Dre Brown — An important name to know on the Notre Dame staff

On a major Notre Dame target’s On3 profile, there will be a primary and secondary recruiter from the Irish staff listed. Position coaches are credited, and they are the staffers who are often praised for recruiting wins. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman gets plenty of recognition, and director of recruiting Chad Bowden’s efforts are applauded as well.

One key member of the Notre Dame recruiting staff who deserves loads of acknowledgement is Dre Brown, who currently serves as the Irish’s director of high school scouting.

Brown, a former running back at Illinois from 2015-19, joined the Irish staff in the summer of 2021 after working at Tennessee the Volunteers’ recruiting coordinator for a few months. And before that, Brown was working at a bank in Champaign while finishing his master’s degree. So, in the span of less than a year, Brown went from an Illinois student and banker to an up-and-coming coach, scout and recruiting specialist with an extremely bright future.

His initial role at Notre Dame was as the staff’s offensive director of recruiting, the counterpart of Bowden, who had recently followed Freeman from Cincinnati to South Bend as the defensive director of recruiting. He also worked closely with former running backs coach Lance Taylor in coaching the position, too.

He held a new role from Jan. 2022 to May 2022 as the Irish’s director of high school scouting, but heading into the summer, he moved into a different position. He remained an important part of the staff’s recruiting efforts but transitioned more of a coaching role to help Mike Mickens and Chris O’Leary with the defensive backs.

During the winter, Brown retrieved the director of high school scouting position, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. He’s assisting Deland McCullough with coaching the running backs as well.

Blue & Gold asked various Notre Dame sources to get a better understanding on what Brown’s current post entails. As the job title states, he works directly with the assistant coaches to evaluate where recruits stack up on their board.

Brown is very active on the recruiting trail and builds relationships with prospects across the board, particularly at the running back, wide receiver, defensive back and linebacker positions. He’s pivotal in scheduling and planning recruit visits and touring and hosting the players and their families on campus.

Another key aspect of the director of high school scouting role is connected with prep head coaches — getting transcripts and various info on their players.

We’ve visited about 40 D1 Schools in the last year. @coachdrebrown is already one of the best recruiters in college football! And his football mind is unreal! Thank you for hosting some of our guys!@MikeTSinger @mattfreemanISD @TomLoy247 @ByKyleKelly @RiseNDraft @AneyasW pic.twitter.com/RY8YeWCaV0

— C3 Elite National 7 on 7 (@C3Elite7v7) April 8, 2022

Here’s what the recruits are saying about Brown:

2025 LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng: “Dre is a great dude — one of the best recruiters in the game. The relationship we have isn’t superficial but is genuine. He really cares about recruits’ success and is there whenever you need him!”

2025 ATH Dorian Brew: “Coach Dre is a great and energetic guy. We talk all the time. He’s someone you can talk to about football and life in general. Him and Coach Mickens are the ones who I talk to the most from ND.”

2025 CB Kevyn Humes: “Yeah, Dre is my guy. He always is keeping in contact with me and has been keeping it real with me during this recruiting process.”

2025 WR Derek Meadows: “Me and Coach Brown are practically like brothers. He has a lot of energy and make me hyped.”

2025 CB Devin Williams: “Coach Dre Brown has kept in touch and checks on me often. When we talk, it’s not all about football. He’s always interested in how I’m doing in school and other activities I’m involved in. He’s building a true relationship with me.”

2025 CB Cree Thomas: “Coach Brown is one of the coolest coaches i’ve met. He’s one of the easiest coaches to talk to and I can tell that he has a genuine concern for the players he’s involved in recruiting.”