On the heels of a top-20 showdown and one of its biggest recruiting visitor weekends in modern history, Notre Dame also is preparing for the loss of a key member of its personnel department.
Numerous sources this week tell FootballScoop that Notre Dame Director of Player Development Amir Carlisle, a former Fighting Irish standout-player, is exiting his alma mater for a role at NFL Headquarters. His tenure will conclude this weekend, sources indicated to FootballScoop.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Carlisle will continue his work in player development but be doing so with the NFL's top brass.
It's a significant move for Carlisle, who initiated his playing career at rival USC and then concluded at Notre Dame, where he transitioned from a running back into a wide receiver in then-coach Brian Kelly's program.
Carlisle was part of the Fighting Irish team that faced Alabama for in the BCS Championship game at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
In spring of 2024, Carlisle went in-depth with Tim Prister into his journey back to Notre Dame, where he was hired in spring 2023 by Marcus Freeman as Freeman transitioned into his second season atop the storied Notre Dame program.
As Carlisle, a graduate of Notre Dame's world-renowned Mendoza College of Business, told the veteran Irish beat reporter:
"Our mission is to help players find their purpose, reach their full potential, and achieve lifelong prosperity," Carlisle explained. "Coach Freeman always talks about how our goal is to reach our full potential on the football field. We're bringing that same mission, that same ethos, to their entire lives.
"(Former Notre Dame linebacker) Kevin Washington said this and I thought it was so profound. On-field character is built off the field. He said great men create good football players. It's the same ethos. How can we leverage the resources here, the people and the opportunities, and then how do we actually provide a pathway that's going to allow them to achieve their goals?
"That's our mission with the student-athlete. My goal is to unlock the full potential of Notre Dame for each of our student-athletes. There are so many opportunities that this place provides for our guys. My goal is to unlock the breadth of those opportunities."
The Fighting Irish, who reeled off 13 consecutive wins in 2024 en route to an appearance opposite Ohio State in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff Championship, hosted some 60 to 70 major-college prospects in the 2026-27 classes for their primetime showdown against the No. 16 Aggies of former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko.
The Aggies twice rallied from double-digit deficits to stun Notre Dame, 41-40, and send the Irish to their third-straight loss.
Two prospects are blue-chip Irish legacies in Julius Jones Jr. and Richie Flanigan, The 247Sports Composite, an industry standard, has Notre Dame hosting almost 10 prospects with five-star rankings.
Spurred by new general manager Mike Martin, a longtime NFL personnel veteran whom Notre Dame hired from the Detroit Lions, and Director of Recruiting Carter Auman, an Irish alum whose family ties to the school run generations deep, Notre Dame has thus far compiled 247Sports's No. 3 recruiting class behind Georgia and USC in team rankings; the Irish have three five-star and 17 four-star commitments.
“They've done a tremendous job of developing relationships with these young guys and the families," Freeman said during his Thursday Zoom with reporters. "We're going to have a lot of our commits here and a lot of younger guys who are interested in Notre Dame football.
“It speaks volumes to the program, the team, the opponent that we're having, right? They want to be at the game where you're facing a top-tier opponent. This is a group effort and our personal staff has done a tremendous job. Our football program has put ourselves in a place where a lot of top recruits want to come see us play, and so the best recruiting we can do is put on a good performance.”
The performance did not net a win. Now, time will tell if the weekend results in a net gain - or loss - of those recruits, in addition to Carlisle heading to the NFL.