The calls, per multiple sources, came from the highest levels of Sherrone Moore's University of Michigan football program.
The recipient?
Chad Bowden.
Currently Notre Dame's director of recruiting and the very first hire for Marcus Freeman after accepting the Fighting Irish defensive coordinator position in 2021, he was being heavily courted to head up the Wolverines personnel efforts in a general manager-type role as they transition into the Moore era.
The pursuit of Bowden, several sources shared Thursday morning with FootballScoop, has ended -- because Notre Dame has secured Bowden's services for the future.
A former prep assistant football coach and defensive coordinator, Bowden has opted to remain with the Fighting Irish football program after hearing from Freeman and additional members of Notre Dame athletics who emphasized to Bowden their commitment to keeping him as a linchpin component of Notre Dame recruiting and personnel.
Bowden, son of well-known former Major League Baseball general manager Jim Bowden, carved a unique path in football. In addition to his on-field coaching background, Bowden learned the recruiting ropes under Brian Mason.
Yes, Brian Mason the 2022 FootballScoop Special Teams Coordinator of the Year and current special teams coordinator for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.
Already with 14 commitments in the 2025 class, the Fighting Irish for the third consecutive year under Bowden's purview have.a recruiting class that's attained a No. 1 national ranking.
Too, after a recent high-profile, well-attended junior day filled with top prospects despite cold, snowy weather, Notre Dame is expected to further boost its group of commitments in the coming weeks.
In turning down more money and an overview position at Notre Dame's longtime rival, Michigan, sources indicated Bowden will further see his responsibilities grow. Sources, however, stressed it had as much to do with Bowden's undeniable impact on Notre Dame recruiting and sustaining the culture that he's helped Freeman identify and build through the recruiting process as much as response to any external opportunities.
The Irish have a pair of top-eight classes among their three official signing hauls since Freeman inked to replace Brian Kelly as Notre Dame's head coach in December 2021.
In his time working with Freeman, dating to their days together in the Queen City, Bowden has gone from former student-assistant recruiting worker to requisite addition at Notre Dame initially just working with Freeman's defensive recruiting to now essentially oversee all of Notre Dame's personnel and recruiting strategies.
During the AFCA Convention earlier this month in Nashville, at FootballScoop's annual meet-and-greet, peer personnel leaders from college football shared with FootballScoop that Bowden had emerged on the radar of some SEC programs in need of new personnel direction, with one source directly telling FootballScoop, "We have to pay attention now to who Notre Dame is recruiting. We didn't use to have to do that."
The executive credited that awareness to the Bowden-Freeman duo.
Bowden also has started to show a knack for developing personnel employees, in addition to his work in roster assembly. Both Carter Auman and Dre Brown have grown into larger roles within Notre Dame's personnel department while late last month longtime Irish recruiting assistant Caleb Davis was hired away by Gerad Parker to help run Troy's personnel and recruiting operations.
At Wisconsin, helping run recruiting and personnel for Badgers coach and former Cincinnati head man Luke Fickell are player personnel director Max Stienecker and recruiting director Pat Lambert -- both of whom got their starts, in part, under Bowden at Cincinnati.
Additionally, Landan Yount has grown from former Bowden assistant at Notre Dame to first running the personnel operations at Dartmouth and now becoming a key, early hire for Derek Mason at MTSU as the Blue Raiders director of recruiting.
The Irish, who finished 10-3 last season after they thumped Oregon State in the Sun Bowl, signed Duke transfer-quarterback Riley Leonard out of the NCAA Transfer Portal -- the second consecutive year that Bowden helped the program land arguably the top signal-caller in the Portal, after working with Tommy Rees a year ago to secure Sam Hartman -- and return myriad key starters on the defensive side of the ball, including tackles Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III.
Notre Dame opens its 2024 season Aug. 31 at Texas A&M -- which will be playing its first game under new head coach and former Irish defensive coordinator, Mike Elko.