Jordan Faison’s Rapid Ascension at Notre Dame, From Walking On to Scoring at Louisville

Jordan Faison lined up in the slot across from Louisville’s Jarvis Brownlee, Jr. in the second quarter on Saturday, pitting him against a veteran cornerback who hadn’t given up a touchdown all season. 

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound freshman wideout beat Brownlee’s press with an inside move, ran by the top-rated Cardinal coverage player, per Pro Football Focus, and scored a game-tying 36-yard touchdown for his second catch of the evening.

“As soon as I'm running my route, one-on-one, I see the safety disappear,” Faison said. “I knew I had him. Then it was just Sam (Hartman). He dropped the nice ball on me.”

Faison celebrated in the end zone, throwing up the money signal with both hands and rubbing his thumbs over his index and middle fingers.

“Matt Salerno did that before,” Faison said, “so he told me going into the game, if I score, I had to do it.”

That may have been a command from an elder wide receiver. Still, Faison may as well have been signifying the substantial amount of capital he’d just saved his parents, who swelled with pride and joy from the stands at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.

“I kind of knew going into the game, if I played, the scholarships coming,” Faison said.  “That's what I had in the back of my head. It's not really a big deal for me but my parents because they don't have to pay (any) more.”

Faison (Pronounced FAZE-ON) first accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame’s coach Kevin Corrigan for lacrosse as the nation’s No. 46 overall prospect and third highest-rated recruit in the reigning national champion’s 2023 class, per Inside Lacrosse.

He also joined the football program as a walk-on.

Division I lacrosse programs are permitted 12.6 scholarships, even with an average roster size of 44 players. Like baseball, those are doled out as partial scholarships, and full-rides are extremely rare. 

Dual-sport competitors that play football offered an athletic scholarship must receive it from the football program, per NCAA rules. 

Thus, Faison triggered the switch from a partial lacrosse scholarship to a full-ride with the football team by playing a snap against Louisville.

”He’ll be on football scholarship moving forward,” coach Marcus Freeman said. “Coach Corrigan doesn’t have to worry about that anymore.”

That likely amounts to huge savings considering Notre Dame’s $83,271 cost for tuition and fees.

Of course, allotting one of the program’s 85 scholarships to a freshman walk-on Freeman’s radar a few months ago.

Faison pledged to walk on at Notre Dame after playing quarterback and safety in high school. Despite receiving a scholarship offer from Iowa to play receiver, the nuances of the position were completely new to him. 

Yet, the Hawkeyes were willing to take a chance on him, especially after he ran a self-reported 4.4-second 40-yard dash as a junior in high school.

Once on campus in South Bend, he latched on to a former walk-on in Salerno and Chris Tyree, a fellow speedster also adjusting to wideout after spending three years at running back.

He quickly picked up the playbook and learned that playing receiver is about more than being fast.

“Coming in, I was just relying on my speed, but now I realize the game is so much bigger than just running around. You've got to make your cut, you got to read defenses, you got to use your hands with DBS are trying to get on you.”

By the middle of fall camp, he received some reps with the second-team offense and made plays, but he still entered the season buried behind at least seven other wideouts, relegating him to the scout team.  

Even in his new role, he never let up in his pursuit of his development. 

“It doesn't slow you down too much because I'm still going to the offensive meetings and we're learning the playbooks,” Faison said. “Then the routes we run on the scout team, we'll use our routes just to kind of like imitate the offense we're playing that week.”

He also had the chance to develop against first-team cornerbacks like Ben Morrison, Cam Hart and Thomas Harper on a day-to-day basis.

The Notre Dame secondary took notice of his progress. 

“Jordan’s a real good player,” safety Xavier Watts said. “He’s going to do some good things for us. He’s a lacrosse guy, but he’s good at football. We’ve known he was good since fall camp. He’s fast, he’s shifty, he’s quick and he makes plays.”

The Irish wide receiver room was decimated a month into the season. Only three wideouts played in a 21-14 win over No. 17 Duke on Sept. 30. 

Faison actually dressed for the first time that game but didn’t get any action. 

Once again, he avoided letting a minor setback stymie his ascension. 

“I really just kept working on myself,” Faison said, “going to film, extra film with coach (Chansi Stuckey), going over plays, going over defenses, how to read them, and then just getting ready for that play.”

His hard work and determination over the last several months culminated in his 36-yard touchdown last Saturday.

“We knew going into the game we were going to play him,” Freeman said. “I couldn’t tell you he was going to go score a touchdown and have another big catch, but we had a lot of faith and trust that he could perform or we wouldn’t have put him in there.”

It’ll only get harder from here. It’s one thing for Faison to make plays when the opponent has no film on him. 

After scoring a touchdown and earning a scholarship, it’s safe to assume opposing defensive coordinators will game plan for him going forward.

“Now, we’ve got to see if he can not just be a flash in the pan,” offensive coordinator Gerad Parker said. “We’re going to need his help. He’s got a live set of legs. He’s competitive. He competes for the ball.”

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