'25 CA LB Madden Faraimo (Notre Dame Signee)

[Irish du Nord]

Yea, I saw that but gettinh into that top 5 is where the big difference is but ppl still say the academuc standards prevent that, being in that 2nd tier (7-11) is ok but you have to wait on a favorable schedule and a little luck to really gave a legit chance.

No, you just need to hit on your evals. LSU was 7th in 2019 but had 19 of their 22 starters drafted with 7 going in the first round. Two years later they’re 5th in the talent rankings but only have 12 starters get drafted.

 

[PolishDomer]

Ok...soooooo....what about Madden Faraimo? Is there an abuela pulling him home? Or a grandma somewhere?

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Reading the negativity in this thread is depressing.

Welcome to the board, you must be new here.

 

[JadedDomer]

We haven't won a title in almost 40 years. We haven't won a NY game since 90s. We have never come close to winning a playoff game.

It's ok to aim a bit higher guys.

 

[GowerND11]

We haven't won a title in almost 40 years. We haven't won a NY game since 90s. We have never come close to winning a playoff game.

It's ok to aim a bit higher guys.

Fans like you are the problem. You like to think the rest of us are settling for mediocrity...

No one is saying we don't want to win a natty. No one is saying we don't want to win a NY6 bowl/playoff game. No one is saying it hasn't been easy the last 36 years.

What we are saying is it IS fucking hard to do, especially given what natural issues ND provides to top players. Add to that we aren't dropping huge bags to recruits just to sign with us, makes getting those recruits just as hard as it was pre NIL days. Notre Dame isn't going to say, yep here is $14.5 million dollars like Michigan just did, and frankly they shouldn't.

The goal is to win a natty, yes, but unless Notre Dame starts acting like other schools and just throw bags left and right with little care, lower academic priority amongst players, and more... it's going to continue to be hard.

 

[Irish Man3]

It’s really just the same 3-4 dudes in their own little echo chamber.

This. The same goofballs that claim to “have played the game” and believe they have more knowledge than others or that their opinions hold more weight than others. Same boring old narratives on repeat.

 

[JadedDomer]

Fans like you are the problem. You like to think the rest of us are settling for mediocrity...

No one is saying we don't want to win a natty. No one is saying we don't want to win a NY6 bowl/playoff game. No one is saying it hasn't been easy the last 36 years.

What we are saying is it IS fucking hard to do, especially given what natural issues ND provides to top players. Add to that we aren't dropping huge bags to recruits just to sign with us, makes getting those recruits just as hard as it was pre NIL days. Notre Dame isn't going to say, yep here is $14.5 million dollars like Michigan just did, and frankly they shouldn't.

The goal is to win a natty, yes, but unless Notre Dame starts acting like other schools and just throw bags left and right with little care, lower academic priority amongst players, and more... it's going to continue to be hard.

The winner this year and all the years to follow will likely come from the NIL-heavy schools: Georgia, Tennessee, Bama, OSU, Michigan, Texas, etc.

That's the reality.

So some of us who want to achieve are just acknowledging the reality. If you can't kill it in recruiting, kill it on the portal. And ND has to do at least one or the other. You're right, there are going to be a group of fans not content just performing how we've always performed in talent acquisition.

 

[Irish du Nord]

The winner this year and all the years to follow will likely come from the NIL-heavy schools: Georgia, Tennessee, Bama, OSU, Michigan, Texas, etc.

That's the reality.

So some of us who want to achieve are just acknowledging the reality. If you can't kill it in recruiting, kill it on the portal. And ND has to do at least one or the other. You're right, there are going to be a group of fans not content just performing how we've always performed in talent acquisition.

You keep posting this list. You realize ND has the fifth best odds to win it this year, right? Higher than all those teams except Texas, OSU, Oregon, and UGA. And in all likelihood we jump one of those teams when they lose their CCG. Your “reality” is just how you predict things are going to go. You aren’t basing anything on actual figures or actual results, just your projections. A championship program is never satisfied with their talent level. They also never abase themselves and go on whiney streaks like you seem to do every other post.

 

[JadedDomer]

You keep posting this list. You realize ND has the fifth best odds to win it this year, right? Higher than all those teams except Texas, OSU, Oregon, and UGA. And in all likelihood we jump one of those teams when they lose their CCG. Your “reality” is just how you predict things are going to go. You aren’t basing anything on actual figures or actual results, just your projections. A championship program is never satisfied with their talent level. They also never abase themselves and go on whiney streaks like you seem to do every other post.

We'll see how that shakes out. I'm not whining, I'm acknowledging reality. We haven't won anything of note recently and the talent acquisition isn't what it needs to be to do so. That's it, that's the tweet.

 

[FU BK]

We haven't won a title in almost 40 years. We haven't won a NY game since 90s. We have never come close to winning a playoff game.

It's ok to aim a bit higher guys.

Then go follow another fucking team. For fucks sake....if your blind asses can't see that this staff actually can develop the guys they have then I don't know what to tell you

 

[JadedDomer]

Then go follow another fucking team. For fucks sake....if your blind asses can't see that this staff actually can develop the guys they have then I don't know what to tell you

I've acknowledged above the one thing they're great at is talent development.

I don't like other teams. Who's whining again?

 

[NDpendent]

Fuck USC

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I'm still not on the train that the lack of results correlates to a lack of ambition. It's been pretty evident to me that since 1988 there have been coaches and players in this program that have done everything they possibly can to win every game and therefore a championship. Hasn't happened.

It's been 36 years. Fine. Penn State is at 38 years, Nebraska 27, Tennessee 26, Oklahoma 24. Some programs have never had a sniff and never will. Stuff happens.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Let's call it the "Koon Complex"

Is there another thread showing the "progress" our lads are making in the weight room?

Asking for a friend.

 

[BoredIrish]

The issue with Faraimo isnt that ND couldnt close... its that they waited for months thinking he was going to commit and then were left with a hole in the class. There were other LB'ers out there (e.g. Noah Mikhail etc) who they probably could have landed had they not waited.

 

[ab2cmiller]

Is there another thread showing the "progress" our lads are making in the weight room?

Asking for a friend.

Different condition, we shall call that the Koon Infatuation

 

[fightingirish26]

The issue with Faraimo isnt that ND couldnt close... its that they waited for months thinking he was going to commit and then were left with a hole in the class. There were other LB'ers out there (e.g. Noah Mikhail etc) who they probably could have landed had they not waited.

Gavin Nix isn't some super stud but would likely be in the class had we pushed.

 

[CanadalovesND]

The issue with Faraimo isnt that ND couldnt close... its that they waited for months thinking he was going to commit and then were left with a hole in the class. There were other LB'ers out there (e.g. Noah Mikhail etc) who they probably could have landed had they not waited.

Mikhail is a poor example. He liked ND but liked other schools more. It wasn't an issue of slow playing.

 

[NDFAN2008]

Some good LB’s in the portal go grab one

 

[JadedDomer]

I think at this point you just NIL to retain Sneed and do better in 2026.

 

[CanadalovesND]

Some good LB’s in the portal go grab one

We don't need a LB, we needed one to add to the future.

Kiser leaves, four other dudes return. Even if one bounces (Sneed for example), you can turn to the other dudes you've been developing.... Zinter, Kahoun, the Kia bros

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

We don't need a LB, we needed one to add to the future.

Kiser leaves, four other dudes return. Even if one bounces (Sneed for example), you can turn to the other dudes you've been developing.... Zinter, Kahoun, the Kia bros

Could it be that ND only wanted another LB if they were elite? By my count there are 8 scholarship linebackers currently on the roster who have eligibility beyond this year.

 

[NDMatt91]

We don't need a LB, we needed one to add to the future.

Kiser leaves, four other dudes return. Even if one bounces (Sneed for example), you can turn to the other dudes you've been developing.... Zinter, Kahoun, the Kia bros

To be a top-tier program you need to stack talent at every position every cycle. That's what the UGA's of the world do. Even if they land 2-3 studs at LB in one class, they do everything possible to bring in the best LB's in the next class. Stack the talent and let them compete.

 

[CanadalovesND]

To be a top-tier program you need to stack talent at every position every cycle. That's what the UGA's of the world do. Even if they land 2-3 studs at LB in one class, they do everything possible to bring in the best LB's in the next class. Stack the talent and let them compete.

Of course, but we don't need a transfer to come in. We have the talent and depth. But we absolutely needed another stud in this class to keep the LB room up to high standards 2-3 years down the road.

 

[Crazy Balki]

The issue with Faraimo isnt that ND couldnt close... its that they waited for months thinking he was going to commit and then were left with a hole in the class. There were other LB'ers out there (e.g. Noah Mikhail etc) who they probably could have landed had they not waited.

That's not what happened.

ND didn't need 3 LB's, so they were content with Kia and Sacca, because they loaded up last year. They went in on NOB and Faraimo, because they were top-end recruits who are takes no matter what.

 

[ThePiombino]

Yeah I mean this class is still above average for Kelly. Being really hyperbolic in here. 2026 is the real test now that momentum has returned after 2 mediocre years.

Davion Dixon and Anthony Sacca were also borderline top 100 recruits with a bunch of big time offers who slowly dropped throughout the cycle pretty inexplicably to 3 star status. Ethan Long also was a 4 star.

Ah yes, the classic "next year will be our year!" recruiting mantra. Next year is always the year, until it's not. Then it's the year after that...

 

[Crazy Balki]

To be a top-tier program you need to stack talent at every position every cycle. That's what the UGA's of the world do. Even if they land 2-3 studs at LB in one class, they do everything possible to bring in the best LB's in the next class. Stack the talent and let them compete.

Easier said than done, especially in the portal-era.

Top tier players aren't just going to sit around and wait their turn. It's why Deuce bailed. He knew his chances of starting year 1 were way better at Auburn or Ole Miss than they would be at ND.

If you're NOB or Faraimo, and you look at the situation at LB, I see KVA, Bowen and Ausberry, all underclassmen with multiple years of eligibility remaining, who are already major contributors, if not starting. Then you add guys like Kahoun, Rezac and Zinter, who will have more burn with the team. Then on top of that, you add in the fact that ND runs nickel often. Against USC, ND rotated 4 LB's. If you're a hot shot true freshman, that doesn't sound like a golden opportunity to break into the rotation.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

“I've told you 100,000 times, y'all can ask me that question every day, we don't have enough depth at any position,” Kirby Smart said. Smart went on to explain that a lack of depth isn't a problem that only Georgia is dealing with.

11/6/24

He was griping about this in August, too, to be fair to him.

 

[IrishinSyria]

The winner this year and all the years to follow will likely come from the NIL-heavy schools: Georgia, Tennessee, Bama, OSU, Michigan, Texas, etc.

That's the reality.

So some of us who want to achieve are just acknowledging the reality. If you can't kill it in recruiting, kill it on the portal. And ND has to do at least one or the other. You're right, there are going to be a group of fans not content just performing how we've always performed in talent acquisition.

If ND continuing to prioritize education and culture above all else means it will never win another natty again I'm 100% fine with that trade off. If I wanted to root for a state school football factory I wouldn't be an ND fan.

 

[Rocketman84]

No, you just need to hit on your evals. LSU was 7th in 2019 but had 19 of their 22 starters drafted with 7 going in the first round. Two years later they’re 5th in the talent rankings but only have 12 starters get drafted.

It's more than hitting on your evals when you land a top 10 class 7-8 years in a row, they simply brought in the horses/talent to give themselves a chance in the race. You brought up LSU but the've recruited at an ELITE level since 2019, their classes have been #6, #4, #3, #7, #5, #8 and #8. The 14-15 5*s during that period dont hurt a bit either....Thats actually the level we should've been at since that time.