Football
Notre Dame football’s recruiting heater somehow managed to get hotter on Friday as five-star interior offensive lineman Albert Simien announced his commitment to the Fighting Irish.
Simien chose Notre Dame over the likes of LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Nebraska, and is arguably the top interior offensive lineman in the entire nation this cycle.
The commitment gives Notre Dame a grand total of 21 commitments this cycle, with three of those coming this week alone in Simien, wide receiver Julius Jones, Jr., and defensive lineman Segun Alexander.
Head coach Marcus Freeman prides the program on being built on both lines of scrimmage, and this recruiting cycle certainly reflects that.
Simien is the sixth offensive or defensive lineman in the class to be ranked in the top 100 overall players this cycle by the 247Sports composite.
As you would likely imagine, social media was quite abuzz following the announcement by Simien on Friday.
Albert Simien Announces His Commitment to Notre Dame
Albert Simien, the No. 1 offensive guard in the nation, joins SportsCenter to announce his commitment to Notre Dame 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Gb1JJYRi1k
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) June 26, 2026
Believe it or not, there was a time not all that long ago when some asked the question, “Will Notre Dame ever land a five-star recruit again?”
That feels like a lifetime ago, not only five years.
Albert Simien Gets Hayes Fawcett Treatment
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 26, 2026
According to the Rivals rankings, Simien is Notre Dame’s third commitment this cycle to be a top 20 overall player in the class.
Notre Dame Football = Blue Chip U
Notre Dame currently has the most blue-chip commitments in the country☘️https://t.co/pT5tmMCdqN pic.twitter.com/H20jxKggDs
— Rivals (@Rivals) June 26, 2026
After Notre Dame landed what was seen as one of the nation’s very top classes last year, how it would follow that up was asked.
Well, it’s safe to say Marcus Freeman and the entire coaching and recruiting staffs are again knocking it out of the park.
Simien Commitment Speaks to Notre Dame’s Bright Future
One reason why Notre Dame topped my future power rankings: The recruiting has gone from good to elite under coach Marcus Freeman. https://t.co/USDniGx6w1 https://t.co/W661zaptGo
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) June 26, 2026
Notre Dame is performing at its highest level in decades, and its recruiting speaks to why that shouldn’t be slowing down anytime soon.
If you had to pick one team to win a national championship in the next five seasons, how many teams are you picking before you get to Notre Dame?
The answer: very few, if any.
Notre Dame’s Incredible Recruiting Run on Offensive Line
With Notre Dame now having two 5 ⭐️ OL in this 2027 class in Albert Simien and Olu Olubobola, the Irish have landed SEVEN 5 ⭐️ OL in the last six cycles.
Doesn’t get much better than that at one of the most important position groups in football.
🔥🔥🔥
— Notre Dame Recruiting (@NDrecruiting01) June 26, 2026
It’s great that Notre Dame has recruited the position group at a high level, but development matters here as well. There is a track record of that and you have to figure Olubobola and Simien will only add to it in the years to come.
A Different Notre Dame All of a Sudden
Number of 5-stars signed/committed to Notre Dame:
2014-2025 (12 classes): 3
2026-2027 (2 classes): 7 https://t.co/5G81JjdY1M— Brad Powers (@BradPowers7) June 26, 2026
Those numbers speak for themselves, but Notre Dame is hasn’t had any run like this in player acquisition since the early 1990s.
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