2026 LB Cincere Johnson Has Another “Great Time” At Notre Dame
Notre Dame has certainly done a great job of putting itself in the mix with Cincere Johnson over the past few months and that process continued when the 2026 Ohio linebacker returned to South Bend for Thursday’s Grill And Chill.
“It was good,” Johnson told Irish Sports Daily after the event. “It was good. I had a great time.
“We walked around the campus, saw the facility, talked individually as 2026 recruits to 2025 recruits. We had fun games. We played Irish Ball, Home Run Derby. We had some fun stuff. We had trivia. It was fun.”
The Glenville High School landed his offer from Notre Dame back in March and made a pair of trips out to South Bend during the spring.
Thursday’s trip, filled with non-football games, offered a more laid-back atmosphere than his previous stops for a spring practice and spring game.
“Team bonding just to show the camaraderie of the team,” Johnson said of what he got out of a less football-centric visit. “Having a small group of guys and recruits here, the main people just bond and ask questions and obviously have fun.”
He appreciated the opportunity to hang out and compete with some of the other players the Irish are recruiting.
“Great guys, great athletes,” he said. “Being competitive is just part of sport. Big-time recruits, always want to have some type of competitive events and want to win. Each group wanted to win, so I thought that was great.”
He also spoke with several Notre Dame coaches, including Marcus Freeman, Al Golden, Al Washington and Max Bullough.
The message from the Notre Dame staff was a simple one.
“'Come back down for a game. It's always good to have you down here,'” Johnson said of what the Irish were telling him. “Obviously, it's always good to be down here. It was a beautiful day and they just reminded me that they like me and the offer is still on the table. They're heavy in my recruitment.”
Johnson heads to Texas A&M for a visit this weekend, but doesn’t have any other trips planned beyond that. He expects to be back in South Bend for a game this fall, but hasn’t locked in anything in yet.
“We're going to get it figured out soon,” he said. “Whenever I'm free to come down for a home game.”
One thing is clear, Notre Dame has his attention.
”I love it. Every time I come down, it's a great time to be down in South Bend. It's a great place, great college, great football team and the atmosphere is good. The culture is good.”
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