Notre Dame Recruiting: Are More Recruits Set to Flip to the Irish?

Notre Dame’s recruiting momentum is heating up. Are more recruits on the verge of flipping to join the Fighting Irish?

Nov 9, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman reacts after a Fighting Irish touchdown against the Florida State Seminoles in the third quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Notre Dame has felt the ebbs and flows of recruiting so far in this 2025 cycle, that is for certain.

It has landed some top of the board targets (Dallas Golden, JaDon Blair, Will Black, etc.) but also lost out on some recruiting battles by way of some recruits flipping elsewhere (Deuce Knight, Ivan Taylor).

ATH Antavious Richardson, RB Nolan James Jr. and OL Cameron Herron have recently all flipped to Notre Dame, but the staff has its collective eyes on a few more big fish to finish out the 2025 class.

As it stands, Notre Dame currently has 23 athletes committed in the 2025 cycle and likely has room for 3-4 more if they are the right guy at the right position group.

Starting at running back, Notre Dame has parted ways with both of its original running back commitments in Justin Thurman and Daniel Anderson. Since, the staff flipped Nolan James Jr. from Boston College and would like to add another back to the class.

Given Thurman just decommitted this week, names have yet to truly emerge as top of the board targets. Notre Dame has kicked the tires with Clemson running back commit Gideon Davidson in the past. I'd be curious to see if they can gain more interest with him if the Irish can make a deep playoff run.

At wide receiver, LSU commit Derek Meadows is the name to know. That is not news to anyone that has followed Notre Dame recruiting closely during this cycle, however with LSU losing three-straight and Meadows already taking other visits, this one is picking up steam quickly.

It was rumored that the Irish finished second for Meadows when he initially made his commitment back in July. Look for the staff to turn up the heat and potentially win this one. Notre Dame has as good, if not a better, chance than anyone in this recruitment.

Oct 12, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman walks to Notre Dame Stadium before the game against the Stanford Cardinal. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Another offensive target the staff is desperately trying to flip is Florida defensive line commit Jalen Wiggins. Wiggins is a high-profile interior defensive lineman, is a "Notre Dame kid" and plays a position that happens to be a necessity for the Irish to land a big-time recruit in this cycle.

Wiggins visited Notre Dame just about two weeks ago for the Florida State matchup and raved about his time in South Bend. If he does back out of his commitment to the Gators, Notre Dame has a great shot.

Lastly, tight end Andrew Olesh is a recruit Notre Dame is badly hoping to flip from bitter rival Michigan. Olesh also visited Notre Dame for the FSU game and seemed to have a great time.

Oregon looks to be the main player here if Olesh decide to flip from Michigan. This recruitment has been a tough one to get a read on, but Oregon did just flip a tight end into their 2025 class. We'll see if the Irish staff can pull the right strings to land Olesh.