Quick-hitters: Marcus Freeman talks 2023 signing class, NIL

Marcus Freeman stepped behind a podium in the Notre Dame Stadium media room Wednesday afternoon with one commit still unsigned. He knew the Irish’s 2023 signing class was done for the day, though. That one player, Lake Stevens (Wash.) four-star running back Jayden Limar, simply chose later in the day to announce his flip to Oregon. For all intents and purposes, he wasn’t part of the class Wednesday morning.

Notre Dame emerged from Limar’s and Denton (Texas) Guyer five-star safety Peyton Bowen’s flips to Oregon with 24 signees and the No. 8 class in the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings. Freeman discussed it for about 20 minutes Wednesday. Here are some topics he addressed.

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On the decommitments from Notre Dame

“We’re going to focus on the ones who decided to come here. It’s important we filled the needs we had, for important roles with important guys. We’re all competitors. We want everyone. If we could take 30 kids, 40 kids, I’m sure we would. But you have to sell what you believe attracts young people here. They have to make the decision to come to Notre Dame for the right reasons, and if it’s not the best place for them, we have to be OK with that.

“We just make sure we’re bringing in the right kids. We can’t worry about the ones we didn’t get. You have to be concerned with the ones you are bringing in. That’s what’s important. I felt like we brought in the exact guys we needed, and we’re extremely happy with this class.”

On four-star running back signee Jeremiyah Love

“He’s an extremely talented guy who does multiple different things. We wanted to address overall speed. He’s a track kid who runs and does a lot of the jumps. He plays multiple positions on both sides of the ball. We’re looking at him at the running back position, but he can do multiple things well. He brings unique talent to the offensive side of the ball.

“He comes from a great high school program at [Christian Brothers College] in St. Louis. A unique individual. He’s very unique. Great set of parents. He’s going to be a huge asset to this program.”

On the role of NIL in recruiting to Notre Dame

“It’s a topic of discussion. We continue to let recruits know you’re going to be able to capitalize off name, image and likeness at Notre Dame as good or better than anywhere else you’re looking at. We believe that. We’ll continue to sell that. If that’s what is important to you and that’s what attracts you to Notre Dame, this is the place you’ll choose.”

On the importance of getting most of the class committed by the end of the summer

“It’s important. It’s a lot harder to decommit than it is to commit. We’ve always said that. The earlier you can get these guys committed to Notre Dame, the better the chance you have of signing them. But you have to continue to make sure they understand the value of this place.

“With time comes other possibilities and other thoughts into these recruits’ minds and thought processes. For them to continue to formulate a bond with each other within this class is really important. That’s often one of the most important factors into the decisions, the bond they have with the other guys in the class. That’s never going to change. I tell those guys that’s important and that’s who you’ll lean on when things get tough. Those will be the guys who you’ll be friends and brothers with for the rest of your lives.”

On the four wide receiver signees and the plan at that position

“That was a priority, size and speed. Production is probably the biggest thing you’re looking for, making sure they’re the right fit. We addressed those needs. Rico [Flores Jr.] being out there in California, extremely talented football player. Jaden Greathouse, who comes from an unbelievable program in Texas, three-time state champion who had a chance to win it this year. Braylon James, out there in Austin, talented, athletic, speed.

Kaleb Smith, we really started recruiting heavily after the start of the season, but the more time you spent with Kaleb and his family, the more you get to know he’s a unique talent who had gone through some injuries, committed early in the process and kind of shut it down. When he decided to open it up, we got a special one.”

On four-star linebacker signee Drayk Bowen

“What attracted Drayk [Bowen] to me was he was the best player in Indiana. Which he obviously won Mr. Football in Indiana. Then you see his film and you see his work ethic, you meet his family, you say, ‘OK, this is a Notre Dame kid, man.’ He’s going to be great. I was recruiting him last year as the defensive coordinator. He’s come to every single home game. He loves this place, and he’s probably our best recruiter.

“He talks to every single one of those recruits. And they all respect him, right, because he’s an outgoing personality, but he’s a great football player, highly rated, those different things. He did a great job of continuing to keep this class interconnected. He tells me he’s a great Madden player. They all play Madden against each other in video games. That’s what these young guys do. They’re on Xbox and PlayStations and Snapchats and all that stuff. That’s what they do. Drayk was vital in keeping this group together.”

On Notre Dame’s transfer portal target positions changing based on the class

“We’ve always said if we’re going to get somebody out of the portal, they have to be somebody we know that can come in and make an immediate impact and really help this football team win games right away. In high school kids, you don’t know. You don’t know who’s going to be able to come in and help you right away.

“You can look at the rankings and all those different things, but who would have known Ben Morrison would have come in and started for us? We knew he was a good player, but he wouldn’t have been the first person I told you last year on signing day was going to start for us. But he did. If we’re going to go into the portal for certain positions, we have to make sure that we know, one, they’ll fit here, but, two, they can have an immediate impact.

“That hasn’t changed based off who we’ve signed. Because you don’t sign high school kids to say, ‘OK, this kid has to have an immediate impact.’ You hope some of them do, but you don’t know. When we go into the portal, we’re saying, ‘These guys have to have an immediate impact on this football team.’”