Why Pot of Gold Day matters for Notre Dame football recruiting

Four-star defensive end recruit Christopher Burgess Jr., who signed in Notre Dame's 2025 class, received his Irish offer on Pot of Gold Day in 2023.

The last thing Notre Dame football general manager Mike Martin highlighted before stepping away from the podium at his introductory press conference earlier this month was Pot of Gold Day.

Since 2021, the Irish football program has used St. Patrick’s Day as a day to celebrate offers for sophomores across the country. The fifth edition of that tradition will happen Monday with close to 70 scholarship offers expected to be announced by recruits.

“I think Pot of Gold Day is a unique experience,” Martin said. “We made an experience out of the whole thing. I just want to point out that this place was the first place to do that. I think it’s the best place to do it.

“I want y’all to remember that March 17th, St. Paddy’s Day, belongs to the Irish.”

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Scholarship offers tend to become more process than celebration for the top football recruits in the country. But in creating Pot of Gold Day, Notre Dame added a little extra meaning to a holiday connected to the Irish. With so many programs competing for attention, Notre Dame demands the spotlight in the middle of every March.

Some of the recruits offered by the Irish on Monday will almost certainly end up signing with Notre Dame’s 2027 class. Each of the last three recruiting classes to sign with Notre Dame have included at least one Pot of Gold Day offer for a total of 12 signees: cornerback Micah Bell in the 2023 class; offensive linemen Guerby Lambert and Peter Jones, linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and tight end Jack Larsen in the 2024 class; and defensive ends Christopher Burgess Jr. and Dominik Hulak, linebackers Madden Faraimo and Anthony Sacca, tight end James Flanigan, cornerback Cree Thomas and wide receiver Jerome Bettis Jr. in the 2025 class.

Notre Dame’s found increased success with Pot of Gold Day signees as the years have progressed, but that also came with an increase in offers. Notre Dame extended at least 29 new offers in the 2023 class, at least 65 in the 2024 and 2025 classes and at least 87 in the 2026 class.

Notre Dame’s 2026 class of seven commits, which is ranked No. 7 in the country by Rivals, includes five recruits who received their Irish offers last Pot of Gold Day: offensive linemen Tyler Merrill and Ben Nichols, cornerback Chaston Smith, linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. and wide receiver Dylan Faison.

Who will be next in Notre Dame’s Pot of Gold Day lineage? The options will be unveiled throughout Monday. Keep track of all the 2027 offers on The Insider Lounge.