2026 DB Brayden Thomas Ready For Notre Dame Return

Brayden Thomas‍ has become familiar with Notre Dame over the past couple years and the 2026 Ohio defensive back will get even more familiar this weekend, when he returns for the Irish’s home game against Miami-Ohio on Saturday.

“I sent out my film to Caleb (Davis) and then he just got back to me,” the 6-foot, 162-pound Thomas said. “He just said he loved to have me come back out there and we just got it set up from there.”

The St. Edward High School standout, who has an early offer from Toledo, is excited to see the Irish in action in person.

“I really want to see how the secondary goes about their warmups and stuff and see how they're prepared and locked in for the game, just see what it takes, what I need to do to put in my game to better it up to the next level,” he said.

His previous stops in South Bend have been impressive.

“I just like the fans, the people there,” he said. “It's amazing. It's truly like no other college. Going there and seeing my brother, seeing all the people there going there is welcoming and kind. It's truly a special place.”

Thomas’ brother is current freshman defensive end Loghan Thomas.

“I think he's been going pretty good for him,” Thomas said of Loghan. “He gets in on special teams and stuff like that. I think he really likes it down there.”

Thomas noted some similarities between his season thus far and Notre Dame’s.

“It's been kind of interesting because they went through the same thing I've gone through in my season,” he said. “They come off a big win. We played St. Joseph Prep, won that game, and then we come back next week and a team that we think we should beat, we ended up losing to. A team that Notre Dame thought they should be, they lost to. 

“I know how they feel and I like how they bounced back from it. They came back with a nice win over Purdue. It's nice seeing my brother get in, but it's just been interesting. I like how they come together as a team. They're not breaking down. They're coming together as a team and they're building off of that loss.”

Thomas hasn’t made any other college trips this fall and doesn’t have any others planned yet. 

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