Elijah Hughes
Elijah Hughes
Wins his gap play after play. Two head coaches in three seasons, at two different programs. One game to point at: 4 tackles, 1 TFL against Purdue — Week 4, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- game log
Career Arc
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Marcus Freeman.
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Marcus Freeman
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 1 · 2-deepR04 · Rotational
Rotational. Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Notre Dame | 21 | 14 | 3.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | USC | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | USC | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 32 | 21 | 5.5 | 2.5 | -- | -- | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025
W 34–24
vs USC
2 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 QB HUR
How he plays
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Notre Dame
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive line · Notre Dame
Returning around him
- 6 Notre Dame players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -8 net (7 in / 15 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Notre Dame · Last season: 10-2 (AP #9) · Talent rank #9 · 2026 recruiting class #5
DNA match
Player DNA
Two-Gap Base
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Isaiah Nichols’s 2023 season.
Matches Isaiah on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Sean FitzSimmons's junior season at Pittsburgh (2024).
Matches Sean on