Reigning national champions or not, being an Indiana commitment isn't stopping Notre Dame from going after a prized Cincinnati recruit.
You can't tell the story of college football over the past couple of seasons without very quickly getting to Notre Dame and Indiana. Notre Dame reached the National Championship game two seasons ago and finished on a ten game winning streak last year, while Indiana's turnaround over the last two years resulted in a national championship and 16-0 record this past season.
Indiana has never been considered a real rival of Notre Dame, seeing as the two have met in football just twice since mankind first traveled to outer space. Despite the lack of meetings, Indiana's rise has led to more recruiting battles between the two. The latest has Notre Dame joining the party a bit late on a Cincinnati product who is already committed to the Hoosiers.Monsanna Tobert is a 5-10, 158-pound cornerback from Cincinnati , Ohio, and is listed as a top 200 overall player in the 2027 class, according to the Tobert announced the Notre Dame scholarship offer on Tuesday, and now lists over a dozen scholarship offers to his name. Along with Indiana and Notre Dame are the likes of Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Purdue, and others. Michigan also offered Tobert a day before Notre Dame did the same. One would only assume the number of offers to grow if Tobert opens up his recruiting at all, as he's been an Indiana commitment since January 10, one day after the Hoosiers eviscerated Oregon in the Peach Bowl to clinch a spot in the National Championship game.What is most interesting to me with this offer isn't whether or not Notre Dame ultimately gets Tobert to flip from Indiana. Instead, its how many offers the Fighting Irish are putting out to cornerbacks in recent weeks. This comes after Notre Dame hired Aaron Henry to coach its defensive backs, replacing Mike Mickens, who left for the Baltimore Ravens. The number of offers that have gone out to defensive backs of late speaks to Henry putting his mark on the unit, but also to work the Irish still feel they have to do in the defensive backfield this cycle. Xavier Hasan , Ace Alston , and Khalil Terry make up three of Notre Dame's seven commitments in the 2027 cycle, and are all defensive backs. For reference, Notre Dame took four defensive backs in its star-studded 2026 recruiting class.As always with committed prospects, let me know when he starts taking visits elsewhere. Once he does, and if he checks out South Bend, then I'll think there is a real chance. With spring ball right around the corner, the chance to do that will also be very soon.Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.
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