Notre Dame Football Mailbag: Ja'Juan Seider, Deland McCullough tribute, 2026 recruiting, and predicting freshman contributors this fall
What a crazy offseason it has been so far for Notre Dame football. Most people would have hoped that it would have been semi-quiet coming off of a national title performance, and give this program a chance to regroup, and reload for another title run in 2025. Instead, the last couple of weeks have been […]
What a crazy offseason it has been so far for Notre Dame football. Most people would have hoped that it would have been semi-quiet coming off of a national title performance, and give this program a chance to regroup, and reload for another title run in 2025. Instead, the last couple of weeks have been focused on coaching vacancies and hirings.
On this week's Notre Dame Football Mailbag, there were a ton of questions about the hiring of former Penn State running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider. There were also inquiries that included the vacant general position, and some potential freshman contributors. Let's get to another round of amazing questions.
Role of a General Manager
It’s such a great question because the world of College Football general managers is so new. We know what it looks like on the NFL level, but naturally, things are going to be inherently different. We are also going to see these positions continue to evolve over time.
For me, just personal preference, I think it all starts with high school recruiting. That, and roster retention, all go hand and hand. As you develop deeper relationships, as long as you are good at what you do, you should have the ability to retain that talent along with some NIL cash.
I also think NIL valuation and utilization are very close together with the transfer portal, so I’m grouping them together behind the recruiting sector. For Notre Dame, I think this order is especially perfect. We have seen that the staff is more than willing to go into the portal, but it is definitely behind high school talent acquisition and retention.
Freshman contributors to know
On offense, I really think the only true freshman contributor is tight end James Flanigan. The tight end room is thin due to the Cooper Flanagan injury, which could lead to some opportunity. Offensive tackle Will Black is talented enough to play but he’s walking into a really deep offensive line room. Starting immediately up front is a pretty rare thing outside of injuries creating opportunity.
On defense, I think linebacker Madden Faraimo will have every opportunity to find into the rotation but that group is very deep. It wouldn’t be shocking to see someone like Dallas Golden or Mark Zackery also carve out a rotational role at cornerback. The overall depth could prevent some talented freshmen from making a real early impact in 2025.
Deland McCullough tribute
I couldn’t speak more highly of Deland McCullough. He’s a great teacher at the running back position, but he takes it a step further as a mentor. You combine that with his eye for talent, and you have an elite football coach. Coach McCullough was tremendous for Notre Dame, and will continue to be for whatever organization is lucky to have him.
Running back offers
Really the only 2026 running back target I could see added right now is Delaware (Ohio) Rutherford B Hayes star Favour Akih. That’s someone that has a really good relationship with Ja’Juan Seider. Otherwise, I just expect Notre Dame continuing to recruit the talented runners already on their board, including Penn State commit Messiah Mickens for obvious reasons.
2026 DL recruiting
I talked about 2026 defensive line recruiting a good bit on my “can’t miss article” this week. For me, there are a couple of players it is so essential for this staff to close on. It starts with Chicago (Ill.) Simeon defensive end McHale Blade. He was a teammate of 2025 Irish signee Chris Burgess this past season, and a player Notre Dame has been on for a long time.
On the interior, Notre Dame also has to close on at least one of these two: Sarasota (Fla.) Cardinal Mooney star Elijah Golden and San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) JSerra Catholic standout Simote Katoanga. Both players are longer defensive ends who have the frames to become dominant three techniques. The Irish would like to get both, but you have to get at least one.
From there, it’s about finding some impact size. Two players to know right now are Bastrop (Texas) High School product Tiki Hola and Downey (Calif.) St. Pius X standout Malik Brooks. Notre Dame likes both players, although Hola is much more realistic target currently, having the Irish inside his top four schools.
Ja’Juan Seider will be able to showcase his recruiting impact to Notre Dame fans very quickly against a familiar foe
Could someone be coming with Ja’Juan Seider?
