Notre Dame starting building momentum in the 2026 recruiting cycle pretty shortly after being able to bring recruits on campus during spring football. Now that spring football has wrapped up, the path forward for what Notre Dame’s 2026 class could end up looking like has started to become clear. Which means it’s time to debut a popular staple for subscribers on The Insider Lounge: The Heat Index for the 2026 class.
Like we did with the last two recruiting classes, we will keep The Heat Index pinned in the sticky threads at the top of the board and we’ll post updates to it for the remainder of the 2026 recruiting cycle. That way Inside ND Sports subscribers should always have a clear picture of the top candidates to be future Notre Dame commitments.
This first edition of The Heat Index for the 2026 class will be unveiled by position in the coming days/weeks. The pinned thread will remain locked initially, but each update will have an unlocked thread below highlighting the debut for each position.
How does The Heat Index work? It’s intended to reflect a combination of how much Notre Dame is prioritizing a recruit and how much interest that recruit is showing in the Irish.
These are the various levels we will assign to recruits in The Heat Index and what they’re intended to mean.
Plain: The recruitment remains in the beginning stages, so there’s not enough evidence to justify a heat rating.
Mild: There was interest at some point, but the recruitment has not been trending toward a commitment lately.
Medium: Interest has been expressed, but it’s not clear which way this recruitment is heading.
Hot: Notre Dame is a top contender, and the recruit is a top target.
Extremely Hot: We expect this recruit to eventually commit to Notre Dame — potentially sooner rather than later.
And now, it’s time to bring the heat ...
Last updated: 4/29
Like we did with the last two recruiting classes, we will keep The Heat Index pinned in the sticky threads at the top of the board and we’ll post updates to it for the remainder of the 2026 recruiting cycle. That way Inside ND Sports subscribers should always have a clear picture of the top candidates to be future Notre Dame commitments.
This first edition of The Heat Index for the 2026 class will be unveiled by position in the coming days/weeks. The pinned thread will remain locked initially, but each update will have an unlocked thread below highlighting the debut for each position.
How does The Heat Index work? It’s intended to reflect a combination of how much Notre Dame is prioritizing a recruit and how much interest that recruit is showing in the Irish.
These are the various levels we will assign to recruits in The Heat Index and what they’re intended to mean.
Plain: The recruitment remains in the beginning stages, so there’s not enough evidence to justify a heat rating.
Mild: There was interest at some point, but the recruitment has not been trending toward a commitment lately.
Medium: Interest has been expressed, but it’s not clear which way this recruitment is heading.
Hot: Notre Dame is a top contender, and the recruit is a top target.
Extremely Hot: We expect this recruit to eventually commit to Notre Dame — potentially sooner rather than later.
And now, it’s time to bring the heat ...
Last updated: 4/29
