Notre Dame Makes Another Move With 2025 S JaDon Blair

Notre Dame has always been a serious contender for JaDon Blair‍, but spending three-plus days in South Bend this week, it sounds like the 2025 North Carolina safety now has the Irish even higher on his list.

“Everything went extremely great,” Blair told Irish Sports Daily. “Just spending a lot of time with the coaches and getting to enjoy some time with the coaches while the players were there. All of us being together and having some great conversations and just learning from the coaches really.

“I have a way, way better perspective of Notre Dame now. I know I said that before, but Notre Dame, it just keeps rising for me. I dropped the Top 10, but Notre Dame is one of my top schools and I can proudly say that now, just based off of this visit.”

Blair arrived in town on Wednesday and didn’t leave until Saturday, offering him plenty of time to get a feel for the program and the University.

Former Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary had been leading up his recruitment, so spending time with Mike Mickens, who is now in charge of all the defensive backs, as well as defensive coordinator Al Golden was key.

“Like I said before, it definitely played a factor,” Blair said of O’Leary’s departure to the Los Angeles Chargers. “But now that I got to spend some time with Coach Mickens and Al Golden and the other coach, of course I got a way better perspective now. Coach Mickens is a great coach. I love the way he teaches. On the field, he's even more detailed and more locked in and I love it. 

“Coach Al Golden is a teacher of the game. He's a teacher of the game. It is just amazing to watch; getting down here and seeing how these coaches coach was great.”

Spending time with the current players was also critical.

“I had some great conversations with the players, actually,” he said. “We got to talk about them being at Notre Dame, why they chose Notre Dame and the benefits you get from just being a student-athlete at Notre Dame. It sets you up for life. 

“The degree that they have, it could just set you up beyond football. That's something that plays a factor to me. The players were just preaching that to me as well because you're going to be challenged mentally and physically at Notre Dame.”

It’s been a busy visit season for Blair, who has already made trips to Penn State, Michigan, Virginia Tech and South Carolina. 

The trips won’t slow down either as he already has several official visits planned, including one back to Notre Dame in June, but that could be adjusted a little.

“I know I'll be back up here for an official. I might change the date to a better one. I'm still trying to discuss that with my dad and everything going on. 

“But Notre Dame is definitely high on my list. I didn't know Coach Mickens really; I talked to him sometimes when O'Leary was here, but really coming up here and getting to talk with Coach Mickens, Notre Dame is definitely a high riser. I just can't stress that enough.”

Under Armour White Notre Dame Fighting Irish Leprechaun Gold Rush Performance T-Shirt