Notre Dame suffers a bizarre miss with a top West Coast recruiting target despite a fantastic recent visit to South Bend
Despite a lot of positivity recently, Notre Dame just received some unforeseen bad news for a top West Coast recruiting target.
After 2027 Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei defensive tackle Montana Toilolo visited Notre Dame a couple of weekends ago for an unofficial visit, things were looking great for the Fighting Irish and their chances. We saw multiple expert predictions for head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish staff to land the talented defender.
Those positive vibes quickly changed this past weekend when Toilolo made a trip to check out UCLA. Following that trip, there were multiple reports that the Bruins were surging for the California native. They were able to make up the ground in one weekend, completely overtaking Notre Dame.
UCLA not only became the team to beat for Toilolo, but they also managed to close the deal during that visit. On Thursday, Toilolo committed to the Bruins over Notre Dame, Oregon, Miami, and Washington.
While this is technically a miss for Notre Dame, it’s one that they should have an easy time “recovering from.” With standouts like Brayden Parks and David Folorunsho still on the board, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge is still in a very good spot to put together an outstanding haul up front. It’s all about closing now.
As things stand, Notre Dame is considered the leader for both Parks and Folorunsho. They are all targeting several other talented defensive tackles to maintain a strong board. Barring something unforeseen or an inability to close, the Irish defensive line class should be quite good in the end.
Montana Toilolo’s recruiting background
Toilolo is considered to be a three-star player by each of the major recruiting platforms. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, the California native is currently pegged as the No. 538 overall player, the No. 63 defensive lineman, and the No. 46 player from the state of California for the 2027 recruiting class. Rivals has Toilolo ranked as the No. 45 defensive lineman in the class.
Despite some underwhelming recruiting rankings, Toilolo boasts an impressive offer list. Some of his top offers include the Fighting Irish, the Bruins, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee, Miami, Missouri, Arkansas, Utah, Texas Tech, Washington, Colorado, Arizona State, Arizona, Cal, and Kansas, among several others.
The talented defensive tackle was an extremely underrated part of the Mater Dei defense last season. In ten games, the 6-3, 265-pound defender managed to record 22 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks. Toilolo also recorded two more quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.