Coach: 2021 S Xamarion Gordon "Blowing Up Real Fast"

Things have moved quickly since Kevin Pearson sent out Xamarion Gordon’s recruitment package to college recruiters earlier this fall.

“We talked about what we’d start doing for him and made sure his highlight tape was right,” the head coach of Warren High School in Downey, Calif., says. “I looked at it and made sure it looked good. I started sending it out with a picture of him next to me and his transcripts.”

The response was swift and decisive.

“He’s blowing up really fast,” says Pearson.

Within a matter of weeks, the 2021 safety prospect had offers from half the Pac-12, including USC, along with Oklahoma and as of late last week, Notre Dame.

“He’s physical,” Pearson says of the 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior. “He works hard. He’s a very intelligent guy, intelligent football player. He’s a great leader. He was really the leader of our defense as an underclassman, which doesn’t happen very often in high school.

“He’s very versatile. He plays multiple positions, he’s a corner. When we play guys who have a top-end receiver, we put him on that guy. He can play in the box, sometimes he plays Nickel. He’s very versatile. He can play both safety positions. He can play corner, like I said Nickel. He has good speed, he’s physical.”

Gordon also impresses outside the lines, according to his coach.

“He’s a great kid who just grinds,” says Pearson. “He’s a very intelligent kid. Football is important to him, so he’s the kind of kid who doesn’t miss workouts. He’s the kind of guy you want to have to win.”

Pearson reached out to Irish assistant Del Alexander, who he’s known for years, and by the end of last week, Irish defensive backs coach Todd Lyght was at the school before the offer was extended.

“He’s really excited,” the coach said of Gordon.

Pearson brought a pair of top prospects to Irish Invasion a few years back when he was the head coach at Cathedral and explained his experience with Gordon even before the offer came.

“I said, ‘Man, Notre Dame is a special place,’” Pearson recalls. “I told him about the camp I worked a few years ago up there.”

“The first day, I didn’t do the football stuff. I went with my wife and two recruits because I wanted to learn about the school. My wife is a teacher. We were so blown away. I’ve seen a million college campuses and heard spiels, but we were really impressed.”

A month later, Pearson was back in the Midwest with his family on a previously trip to Chicago before heading to Pennsylvania to see family. But they added a quick detour.

“We drove purposefully so we could stop by South Bend. I showed my kids the school.”