Marcus Freeman has made no secret of what he wants Notre Dame to be. From the day he took over, he has talked about building the program through line play, and the recruiting results over the last two cycles show that vision is no longer just talk.
The Irish are stacking elite talent in the trenches at a level no other college football program can match right now. Across the 2026 and 2027 classes, Notre Dame has put together a haul on both lines that stands out even before you get into the details. The defensive line has been especially loud.
Notre Dame is tied for first in five-star defensive line recruiting after landing defensive end Rodney Dunham, the No. 8 overall player in the 2026 class, along with 2027 defensive tackle David Folorunsho, the No. 8 overall player in that cycle, and 2027 defensive end Abraham Sesay, who checks in at No. 15 overall. All three are five-star recruits.
That star power is backed up by volume. Add Brayden Parks to the mix and Notre Dame has landed six four-star defensive line recruits along with those three five-stars over the last two cycles. The breakdown is balanced, too: five four-star edge players and four four-star interior linemen.
No one in the country has more four- and five-star defensive line commits over that stretch than Notre Dame. The Irish’s nine total blue-chip defensive line additions top the national list, and the company near the top is telling.
Of the top six programs, only Texas is from the SEC. Georgia, Alabama and Oregon are absent.
Notre Dame has also signed more five-star defensive linemen, with three, than Georgia and Alabama have landed Top 100 defensive linemen combined, which is two.
There is still a chance to keep the run going. On Monday, elite 2028 defensive end Darieon Prescott, the No. 24 player in the country, is expected to choose between Notre Dame, Oregon and Texas A&M.
The offensive line has been just as strong, and Joe Rudolph and the staff have kept the pipeline moving there as well. No team has signed more than one five-star offensive lineman over the last two cycles, and Notre Dame is tied with Michigan for the most four-star commits. Michigan, though, has zero five-star offensive linemen.
Only three teams - Georgia, Miami and Michigan - have more than four offensive linemen in the 2026 and 2027 classes. Notre Dame and Florida are the only programs with three Top 100 offensive linemen over those two cycles, and Florida’s group includes a five-star in the 2027 class.
Albert Simien’s commitment pushed Notre Dame into a remarkable run: at least one five-star in six straight cycles and seven total five-star linemen. That group includes Aamil Wagner in 2022, Charles Jagusah in 2023, Guerby Lambert in 2024, Will Black in 2025, Grayson McKeogh in 2026, and both Albert Simien and Olu Olubobola in 2027.
Taken together, the numbers paint a clear picture. Notre Dame has signed 17 total four- and five-star linemen over the last two years, five more than any other team in the country.
That total is bigger than the combined output of Georgia and Alabama, which sit at 16. Notre Dame also has six total five-star linemen across the offensive and defensive fronts, double the next-best program, USC, and the Trojans are the only other school with three.
The gap gets even wider when you stack Notre Dame against the sport’s biggest powers. Five SEC teams made the College Football Playoff last season - Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Texas A&M - and Notre Dame’s six linemen in the 2026 and 2027 classes are more than those five teams combined. Add the two Texas five-stars, and it only ties what Notre Dame has done over the last two cycles.
Freeman said he would build a line-driven program, and the recruiting trail has backed him up. The next step is for that dominance to show up more clearly on the field, something Irish fans are hoping to see during the 2026 season.
In the 2027 class, Rivals/On3 is still going through its annual five-star update, and for this breakdown any player ranked in the Top 32 was treated as a five-star. That context matters for teams like Miami, where defensive end Jaiden Bryant is ranked as a four-star but sits at No. 29 nationally.
Notre Dame did not benefit from that adjustment because all of its five-stars were already graded that way. Rankings can still shift with future updates, but the larger point remains: Notre Dame’s line recruiting is operating on a different level.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Defense Has Two Fall Camp Battles Fans Can't Ignore
Notre Dames defense enters fall camp with the kind of returning experience most programs would envy, but the next month still matters plenty. The Irish have key pieces back on every level, and the challenge now is less about finding talent than sorting out where it all fits, especially in a secondary and front seven that should be good enough to carry championship hopes if the right combinations emerge.
The most interesting questions are in the battles for rotational and starting jobs, where transfers and holdovers are all pushing for clarity. DJ McKinney is in the mix for a corner spot, Dallas Golden is back after missing the end of spring, and the defensive line picture is just as crowded with Keon Keeley among the names trying to carve out a role. Even behind the established safety starters, there is still room for someone like Ethan Long or Joey O'Brien to force the issue, which is exactly the sort of depth problem Notre Dame wants to have. [Read more 🡒]
Marcus Freeman Just Landed A Massive Defensive Recruiting Win
A major early win on the recruiting trail came together for Notre Dame with the commitment of 2028 defensive end Darieon Prescott, a rising national prospect whose blend of size, power and explosiveness has already made him one of the more intriguing young linemen in the country. The Bolingbrook, Ill., standout gives the Irish another high-upside piece to build around, and his addition adds real weight to a defensive line class that is still taking shape.
Prescott is Notre Dames third commitment in the 2028 class and the first defensive lineman in that group, which makes his pledge especially notable for a program that wants to keep stacking talent up front. At 6-4 and 255 pounds, he already looks the part of an edge defender, and the projection is for him to grow into a bigger, more complete presence who can fit into Chris Ashs defense by helping against the run while still bringing pressure off the edge. [Read more 🡒]