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Chicago Is Crucial To Notre Dame Recruiting Success

Recruiting well in Chicago is a crucial ingredient to Notre Dame recruiting at a high level in the 2024 and 2025 classes

Chicago used to be such an important part of recruiting success for Notre Dame, and after years of that not being the case, the area is once again becoming a vital piece to success for the Irish on the recruiting trail.

Notre Dame made a living recruiting Chicago for decades, but that has faded in recent years. Some Chicago area standouts on the 1988 national title team include Irish legend Chris Zorich, Tim Grunhard, George Streeter, Jeff Alm and Stan Smagala. All five players were starters on that title team and all got drafted.

The last time Notre Dame was a national championship contender (1993), the defense was fueled by future Hall of Famer Bryant Young, a Chicago native. The front seven was loaded with Chicago area stars like Oliver Gibson, Pete Bercich, Renaldo Wynn and Brian Hamilton. Young and Wynn were first round draft picks and all but Hamilton were drafted. 

Notre Dame has landed a few Chicago, or Chicago area prospects in recent years, and they've been impactful. Cornerback Julian Love, tight end Cole Kmet, and current starting defensive tackle Rylie Mills are considered Chicago area players, but the area just hasn't produced enough volume of impact players.

There are many reasons why Chicago recruiting has fallen off. Part of it is a drop off in talent in the region, and another part of it is Notre Dame not making Chicago enough of a priority. Both are changing now, and Chicago now must become an integral part of Notre Dame building a top "home base" on the trail.

In fact, if Notre Dame is going to land national championship caliber recruiting squads with the 2024 and 2025 classes it must have big success in the Chicago area.

2024 CLASS GETS IT STARTED

Notre Dame already has a Chicago area star in the 2024 class in Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard South wide receiver Cam Williams, who committed to the Irish last summer. Williams had a breakout junior campaign and is ranked as the nation's No. 29 overall player according to On3. 

Williams is a focal point of the offensive class along with Michigan quarterback CJ Carr. The focal point of the entire defensive class is Chicago (Ill.) St. Ignatius defensive tackle Justin Scott. Notre Dame is in a battle with Georgia and Ohio State for the 5-star lineman, who is the ultimate must-get recruit for the Irish in the 2024 class.

Scott is a 6-5, 310-pound defensive tackle that ranks as the nation's No. 7 player nationally according to On3 and the No. 8 overall player according to Rivals. He's not only an elite talent, he plays a position that Notre Dame has struggled to consistently land top players, especially prospects that bring his size to the table.

He brings the big time playmaking potential to the interior of the defense that Notre Dame has not had in years, and it's the kind of impact the Irish defense needs in order to build a championship unit.

Landing Scott won't be easy, but it's absolutely something the Notre Dame staff must do. Landing a 5-star like Carr and a star like Williams on offense, and a star like Scott on defense is what Marcus Freeman and his staff must do if it wants to truly close the gap from a talent standpoint.

2025 CLASS IS LOADED

The Chicago area is loaded in the 2025 class, and Notre Dame must take full advantage. Notre Dame needs to land at least three prospects from the area in the 2025 class.

One of my favorite recruits in the entire class is Geneva (Ill.) Community standout wide receiver Talyn Taylor. The 6-0, 165-pound receiver is a dynamic pass catcher that combines big time athleticism, speed and playmaking ability. He has the potential to be an elite route runner and home run threat as a college player, and he's just a sophomore. Taylor is ranked as the nation's No. 17 overall player according to Rivals.

Taylor recently visited Notre Dame with his mother, and the Irish staff made a very strong impression. Building on that is a must for Chansi Stuckey and the Irish staff, who need to close out his recruitment and eventually add Taylor to the class. Landing Williams and Taylor in back-to-back classes would be tremendous for the Notre Dame offense. It's not often that the area produces back-to-back elite wideouts, and Notre Dame must take advantage.

Another one of my favorites in the class is Oak Park (Ill.) Fenwick defensive end Nathaniel Marshall. The 6-4, 240-pound lineman plays in the same conference as Scott, but it was Marshall who earned defensive player of the year honors in the league last season ..... as a sophomore.

Marshall is vastly underrated, ranking as just the No. 117 player in the country according to On3. Make no mistake, he's a big time talent with big time potential. Marshall is a power player with the tools to either grow into a dominant big end, or possibly even shift inside, depending on how his body fills out.

Either way, Marshall has big time potential and is a must-get for Notre Dame. Like I said at wide receiver, being able to land big time defensive linemen from your backyard in back-to-back classes is something Notre Dame is rarely able to do simply because the "base area" rarely produces this kind of DL talent. That is true in 2024 and 2025 classes, and Notre Dame must take advantage.

Marshall and Scott aren't the only talented defensive linemen in the 2024-25 classes. Chicago (Ill.) Simeon defensive end Christopher Burgess is another highly ranked prospect, checking in as the No. 130 overall player according to On3. Burgess has played just two seasons of football and he's still quite raw, but he's big (6-4, 240), he's a quality athlete and he has a lot of tools.

If Notre Dame can find a way to make it work with Scott, Marshall and Burgess all sign over a two-year span it would give the defensive line a huge, huge boost in size and talent .... and it would all be local talent.

Those players aren't alone, with defensive end Gabe Kaminski and linebacker Dominik Hulak also receiving offers from Notre Dame during the recent Pot of Gold push in the 2025 class.

We'll see more Chicago area players get offered as the talent in the area grows, and as Notre Dame rightly prioritizes the area more than we saw in the past. If Notre Dame's staff can start keeping those players "home," it means they won't have to go very far to find and land gap closing talent.

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Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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