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What Notre Dame general manager Mike Martin said in National Signing Day news conference

Kyle Kellyby: Kyle Kelly12/03/25ByKyleKelly

On Wednesday’s National Signing Day, Notre Dame football general manager Mike Martin addressed the media for the second time since his February arrival. Here’s what he told reporters in his about 35-minute news conference. Martin’s opening statement can be found at the end of this article. But first, the questions he received and the answers he shared.

Q. This might change as the general manager position evolves, but you were hired late February, early March. Pot of Gold is March 17th.

Can you take us through your priorities for blending recruiting with also getting — you have to get in to start looking ahead at some people that could be portal people as the season progresses. How did this kind of condensed calendar year work for you?

MARTIN: “Yeah, it’s been interesting. It’s been a lot because it’s just kind of ongoing. It doesn’t really stop. You catch your breath for a second — you go right into the next thing. I’m grateful for what we’ve been able to accomplish from a recruiting standpoint for this 2026 class, and I think that earns us the opportunity to go into something else, a whole new challenge. 

“I would say the shortened calendar is challenging, and trying to navigate that is tough. Sort of now we’re pivoting right into this portal deal with the January 2nd fast approaching. So we’ve been working on that for a little while. We’ve sort of narrowed our focus on some targets, and when we’re able to reach out to them, we will at the appropriate time. 

“As far as Pot of Gold, when I got here, I was saying, ‘Man, I thought this was the coolest thing ever.’ The Irish — we get to celebrate the Irish on St. Patty’s Day, and reaching out to — not reaching out —  but the announcement of the kids that we were able to offer in the upcoming class. 

“So we are looking to maybe do something a little bit different on Pot of Gold Day. So we’ll kind of keep you guys hopefully waiting to see what that is, but we’re excited about what we plan to do with Pot of Gold Day.”

Q. I know this is related to the portal, but a healthy dose of offensive linemen, defensive linemen and defensive backs in this class. Obviously, that has to do with the Notre Dame roster at present, but is part of that, ‘It’s better to recruit that and develop it’ than find, in many cases for Notre Dame, a one-year guy at that position?

MARTIN: “You bring up a good point. I mean, one, I would say what makes us unique is we embrace the fact that we’re a developmental program. We thrive by finding the right individuals in high school and developing them. 

“We talked about — you mentioned supplementing at certain positions. It’s difficult in the portal, right? There are certain positions where they’re just at a premium, and there aren’t a whole lot of them (considering) their NIL opportunities, or the opportunity to make a lot of money; as it relates to NIL, just makes it difficult to target a lot of these guys. 

“So, to your point, I think our emphasis will be continuing to sort of develop at the O-line, at the defensive line position. But there are a few guys that we kind of got our eyes on that potentially could come in and help us.”

Q. Mike, sort of related to that, I’m curious, it seemed like you kept adding at certain positions where you already had a number of guys like offensive line, (wide) receiver. What was the process of deciding, ‘You know what, we can’t pass up adding another guy at certain positions,’ and how do you balance that as you go through a recruiting cycle?

MARTIN: “Well, I think what made this — I think Coach [Marcus] Freeman mentioned earlier, a bunch of awesome, I think, stats. Like one, this is our top class in the internet era. And we have all these like, ‘Hey, we got a bunch of top-tier O-linemen. We have two top 10 running backs, two top 10 tight ends. I think two top 10 edge guys.’

“I think we were able to sort of ride the momentum of last year, and we were able to reach certain players consistently that we may not have been able to get in the past. And so when you have the opportunity to do that, I think it’s important that you sort of take advantage. 

“So I think when we started off, there was, we did not have the intention, we didn’t set out to sign 27 young men. But I think as we got going, we were faced with, ‘Do you add another super talented individual?’ And we just couldn’t pass up on adding, even if that meant sort of stockpiling at certain positions.”

Q. I’m curious specifically about the defensive back group, as yourself being a former defensive back. What makes that group so good? What do you like about the defensive backs you signed?

MARTIN: “You know, size, man. We’ve continued to add size at the defensive back position. We talked about some of the Joey O’Brien’s just long, rangy, unique ability to sort of get his hands on the ball and take the ball away.

“Ayden Pouncey, another just a big defensive back. He’s a super talented kid, can play multiple roles. He can be a corner. He can be a safety, punt returner. He’s even played receiver. And not to backtrack, but Joey O’Brien, like playing receiver and setting records on the offensive side. I think (he) recently broke Marvin Harrison’s receiving record, something crazy like that. 

“I also think Chaz Smith is a longer corner, with press-man ability and man coverage ability. I think he’s unique and offers us again, more size and ability to kind of match up with — these receivers, a lot of them are growing in size. So you got to be able to sort of match them physically. And I think we’re able to do that. 

“Nick Reddish, another one, he may not have the size, but Nick plays probably twice as big as he is. And he’s a physical, violent player on the football field, and sort of fits, fits this place.

“And so all of those guys, I think I love the fact that they bring size. I think they all are impact players that have an innate ability to affect the game. And so that’s what excites me about that defensive back class.”

Q. Hey, Mike, you came in, and these GM jobs across the country were not cookie-cutter. A lot of different skill sets. And then you get all these new rules kind of thrown at all of you in July. And the thought was, ‘You’re going to have to evolve in this job.’ I’m wondering how that process went for you, and where would you like to see your role evolve in this second year on the job?

MARTIN: “Yeah, I’ll admit, truthfully, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And when I got into this job, and then, hell, I don’t think anyone knew, just with all the rule changes that you mentioned. And so I started off, I’ll say, I think we were sort of all over the place. Freeman often references a bumpy road to better. I think, along the way, we sort of got better and started to familiarize ourselves with the changes. 

“I’d like to see, I think, out of this position, I think just even around the country, I think here, our emphasis is on getting the right players. So the evaluation effort being sort of ramped up. 

“I mentioned that, I think, when I first got here, that that was sort of the goal. And then somewhere along the way, I think we got mired in all of these changes and all of these things. And then we were able to sort of pull it back together and get back to what we wanted to do, which was, ‘Hey, let’s focus on one, finding the right individuals, the people.’ 

“So when I say evaluations, not just from a football standpoint, but digging into the backgrounds of these young men, spending actual time, getting to know them, doing some research and making sure from a talent standpoint, we’re getting guys that sort of fit the bill and that are going to come in and be able to help us at some point.

“So the emphasis there, I think, is important. And I’d like to see that sort of grow more here and around the country, like the emphasis on just the evaluations.”

Q. And then you mentioned bumpy road, choose hard. A lot of coaches, prior to Marcus, like to kind of camouflage that. Marcus embraces it. He wants to sell it. 

You being a Vanderbilt guy and being an all-academic SEC guy, how easy was that for you to embrace, other than you didn’t have crummy weather in Vanderbilt? And what do you bring to that equation as a GM in helping sell Notre Dame?

MARTIN: “I learned a lot, I think, in my collegiate time.  I learned the importance of education and the academic side. I also learned how to kind of persevere through hard times because we had it rough while I was there. I think Clark Lea’s doing a great job there and commend them on the year that they had.

“But I’ll tell you that I think I learned, again, that you’re going to encounter some hard times. And I think Marcus always speaks to like, everything that we want in life is on the other side of hard. And so we were able to — he’s been able to connect with our young men and our players and just emphasize that, ‘Look, man, struggle is necessary.’

“I think we were faced with that reality right out of the gate in the first two games — didn’t end up the way we wanted it. We struggled. But through that, I think, I don’t think we go on to win the next 10 without that struggle. And he’s able to sort of constantly remind this team about the struggle and the significance of hard and overcoming challenges helps to kind of build the unit that we’re looking to build here. And we’ve been able to do that thus far, and we’re going to continue.” 

Q. Mike, you guys were the only Power Four program to have zero decommitments in this class. Unless there’s something that we don’t know about, I don’t think anyone was particularly close to that since the summer. How were you guys able to keep the class together?

MARTIN: “Man, I’m so glad you brought that up because there’s a lot of stats that I think that’ll get thrown around about this class. But the one I’m most excited about, most proud of, is the zero decommitments. 

“And I think we’re excellent here in terms of building relationships from Coach Freeman, the coaching staff, recruiting staff, the support staff. We’re able to kind of connect with these young men on a personal level and build genuine relationships like this. That doesn’t happen. This doesn’t happen without genuine, real relationships. I think that was key in being able to sort of hold this class together. 

“Also, I think the benefit of I think we try to focus on the right young men, right? Like, I feel like this place isn’t for everyone, but for the young men that this place is for, they sort of get it. And once they sort of figure out that this is where they want to be, I think they’re committed to that. And I think this was the perfect example. 

“And we’ve got a close-knit unit coming in this ’26 class. And, it’s unbelievable how they’ve gelled in such a short amount of time. And I’m glad that they all sort of honored their commitment, signed today. I’ll tell you, they signed in about 20 minutes. So they were ready, and we’re ready for them.”

Q. You talked about kind of building on the momentum of last year and reaching players consistently that you might not have in the past. Like, can you explain a little bit more about what that looked like when you were building the class? And is there anyone in particular you feel like might not have given Notre Dame a second look if last year’s run didn’t happen?

MARTIN: “I would say I don’t want to single out anyone, but I would say at several positions where, I think what made this class the mega class that it is, is that we were able to sign guys that were at the top of the board all around the country. Right. 

“And usually, I think, I don’t know, this is my first recruiting class, but I would think, like, even in the (NFL) draft, it’s like, ‘OK, these are the guys we want to target, but later on, you’re sort of, there’s a little bit of a, ‘Well, we’ll settle for this.’ I don’t really feel like we settled anywhere. 

“I think there were a lot of positions where we got guys that were at the top of boards all across other schools and all across the country. And so I feel like — we were — that sort of led us to take 27 young men. And I think there are certainly some guys that I’m sure that are still getting calls that could have gone a bunch of different places. But we’re glad that they chose the Irish.”

Q. Mike, you had mentioned sort of the NIL components and contracts. How, I guess, easy or difficult is that element of your job? And at what point did you feel comfortable about it? Or is that something you kind of never get totally comfortable with?

MARTIN: “Yeah, I think I’m still trying to get comfortable with that part. I think when you’re sort of dealing with men at the NFL level, it’s sort of, ‘Hey, everything is business.’ You earn a check, you’re in a contract, you get like — but at the college level, we connect on so many different levels.

“It’s, again, connecting with the young men, helping to develop them, build relationships. So sometimes it makes some of the negotiations over NIL difficult. And you’re dealing with, at times, agents who, some of them are the greatest in the world to work with. There’s some that aren’t as easy to work with. Sorry, I don’t want to call out anyone. I might have to work with a lot of them. 

“But I’ll say, and then there’s families that represent themselves, and then there’s even young men that represent themselves. And I just think you find yourself constantly trying to adjust to who you’re working with. 

“But I think here it’s transparency with them. Transparency as to how we see them from an evaluation — a valuation standpoint. And I just think being upfront, being clear with them, helped us to sort of navigate that space.

“But it’s still something we’re working through. There’s challenges. You have to have — there’s contractual language in there that they’re not always receptive to. So there’s a lot of back and forth and redlining. And so that’s kept us pretty busy. 

“But I don’t know that’s something you ever get comfortable with, but I’m glad that it is where it is and we are where we are. And I’m glad that this class came together.”

Q. You mentioned the intention not to —or the intention wasn’t always like, ‘Let’s take 27.’ At what point in the cycle did you guys sort of realize or come to terms with like, ‘All right, we have more interest than we have spots, but like, let’s push the envelope here.’ Whether that’s somebody like Ian Premer, you already have a tight end committed. Or maybe you take a sixth offensive lineman.

Like what point in the cycle were you’re like, ‘OK, let’s just push this as far as we can take it.’

MARTIN: “I don’t know exactly when or what number it was, but I know that we got to a point where I was like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not sure if we can add another person.’ And then I’m like, ‘Well, there’s no way we can pass up on this.’

“So there’s a lot of gymnastics that’ll have to occur in terms of roster spots and spaces and and we’ll figure it all out. But it was just, there was a time, I don’t know the exact point, but there definitely was a time where it was like, ‘You know, wait a minute, should we add more?’ And then when you’re sort of faced with the talent that’s in front of you and the type of young men that were in front of us, that we feel like is perfect for this place, it just made it too hard to say no.”

Q. You mentioned Anthony Treash’s role in recruiting. What specific impact did he have, and how did he maybe incorporate analytics into evaluations? 

MARTIN: “I mean, I don’t want to give away all Treash’s secrets. I don’t know all of Treash’s secrets. Sometimes lists pop up, and I will tell you that we’ve had great success with some of the lists that have popped up. But he’s able to sort of use numbers and statistics and games played and all sorts of information that helped us sort of narrow our scope and focus in on the right players.

“I had some experience with that coming from Detroit, and so I came in here, and Treash was able to sort of pick up where I left. A lot of the things that we were doing where I left, he sort of was already on top of it and knew how to sort of aggregate numbers and use standard deviation, and a lot of that to kind of get to our targets. 

“Don’t let Treash fool you. Treash is an awesome evaluator as well, and he was able to sort of, he did a lot of evaluation for us and helped us sort of narrow our focus and get to the right names. And so hats off to Treash. He’s just, he’s unbelievable at what he does.”

Q. Coach Freeman mentioned that he knew you’d be a good evaluator, but your ability to recruit and develop relationships really stuck out to him. What allowed you to kind of hit the ground running in that area?

MARTIN: “I think the thing I was most concerned about when I got here was the recruiting part. I’d done all the other things. I’ve evaluated. I could help to create a board of talent. But I was worried about the recruiting part just because I’ve never recruited.

“But when I got here, I realized that I’m able to connect with the parents, especially, right? The parents are my age. I don’t know when it’s like, when this happens. When you look around, and you’re like, ‘Dang, I’m way older than a lot of the staff that I work with.’ And I’m the parents’ age. And I have a son and a daughter that are starting to approach college.

“And so I’m able to kind of connect with the parents, I think, in a way that maybe some of the younger staff can’t. Like, as a parent, you want to know, ‘What do you think about this place and me leaving my son here, the safety of it?’ Things that I think sometimes young people don’t necessarily think about, like long-term things and goals, and sort of how that meshes. 

“And I think, again, I’ve been able to connect in ways that I didn’t realize I would be able to, I think, coming in. And there are a lot of people that are interested in what I have to say as it relates to that. And that sort of came as a surprise to me. And so I think that was the surprising thing, is being able to kind of connect with the parents.

“And even the young men. I think I have a natural connection that way, because I think most of these young men, all of these young men, aspire to one day play in the NFL. And with my NFL background, I think that gives me some credibility with them. And we’re able to have some conversations and how I see them, and do I think they have the ability to make it to the next level. And so it sort of walks you into these conversations.”

Q. Mike, when you were with the Lions, you guys had some success with running backs going against the grain. I guess what do you like about Jonaz Walton and Javian Osborne?

MARTIN: “Man. The first name, Jonaz Walton. I mean, it’s rare that you find that combination of size and speed. He is a tough, powerful young man that is a big kid. When you see him up close and in person, you’re sort of taken aback by how big he is. And he’s put together. Muscular, strong kid, but he also, he can just flat out run.

“I think that’s a God-given ability and talent. He does a lot of things in the running game and the pass game as a returner. And he just offers incredible value as it relates to what he brings to our program. 

“And Javian Osborne, JO, he is just a naturally gifted runner. He has vision, anticipation, feel, instincts that are unusual for a high school running back. And I was able to see that, I think, right away on film. And I think the very first time I saw his film, I looked and I was like, ‘Oh, who’s this kid?’ Then right away, I was like, ‘We got to get him on the phone.’ 

“And he’s just an extraordinary talent as it relates to, he just, he sees things differently. He sees the field in color. And that’s the kind of talent we’re looking for.”

Q. And then you’ve kind of touched on it, but just coming from the NFL, what have you learned about college football recruiting over the course of a full calendar that you can enhance in year two? 

MARTIN: “I definitely think we can evolve in a lot of different ways. I think we believe in sort of like rapid evolution and constantly evolving, and I think we will continue to grow and improve how we’re communicating with the players, right down to who’s communicating with who, when are we communicating. 

“We’re going to be — we’re going to have a concerted effort on improving, even what I think is a strength of ours, is when we get kids, young men on campus, our close rate goes way up. So I think they find this place to be as extraordinary as we do. 

“But I think we can continue to improve there on our on-campus visits, and I think, again, I think every area of our department, we’re going to continue to evolve. I think we do a really awesome job of after every event, whether it’s a Saturday tailgate and unofficial visit, we have committee meetings where we discuss how can we improve? How can we get better?

“So for us, it’s about the golden standard and trying to reach the golden standard. And we know that that thing is, it’s way up there, and it’s hard to get to, but we’re going to continue to chase it in every area of the program.”

Q. You talked a little bit about the NIL contracts, which are obviously kind of uncharted territory right now. I’m curious how you and the staff go about like creating a valuation for each kid that you’re recruiting, and how much does Marcus get involved and the position coaches. I’m just wondering if you could share some insight into how you look at these guys beyond simply, ‘Do we want them here or not?’

“Yeah, it’s tough. I think where we start is, so for the 2026 class, where we started was sort of how much of the budget we were going to allocate to the 2026 class. And then from that, in each position room, what percentage of that percentage do we want to allocate to those rooms? Then you were able to sort of like divvy up the funds from there and the budget from there.

“It’s hard to just kind of put a number on something. I think what’s interesting, what’s tough, because there’s not a lot of shared information as it relates to what guys are making or what’s Alabama paying guys, what’s Oklahoma paying. You don’t really get that information, so you have to kind of fall back on what you know.

“I sort of took the idea from the rookie salary pool, and we sort of used that, and we took that idea, and we were able to break it down. Now, when you get into these negotiations and conversations, it sort of goes where it goes, and sometimes you have to, your percentages can get a little off trying to land certain targets.

“So, I think it’s a good baseline, a good starting point, and that’s sort of how we sort of set the initial valuation. We also obviously evaluate the player’s talent, and there’s sort of a little bit of a tiering within positions, and so we’re able to sort of tier players within positions. But I will say that I think we hit on top-tier players at every position.”

Q. And then this may be hard to answer for the reasons you just gave. You don’t know always what other schools are spending, what their budgets are, but you hear these large numbers thrown out in various reports. I’m curious how you feel about the budget you have. Like, do you feel like it’s competitive to this point to do what you guys want to do? 

“No, I absolutely think it’s competitive. I think we are positioned well to do what we want to do and what we need to do. 

“Here, I think we understand that we may never be the highest paying team or the highest bidder, but it is important to us to be competitive. I think we, I’ve mentioned this before, I think we offer so many other things that we don’t necessarily have to have the same budget, but we can’t be too far off either.

“It’s just if we want to continue to be competitive on the field, and we’re going to have to continue to sort of push the number. But I’ll say that I think right now we are positioned well for that.”

Opening statement

“First, I want to thank all of you for coming, for joining us today, braving the weather here a little bit. I know everyone wasn’t able to make it, but thank you to all of you that did. 

“I wanted to start off with a few thank yous. First, thank God for having his hand on this class, helping to put this class together. Definitely felt his presence all through putting this class together. 

“I want to thank Coach Freeman. Coach Freeman is an unbelievable recruiter. He has an unbelievable way of connecting with people, and he was able to do that with this entire class. 

“If we could put him on — I mean, he’s on a lot of things, on a lot of billboards, on a lot of signs. If we could put him on more, we would. He is the one you want out front. He’s our leader here, and he’s just dynamic in his ability to connect with these young people, and so he’s been awesome along with his coaching staff.

“Man, we want to thank the coaching staff because they just do an unbelievable job of building these relationships. They have a really hard job. They got a Monday through Friday, ‘I’m trying to game plan and figure out how we’re going to win on Saturday,’ and then you get to the bye week and the little bit of a break they get, they go on the road for us, and they go recruit. And they did an unbelievable job of helping bring this class together.

“I want to thank Pete Bevacqua, best AD in the country, just supporting us and helping us to recruit this class up, and he always makes himself available to help us, and he is just unbelievable support. 

“There’s so many names I’m going to go through real quickly. But Ron Powlus is super helpful, does a lot with the contracts and the NIL stuff. And Lauren Hanna, redlining these contracts and these deals — grateful for her help with this. 

“All the Notre Dame support staff, I mean, too many names to mention, but from sports performance, to the academic support staff, unbelievable job on all of their ends, and we thank you for your help and your support with this.

“I want to give special thanks to admissions, Micki Kidder, a great partner to work with in trying to get these student-athletes admitted here, and she’s been super helpful. I just enjoy working with her, awesome person. I would say there can’t be a better person in the country doing that type of job, and her job, and she’s just, it’s a joy to work with her. 

“Rally. Rally our collective, unbelievable, and we were gracious and grateful for all the help that they give. It’s headed by Kayla Rogers. I see Jada [Edison] in here. But Rally is super supportive, and there’s no way that this class comes together without Rally, 100%.

“Anthony Travel, Three Leaf Catering. I want to thank Fighting Irish Media, Katy Lonergan, we got Sarah [Miesle] over here, we got Kevin [McMahon] and Claire [Cunningham], I think are in here as well.

“I think to recruit these young people, you have to be able to meet them where they are, and they do a great job with just the content and the graphics and helping to connect in the social media space and just coming up with cool, colorful things that draw their attention. We’re able to sustain their attention, and we wouldn’t be able to do that without Fighting Irish Media. 

“I want to thank Pat Garrity, who helps run, he helps with the NIL portion here, heads up NIL here. 

“Special thanks to Pat Rogers, who’s in here. Definitely, this wouldn’t have happened without Pat. We were up many nights trying to get a lot of this done — we’ll talk about some of the NIL stuff later, I’m sure. But there’s a business side to it. And Pat is really gifted in that area and I couldn’t have done it without him, we couldn’t have done it without him. We were up many nights, last night in fact, till about 2 a.m., trying to get some things done, but he is a major reason that this class turned out as well as it did.

“I want to thank my recruiting staff and our recruiting staff, a special group of young people that are able to connect with other young people and help us to build the relationships necessary. Starting with Carter Auman, our director of recruiting. 

“From Carter to Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Justice Bathas, Tre Reader, just elite relationship builders, and they were able to connect right away from phone call to in-person interactions with this class and the young men in this class, and they were) a key component to what we were able to accomplish. 

“Jourdan Blake, he handles coaches’ travel, logistics, a lot of the operational stuff, and works hand-in-hand with the coaches and get all the things done as it relates to the recruiting and their schedules. He’s been unbelievable in that role. 

“Ariella Ellis, Ari, we added this year. She came in when I came in. She handles a lot of the academic stuff. She works with academic support staff and admissions. She works hand-in-hand with Micki and her group, and just is really taking a lot off of me and allowed me to focus on other areas, but she’s done a great job. We have 24 of our 27 commits are enrolling early. And that really doesn’t happen without her. Above and beyond in terms of the admission stuff.

“I want to thank Becca. Becca Sites leads the charge on the official visits, on-campus visits, and we have some incredible, had some incredible tailgates, some on-campus deals, and it all has a lot to do with her planning, preparing, setting up things.

“I’ve seen different things this year in terms of hosting these young people and the individuals and the student athletes that I hadn’t even seen some of these things in the NFL and at the professional level. So she’s done a great job there.

“I want to thank Matt Jansen and Anthony Treash. They’ve done a lot of things in the evaluation space to help us pick the right players from an athletic standpoint, from a talent standpoint. I want to thank them.

“I want to thank Timmy, Stu, Jamo, all the dedicated workers and the student workers that offer their hard work and their time. Again, I want to thank all of them. 

“One other, I want to thank the wives of the coaches and some of the personnel and support staff, too. They often get forgotten, and I want to thank them because when we’re recruiting, they’re recruiting. They were really big and influential in this.”