Notre Dame Football: Analyzing key commitments for Irish this week

Notre Dame football added a commitment from the 2022 recruiting class and the transfer portal this week. Here’s the breakdown. 

Friday was busy for the Notre Dame football program on the recruiting trail, landing a player from the transfer portal and a 2022 commitment.

The Irish have done a good job of adding talent to its 2021 team via the transfer portal and Brian Kelly added another Friday in offensive guard Cain Madden of Marshall.

Madden comes to Notre Dame football with 31 career starts and an All-American selection on his resume. He’s not guaranteed to start with top-100 guard Rocco Spindler expected to be in the mix but there’s a good chance he will since the Irish weren’t his only option.

Madden was also very interested in Florida State and it seems unlikely he would transfer to take a seat on the bench. Or maybe he’s just that confident in his ability. Either way, Notre Dame football’s offensive line got much better next season with the addition of the 6-foot-3, 313-pounder.

Another 2022 commitment for Notre Dame football

On the same day that Madden visited and committed to Notre Dame, another 2022 recruit did the same thing as Donovan Hinish, a three-star defensive tackle announced his commitment to the Irish on Friday.

Here’s more on the addition from Tom Loy of Irish Illustrated:

"“The move isn’t an unexpected one. Defensive line coach Mike Elston and head coach Brian Kelly made it very clear early to Hinish that he was going to be a priority for them this cycle and they were able to get it done. Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman only increased the recruiting effort from the staff and Hinish decided it was time to shut things down and let it be known that he was ready to suit up for the Irish in 2022.”"

Donovan’s brother Kurt Hinish is already on the Notre Dame roster, which gave the Irish a good in. Donovan Hinish is ranked as the No. 480 prospect overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings and he is 71st among defensive tackles at 6-foot-2, 280 pounds.

Hinish is the 14th verbal commitment of Notre Dame’s 2022 class, which is currently ranked fourth in the 247 sports team rankings.

10 of those 14 commitments are rated as four-star recruits by the 247 sports composite rankings. The Irish also have 13 commitments ranked inside the top 500, including Hinish.

Kelly and Notre Dame have established themselves as a power on the field once again, and it has translated over to the recruiting trail in a big way.