For the most part, there has been a surprisingly low amount of drama on Signing Day for Notre Dame over the last several years, and when there has been some, it’s usually been bad – see the cases of Peyton Bowen and Amorion Walker three years ago. Yesterday, however, Notre Dame got a rare positive Signing Day surprise when Madden Faraimo, one of the nation’s best linebackers, selected Notre Dame after all signs had pointed to him signing with USC over the last few days—the first Signing Day shocker for the Irish since perhaps Manti Te’o 15 years ago.
Notre Dame’s class of 2025 looked like it was headed toward a relatively disappointing ending. Just a month ago, the Irish looked poised to add upwards of 4-5 more recruits, but one by one, the Irish fell from consideration for each. Notre Dame did get a surprise flip earlier this week from elite kicker Erik Schmidt, but other than that, it looked like Signing Day would come and go with a big thud for Marcus Freeman and his staff. Instead, Madden Faraimo gave the Irish recruiting machine a much-needed jolt.
There were reports that Notre Dame led for Faraimo for months, but the elite linebacker never committed Freeman and co. Then, he visited USC this past weekend, and all crystal balls and predictions started flowing in for him to land with the Trojans. Instead, Freeman told the media that Faraimo was undecided yesterday before ultimately selecting Notre Dame over the Trojans. It’s very fitting that the last big NSD surprise like this for Notre Dame was Te’o, considering the Irish legend was long considered a USC lean at the time as well.
Since Te’o shocked the recruiting world in 2009, the norm for Notre Dame on NSD has been a isappointment. If anyone tracked statistics for “coming in second” in big-time recruitments over the years, Notre Dame would likely lead the nation. The norm on NSD for Notre Dame has been coming up just short in most high-profile recruitments, with many of its final targets tending to stay close to home in the end. That is what it felt like would happen here as well. Three years ago, for instance, the Irish also lost out on Devin Moore to Florida on NSD after the elite DB had been committed to Notre Dame for months. In that same cycle, the Irish also lost out on wide receiver CJ Williams to USC at the finish line.
Those are just the recent examples, though. If you’ve followed Notre Dame recruiting long enough, you know that typically, the Irish don’t land the big surprise commitment at the finish line. Chris Leak, Shaun Cody, Reggie Bush, Chris Little, Greg Little, JuJu Smith Shuster, Demetris Robertson, and Deontae Greenberry are all names that are sure cause groans from long-time Notre Dame fans as they hear them. Signing Day generally hasn’t been kind to Notre Dame over the last 20 or so years. Whether it’s been surprise late flips or coming up just short, more often than not, Notre Dame is on the wrong side of Signing Day drama. That is part of what makes Faraimo’s late change of heart so big for Notre Dame.
With Faraimo on board, Notre Dame added another elite linebacker to what will be one of the nation’s best linebacking corps in 2025. Freshman Kyngston Villiamu-Asa forced his way onto the field this year, sophomore Drayk Bowen settled in as a starter, and junior Jaylen Sneed finally started to turn his raw athleticism into production. Signing KVA and Faraimo in back-to-back classes is the first time I can recall Notre Dame signing legit elite backers in back-to-back classes like this.
Given the lack of momentum the class of 2025 had, Freeman and his staff needed a big-time commitment like this. Early on in the cycle, it looked like Notre Dame could hit a home run with this class, but over time, this class fell further and further down the team rankings. Big-time commits that looked likely never happened – specifically on offense, where the Irish couldn’t close on either Deuce Knight or wide receiver Derek Meadows.
Recruiting success generally trails on-field success by a year, so even with Notre Dame 11-1 and headed to the college football playoff, the impact of that success hasn’t yet been felt on the recruiting trail. Instead, it felt like Notre Dame had been paying for the disappointment of last season when the Irish dropped contests to Louisville and Clemson after a hot start. Hopefully this Signing Day surprise is just the start of a string of big-time recruiting wins for Freeman and his staff now that they’ve put together a season with Notre Dame in contention for a national championship.
