Three-star TE Preston Fryzel commits to Notre Dame football's 2026 class

Notre Dame’s tight end recruiting drought has finally ended.

Three-star tight end Preston Fryzel on Monday announced his commitment to Notre Dame a little more than one week after his official visit with the Irish.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Fryzel became the first tight end to commit to Notre Dame’s 2026 class. The Irish already received pledges at every other position group on offense and defense prior to Fryzel giving the 20-man class a tight end.

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Fryzel also became the first tight end to commit to Notre Dame since offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Mike Denbrock rejoined the program in December 2023. Denbrock inherited a commitment from four-star tight end James Flanigan, who signed in ND’s 2025 class in December, and has been working to add two tight ends in the 2026 class.

Notre Dame only recently made a move to add Fryzel to the class. The Irish missed on previous targets, which led to the Irish offering Fryzel and fellow three-star recruit Brayden Fogle on May 21.

Fogle, a product of Lexington (Ohio) High, visited Notre Dame last season for its game against Miami (Ohio) and started to line up an unofficial visit to Notre Dame for June 5. However, he didn’t follow through with that in between official visits to LSU and Georgia.

Fryzel, who attends Toledo Central Catholic, made getting to Notre Dame a priority. He made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame on June 4 after spending two days at Miami, then he scheduled the official visit to Notre Dame. In early May, Fryzel was focused on Cincinnati, Duke, Iowa, Minnesota and Pittsburgh as his top schools. An offer from Notre Dame quickly changed the outlook of his recruitment.

Fryzel caught 43 passes for 807 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior at Toledo Central Catholic, where Fryzel also plays baseball. Toledo Central Catholic previously sent quarterback DeShone Kizer to Notre Dame in the 2014 class. Kizer went on to start 23 games at Notre Dame in the 2015-16 seasons before being drafted in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

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The commitment of Fryzel pushed Notre Dame’s 2026 class back to the No. 2 spot in the Rivals recruiting team rankings. Texas A&M nudged ahead of Notre Dame over the weekend. Ohio State and Clemson have also been bouncing around the top five for the second spot behind No. 1 USC.

Fryzel, who Rivals didn’t include among the top 45 tight ends in the 2026 class, became just the second three-star recruit in Notre Dame’s class along with wide receiver Dylan Faison. The other 18 Irish commits are rated as four-star recruits by Rivals.

"Fryzel is exactly the type of hybrid tight end that many teams are looking for right now," said Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith. "The Ohio native is a crafty route runner with the ability to get open. But what really stands out to me is his ability to control his body in the air to come down with contested catches.

"Because of his size and long speed he presents a real mismatch problem for opposing defenses. It’s easy to see a path to him making a lot of plays in South Bend for the Irish."

Notre Dame will continue to try to add a second tight end to the class to join Fryzel. Four-star recruit Ian Premer, who Rivals ranks as the No. 9 tight end and No. 123 overall in the class, and three-star recruit Evan Jacobson (No. 30 TE) made official visits to Notre Dame earlier this month.

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