2026 WR Kaydon Finley Says He Will Be Back At Notre Dame

Kaydon Finley‍ is hoping to make it back to Notre Dame this week, but even if the 2026 Texas receiver isn’t able to find suitable flights to get to South Bend for Thursday’s Grill And Chill, he’s planning on returning at some point.

“I think I'm going to be there for a game this fall if I'm not there this week,” he says. 

The Aledo High School standout added his offer from the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day and made his first trip up to Notre Dame a month later. 

Finley has been interested in the Irish since receiving that offer.

“Everything really,” he says when asked what has his interest. “The coaching staff. I like Coach (Marcus) Freeman a lot also.

“I took a visit up there in April to a practice. We sat down, we talked about my role in the offense and stuff like that.”

The Irish say they’d put the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder on the outside.

“They see me fitting in more like an outside deep receiver; like post routes, go routes, curls, comebacks and all those,” he says. “I think anything on the field will fit me well, but I think those are my strengths.”

Whenever he returns to South Bend, he’s hoping to dive more into the program.

“I'm just trying to go back and see the coaching staff, talk to them a little bit more, watch a little more film with them and just see how they work,” he says. 

He’s been in touch with 2026 Notre Dame quarterback commit Noah Grubbs over the past couple weeks.

“We've just really been talking about what we could do for Notre Dame and how they could help us improve, make it to League and all that, and how we could be a duo together in the offense,” says Finley. 

He’s planning to be at Florida State on Saturday and also has a few other trips in mind for the fall.

“I think I'm going to be at Notre Dame, A&M, Texas and a couple other schools,” he says. 

He doesn’t have a timeline for a final decision.

“Not as of right now, but definitely by next summer, I'll narrow it down.”