2026 CB Samari Matthews Honored By Notre Dame Offer

Samari Matthews‍ didn’t know a ton about Notre Dame when he landed an offer from the Irish last week, but the 2026 North Carolina cornerback knew enough to be fired up.

“It was definitely a big reaction,” the 6-foot-1, 187-pounder says. “Obviously, I knew it was a football school and a great academic school, so I was definitely excited.”

Matthews learned of the offer from Notre Dame defensive backs coach Mike Mickens, who visited William Amos Hough High School that day. Since then, Matthews has done research about the school, learning more about its history both on and off the field.

Matthews’ initial impressions of Mickens were certainly positive.

“He's definitely a cool coach; easy to talk to, not like a loud guy, so he was pretty cool,” he says of Mickens. “He was just a great guy to talk to and I can't wait to have a bigger relationship with him.”

Matthews, who also has offers from schools like Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Penn State, Texas A&M, Oregon and USC among several others, is looking forward to learn even more about the Irish.

“Definitely me going up there, seeing the whole coaching staff, seeing a game probably,” he says of what’s next for he and Notre Dame. “Hopefully me and the head coach can meet and just build a big relationship with him and seeing where they rank in my top schools and seeing if that's the school that's the right fit for me.

He expects to make other visits as well in the coming months.

“I'll definitely try to hit up the locals like Clemson, South Carolina, NC State,” he says. “I also want to go to Virginia Tech, Florida, FSU, probably head back to some the schools I hit already like Penn State and Tennessee.”

It’s early, but Matthews has an idea of what will be most important to him when he’s choosing a college.

“Just the overall relationships I have with the coaches. Obviously, I'm pretty sure every coach can develop me on the field. That's why they had a job, but off the field make me a better man and just seeing if it's like a home environment if I'm comfortable there, honestly.”

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