Elite 2026 CB Jordan Thomas Recaps "Great" Notre Dame Return

Jordan Thomas‍ returned to South Bend on Saturday and Notre Dame returned to its spot as one of the elite 2026 New Jersey cornerback’s favorite schools.

“It was great,” Thomas told ISD afterward. “It was great.

“They showed that I'm a top priority. They showed they value me and not only me as an athlete, but me as a person as well. They made sure of that by spending a lot of time with me, showing me the facilities, showing me the stadium, getting to eat up on one of the top floors in the buildings at the stadium. It was a great time. I got to speak with the coaches, meet with the staff, meet with the players. I just had a great level time.”

The Bergen Catholic star and his family were able to spend time chatting with head coach Marcus Freeman. 

“He was just telling me how much I’m a priority for them,” Thomas explained.  “He's definitely a contagious person; his smile, his laugh. He's a cool person to be around and I see why his players follow him. 

“He's a leader and he lights up a whole room with his presence. His presence just gets everybody on point and everybody wants to play for him. He's easy to play for.”

Thomas spent most of his time with Irish defensive backs coach Mike Mickens.

“Me and him got to chop it up, got to get on the board, got to talk ball,” Thomas said. “Not only talk ball, but we were actually just spending quality time with each other, getting to know each other and building a stronger relationship.

“He's a really friendly guy. He's genuine and he's hands-on, very hands-on, on the field with his players. I liked how the players interacted with him as well.”

Thomas also spent time with new defensive coordinator Chris Ash.

“Coach Ash is that dude,” he said. “He's just coming from the NFL and he's been coaching defense for a long time, so that's a lot of great experience added on to the Notre Dame defensive staff. It was great speaking with him. I believe that he's going to do great things here at Notre Dame.”

Thomas was able to reconnect with Irish quarterback Steve Angeli as well.

“Me and him are cool,” said Thomas. “I know he's a former Bergen Catholic player and it's always great to see him and see how he's doing.”

Thomas left feeling like he saw and learned a ton.

“I left with no unanswered questions,” he said. “They did a really good job.

“Notre Dame is definitely one of the favorites right now. They're definitely one of the high priorities for me.”

Thomas will take an unofficial visit to Michigan next weekend and plans to take additional unofficials before trimming his list and setting officials.

Does Notre Dame have a good chance at landing one of those officials?

“Most definitely.”