2026 ND Portal Targets

[IrishLax]

1. The only "evidence" of this is the from the ND media that was upset because they were being kept in the dark for most of it
2. Every team adjusts on the fly. You dont think players like Marsh change willy-nilly all the time for every team?

I mean this just isn't true. No one is talking about the "media" or the beat. If I'm speculating then I'll always say that. I wasn't speculating. My info is from someone who is involved at RALLY. And even if you don't believe me, then you could look at what SoIll and others said after I posted it. I have called most everything correct including minute detail shit like Brewu not being announced on Monday when everyone else said he was. But even if you don't look at *anything* I said, you can point at:
1. The Marsh situation
2. The kicker we tampered with and thought was a "done deal" that never even entered the portal
3. The Tulsa TE who showed up, said he wanted a laughable amount of money that was way more than what we thought he wanted, and we then told to get lost
Etc. Etc. that are all incredibly well documented and not debatable to anyone keeping it a buck.

3. You didnt... you were one of the most vocal about ND fumbling this transfer portal. You were being extremely pessimistic, which resulted in many others getting pessimistic. This board was difficult to read. Now, it seems you all need to eat some crow. The end result is that ND absolutely won this transfer portal... and they may not even be done.

Oh come on. This board was the least pessimistic place of all ND boards, we actually had fun with it. And I said the following:
"Freeman isn't happy with the early portal results" ... he literally confirmed this today and talked about Martin talking him off a cliff
"Admissions/academics isn't a barrier, they can get in players, but it is not as smooth as other places" ... literally confirmed today as well. Talking about some students that would need to finish spring at their current school, talking about how they had to have an admissions point person working overtime with deans of individual colleges, etc. Other places were just saying "sign here and then you'll get an email to sign up for your online classes"
"They are going to change the process for 2027" ... they literally go out days later and hire assistants for Martin to take some of the responsibilities off his plate because he was being run ragged
"Money isn't the issue, ND has plenty" ... fact check true
"ND doesn't want to be a portal team, they want to focus on HS recruiting and roster retention" ... Freeman literally said that today multiple times
"I expect when the dust settles that ND will have gotten a handful of high quality transfers" ... proven true
"Some of the negative narratives are batshit" ... true
"Some of the positive narratives from guys like Straughn are also fake" ... true

So you can quibble with me calling it "disorganized" or some of the other subjective/opinion commentary but that call was coming from inside the house. Why do you think they hired two guys to help Martin? Why do you think Freeman made the comments he made today about the tension with Martin having to talk him off the ledge? The people with a big trunk load of money and the intent to spend it were saying the same thing. And a couple of the "first wave" misses were total wtf moments that caught them by surprise. But it's surprising to see your opinion of what I shared, seems like a mischaracterization.

 

[irishnd31]

I mean this just isn't true. No one is talking about the "media" or the beat. If I'm speculating then I'll always say that. I wasn't speculating. My info is from someone who is involved at RALLY. And even if you don't believe me, then you could look at what SoIll and others said after I posted it. I have called most everything correct including minute detail shit like Brewu not being announced on Monday when everyone else said he was. But even if you don't look at *anything* I said, you can point at:
1. The Marsh situation
2. The kicker we tampered with and thought was a "done deal" that never even entered the portal
3. The Tulsa TE who showed up, said he wanted a laughable amount of money that was way more than what we thought he wanted, and we then told to get lost
Etc. Etc. that are all incredibly well documented and not debatable to anyone keeping it a buck.

Oh come on. This board was the least pessimistic place of all ND boards, we actually had fun with it. And I said the following:
"Freeman isn't happy with the early portal results" ... he literally confirmed this today and talked about Martin talking him off a cliff
"Admissions/academics isn't a barrier, they can get in players, but it is not as smooth as other places" ... literally confirmed today as well. Talking about some students that would need to finish spring at their current school, talking about how they had to have an admissions point person working overtime with deans of individual colleges, etc. Other places were just saying "sign here and then you'll get an email to sign up for your online classes"
"They are going to change the process for 2027" ... they literally go out days later and hire assistants for Martin to take some of the responsibilities off his plate because he was being run ragged
"Money isn't the issue, ND has plenty" ... fact check true
"ND doesn't want to be a portal team, they want to focus on HS recruiting and roster retention" ... Freeman literally said that today multiple times
"I expect when the dust settles that ND will have gotten a handful of high quality transfers" ... proven true
"Some of the negative narratives are batshit" ... true
"Some of the positive narratives from guys like Straughn are also fake" ... true

So you can quibble with me calling it "disorganized" or some of the other subjective/opinion commentary but that call was coming from inside the house. Why do you think they hired two guys to help Martin? Why do you think Freeman made the comments he made today about the tension with Martin having to talk him off the ledge? The people with a big trunk load of money and the intent to spend it were saying the same thing. And a couple of the "first wave" misses were total wtf moments that caught them by surprise. But it's surprising to see your opinion of what I shared, seems like a mischaracterization.

You my dog LAX☘️

 

[PolishDomer]

 

[Dale]

I mean this just isn't true. No one is talking about the "media" or the beat. If I'm speculating then I'll always say that. I wasn't speculating. My info is from someone who is involved at RALLY. And even if you don't believe me, then you could look at what SoIll and others said after I posted it. I have called most everything correct including minute detail shit like Brewu not being announced on Monday when everyone else said he was. But even if you don't look at *anything* I said, you can point at:
1. The Marsh situation
2. The kicker we tampered with and thought was a "done deal" that never even entered the portal
3. The Tulsa TE who showed up, said he wanted a laughable amount of money that was way more than what we thought he wanted, and we then told to get lost
Etc. Etc. that are all incredibly well documented and not debatable to anyone keeping it a buck.

Oh come on. This board was the least pessimistic place of all ND boards, we actually had fun with it. And I said the following:
"Freeman isn't happy with the early portal results" ... he literally confirmed this today and talked about Martin talking him off a cliff
"Admissions/academics isn't a barrier, they can get in players, but it is not as smooth as other places" ... literally confirmed today as well. Talking about some students that would need to finish spring at their current school, talking about how they had to have an admissions point person working overtime with deans of individual colleges, etc. Other places were just saying "sign here and then you'll get an email to sign up for your online classes"
"They are going to change the process for 2027" ... they literally go out days later and hire assistants for Martin to take some of the responsibilities off his plate because he was being run ragged
"Money isn't the issue, ND has plenty" ... fact check true
"ND doesn't want to be a portal team, they want to focus on HS recruiting and roster retention" ... Freeman literally said that today multiple times
"I expect when the dust settles that ND will have gotten a handful of high quality transfers" ... proven true
"Some of the negative narratives are batshit" ... true
"Some of the positive narratives from guys like Straughn are also fake" ... true

So you can quibble with me calling it "disorganized" or some of the other subjective/opinion commentary but that call was coming from inside the house. Why do you think they hired two guys to help Martin? Why do you think Freeman made the comments he made today about the tension with Martin having to talk him off the ledge? The people with a big trunk load of money and the intent to spend it were saying the same thing. And a couple of the "first wave" misses were total wtf moments that caught them by surprise. But it's surprising to see your opinion of what I shared, seems like a mischaracterization.

I demand at least one entry into the bed wetting thread.

“At Notre Dame, nobody knows what they are doing” might have been a biiiiit much.

 

[NDPhilly]

Tbf to Prister, we are making a big bet on Porter and Graham vs Marsh. However I think that’s one you gotta make. Both are too gifted, at least one is going to make a big jump. And both have higher upside than Marsh imo.

 

[NDMatt91]

Brice said ND's 2026 roster will be between $30-35 Million

 

[CanadalovesND]

Tbf to Prister, we are making a big bet on Porter and Graham vs Marsh. However I think that’s one you gotta make. Both are too gifted, at least one is going to make a big jump. And both have higher upside than Marsh imo.

In Prister's defense, Marsh is much more of finished product. And if you are going "all-in" in 2026, you kind of want that finished product. Same arguement can be made for Brody Foley.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

I didn’t interpret what Prister said on the pod today that he was critical of how ND ended up with two WRs that are not necessarily plug & play, which he thought the Tulsa TE and Nick Marsh would be. I took it more as it was not necessarily the route he expected the staff would take. I think he acknowledged the fact that Porter and Graham could end up being in the mix this year but only because of their lack of experience as compared to Marsh. Again, that was just my interpretation. Personally, I like the way things have ended up at that position.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Brice said ND's 2026 roster will be between $30-35 Million

Heard that as well. Assuming $17'ish million from rev share, it's roughly the same number in NIL as well if it's closer to the top end of what Brice was told. That's roughly where I would expect ND to be. The most aggressive teams will be in the $40-$45 million range when everything is sorted out. It feels right for ND to be top 15'ish in spending, but not be near the top.

 

[greyhammer90]

I do feel like it's been pile on Prister since he put out that article about Miami. Everything he's saying is being looked at in the most uncharitable way possible.

 

[Dale]

He portrayed it as two roads, one in which a portal class primes you for a natty run this year and one in which it doesn’t. So I just disagree with that notion and think it instantly minimized the talent we just signed.

They also went to a new topic before O’Malley brought it back because he wanted to push back on it.

 

[Dale]

II board insider said it’s already done basically at the same time as this post FWIW

 

[CanadalovesND]

II board insider said it’s already done basically at the same time as this post FWIW

He’s coming to check out the off-campus housing.

 

[IrishInOntario]

To "steelman" Prister, I don't think he communicated his point as well as he could have, but I think he was largely talking about the additions of Porter and Graham... What I think he was trying to say is something along the lines of "rather than landing proven production in already developed guys such as Marsh and Foley, who would project to be immediate impact players in support of CJ Carr, ND chose to gamble a bit on a pair of lottery tickets and bet on their staff's ability to develop that talent into immediate championship level production."

If you accept that interpretation of what he was saying about the two WRs, it's not a completely unreasonable take. ND doesn't exactly have a recent history of consistently developing unproven, young WRs into star players, especially over the course of one year... If you compare that to how high he was on Jayden Sanders by comparison, I highly suspect that he's confident that Mickens will develop Sanders well / quickly, and simply less confident in the offensive staff's ability to get the same out of the young WRs... Based on previous results.

 

[calvegas04]

He’s coming to check out the off-campus housing.

Checking the internet speeds for his online classes

 

[slick7410]

I didn’t take Prister as whining, poor phrasing and timing though. Marsh was plan A , elite pivot - some uncertainty still, upside is huge.

Slot/Field WR - proven
Rb- unproven in lead back role
Boundary - Gilbert / Porter - unproven in starting role.
TE - no proven receiving threat

2/5 of your starting skill players are proven in their new role (RB feels good though)

4/5 with Marsh and Foley (he felt). (With RB still confident).

At least it’s a better schedule to figure it out.

 

[Irish8248]

If we can't develop this young group of receivers, a serious change needs to be made immediately... Way too much talent and too important of a position to the current landscape of football.

Legit WRs want legit QBs. Legit QBs want legit WRs.

It opens up so much of the offense and pairs nicely with our traditional strength of OL and power running.

 

[IrishLax]

I didn’t interpret what Prister said on the pod today that he was critical of how ND ended up with two WRs that are not necessarily plug & play, which he thought the Tulsa TE and Nick Marsh would be. I took it more as it was not necessarily the route he expected the staff would take. I think he acknowledged the fact that Porter and Graham could end up being in the mix this year but only because of their lack of experience as compared to Marsh. Again, that was just my interpretation. Personally, I like the way things have ended up at that position.

Yeah I hope people aren't critical of the Porter/Graham signings. I think no one knows how or if they will pan out because there isn't much film on either of them. But from ND, perspective they thought they were getting Marsh, and if you want to spend the money after missing on him you are better off rolling the dice on guys with plus traits than getting JAGs. Faison/Greathouse gives you a solid floor, you don't need a warm body anywhere except maybe boundary.

 

[NDPhilly]

At the very least BYU appears to be game 6, probably later. They are going to have ample time to work these guys in.

 

[ab2cmiller]

 

[Irish5Saint]

Sweaty Mike says that Gray made it into town. So no cancellation.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

Sweaty Mike says that Gray made it into town. So no cancellation.

Good cause it's magical out right now. Snow is already around 10 inches and isn't letting up any time soon.

 

[Ndaccountant]

I do feel like it's been pile on Prister since he put out that article about Miami. Everything he's saying is being looked at in the most uncharitable way possible.

True, but really self inflicted.

 

[T-Boone]

I do feel like it's been pile on Prister since he put out that article about Miami. Everything he's saying is being looked at in the most uncharitable way possible.

He can get use to it.

 

[Crazy Balki]

If there's any position where you take upside over proven production, WR is probably that position, if not, very high on the list.

There's a chance that Porter and Graham don't match the production of Marsh. There's also the chance that either of them end up better than Marsh. It's also very telling to me that Ohio State wanted Graham back. Shows me that they still think those two have a lot of potential that has yet to be tapped.

 

[ab2cmiller]

If there's any position where you take upside over proven production, WR is probably that position, if not, very high on the list.

There's a chance that Porter and Graham don't match the production of Marsh. There's also the chance that either of them end up better than Marsh. It's also very telling to me that Ohio State wanted Graham back. Shows me that they still think those two have a lot of potential that has yet to be tapped.

This is all true. But there’s a reason why ND went hard after Marsh first. They obviously thought that 2026 is our year and wanted proven production to team with Carr in his final season. Perfectly reasonable.

Could it all work out in our favor. Sure.

Prister’s take shouldn’t be that controversial.

 

[sfk324]

Good cause it's magical out right now. Snow is already around 10 inches and isn't letting up any time soon.

People who literally mean "don't let him leave without signing" have wished this into existence.

 

[PolishDomer]

Granger is definitely under-reporting for sure...check out downtown South Bend near the old Heartland fake disco:

 

[GrangerIrish24]

There is stadium back there.

 

[maxwell]

Some film analysis of WR and DL portal additions from Landon Tengwall starting at 45min, might temper some expectations a little. Specifically is critical of Keon's lack of pass rushing moves/skills. I appreciate that he isn't swayed by star ratings or past narratives, but just calls what he sees on film.
I highly recommend checking out his YouTube page for anyone interested in film analysis , super knowledgeable guy with really in depth breakdowns of line play specifically.