2026 ND Portal Targets

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IrishInOntario

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ab2cmiller said:
Not sure how you could stop him from visiting IU first. IU had likely already communicated how much they were willing to pay. My assumption is that it was more than ND. The ONLY thing ND could do at that point is to adjust the offer or threaten to rescind the offer to Marsh.

Not sure how interested ND would be in increasing the offer to someone who they felt double crossed them.
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ND must not have thought he was worth bidding over, or they let him walk strictly out of principle for rescinding on the deal they thought they had.

Because if he was really vital to your Portal class, what you're would do is call him up and say, "you're not going to Indiana first, we'll match their offer to you and we'll pay you $250,000 up front to buy their visit slot, but receipt of the $250,000 is contigent on you signing with us when you get here. You're not going to make it onto the campus in Bloomington. That's how committed we are."

If he turns down the offer to come and to change the visit schedule, then you know he just didn't want to go to Notre Dame, but you did all you could from your end.
 
Rocketman84

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RudyVerse said:
I think we all know Keeley's potential but if you haven't checked out Mylan Graham's highlights, they're awesome. Fiason is shifty but Graham would be our fastest WR by a mile.

247sports.com

Mylan Graham - New Haven - Junior Highlights - 247Sports

Junior Season
247sports.com 247sports.com


All we need are a DE, a WR, and two DTs. If we are closing in on the DE and a legit WR, maybe we're getting the party started?
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Graham is pretty fast but he ran 4.50, 4.53 at the same camp Cam Williams ran 4.44 and 4.46. He ran 4.48 while at O$U, and he would get smoked by the likes of incoming FR Robinson, Frazier. I"d guess in the mid 4.4s would put him in the Saldate/Faison range but well behind both FR and Cam.
 
FU BK

FU BK

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NDpendent said:
So far today I just had a little tinkle in my pants, not even in my bed. Also worth noting that I think the cause was more from waiting too long then anything portal or staff related
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I hate that....think you can hold it then boom...soaked.
 
IrishinSyria

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tko said:
Keeley 15%. Everyone else 3%. This portal embarrassment will have to be part of the us vs the world narrative. Everyone will be laughing and posting memes from here until the season.
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Nobody thinks this except us and I guess the like bakers dozen people who are committed IU/TTU fans. Everyone else is either (a) completely checked out of college football for the year or (b) freaking out about their own portal losses and misses.
 
IrishLax

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rtrn2glory said:
Thanks SoIll

Hey Lax, I'm pretty sure I've read everything you've posted, but can you re-summarize :ROFLMAO: (half-kidding)
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Hah this is what I had posted yesterday when someone asked for the longwinded version:
Overall:
1. ND has ample access to funds. It's not like they don't have access to enough money to buy a singular defensive tackle.
2. They did some back channeling with guys pre-portal but not enough. Martin thought he had multiple guys "committed" who fell through. It's an error in execution, and that falls on the GM because no HC anywhere is talking to agents / tampering pre-portal.
3. There are some positions -- like WR -- where ND intended to spend a bunch of money on someone like Marsh but really had no "big spend" contingency plans after that because there are only a handful of guys that they considered difference makers and only some of those guys were interested in ND. Small venn diagram.
4. There are other positions (like DT and kicker) where they knew they MUST get guys. With some, like kicker, they went full tamper mode but then somehow missed anyways because they took someone at their word. At DT, they simply did not do enough to be at the front of the pack for anyone. Not enough pre-portal work, no push to have "first visits," no outbidding competition, no strike while the iron is hot mentality. It just is what it is, they are scrambling now with guys hadn't done enough background on and while ND has adjusted some of their administrative stuff to be "easier" it's still not as smooth as it could be. The works are all gunked up. Everything is being done on the fly "oh this guy entered the portal? are we interested? can we get him into school? how much is he looking for?" Just totally disorganized.
5. Some of this is a product of ND not really wanting to be a portal team. They focus on HS recruiting and player retention. With that being said, you still need to have the means to go into the portal and get guys to plug holes. But they are just not very adept at winning the portal because that's not how they build their team.
6. Some of the narratives are batshit. Both positive and negative. No, Marcus Freeman being considered by the NFL does not matter, that was a completely ridiculous statement I saw put out by a paid site. USC is signing guys without coaches even being in place. No, Bruce Straughn and whoever else make loud twitter proclamations ... ND is not on the verge of announcing a bunch of signings and there is no master plan.

I expect when the dust settles that ND will have gotten a handful of quality transfers and not be left completely screwed here. But the process needs to change for 2027, and I expect that it will. You can point the finger a lot of different directions but Mike Martin is being paid a lot of money to do a job that he frankly did half-awesome (recruiting) and half-WTF? (portal).
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PolishDomer

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The Backer

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Sounds like returning to OSU isn't an option for Graham right now.

His high school, OSU spring game, and OSU game tape all look really good to me. Looks like he has the best features of Faison and Pauling.
 
Katzenboyer

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IRISHDODGER said:
Only if ND was a portal team. They’re not. ND fans are comparing themselves to teams whose only hope is now the portal: IU, TTU, Ole Miss, etc. Good for them b/c they’d likely never compete on the national stage w/o the portal/NIL. These are the teams where fans should be worried if they don’t clean up in the portal. The flip side is that they are overpaying for 99% of these players b/c the supply does not meet the demand.
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A+ point. When your comparison is the teams that are building their squads almost exclusively through the Portal, then yeah - you're going to be disappointed. But keep this in mind:

 
Huntr

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SoIll said:
Indiana did Notre Dame flat out dirty in regards to Marsh. ND took him at his word and was damn near a done deal for a month.
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Great update, thank you.

I only question this 1 thing, and, really, it's just a matter of perspective.

None of this shit is real until the pen touches the paper, and some guys think maybe not after that. Gotta be ready for anything.

Sounds like the lessons are sinking in, tho. The 2 hires yesterday are evidence of that
 
IRISHDODGER

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RudyVerse said:
Jared Dawson has become the 3 star who made it exception we pretend is the rule. The staff has, at least thus far, definitely missed their top DT prospects.

This is a title season with an empty interior. I’m not feeling warm and fuzzy relying on a bunch of exceptions.
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No what we pretend is that the dorks who are trying to put out content know it’s easy bait to throw out “Portal Rankings” like they’re gospel despite the fact they watch zero film. So if a 5-star is in the portal, he’s still given a high grade as if he’s still 5-star level quality. Evidently talent evaluation is a lost art
 
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