Notre Dame surging for top transfer portal target – Detailing how the Fighting Irish got into pole positon with DT Francis Brewu
How was Notre Dame able to become the leader for top transfer portal target Francis Brewu?
Notre Dame’s quest for transfer portal defensive tackles has been an interesting ride so far. After some early misses at the position, including former Penn State standout Xavier Gilliam, who signed with Tennessee, the board for the Fighting Irish got very small, way too quickly. It made the process look very flawed from the start.
One defensive tackle that head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish staff have been high on for some time is former Pitt star Francis Brewu, a talented player with two years of eligibility remaining. With his impressive talent, on top of his past relationship with new Notre Dame defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, the Ohio native felt like a bit of a must-get portal target. There was a lot of pressure for the Irish staff to figure it out.
With the recent predictions from Steve Wiltfong and Pete Nakos for the former Panther star to land with Notre Dame, it appears like only a matter of time until Brewu joins the class. There was a lot of interest in Brewu across college football, and a lot of money has also been offered. This would be one of the more impressive portal victories for Freeman’s program if they were able to close it out.
It was just a couple of days ago that things looked like they were fading between Brewu and Notre Dame. Just how were the Irish able to reverse that momentum? It has been an interesting process for the Irish.
How was Notre Dame able to reverse momentum?
On the Notre Dame side, there needs to be a ton of credit given to Freeman and Patridge, putting the team in a position to close this one out. That aforementioned relationship with Partridge has played a big role, as has his reputation as a developer and new NFL pedigree. The Irish program has also been aggressive from an NIL perspective. Some folks refuse to admit that Notre Dame is willing to spend money, and while they are conservative at times, they needed to open up the checkbook for this one.
If Notre Dame is able to win out, a part of it will be because they weren’t stingy with the NIL offer. It is a good sign for transfer portals of the future. The Irish staff is here to compete, and they understand what the current college football landscape demands.
Ohio State was believed to be the main competition for Notre Dame, and some believed that the Buckeyes led just a day or two ago. There is some thought on the Ohio State side that the team decided to cool on Brewu a bit in favor of former Alabama standout James Smith, who committed to the team on Monday. Along with John Walker, Ohio State is said to have valued a bigger body type, compared to the undersized frame that Brewu brings to the table.
Whatever the actual reason for the flip in momentum, it is great news for Notre Dame. If they do land Brewu in the somewhat near future, it is a huge help to an Irish interior that needs to add quality bodies. It would be the first big recruiting victory by Partridge since he landed in South Bend.
Francis Brewu’s career background
Brewu was originally considered to be a consensus three-star player by each of the major recruiting platforms coming out of the 2024 class. He ended up ranked as the No. 481 overall player, the No. 56 defensive lineman, and the No. 20 player from the state of Ohio in the 2024 recruiting class, according to the 247 Sports Composite ranking. That Columbus (Oh.) Thomas Worthington standout ended up as the second-highest rated player in the class for the Panthers.
Despite those somewhat modest recruiting rankings, the Ohio native did have some impressive options on the table. Some of Brewu’s top offers included Miami, Iowa State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Boston College, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Duke, among many others. The offer list will be even better this time around.
In two seasons with the Panthers, Brewu has developed into one of the defensive linemen in the ACC conference. During that stretch, the talented defender managed to record 42 total tackles, 9.5 sacks, 3.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. There is even more talent to continue tapping into as he moves into the future.
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