Top 2026 DL Target Elijah Golden Recaps Latest Notre Dame Visit
Elijah Golden made his fourth visit to Notre Dame last week and once again, the 2026 Florida defensive lineman enjoyed himself.
“It was great,” Golden told Irish Sports Daily. “I feel like I got more depth into school, staff with life and football.
“I learned more about the academics, how the academics work.”
The Cardinal Mooney standout understands the importance of education.
“I feel like academics are very big over there and academics are very big for me,” the 6-foot-4, 275-pounder said.
“The classroom setting is not as big as you would think. Of course you have a few classes that are big sizes, but the setting is not as big.”
Golden has several scholarship offers, including offers from schools like Notre Dame, Alabama, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Florida, Michigan, Auburn, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon among several others.
He spent most of his time last week in South Bend with defensive line coach Al Washington and defensive line assistant Nick Sebastian.
“My relationship is great with those guys,” Golden said. “I spent a lot of time with them over the weekend. I just continue to build my relationship with them. They're great coaches.”
The Cardinal Mooney star likes the way the Irish envision him fitting in in South Bend.
“They see me fitting in with my leadership,” he said. “I bring that fire and that aggression to the team. I feel like that's just me as a character. I feel like it's me bringing my talent and my leadership to the team.”
He also hung out with some of the current players.
“I was able to spend some time with the players,” he said. “They're very cool guys; cool outgoing guys. They're pretty funny as well.”
Golden is now done with unofficial visits and said he will take official visits to Alabama, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Notre Dame, where he’ll be back for an official June 19th.
“I'm 100 percent open for my recruitment, but those are just the four I'm taking,” he said.
When he gets back to Notre Dame, he’ll be looking to learn more about the dorms and overall student life.
He does not have a firm decision timetable.
“I'm waiting on God's time.”
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