The Gold Standard: Inside look at Notre Dame’s recruiting office staffers

Many Irish fans know the names in the Notre Dame recruiting office, but most don’t know what the actual roles of these men and women are. And for this week’s Gold Standard, Blue & Gold insider Mike Singer details the day-to-day duties of those who lead the Irish high school and transfer portal recruiting efforts.

Chad Bowden — General Manager: Bowden joined the Notre Dame staff in the spring of 2021, following Marcus Freeman from Cincinnati to South Bend as the Irish’s director of defensive recruiting. After Freeman earned the head coach title, Bowden was promoted to lead the entire high school recruiting operation, and he’s expanded his role since, as he also runs Notre Dame’s transfer portal operation. He’s involved in several different aspects of ND’s overall operation, including evaluating prospects, building out boards, being a key part of why recruits pick Notre Dame and overseeing everything that the Irish do in high school and transfer portal recruiting.

Bowden got promoted to general manager this offseason after Michigan tried to poach him, but his day-to-day responsibilities did not change. He was already doing all the things laid out in the paragraph above as Notre Dame’s director of recruiting. Still, Bowden’s new title reflects his role in the program more appropriately, as essentially Freeman’s right-hand man. Bowden is a critical part of Notre Dame’s football operation.

Caleb Davis — Director of Recruiting: Davis came to Notre Dame from Cincinnati as well in an intern-type role working with Bowden in 2021. His importance in the Irish recruiting department increased in the ensuing couple of years, and ex-Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker hired him at Troy to become the Trojans’ director of player personnel. Davis crushed it at Troy before being rehired by Notre Dame in July as the Irish’s director of recruiting.

He does just about everything for Notre Dame’s high school recruiting efforts — evaluations, communication with prospects and helping Bowden build out the recruiting board. Davis works closely with Bowden and is in daily contact with key recruits, especially to build relationships with underclassmen targets.

Carter Auman — Assistant to the General Manager: While attending school at Notre Dame, Auman served as the “student head quarterback manager,” and after graduating in May 2022, he joined Bowden’s recruiting office as a recruiting associate. He’s been a key part of the recruiting office since; Auman has stepped up with a couple of others (Davis and Dre Brown-Illinois) departing for other schools in the offseason.

Wisconsin tried to poach away Auman in June, but the Irish were able to keep him and promote Auman to his current role, which is exactly what his title says — assisting Bowden. He wears many hats and performs various tasks with and for Bowden. That’s not very specific, but that’s the nature of Auman’s job, along with, of course, building relationships with recruits.

Matt Jansen — Director of Scouting: Jansen’s role is a fascinating one, and for Irish fans wanting to learn more about him, I’d recommend reading the in-depth article that Blue & Gold’s Jack Soble wrote on him. He is Notre Dame’s portal evaluation lead and does advanced scouting on the Irish’s opponents to report to the ND coaching staff. He also tracks the current ND roster, evaluating every player in the program.

A new duty for Jansen is high school evaluations, which will be a big bonus for ND recruiting. Jansen’s work is more behind the scenes and doesn’t get much public acclaim, but he’s a critical part of the ND football operation in all aspects — from high school, transfer portal and opponent scouting to keeping tabs on the current team.

Becca Sites — Coordinator of On-Campus Recruiting: She wears many hats, but the bulk of her role is coordinating and all of the logistical planning for prospects visiting campus. Whether it’s official visits, spring visits, camps, etc., Sites is responsible for ensuring everything is running smoothly.

Anthony Treash — Director of Analytics: Notre Dame’s most recent hire is Treash, who joins the Irish staff after working at Pro Football Focus (PFF) for several years. Treash will work closely with Bowden and Jansen in high school, transfer portal and current team evaluations from an analytical standpoint. His role will include an internal system for advanced scouting and evaluations. Treash’s role is another fascinating one and shows the advancement and importance of analytics in modern football.

Deland McCullough II — Analyst, high school relations: The son of the Irish’s running backs coach joined the ND recruiting office back in the spring and hit the ground running. He’s done an excellent job leading Notre Dame’s communication plan, such as getting graphics sent out to prospects and working with the coaching staff about which recruits to talk to. McCullough also works with the other staffers and coaches in high school scouting.

Zaire Turner — Director of Player Personnel: She is the liaison between the Notre Dame football program and the admissions department. Turner is everything for the Fighting Irish when it comes to transcripts and all things academics for ND in recruiting.

Ryan Browne — Scouting assistant: The Notre Dame ’24 graduate works with Jansen in scouting.