2026 LB/S Simeon Caldwell Eager To Return To Notre Dame

Simeon Caldwell‍ is looking forward to this season, the 2026 Florida defender’s first as a full-time linebacker after playing primarily in the secondary last year. 

“The secondary, they're all returning, so I really have a great bond with them,” the Bolles School standout says. “I trust them on the field. I have experience with them, so I know they're going to get their job done. 

“But the front seven, we lost two guys, two Power-5 guys, one to Louisville and one to Cincinnati. We're replacing them with a lot of young guys, a lot of first-time varsity players. So being a linebacker now and a part of that front seven, I put a little pressure on myself, especially at beginning of the year.”

Bolles opens the season on Friday against perennial power Raines. 

“I definitely put pressure on myself to just be a force in the run game, especially to help out this young front seven that we have,” he says. 

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder filled in at linebacker after an injury last fall and is getting plenty of reps this preseason.

“I feel like our o-line is one of the best o-lines that we're going to go against this year,” he says. “They're well-coached and very disciplined. Getting reps against them in practice is great. 

“Learning the different fits upfront, especially fitting from a safety perspective and running the alley a lot versus fitting the gap as a middle linebacker is a completely different role. You've just got to play it differently. Learning that, I'm still getting used to it a little, but you've just got to get to the ball and make a play. At the end of the day, the running back has to come to you, so if you just make the tackle, everything will be alright.

“At linebacker, you get to be more involved in the run game and make more impactful plays in the run game. At safety, depending on the defense, you're normally a pass-first player, and when it's a run, you're coming up a little later and making tackles for five-yard gains. As a safety, making a tackle for a five-yard gain is a good thing. Now as a linebacker, you see run, you just go play run. Now there are more tackles for losses and just more everything in that sense. Being able to get on their side of the ball and make plays in their backfield, not letting them get any yards is something that I enjoy.”

Caldwell has several offers from schools like Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Texas and Texas A&M among several others. 

College staffs seem split on where they see him playing at the next level.

“Some schools look at me as both,” Caldwell says. “Some schools are saying they can see me playing safety my first year or earlier in my career, and then moving to linebacker. Some schools see me as just a safety, especially if they play bigger safeties. And then some schools see me as just a straight linebacker.”

The Irish seem to be in the latter category.

“They seem mostly linebacker, but they haven't ruled out safety just yet,” he says. “They do see me more as a linebacker, though.”

Caldwell made stops in South Bend in April and July of this year. He isn’t sure when he’ll return, but it seems like a priority.

“No plans as of now, but I definitely am checking my schedule because I'm going to go see a few of my dad's NFL games,” says Caldwell, whose father Mike is the linebackers coach for the Raiders. 

“I don't know when I'm going to be able to make any college visits, but I'm definitely planning on trying to get back there. If not for a game, definitely getting back sometime early next year.”

Getting back for a game would be helpful in Caldwell’s evaluation of Notre Dame as a program and staff.

“I definitely want to see how the coaches handle game situations, because practice is always a little...not calmer because college is so busy, so everybody's still going full in practice, but a game is just different,” he says. “Emotions are flying high. I want to see how the coaches and players handle the game situation because emotions go crazy. I want to see how they handle it. 

“I obviously want to see the environment of the fans and just the feeling of a home game. I know I haven't been to too many college games yet, so I just want to see a place that's loud and rocking, just a great atmosphere.”

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