Live updates: Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman & GM Mike Martin National Signing Day press conference

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“For the 2026 class, where we started was how much of the budget we’d allocate to them. From that, in each position room do we want to allocate to those rooms? Then you divvy it up from there. What makes it tough is that there’s not a lot of shared information of what guys are making — what’s Alabama paying guys, what’s Oklahoma paying? So you have to fall back on what you know. I took the idea from the rookie salary pool and have used that.”

“We also evaluate the player’s talent, and there’s a bit of a tiering within positions.”

He calls Jonaz Walton a tough, powerful running back.

“He’s a strong kid who can flat out run. He does a lot of things in the running game, passing game and return game. He offers incredible value.”

Martin says that Javian Osborne is a naturally gifted runner — things that are unusual for a high school running back.

“He’s an extraordinary talent.”

“I realized that I can connect with the parents especially since I’m their age. I have a son and daughter who are starting to approach college. I can connect with the parents in a way that maybe some of the younger staff can’t…I’ve been able to connect in ways I didn’t realize I would be able to coming in.

“And even the young men — I have a natural connection that way because all of these young men aspire to play in the NFL. With my NFL background, that gives me credibility with them and how I view them and their ability to play at the next level. It walks you into those conversations.”

Martin says that there was instances where Notre Dame couldn’t turn down players even though the numbers may not have allowed it. Says there are gymnastics that they have to figure out but will do that.

Mike Martin said Notre Dame was able to sign top-of-the-board guys at several position in this class.

“Even in the draft, it’s like, these are the guys you want to target, but later on, there’s a little bit of, ‘We’ll settle for this.’

“I don’t really feel like we settled.”

“There’s a lot of stats that will get thrown around about the class, but that stat is what I’m most proud of. We’re excellent here about building relationships; we connect with the young men on a personal level and build genuine relationships.

“We try to focus on the right young man. This place isn’t for everyone. But for the young men this place is for, they get it. When they figure out that this is where they want to be, they’re committed to that. This was a perfect example of that. We have a close-knit unit coming in. I’m glad they honored their commitment.”

He mentions that Notre Dame is signing its top class of the internet, plus the Irish two top-10 running backs, two top-10 tight ends and two top-10 defensive ends.

“We embrace that we’re a developmental program. We thrive by finding the right individuals in high school and developing them…It can be difficult in the portal; there are certain positions at a premium and there aren’t a lot of them.”

He is giving his thank you’s to those who helped with the recruiting class. He spoke about Marcus Freeman, the coaching staff, recruiting office and others around the program.

“Our recruiting staff is a special group of young people…Elite relationship builders.”

He says he’s confused about the Irish falling after winning 49-20 against Stanford.

“Disappointed that we fell because I don’t necessarily agree with it. Our guys did a good enough job versus Stanford to warrant not falling in the rankings. I don’t know if a team did something that much better than us to jump us. That’s for the committee to address.”

“Devin Fitzgerald — he was a guy we’ve known of because Cree Thomas and Benjamin Morrison coming from that school. He reminds you a lot of his father. He might not have the fastest 40 time, but he has some of the best ball skills I’ve seen of a wide receiver prospect. He was too good to not get committed, and we’re grateful he did commit.”

Freeman mentions that Larry Fitzgerald, Devin’s father, helped recruit for ND and has a lot of relationships at the school.

“Kaydon Finley is playing some of the most competitive ball in his league. He’s as talented as anybody you’ll see. We kept getting him up here and getting him up here, and we knew it would be a difficult recruiting process to convince him to come here compared to where his dad went, but it was all about the relationships that ultimately got him to say yes. Those are two extremely talented receivers.”

“Each one is different. When you’re recruiting Khary [Adams], you show him the development Coach Mick has done with Leonard Moore, Sauce Gardner and Benjamin Moore. With Joey O’Brien, you sell Xavier Watts and Kyle Hamilton — his body type and size reminds us of Hamilton.

“Ayden Pouncey is playing as good as any of the DBs … And Chaz Smith, he was the first to commit. He’s playing really well, and Nick Reddish is a swiss-army knife…He has a lot of skill sets and we’ll figure out what’s best for him.”

Freeman confirms that Notre Dame won’t have any players involved in bowl practices. That’s something we’ve been writing about at Blue & Gold in recent weeks.

“Noah is as talented of a high school player as we’ve evaluated. He’s playing really well as a senior. I was watching him throw in the summer, and I’m excited for him. My vision is to have a high school quarterback [recruit] be the future of Notre Dame football. In my first two years, I had to make decision to go into the transfer portal, but when Riley was our quarterback, I knew the future quarterback was in house — and it was one of three people who could be the future of our program. I have a strong belief that Noah will get here and do good things in his first year.”

He spoke highly of Carter Auman, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Jourdan Blake and Justice Bathas.

“How they’ve gelled as a department has been a positive sign. They work really well together and produced good results.”

“We knew those were areas we needed to continue to enhance our roster … You have a couple inside guys and two elite edge rushers, and to me, you have the best defensive backs in the country. It’s exciting. We’re always going to pride ourselves on the defense we play here, and those guys will add to what we’ve started.”

“He’s been tremendous. We knew his evaluation would be an asset, but his ability to develop relationships has been an asset. It’s been a great addition to our staff and program. I look forward to seeing what he continues to do.”

He starts off by thanking people around the program who help out. Freeman points out that it’s the highest-ranked class since the internet started doing rankings.

“We’re excited about each and every one of them. We’re intentionally about who we targeted. When you look at the summer, we had 28 official visitors and 27 committed. We didn’t waste a lot of time. We were on the right guys. Nobody decommitted. They bought into what this place has to offer.”

Rivals had an exclusive interview with Martin about an hour before the press conference at Notre Dame began. Watch a replay of it in the video player below.