Will Notre Dame have another top 5 football recruiting class this cycle?

The 2026 football recruiting cycle was a breakthrough class for Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After years of front running in the spring, only to fall behind near signing day, the Irish were able to sign a top 5 class with multiple 5-Star players. It was, without question, the best recruiting class for Notre Dame since the internet era of recruiting began in 2000.

Here’s a basic refresher:

2026 On3 Industry

• Three 5-Stars (DE Rodney Dunham, CB Khary Adams, TE Ian Premer)
• 70% Blue-Chip Ratio
• #2 Class in the country

2026 247 Composite

• Four 5-Stars (DE Rodney Dunham, CB Khary Adams, TE Ian Premer, S Joey O’Brien)
• 80% Blue-Chip Ratio
• #5 Class in the country

It was a phenomenal haul which was only made better with significant talent with multiple years of eligibility added to the roster from the transfer portal. In a lot of ways, we are already seeing some of this young talent developing this spring — which could give Notre Dame even more weapons come this fall.

That’s great and all… but recruiting never sleeps. Can Notre Dame do something similar this cycle? Will Notre Dame do something similar this cycle? Yes, they can — but if they actually will do something similar is much harder to answer.

As of right now, it’s not looking ideal for the Irish. Notre Dame has 9 commitments (zero 5-Stars) with the #9 (On3) and #7 (247) class in the country. It does have a very solid Blue-Chip Ratio of 88%, but again… none of them are a 5-Star prospect.

And there it is. The single biggest reason Notre Dame’s recruiting class in 2026 was such an elite haul was because the Irish signed multiple 5-Star players. Those elite athletes are the biggest boosts to a class regardless of fit and need.

Currently the Irish don’t have any 5-Star prospects committed to the 2027 class, and of the 39 total 5-Stars in the 247 Composite Rankings, Notre Dame has offered just 15 of them (4 WR, 3 RB, 1 TE, 2 OL, 3 DE, 1 DT, 1 CB). Of those 15 players, 7 of them are already committed elsewhere (although we know that doesn’t mean very much in April).