2026 DL Elijah Golden Remains High On Notre Dame

Elijah Golden‍ may have changed high schools, but nothing has changed regarding his interest in Notre Dame.

“Notre Dame is pretty high on my list,” the 2026 Florida defensive lineman says. “I haven't really got to that list yet, but they're pretty high.” 

Golden transferred from IMG Academy to Cardinal Mooney prior to the start of this season.

“It's going great, actually,” he says. “Great.”

The 6-foot-4, 275-pounder also maintains great contact with Notre Dame, a place he has an offer from and has visited multiple times. 

“I'm trying to get back up there,” says Golden, who was last on campus for a camp in June. “I don't know when, but I'm definitely trying to get back up there.”

Golden also has offers from schools like Florida, Auburn, Duke, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Virginia Tech among many others.

He keeps in contact with Notre Dame through head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive line coach Al Washington and defensive line assistant Nick Sebastian.

“Just keep working and that's really it,” he says of the message from the Irish. “Keep working and them trying to get back up there to see the game or for a visit.

“I definitely want to go for a game to see how the game is. I've been to the spring game, but that's not really the same. It's still a game, but it's not going against a different opponent, different schemes that they run.”

The coaches are some of the main reasons he’s been so interested in Notre Dame for so long.

“Just the love that they show,” he says. “A lot of great love and they're all amazing guys.

“Great guys, great guys, definitely great guys. I've talked to them multiple times and I have great relationships with all three of them actually.”

Golden hasn’t been busy making too many trips this fall with just a pair of visits to Florida to see the Gators.

“Those were great trips,” he says. “They showed a lot of love. The first game I went to they lost. Then the second one, they weren't able to pull through, but they've definitely bounced back from those losses.”

Golden tries to ignore the outside noise regarding Billy Napier’s status in Gainesville and focus on what he hears from those inside the program.

“I have a good relationship with Florida and I mainly look for how the school is, how they use their d-lineman and stuff like that,” he says.

In addition to another potential trip to South Bend, Golden is hoping to get to Michigan, Michigan State and Virginia Tech as well.

But he isn’t in a rush to make a final decision. 

“I'm probably not going to make my decision probably until either the summer or maybe during the season in the beginning.”

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