Where does Notre Dame recruit? A complete breakdown of 2023 offers by state

Part of Notre Dame’s identity is national recruiting. Just look at the 2022 class.

The Irish signed 21 prospects from 17 states in their newest group. The five programs ahead of them in the recruiting rankings this season — Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas — each landed recruits from no more than 12 states.

Granted, Notre Dame is not blessed with the same fertile recruiting grounds around those schools and in their neighboring states. National recruiting must be a core part of Irish football if they are to find success.

So where is Notre Dame looking for its next set of stars? In total, Notre Dame has offered 154 prospects from 26 states plus Washington D.C. in the 2023 class.

Note: This list includes all offers in the 2023 class, even if the prospect has already committed to Notre Dame or has committed elsewhere.

Florida – 27 offers

Considering Florida is one of the best states for recruiting in the nation, the fact that Notre Dame has extended offers to more prospects in the Sunshine State than anywhere else is not shocking.

Another notable aspect of recruiting in Florida: it is home to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, which pulls from all over the country. Of the 27 offers Notre Dame has given in Florida, four of them are out to IMG Academy recruits. Those four recruits are from four different states; just one is originally from Florida.

On the topic of IMG Academy, wideout Carnell Tate is a top priority for the Irish in the 2023 class. Tate is originally from Chicago, so he is very familiar with Notre Dame. He is still visiting several top-notch schools.

Notre Dame has two commitments from Florida players at this point: Miami Gulliver Prep running back Sedrick Irvin Jr. and Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep EDGE Keon Keeley. Keeley is looking around at other schools, including a recent trip to Alabama, but Notre Dame looks to be in a decent position to keep him in their boat. He is the No. 21 player nationally according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. 

Texas – 22 offers

Overall, the college football programs in Texas have struggled on the field in recent years, which obviously impacts recruiting. As a result, out-of-state brands like Alabama and Ohio State have made immense progress in pulling recruits from Texas. Notre Dame is not too far behind and has offered 22 prospects from the state in 2023.

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Currently, Notre Dame has just one commit from Texas in safety Peyton Bowen, and the remaining 21 offers are split pretty evenly: nine offense, 11 defense and one athlete.

Georgia – 11 offers

Notre Dame has recruited Georgia hard in recent years, and the 2023 class is not an exception. Of the 11 offers, just one is for a player slated to play offense: running back Justice Haynes. Despite the departure of former Irish running backs coach Lance Taylor, with whom Haynes had developed a close relationship, the No. 3 running back in the nation according to On3 Consensus still has the Irish on his list.

With regard to the outstanding defensive offers, Irish fans are hoping defensemen from Georgia saw what Atlanta native Kyle Hamilton has been able to do for Notre Dame. His college decision certainly panned out well for both parties.

California – Nine offers

Notre Dame has a close relationship with the state of California dating back to the days of legendary head coach Knute Rockne and the USC rivalry. They’ve added an annual matchup with Stanford into the mix, which takes the Irish to the Bay Area at least every other year. Nine offers are currently out to 2023 prospects from California, including Notre Dame commit Cooper Flanagan.

With new USC head coach Lincoln Riley cultivating an immense amount of excitement in the state since arriving in Los Angeles, it will be interesting to see how that impacts the ability of schools like Notre Dame, Oregon and Alabama to pull prospects from the area. USC has already landed local five-star plus quarterback Malachi Nelson, who Notre Dame also offered in this class.

Alabama – Eight offers

This one is a little surprising. Coming in at No. 5 on the list is Alabama. Notre Dame has offered three offensive players and five defensive players from the state this cycle, including top-10 quarterback Christopher Vizzina.

After Tuscaloosa native and punter Jay Bramblett elected to transfer to LSU this offseason, at this time, Notre Dame will not have a player from the state on their roster next season, nor did they have another one during the Brian Kelly era.

Pennsylvania – six offers

Coming in just behind Alabama is Pennsylvania. Notre Dame has offered six members of the 2023 class from the state, and they’ve gotten several notable recruits from it in the past, especially on the offensive line. According to On3 Consensus, tackle Michael Carmody was the No. 2 recruit from the state in 2020, tackle Andrew Kristofic was the No. 1 recruit from the state in 2019, and tackle Josh Lugg was the No. 6 recruit from the state in 2017.

Additionally, former Irish quarterback Phil Jurkovec was the No. 2 Pennsylvania recruit in 2018, trailing only former Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons.

The offers out to current Pennsylvania recruits are heavy at the linebacker position. Notre Dame has yet to offer any lineman from the state this cycle.

Massachusetts and Ohio – five offers

It’s unsurprising the Irish have given out a decent number of offers in Ohio and Massachusetts in this class, as they often pull from their neighbor to the east and an area in the Northeast filled with Notre Dame fans.

Mentor (Ohio) High defensive lineman and Irish commit Brenan Vernon is the name to know from Ohio in the 2023 group. According to On3 Consensus, Mentor is the No. 2 player from Ohio, No. 10 defensive lineman and No. 63 player nationally in the 2023 class.

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While Notre Dame has not received any commitments from Massachusetts yet, Cambridge (Mass.) Buckingham Browne & Nichols ATH Ronan Hanafin and Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic ATH Preston Zinter are high on the Irish.

Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri and North Carolina – four offers

Notre Dame almost always has a few players on their roster from these states, so it makes sense they have four offers out to prospects from all of them.

New Orleans Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2023 class, is on Notre Dame’s offer list, but he won’t be making South Bend home.

The top player from the state of Maryland, Jason Moore, has a 91.9 percent chance of committing to Notre Dame at this point according to On3 RPM.

Arizona, Michigan, Virginia and Washington – three offers

There is a huge outstanding offer among this next group. Detroit Martin Luther King quarterback Dante Moore is the No. 1 player from the state of Michigan and the No. 4 quarterback in his class. The Irish have a decent shot at landing him. Notre Dame needs a big quarterback recruit out of this class, and Moore is the most likely option.

Notre Dame has at least one prospect from each of these four states in its 2022 class. Will that trend continue?

Nine states and Washington D.C. – one to two offers

In the 2023 class, Notre Dame has offered two recruits each from Nevada, New Jersey and Indiana, including two prospects already committed in Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean linebacker Drayk Bowen and Las Vegas Bishop Gorman corner Justyn Rhett.

Finally, the Irish have offers out to one recruit in the 2023 class in each of the following states: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina. Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside Collegiate Academy offensive tackle Monroe Freeling is the No. 1 player from South Carolina and No. 67 nationally, and he would make a nice addition to the Irish offensive line room. His On3 RPM signals the most likely landing spots right now are Clemson, Notre Dame and South Carolina.

Lastly, five-star EDGE Nyckoles Harbor of Washington D.C. has an offer to play for Notre Dame. According to On3 RPM, he is currently trending toward staying relatively local, with a 25.4 percent chance of landing at Maryland or Penn State. Of course, there is a long way to go in his recruitment.