Notre Dame football boosted D-Line with commitment from former Pittsburgh star

The Notre Dame football program has had a quiet offseason after opting out of the bowl season following its snub from the College Football Playoff. There were rumors that Marcus Freeman was trying to leave Notre Dame amid open NFL jobs, but he ultimately decided to stay with the Fighting Irish. They have also not been as active in the transfer portal, but they landed a huge pickup from Pittsburgh.

On3’s national recruiting and transfer portal reporter, Hayes Fawcett, was one of the first to report that Pitt defensive lineman Francis Brewu had decided to transfer to Notre Dame after leaving Pitt. He was a Pitt freshman All-American and was immediately one of the best defensive linemen in the transfer portal.

Brewu had a breakout sophomore season in 2025, starting in all 13 of Pittsburgh’s games. He tallied 36 tackles, six tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. He led all Pitt interior defensive linemen in tackles and was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention selection.

As a true freshman in the 2024 campaign, Brewu made 12 appearances and one start. He finished the season with 15 tackles, three TFLs, and 1.5 sacks.

Francis Brewu played high school football at Thomas Worthington (OH), where he was a three-star prospect out of Ohio. However, he has an excellent opportunity to grow with his size at 6-feet-2 and weighing 280 pounds.

With the Fighting Irish picking him up out of the portal, expect him to be an instant contributor and potential starter for Notre Dame up front.

The Fighting Irish are waiting in the wings and primed for a College Football Playoff run next season, following the snub, and are going all in on getting back there.

“Marcus said it perfectly: Usually there are reasons and answers and explanations, but we don’t have one for you with this,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said at the time. “This is shocking and upsetting. An utter disbelief and sadness from our student-athletes, who were led to believe, since the CFP rankings started, what they needed to do, and did everything they were asked to do.”

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