‘23 VA DL Armel Mukam (Notre Dame Signee)

[IrishInOntario]

This may actually be a money issue...

From Trevor Trowbridge (new-ish dude on IB), apparently other teams were willing to pay more for him than ND, and ND did not want to match.

This is going to happen a lot. DT's are at a premium because there are soooo many bad ones around college football and most of the bad to average teams don't have access to the quality ones in recruiting. What's easy to forget is that while ND is trying to poach "Big fish" from smaller schools, smaller schools that have money to spend are looking to upgrade their rosters by buying your deoth guys that are an upgrade for them.

Would it shock you if I told you that a mid tier ACC or MAC schools might have offered him something like $300,000 for 2026 to play a prominent role on their DL? ND might have said something like "we'd love you to stay for half of that, and likely far fewer reps". Can't really blame the kid for taking the better offer if his primary goal is maximize his income and get a chance to put reps on film for the NFL and he isn't primarily concerned about trying to win a College Natty.

 

[irishff1014]

Freeman said fix my interior d-line or I’m off to New York.

I like Washington but he isn’t earth shattering.

Maybe hire a better coach….

 

[PutuporShutup]

He was in the program for 3 years and couldn’t beat out Hinish or Hughes for snaps. That lets you know what coaches think of him.

These are the players when we landed that had a slim chance of having a meaningful impact. Good turnover as long as we land a few portal studs.

Dixon and burgess I expect to make an impact. Sev is the “big” question mark.

 

[CanadalovesND]

I'll expand on the financial aspect of this.

ND is offering Rev Share based off of '25 playing time. In Mukam's case, you tell him he's going to play more in '26 but are paying him based off his snaps this past year. Other programs offered more and guarantee more reps.

Almost all of NDs reserves (third teamers & special teamers) will make far less than what they did this past year. II crew alluded to this once or twice the last month one their podcasts. Some players are cool with it, and others are not (ie Blair, Mukam, etc)

 

[irishff1014]

I'll expand on the financial aspect of this.

ND is offering Rev Share based off of '25 playing time. In Mukam's case, you tell him he's going to play more in '26 but are paying him based off his snaps this past year. Other programs offered more and guarantee more reps.

Almost all of NDs reserves (third teamers & special teamers) will make far less than what they did this past year. II crew alluded to this once or twice the last month one their podcasts. Some players are cool with it, and others are not (ie Blair, Mukam, etc)

ND is not going to survive this style of football.

 

[CanadalovesND]

ND is not going to survive this style of football.

There will be a need to adapt over time.

It's the first year of Rev Share. I guarantee you no school has the perfect model in Year 1.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

ND is not going to survive this style of football.

For the love of all that is holy. I swear some of you are only happy if you are miserable or pathologically worried about nonsense.

 

[IrishFanForever23]

ISD mentioned another school offered DL $500k for someone who played 60 snaps. Not sure if they meant someone from ND, but they compared that to Mukam who played 69 snaps last year. ND isn’t going to pay him that.

 

[CoachB]

I hope you guys are right. Ultimately I trust Freeman. He is all about culture. If he kept Ash, he must be ok.

 

[IrishInOntario]

ISD mentioned another school offered DL $500k for someone who played 60 snaps. Not sure if they meant someone from ND, but they compared that to Mukam who played 69 snaps last year. ND isn’t going to pay him that.

This makes perfect sense to me for all sides.

1. If you're a school lacking talent, with money to spend, you absolutely should be scouring the country to find players at positions of need, that are being underutilized / blocked for playing time at their existing school, but whom you think has upside you can unlock.

2. If you're said player and you already have your degree (or aren't close to getting it) ans you're going to get a much better playing time situation, coupled with a big (sometime multi-year) raise, I can't blame you for taking a look at the offer.

3. If you're ND, you have to decide which offers to fend off and which players you have to let go. This is especially true in years that you need to attract multiple front line players at a position. Transfer Portal players often come at a premium, so you're forced pool your resources for that position into the acquisition of front line talent. If it's about to cost ND $2-$3 million in Rev Share + NIL to attract 2 starting caliber DTs to the program, it might just be at the cost of a guy that you anticipate playing the #4/5 role.

 

[IrishInOntario]

There will be a need to adapt over time.

It's the first year of Rev Share. I guarantee you no school has the perfect model in Year 1.

I know a kid (know the family well) that plays DE at a mid tier program. He's a borderline starter in the mold of a lesser Josh Burnham. He was making about $165,000 last year. A P4 school offered him (in season) $325,000 to jump into the Portal this off season, to play the same "swing #3 DE role" for them. His school actually gave him a raise to $375,000 to stop him from leaving. Not only did they have to match, they had to pay the extra $50,000. He has two years left, so he'll be expecting a raise to $400,000+ next year, or he'll likely look at transferring again.

His parents have him set up with really good investment team and he's set to leave college with a huge financial start in life. I suspect that he'll also have a really solid CFL career (he's a fringe NFL prospect) and will retire in his early 30's, a multi millionaire.

Potentially $1.3-$1.5 million usd to play college football as a former developmental project... Not too bad for a mid tier talent! What an incredible start to life compared to the average person. The guy could retire in his early 30's from the CFL, allowing his invested money to grow over the next decade and convert his portfolio into a de-facto lifelong pension that pays him $25,000-$35,000+ per month in perpetuity. 90% of the board would crawl through broken glass and fire for that opportunity and freedom.

 

[CanadalovesND]

I know a kid (know the family well) that plays DE at a mid tier program. He's a borderline starter in the mold of a lesser Josh Burnham. He was making about $165,000 last year. A P4 school offered him (in season) $325,000 to jump into the Portal this off season, to play the same "swing #3 DE role" for them. His school actually gave him a raise to $375,000 to stop him from leaving. Not only did they have to match, they had to pay the extra $50,000. He has two years left, so he'll be expecting a raise to $400,000+ next year, or he'll likely look at transferring again.

His parents have him set up with really good investment team and he's set to leave college with a huge financial start in life. I suspect that he'll also have a really solid CFL career (he's a fringe NFL prospect) and will retire in his early 30's, a multi millionaire.

Not too bad for a mid tier talent!

Hmm that's got to be either Rene Konga or Wesley Bailey, from Lousiville?

EDIT, never mind, you said that this player has two years left.

 

[NDWarrior]

Hmm that's got to be either Rene Konga or Wesley Bailey, from Lousiville?

Inside Canadian HS Football knowledge? LOL!

 

[calvegas04]

He was a projected started and 1st round pick

 

[TorontoGold]

ND is not going to survive this style of football.

You're correct. They're going to thrive.

 

[Jeffwantpoppers]

He was a projected started and 1st round pick

lol who was?

 

[dankgesang]

He was a projected started and 1st round pick

 

[NDPhilly]

He got passed immediately by Hughes and then by Mullins (who really is undersized still for DT). He had his shot. I thought he would end up being a great development story but it hasn’t materialized.

 

[IrishFanForever23]

He was a projected started and 1st round pick

Umm what?

 

[IAIrish]

He got passed immediately by Hughes and then by Mullins (who really is undersized still for DT). He had his shot. I thought he would end up being a great development story but it hasn’t materialized.

Had the same thought but it needed to happen this season if it was going to in the portal age. I'm sure Freeman/Martin knew this.

Dt needs some bodies now.

 

[notredomer23]

O’Malley posted he survived the purge of “$200-300K pay cuts” so was a little surprised by this one.

I’d bet his original suitor Stanford would overpay for him and fit his academic profile

 

[CanadalovesND]

O’Malley posted he survived the purge of “$200-300K pay cuts” so was a little surprised by this one.

I’d bet his original suitor Stanford would overpay for him and fit his academic profile

The DL coach who recruited Mukam there is now at ASU.

 

[IrishInOntario]

O’Malley posted he survived the purge of “$200-300K pay cuts” so was a little surprised by this one.

I’d bet his original suitor Stanford would overpay for him and fit his academic profile

Well, that's $200,000-$300,000 more that ND now has to concentrate towards paying 2 starting caliber DTs / NGs to come to South Bend for 2026. Alternatively, if they already had that money budgeted, maybe it's extra cash that could be used to entice Burnham to come back or to poach his replacement from another roster.

 

[Irish4life]

Interesting prospect, not close to above replacement. Let him walk and find either 1: a Frosh 2: a grad transfer or 3: both to fill whatever snaps he was going to be playing moving forward.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Do you guys realize this is Armel Mukam's thread?

He had 5 tackles in 12 games as a sophomore. That put him behind Karson Hobbs who only played 7 games. No sacks. If the staff are allowing it to get to this point, let's try to remember who is plotting the course.

Freeman has vastly improved the talent level at ND and has seemingly made excellent roster moves (the first two games of the 2025 season being the massive exceptions). They are bringing in the deepest and most talented class we've seen in 2 or 3 decades.

 

[Kingbish01]

I feel like this morning is the first time I've ever heard of this guy. 🤷🏻

 

[ndfanatic78]

Wouldn’t describe that as a money issue. You can always find a team more desperate. Doesn’t make it an issue, makes it a decision.

If teams wanna overpay for a physique and looks when ND actually has the inside knowledge of the player and doesn’t think he’s worth it. Let them have him.

 

[CanadalovesND]

 

[sfk324]

Good luck to him, but there isn't a team on that graphic that says to me "the staff is clearly missing something here."

 

[CanadalovesND]

Good luck to him, but there isn't a team on that graphic that says to me "the staff is clearly missing something here."

There are more than a few decent programs there, even one or two good ones. It remains to be seen what those schools see in terms of his value to their roster in ‘26.

Doubt anyone of them is seeing a clear, cut starter in Mukam.