Kaden Henderson

2027 Florida linebacker Kaden Henderson was blown away by this past weekend's visit to South Bend and is already looking forward to returning for his June official.

I've talked to multiple sources and tonight had the chance to speak to Kaden Henderson himself. I'm not ready to say the Irish lead at this point, but I firmly believe they are absolutely in the running after this past weekend's visit. The 2027 Florida linebacker came away impressed with the overall experience and the plan laid out by head coach Marcus Freeman, linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary and defensive coordinator Chris Ash, particularly the vision of using him in a versatile, multi-position role similar to Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.Henderson pointed to the staff's culture and energy as a major takeaway, while also noting increased confidence in the program's stability following earlier coaching turnover. His prior relationship with Jean-Mary and Freeman's direct involvement have both been key factors.I think that relationship with Jean-Mary still has some further building to do just based on the amount of time versus the amount of time with other schools' position coaches, but it's obvious he is interested in investing that time to do so. He takes an official visit to LSU this weekend and will then take officials to Miami, Texas A&M and Ohio State beginning in late-May before taking an official to Notre Dame the weekend of June 19th. If the Irish do pull this off, Jean-Mary will deserve a massive amount of credit, but the Irish wouldn't even be in this race still if not for the personal role Marcus Freeman took while ND was trying to find a new LB coach. I'll have a full story soon.

I expect to connect with top LB target Kaden Henderson tonight or tomorrow (fingers crossed). I know he's traveling home now. I asked a source close to Henderson about the trip and was just told"It was a great visit."