he's been welcomed to college football through pass protection, learning from veteran running backs, what his role could be as a freshman and more.

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The latest news and rumors on more than 25 prospects here:

Notre Dame football sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love talks about how important early playing time was to his development, offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock's system, how it feels with Audric Estimé gone, his confidence level, mixing in with the wide receiver group and more.

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Notre Dame football special teams coordinator/assistant defensive backs coach Marty Biagi on balancing responsibilities this spring, development of safety Adon Shuler, competition at long snapper, head coach Marcus Freeman extending the opportunity to him and more.

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Here's a transcript of our conversation with running backs coach Deland McCullough today. Questions may be paraphrased.

DELAND MCCULLOUGH

Jadarian Price was talking about the third-down certificate that’s your phrase. Can you tell us about that?

“I always mess with the guys throughout my career, but especially here. Just saying there’s two certificates, I tell the guys, two certifications, they got to have. One of them is to be a two-minute back, because of everything that goes along with that from the protections to deciphering, being a situational master of different things like that. Obviously, there’s protections involved with that, catching the ball. And then in third down. So, here it is, it’s third-and-8. You gotta be a guy who can quickly decipher what’s happening, understand body posture, understand linebacker levels, understand cap nickels and different things like that so that you’re good in protection. Not only being able to identify it, but then being able to defeat blitzers. It was good to see Jadarian today in tempo situations where we know the guys were coming, and he was able to quickly see those things and get over. I told him he’s getting close. I was joking with him. I said even Audric said when he gets his certificate, he wants to be the one to come back and hand it to him. Because we were working on that last year for a while. It’s continued to be so. He knows what he needs to do to work on that. Yeah, we kind of laugh about it, but he knows it’s serious too.”

Where do you see Jadarian Price now? Is he a lead back? Is he ready for that?

“Well, under me, what’s a lead back? What’s a lead back? All the guys continue to play. Far as I’m concerned, what we did with Jadarian last year was 100% on plan. It was we did not have to stress him. He was coming off an Achilles. There was no need in our room to say, ‘Look, we gotta load this guy up.” All I wanted him to do was bring him along the right way, put him in position to be successful for himself and for us to feel confident in his long-term development but then not overstressing his Achilles. We didn’t need to.”

You were conscious of that?

“100%.”

Was he having to be held back after heavy practices? Was he feeling the effects of that?

“Yes. Well, you’re mindful of that of anybody coming off of a major surgery anyway. From somebody who had three ACLs, I get coming off of surgeries and not being forced back into things and saying like, ‘I’m going to load you up.’ That was the beauty of having a dynamic room with a bunch of guys that you didn’t have to put too much stress on one guy whether it be Audric Estime or whether it be JD Price. To me, it all worked into the plan. This is what we were culminating for, coming into this year. OK, we’re putting him in his position.”

How did you evaluate Price’s Sun Bowl performance?

“He left some stuff out there. These guys, everything gets graded every day. Every single day, we get these guys and give them a grade on what happened that day. Every drill, everything we do. There’s continuous reminders of where they’re trying to get to. When the guys have a great day, I tell them, ‘You had a great day.’ He looked at that like any competitor should and said, ‘Man, there were some things I could have done a little bit different. I could have made this or made that happen.’ But at the end of the day, he had great ball security, he protected the quarterback and he made some plays with the ball in his hands.”

You’ve always wanted him to gain some more weight. Is Price where he needs to be there?

“You got to look at his body mass circumstance and say, ‘Well, what can he carry?’ I don’t want him 185. I know he can be that. But he doesn’t need to be 225 either. I’m comfortable with him in that 204-206 area. I’m really good with that for what he can do for his body, the way he runs and different things like that. I don’t want to overstress what his body can really handle or put him at a deficit situation for the way he needs to carry the ball at Notre Dame.”

Do you actually hand them certificates?

“It’s kind of just like an in theory type deal. I’ll say you’re certified now. I said, ‘Gi’Bran, you’re certified. The whole world knows you’re certified.’ But I’m thinking about doing it. Because even Audric said, ‘Hey, Coach D, when you do, I’m going to come back to give it to him.’ Because we’ve all been like, ‘Come on, JD. Come on. Come on.’ Put you in that position to come on. He’s that close.”

What are some of the things that you bring to grading players that aren’t standard necessarily?

“There’s nothing revolutionary about it. I’m grading their alignments, their footwork, all of the small details of what they do. The new guys are the ones whose heads are blown. They’re like, ‘Dang, Coach, really? Really? My foot was …’ Yes. Your foot was … ‘I’m like a half inch too far?’ Yeah, you’re a half inch too far over. On my control jab step, it needs to be slower so I can get in the hip of the puller and getting in phase with him. Well, in high school, I used to just jab and run. You don’t do that there. Then you show them the tape of here’s why you don’t. You were too fast. You hit the hole too quick. The timing is messed up. That’s a lost opportunity. So these guys understand it’s a big picture here. On this level you don’t have a lot of opportunities to make up for what happened three plays ago. You got to hit it when it’s there. Because that’s the type of environment we’re in and that’s the standard that we have for our running backs here.”

Do you have examples for a guy lined up a half inch and then it shows the difference between a three-yard and 12-yard gain?

“Yes. 100%. Two days ago we were watching tape of a guy who read it a certain way. It wasn’t an argument. He said, ‘Well, why did I do this that or do that?’ I said, ‘Just keep watching.’ Three plays later, he’s like ‘Oh, I get it now.’ Everything has rhyme or reason to it. It all comes together. The guys say, ‘I guess that’s why you are where you are.’ That’s why you chose to come here, because of that detail that’s going to take you to the next level. Audric talks about it with his preparation for the NFL. I was talking to him last week or two weeks ago, whatever it was. I said, ‘Audric, is there anything during your interviews that you weren’t ready for? Let me know so I can prepare the next guys.’ It ain’t like I haven’t been in the NFL. It ain’t like it was 20 years ago. He said, ‘Coach, I was overprepared. There wasn’t one thing that came up that I wasn’t prepared for. Actually, I was kind of overprepared. I had so many more bullets in the chamber as far as knowledge is concerned.’ I’m here to give them my best shot, and that’s what I’m going to give him.”

What makes Price and Love different?

“Jeremiyah is more like a perimeter receiver type guy. Jeremiyah could probably — I’m not going to say probably. He could play receiver on a supremely high level. JD, I won’t say he’s a more traditional back. He’s got more running back nuance to him. He is really good catching the ball. He can run routes. The big difference between them: Jeremiyah is really twitchy. Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah (twitchy sounds). That type right there. Although JD has that type of ability too. Jeremiyah might have a step on him as far as that’s concerned. More of the perimeter, in space, running routes is where Jeremiyah is really, really elite.”

(more)

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"Notre Dame is just a special place," he said. "I truly believe every kid who has a dream to play college football at the highest level should consider visiting Notre Dame. It’s just a magical place to be at and Coach Freeman is as real as it comes! He told me in front of my family that I can commit at any time and I am number one on their board, so that means everything to me.

More from 2026 QB target Noah Grubbs in Wednesday’s story by Rivals National Recruiting Analyst @John Garcia Jr.

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Players featured include quarterback Kenny Minchey, quarterback CJ Carr, running back Jeremiyah Love, wide receiver Kris Mitchell, wide receiver Jaden Greathouse, tight end Jack Larsen, linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, linebacker Jaylen Sneed, linebacker Drayk Bowen, cornerback Clarence Lewis, safety Xavier Watts and more.

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