Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman announces promotions for Chad Bowden, Dre Brown
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman announced two promotions to the Fighting Irish recruiting staff. During his Thursday news conference, Freeman told reporters he elevated Chad Bowden to assistant athletic director for player personnel, a general manager-like position. Dre Brown is now the program’s director of recruiting.
Bowden and Brown’s promotions came after the University of Michigan pursued Bowden for a personnel position. Bowden was formerly Notre Dame’s director of recruiting and Brown was the team’s director of high school scouting.
“Chad is elite at what he does,” Freeman said. “The opportunity for him to lead our entire personnel staff is, to me, something that is earned. He’s earned that right and is doing a great job. He does such a good job at what he does. That’s not just connecting with recruits but planning, leading a group of people and evaluations.
“I speak about Dre in the same light. He has done a great job in his role.”
Bowden, 29, has been a linchpin to Notre Dame football’s success on the recruiting trail under Freeman. He has been the program’s architect, achieving three top-11 recruiting classes from 2022-2024, a mark the Irish had not attained since 2006-08. During those three years, Notre Dame landed the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 4 classes, respectively.
Freeman named Bowden the program’s director of recruiting in February 2022. Bowden previously served as the program’s defensive director of recruiting for one season. Freeman brought Bowden from the University of Cincinnati after accepting Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator position in 2021.
Brown joined the Irish in July 2021 as the team’s assistant running backs coach and offensive recruiting coordinator. From June 2022 to January 2023, he served as the team’s assistant defensive backs coach. Freeman made Brown the director of high school scouting in January 2023.
Bowden and Brown are entering their fourth season on the Notre Dame coaching staff. This will be their second collaboration on the program’s recruiting classes. Consistency has been critical to constructing the current roster.
“Consistency is so important,” Freeman said. “But it’s even more important when it’s good. … We have the right people that can do that role and perform it at a high level.”
Under Bowden and Brown, the Irish are off to another hot start on the recruiting trail in the 2025 cycle. Notre Dame’s class currently ranks No. 5 in the nation in the 2025 Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Rankings. Its 17 commits are also the most in the country.
