2026 DL Elijah Golden Enjoys Another Notre Dame Trip

After camping at Notre Dame last summer and taking in the spring game a couple months ago, Elijah Golden‍ returned to South Bend on Wednesday. 

In between his previous visits, the 2026 IMG defensive lineman picked up an offer from the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

“I mostly got to work with Coach (Al) Washington and it was one-on-one,” said Golden. “I got to learn some things from the workout and from the camp.

“I wanted to learn some new moves and learn some more techniques that I could take use when I go back down to IMG and just use in my pass rushing, my technique and my skillset.”

The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder, who also enjoyed his work with defensive line assistant Nick Sebastian, has been impressed with Washington. 

“He's a great coach,” he said. “He knows his stuff very well. I like his energy and his intensity when he's working with his players.”

Golden got another look around campus as well.

“I toured some areas that I'd never seen,” he said. “I saw the track field. I went inside the cafe. They've got a Chick-fil-A and stuff like that.”

And, he was able to speak with head coach Marcus Freeman.

“He's a great coach and a great person,” Golden said of Freeman.

“He was just saying how Notre Dame will help you in life after and will help you down the road after you graduate and you need a job, it just helps you with that. They also said Notre Dame will help with connections with other people who might be the CEO of a business and stuff like that.”

Golden could be busy the rest of the month with possible trips to Virginia Tech, Florida, Tennessee and Ohio State. 

He’s planning to get back to South Bend this fall. 

“I'm trying to go for a game day visit,” he said. 

But, once again, he left feeling good about the Irish.

“It was a good visit. Me and my dad, we loved it. It was a very good visit. I loved it there.”

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