When Marcus Freeman landed one of the top DLs in the portal on January 13, it was a massive win. At 6’1 and 280 pounds, Francis Brewu is one of the most physically imposing DTs in the portal. But wait till you listen to the former Pittsburgh standout talk about NIL. His father immigrated from Ghana and works 12-hour shifts, six days a week, in a steel mill owned by Worthington Industries. His mother works in a nursing home in Columbus. So the son doesn’t hide what drives him. 

“That’s the best part of this whole NIL thing, being able to help out and take care of the people who took care of you,” Francis Brewu said. “That’s a really important aspect of it, to make sure you get the value that you’re worth so you can take care of those people you care about, because that’s what it’s for at the end of the day.”

Francis Brewu’s perspective makes you rethink the impacts of NIL. Especially for players coming from a tough family background, it allows them to honor promises to their parents. Before high school football even began, a young Francis decided he wanted to be elite. The problem is there’s no blueprint and no family history in college football. 

His father grew up in a shack in a Ghanaian village with no running water, walking two miles to a well before school. His mom lost her mother young and bounced house to house in what he calls the “rough part” of Columbus. So Francis Brewu built his own roadmap and it started in his father’s factory gym.

Francis Brewu already had the passion early. After morning team lifts and classes, he’d nap, then head to the steel mill gym with a buddy. There, he would do three hours of weights, then 30 minutes of football-specific work. Upper body Monday, lower body Tuesday. Rinse and repeat every single day. 

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“That’s what built my base,” he said. “And that’s allowed me to compete at this level, I think, is my strength. The strength that I built in that gym back home.”

And the results showed. 685-pound squat and 475-pound bench. Pound for pound, he’s one of the strongest DTs in college football. Now what does that do for Notre Dame’s interior run defense? Francis Brewu is stepping into a system that believes it can take him from strong to dominant and that belief centers on one coach. 

Charlie Partridge Finally Gets His Guy

New Notre Dame DL coach Charlie Partridge has already made it clear that he can win recruits. After NFL time with the Indianapolis Colts and previous college stops, he said the group is eager, competitive, and serious about earning snaps. And there’s a connection with Francis Brewu who was recruited by him to Pitt out of high school. But he left for the Colts before his freshman year and they never actually worked together on the field.

Francis Brewu has long believed Partridge is the coach who can help him reach the NFL. He’s drawn to his relentless approach to player development. 

“He uses all his extra time, all his free time, he sacrifices it, to pull things from what other people are doing and to help us develop,” he said.

Partridge doesn’t pretend the product is finished and his excitement is clear. 

“I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement in Brewu as we move forward,” he said. “So I’m excited to actually get the chance to work with him now.”

Francis Brewu is already productive, logging 36 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks in 2025. And he’s already motivated by something bigger than himself. Now the only question is how quickly he turns that chip on his shoulder into dominance on Saturdays with Marcus Freeman.