Notre Dame has undergone coaching staff changes following its march to the College Football Playoff National Championship game, but those changes haven't scared off one of the nation's top running back recruits in the 2026 cycle.

Notre Dame has hired running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider away from Penn State to do the same job for the Irish, coach Marcus Freeman announced Tuesday. Seider had been the Nittany Lions' running backs coach since 2018 and was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2022 and assistant head coach in 2023.

Dom Spalding has assisted at Northwestern as well as Youngstown State. He will have the chance to work with a few veteran receivers at Notre Dame. Among them are former walk-on Jordan Faison, 2024 breakout threat Jaden Greathouse, and Virginia transfer Malachi Fields.

After a 14-2 season, Notre Dame announced a major coaching move. On Tuesday, Notre Dame officially announced Ja'Juan Seider as the associate head coach and running backs coach.

Notre Dame has had some nice running backs lately, and it wants to keep that run going. So why not turn to another blue blood to optimize your chances at continuing that run? The Irish have announced the hiring of Ja'Juan Seider as their running backs coach as well as an associate head coach under Marcus Freeman.

After losing promising young wide receivers assistant Michael Bearden to the NFL's Cleveland Browns, Notre Dame needed to find another staffer to help assist Mike Brown. Sources t