It’s quite clear Jaxsen Stokes is a priority for Ja’Juan Seider and in turn, is now a priority for Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame's been on me for a good minute now,” the 2027 California running back says. “I've had a relationship with Coach Seider for a while, since he was at Penn State. When I was in my sophomore year, he offered me when he was at Penn State and then he made the move to Notre Dame and it just transferred from there and then I got that offer from Notre Dame.
“We just kept that same relationship now. He's actually visited me at my school, so I think it's time to go to his school and see what it's like and everything. I believe he's a great coach and I just can't wait to go up there and see more.”
So, the Sierra Canyon star will make the trip from the West Coast to South Bend this weekend to catch the Irish’s home opener against Texas A&M.
“It's going to be awesome,” Stokes says. “I can't wait to see the atmosphere and the city and the school and the coaches and everything.”
Seider’s continued interest in Stokes tells the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder all he needs to know.
“It tells me he's genuine about me,” says Stokes. “I feel like he believes in me. He believes in my talents and everything. I feel like he's fully evaluated me and everything. There are some coaches maybe that are still out there that haven't fully evaluated me, but he's seen me on film and in person, so I think that's very important.
“I also think he's a great coach and he is developing two great running backs right now that are probably going to go ahead into the NFL Draft this next year. I think it's definitely going to be worth a trip.”
Stokes likes Seider’s vibe.
“He's a calm guy,” Stokes says. “The first time we really talked, it felt like we had already been talking for a while. It's somebody I could be comfortable with. Seems like more of a quiet coach, but he's definitely a great coach. When he needs to put his heart in it, he can.
“I think he's a great coach. It definitely shows; he has developed a lot of great running backs, even Saquon Barkley. It kind of just shows who he is as a person, so that's what I think about him.”
Seider choosing to go to Notre Dame tells Stokes plenty as well.
“He told me that Notre Dame's a great school, kind of like an Ivy League education,” says Stokes. “He told me they're going to develop me and everything. He said the tradition is probably one of the best ever in the country.
“He told me left Penn State just to get a new start. He left because of Coach (Marcus) Freeman. They'd been great friends before that. I think he believes in Coach Freeman a lot and that's definitely very important as a recruit as far as not just your position coach, but the head coach as well.
“Coach Freeman, just the way he talks to his players and everything gets them going, gets them ready for the game and everything, how to get them through adversity and everything. I'm looking forward to seeing more from Coach Freeman and the rest of the staff.”
Stokes also has offers from schools like USC, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, Arizona State, Oklahoma and Tennessee among many others.
He’s already visited UCLA once and will go back to UCLA later this fall along with stops at USC, Arizona State, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
“A pretty-filled out schedule, but there are some other schools that may be fitting in there maybe late-November, but I'm still not sure on that.”
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