What you need to know about James Blanchard, and Notre Dame’s push to make him one of the highest paid general managers in CFB

After former Notre Dame general manager Chad Bowden left to take the same position with USC this offseason, he left a massive void that wasn’t going to be easy to fill. Not only is the Irish staff attempting to fill it, but they could be making a statement with their targeting of Texas Tech’s James Blanchard.

Considered one of the rising stars in the college football personnel world, Blanchard has seen a dramatic uptick in his reputation recently. After spending multiple stints as the Baylor director of scouting, and some time with the Carolina Panthers, Blanchard just finished up his second season with the Red Raider program.

He did so well following the 2023 season, Texas Tech signed him to a new deal last August. That deal was reported to be for 2 years and $800,000.

An evaluator by trade, Blanchard has been instrumental with taking the high school recruiting game to a whole other level with Texas Tech. Over the last 13 years, the Red Raiders have only finished inside the top-30 of the 247Sports team composite ranking twice. Those both have happened under Blanchard, finishing No. 28 in 2023 and No. 25 in 2024 respectively.

The Red Raiders were able to land several impressive recruits during that stretch. That includes five-star wide receiver Micah Hudson in the 2024 class, a player that the Fighting Irish wanted badly.

It’s especially impressive when you consider the perception of Texas Tech football. While they may have a lot of money to throw around, they have historically been in the 40s of those rankings at best. They play football in a hotbed of talent, but not many Lone Star standouts dream of being a Red Raider growing up. That’s typically reserved for the Texas Longhorns, or even the Texas A&M Aggies.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has consistently preached that high school recruiting, development, and retention will be the key to the continued sustainability of the Fighting Irish program. If Blanchard was able to help recruit at that level with Texas Tech, it’s pretty exciting to think what he could do paired with someone like Coach Freeman. That includes his deep ties into Texas, which should only help.

Perhaps one of the more exciting parts about the potential of Blanchard is his efforts in the transfer portal. While Notre Dame will never be a program that utilizes the portal to a massive degree, the aggressiveness he has shown in that department is an extremely interesting bonus to add. Just this offseason, Texas Tech put together the third ranked portal class only behind LSU and Ole Miss.

Between LSU, Ole Miss, and Texas Tech, one of those definitely doesn’t fit with the others. When you think of the aggressive roster constructors in college football, the Red Raiders are not typically on the short list.

For all the good things that Bowden did during his time with the Irish, aggressiveness in the portal was not one of them. We had heard that Notre Dame was going to be super aggressive for defensive lineman in the portal this offseason, and “money would be no issue.” While Jared Dawson (Louisville) was a solid pickup, it wasn’t exactly the splashy defensive line class we were promised.

The biggest excitement around Blanchard is not only his experience in high school recruiting, but his work in the portal to accentuate it. He’s an aggressive talent evaluator who has made the most of the supports around him. Blanchard should be able to do wonders in South Bend if he does decide to accept the job.

Based on the rumors, it’s clear that Notre Dame could have matched the USC offer of over $1 million per year price tag for Bowden if they decided to. If Blanchard does accept, he would be right near that price tag. Coach Freeman is eyeing a power move, proving that this Notre Dame program is here to stay.