FootballScoop is proud to announce that Chad Bowden (Notre Dame) is the 2024 FootballScoop Player Personnel Director of the Year, presented by AstroTurf and voted to the honor by prior winners.
Notre Dame never is going to live in the NCAA Transfer Portal with its roster construction.
The Fighting Irish remain staunch in their classic approach -- players live on campus with non-athlete roommates for their first few seasons in South Bend, Indiana -- and Marcus Freeman steadfastly believes in a program built through the high school ranks.
There is, however, augmentation of that roster through the Portal.
Perhaps no one in that arena shined more brightly the past 12 months than Bowden, whom Freeman announced in March was formally promoted to the title of “assistant athletics director for personnel.”
If a masterclass for roster elevation could be painted in one football game, Bowden helped Notre Dame deliver said art Jan. 2 against SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
The setting also the final quarterfinal of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, Bowden helped pinpoint a roster that shined in a 23-10 leashing of the Bulldogs, in part, because of the individual superlatives from quarterback Riley Leonard, wideout Beaux Collins, return specialist Jayden Harrison, placekicker Mitch Jeter, defensive end R.J. Oben, safety Rod Heard and nickelback Jordan Clark.
The Duke transfer Leonard connected with the Clemson transfer Collins for Notre Dame's only offensive touchdown in the game; "Money" Mitch Jeter, from South Carolina, drilled three field goals, all from 40-plus yards, and accounted for 11 points; Harrison, an All-America return specialist last season at Marshall, effectively impounded the Bulldogs with his 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half; Oben forced the fumble of Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton that set up the Irish on a 13-yard field for their touchdown just before halftime that elevated them to 13-3 lead at the break; Clark and Oben combined for four tackles and broke up a pass.
While those players, all signed in the past year, helped the surge for an Notre Dame program that has invested in Name, Image and Likeness deals for its roster but sought to keep that payroll in the $7 million to $8m range, the Irish also utilized on the considerable talent arriving beneath the Golden Dome since Bowden's taking over roster construction.
Three of Notre Dame's top-five tacklers in the monumental Georgia win -- the program's first major bowl victory in more than 30 years -- were second-year linebacker Drayk Bowen and safety Adon Shuler, as well as true-freshman cornerback Leonard Moore.
Starting offensive linemen Anthonie Knapp, a true freshman, and Billy Schrauth as well as Aamil Wagner all are signees of the Bowden-Freeman tenure at Notre Dame; as is star tailback Jeremiyah Love, sophomore starting wideout Jaden Greathouse and lacrosse-turned-football-wunderkind Jordan Faison, the sophomore who is the Irish's fastest wideout.
In total, 15 offensive and defensive starters from the Irish win are signees of the current regime.
Bowden, now Notre Dame's general manager in charge of personnel evaluation and roster management following a lucrative offer from Michigan prior to the 2024 season, edged out Tennessee's Jake Breske and Colorado's Corey Phillips in voting by former winners to garner the honor.
Previous winners of the Player Personnel Director of the Year award are Tyler Siskey (Alabama, 2013), Mark Pantoni (Ohio State, 2014), Austin Thomas (LSU, 2015), Jody Wright (Alabama, 2016), Marshall Malchow (Georgia, 2017), Matt Lindsey (South Carolina, 2018), Annie Hanson and Drew Hill (Oklahoma, 2019), Lee Willbanks (Indiana, 2020), Zach Grant (Western Kentucky, 2021), Will Redmond (LSU, 2022) and Darrick Yray (Florida State, 2023).
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