Impact freshmen emerge as crucial building blocks. Uncover how Notre Dame's 2025 class is already shaping the defense's future.
The goal of any program is to continually stack recruiting classes and supplement calculated attrition with top-level talent. Notre Dame is one of the top five programs in the country that have done that under head coach Marcus Freeman and this year, with the exception of a few, all players on the 2026 roster have been recruited, signed and developed under Freeman and his coaching staffs.
Notre Dame's 2025 recruiting class has a different outlook on defense than it does on the offensive side of the ball. We've seen 2025 recruits make impact players as true freshman, and they'll be looking to carry that over into 2026 whether that's a talented linebacker, a pair of experienced cornerbacks or a safety looking to solidify his spot in the rotation.
IMPACT PLAYERS
Three true freshman stood above the rest from the 2025 recruiting class and that was cornerbacks Mark Zackery IV and Dallas Golden along with linebacker Madden Faraimo. All three of those players in 2025 played a combined 372 snaps this past season and will look to increase some of their roles this upcoming season. Golden was one of the highest rated recruits in this class defensively and will look to compete for the starting nickel spot this upcoming season.
Zackery will provide some much-needed depth at both outside cornerback positions. Due to various injuries in 2025, the Indianapolis native started in three games this season including Arkansas on the road. For Faraimo at linebacker, a good chunk of his playing opportunities will come early while Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa works his way back from injury. The California native came onto the scene later on in the 2025 season and will look to breakout in 2026.
STARTING CALIBER
Defensive tackle Christopher Burgess is already making offseason moves. We knew coming into his collegiate career, he had the frame to move inside on the defensive line. Notre Dame just released their winter roster for this season and Burgess is now 6-4, 299-pounds. He will make a splash this season along the interior and be a part of a rotation that will feature some very talented players and veterans.
Safety Ethan Long had his breakout moment against Syracuse in the final home game of the regular season recording an interception, and also had a pick-six that was called back. The lengthy 6-2, 201-pound safety will have the opportunity to carve out a role in the safety rotation this offseason.
DEPTH PLAYERS
There's a lot of depth amongst this class and it starts in the trenches with Joe Reiff, Dominik Hulak and Davion Dixon along the interior. Dixon is one of the bigger defensive tackles on the roster at 6-2, 316-pounds and will look to carve out a role this upcoming season. Hulak and Reiff are behind some extremely talented players, but they're only going into their redshirt freshman season and have the opportunity to learn and grow under new defensive line coach Charlie Partidge. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw either of these three players in meaningful minutes this upcoming season.
Linebacker Ko'o Kia, the younger brother of Kahanu Kia, and safety Brandon Logan are in similar spots as the young defensive lineman. Both Kia and Logan are very talented players, there's just a lot in front of them current state. They're about a season away from cracking a rotation defensively, but they both could be impact players on Marty Biagi's special team's unit.
CLASS EXPECTATIONS
Similar to the offensive side of the ball, the name of the game for the 2025 defensive class is development. Playing time and cracking a rotation will be a by-product of development. The expectation around anyone from this class should be to become a day-one starter in 2026, but they have the talent and potential to be that. The offseason for any class going from their freshman to sophomore seasons is always huge.
This is where we see the biggest strides in development from a year-to-year perspective. This 2025 recruiting class is loaded with talent on defense and some players like Faraimo, Golden and Zackery will continue playing as they did this past season, but it will have to be earned. The talent level in this class is reflective of how talented Notre Dame is as a team. In previous years, half of this defensive class would be pushing for starting roles. Now, they're fighting for spots in various rotations. It's a great place to be.
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