BREAKING | 2025 S JaDon Blair Commits To Notre Dame

JaDon Blair‍ always planned on being diligent with his recruiting process.

And that’s exactly what the 2025 North Carolina safety and his family did, to the point where they spent more time visiting colleges in the final weeks of the process than they did at home in Charlotte. 

After taking in as much information as possible, Blair and his family landed on the same school, Notre Dame.

Blair announced his decision on Friday afternoon, choosing the Irish over schools like Penn State, Florida State, Michigan, Virginia Tech and South Carolina among many others.

He gives the Irish 22 verbal commits in the 2025 class and joins Ethan Long‍ and Ivan Taylor‍ to give them three safety pledges.

“My relationship with Notre Dame has grown ever since they offered me,” he said. “Since they offered me, it's been consistent love hearing from them every single day, whether it was Coach (Marcus) Freeman, Coach (Mike) Mickens, Coach Al Golden, even Chad (Bowden), the main guy at it. 

“I was getting a text or call from them each day. That really signified how much I'm really a priority to them and how much they want me to be in their program.” 

Blair called the staff “great guys.”

“I love them,” he said. “I love Coach Mickens, I love Chad, Coach Freeman, Al Golden. They're great people. I have a very great connection with them, a very strong connection with them. 

“And like I said, once I really felt like they were texting me every single day or calling me every single day from that point on, the way I felt about Notre Dame kept growing and it continues to grow. Those types of people are the types of people I want to be around.”

The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder initially built a tight bond with former Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary, but ended up coming to truly appreciate Mickens’ teaching style.

“From all the spring practices, and I've been to a lot of places, with Coach Mickens, it was the easiest for me to pick up on and learn. That really stood out to me as well.”

That’ll be important too since the Irish plan to put a lot on the Mount Tabor High School star’s plate.

“They're going to ask me to do literally anything I can do,” said Blair. “If that's blitz, if that's being all the way down on the line of scrimmage and drop to the post. They view me as such a versatile player that I can do anything. I can be in the boundary. I could be to the field. I could be in the flats, I could be in the hook, the curl. 

“Just using me everywhere and my versatility with being able to play different positions. They're just making it known that I don't have to just be a one-position guy. They believe that I can know it all.”

He’s also thrilled to join the Irish’s current recruiting class with guys like Long and Deuce Knight‍ among others.

“It's great,” he said. “I’ve known Ethan for a pretty long time. He's probably like the first one I've known in that class. Me and Deuce became real close. Jerome Bettis Jr.‍, I've got to talk to him a couple of times. Chris Burgess‍, I've got to talk to him as well. The corner, Dallas Golden‍ and Mark Zackery IV‍, I've got to talk to all of them. 

“Those are great dudes, very like-minded, also ballers all good at their positions and it's crazy that they've been recruiting me just as much as the coaches have.”

Future Domers weren’t the only ones who were recruiting him either. He even had a conversation with former Irish safety and current Baltimore Ravens star Kyle Hamilton.

“That was great,” Blair said. “It was an exciting moment for me personally. It was a normal conversation. He was talking about how I'm doing, and just him speaking on him and why he went to Notre Dame, just what benefited him. 

“He was just saying he could see me that way too, see me there. He was just saying it's a great place and that's why he chose it. For him choosing a program like that when he had all the offers in the world, that explains itself right there.”

Blair’s decision was a tough one and he went back and forth at different times, but in the end, it was about more than football. 

“The academics played a huge role, life after football,” he said. “Say I play in the NFL, which is my dream, and I have extremely successful, great career. Say I play like 10 years, I'll still be like 31, 32. My life's not over. I've got a whole life after me. With the degree from Notre Dame and how that sets you up for life, not too many schools have that type of degree to do that. 

“Some of these schools have great degrees, but Notre Dame's degree, it is just different. It's different. It carries such a different type of weight and you can use it in different ways. That played a role. And then the culture of Notre Dame and just the religion that they have and the way Notre Dame carries itself that stood out to me as well.”

It was a process he appreciates having the opportunity to go through, but it was a long one and Blair is glad it’s over.

“It's great to finally be done. It's great at first, but then it becomes a little bit more stressful. I was grateful for the experience and I'm still grateful for it, but building all these relationships that can possibly benefit me in the future is what it's all about. I can thank God for that.”

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