NEW FEATURE STORY: In another world — and with a different support system — Xavier Watts could have left Notre Dame a long time ago.
This is the story of why he didn't, and how he became the All-American he is today.
For
@BGInews
:
Jordan Faison's final stats for his first season at Notre Dame:
Football: 19 receptions, 322 yards, 4 touchdowns
Lacrosse: 22 goals, 8 assists (30 points)
Former Notre Dame players selected to the Pro Bowl:
- Rams RB Kyren Williams
- Cowboys G Zack Martin
- Colts G Quenton Nelson
- Ravens S Kyle Hamilton
- Seahawks S Julian Love
- Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey
Looks like Riley Leonard, CJ Carr and Deuce Knight were throwing with Kris Mitchell, Deion Colzie, Jayden Thomas, Beaux Collins, Jayden Harrison and Jaden Greathouse in Leonard’s hometown of Fairhope, Ala. this week.
📷: Mr. Gene’s Beans/Instagram
Per an email sent to students, Notre Dame has adjusted its final exam schedule with the 12-team College Football Playoff in mind.
Exams, which would ordinarily end Friday, Dec. 20, will now end Thursday, Dec. 19. CFP first-round games will be played Dec. 20-21.
h/t
@FFFIHockey
Notre Dame legend Jerome Bettis and his son, 2025 WR target Jerome Bettis Jr., were in South Bend today.
The Irish are heavy favorites to land Bettis Jr.
@BGInews
"Father Hesburgh, who I love, told my wife this: 'Whenever Notre Dame is in difficult position, God will send a person at the right time there. And Sam Hartman is the right person here at Notre Dame at this time."
— Lou Holtz earlier today on the Pat McAfee show
Good morning, Notre Dame fans. I’m starting my day at Knute Rockne’s grave, reporting on one of the coolest game-day traditions I’ve seen.
A group of ND fans, led by two families, go here every game-day morning to take a shot of Irish whiskey and leave one for Knute.
@BGInews
Jordan Faison wasn't supposed to play this season. In six games, he has 14 catches, 207 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Marcus Freeman owes men's lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan a steak dinner. Heck of a find for the Irish.
It was an early morning for the Notre Dame coaching staff on the recruiting trail.
Marcus Freeman, Gino Guidugli, Mike Denbrock, Mike Mickens and Mike Brown boarded a private jet in South Bend and headed out to California at 6:48 AM.
@BGInews
"This might be a stretch, but Leonard Moore will be better than I will be here. He's a special kid." — Benjamin Morrison
High praise for a true freshman from a projected top-15 draft pick.
🚨🚨🚨THREAD🚨🚨🚨
Last night after Pagano was hired, I took a look back at Pagano’s time with the 2011 Ravens. What I was most impressed with was how he disguised blitzes so that guys got to the QB unabaited.
Here are some of my favorite blitz packages from that season.
#Bears
Does Notre Dame have a bona fide deep threat on this team, a la Will Fuller?
Mike Denbrock: "“I'm hopeful that Kris Mitchell can continue to grow into that role."
Former
#Mizzou
linebacker Nick Bolton led all AFC inside linebackers in fan votes for the Pro Bowl with 136,342. Full rosters will be announced Wednesday but Bolton is in good position to make it in his second season.
I know we don't care about hockey but no athlete was ever better at their team sport than Gretzky. You dont even have to be a hockey fan to be blown away by his numbers. You just have to know math. Bc his records are in like...exponents. Like he'll be 3x better than the runner up
Tyler Buchner told Marcus Freeman, as Freeman recalls it, "Coach, I want to help the program. I love Notre Dame, in any capacity."
Freeman met with some of Notre Dame's veteran players and decided to take Buchner as a walk-on wide receiver.
Max Bullough on Jaylen Sneed:
"If there's one person I'd say I can't be prouder of from when I got here to right now, it's No. 3. It's No. 3. And he's going to have a big year."
Notre Dame’s recruiting staff pulled out all the stops for junior day.
Chad Bowden, Dre Brown and Carter Auman greeted each Class of 2025 commit and target dressed as leprechauns.
@BGInews
BREAKING: Oklahoma OL Cayden Green plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells
@on3sports
The 6’5 325 OL started 7 games as a True Freshman for the Sooners this year
Ranked as a Top 95 Recruit in the ‘23 Class (per On3 Industry)
Benjamin Morrison is speaking at the groundbreaking. Freeman chose him because he embodies what being a Notre Dame athlete is about.
“Facilities do matter,” Morrison said. “Notre Dame must be at the forefront of everything we do.”
"Oh my God, he's so good for a freshman. Literally the first time I saw him, I was like, 'Damn, the kid's gonna be really good for Notre Dame.'"
— Jaylen Sneed on Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa
Great stuff on former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton here, particularly the play when he got chop-blocked + pancaked by Aaron Banks and still came away with the INT.
Notre Dame’s starting offensive line in the last two practices reporters have seen:
LT Anthonie Knapp (Fr.)
LG Sam Pendleton (So.)
C Ashton Craig (Jr.)
RG Billy Schrauth (Jr.)
RT Aamil Wagner (Jr.)
The youth movement is real, particularly on the left side.
Thread: Let’s talk about Eddie Jackson. Specifically, his skillset in zone coverage. He arrives at the the football faster than any safety in the NFL, which is a bit weird because he doesn’t appear to have by far the best track speed. So how does he do it? Find out here.
#Bears
Aamil Wagner "gave Coach [Joe] Rudolph the confidence that he should be the starting right tackle at the start of fall camp," per Marcus Freeman.
He's looked good so far.
Notre Dame sophomore Armel Mukam is making some headway in the defensive tackle room.
"He still has a ways to go, but man he’s done an unbelievable job," Al Washington said. "I’m really excited about his future."
"He reminds me of Ricky. He runs like Ricky Watters. Just strong and run through, high knee kick, good acceleration. ... Maybe he's faster."
— Al Golden on Jeremiyah Love
Notre Dame sophomore safety Adon Shuler worked alongside Xavier Watts with the first-team defense in the media-viewing portion of today's practice.
He has a real shot to start.
Former Notre Dame linebacker and NFL Draft hopeful Marist Liufau made the trip to Albany to support the ND women’s basketball team.
Liufau is dating star guard Sonia Citron, and he’s sporting her jersey.
Notre Dame WR Deion Colzie yesterday: 3 catches, 45 yards and a touchdown, including a contested catch and a broken tackle for a score.
Heck of a season debut for Colzie.
Big question I have in fall camp: Why didn't Marshall use Jayden Harrison more?
"Jayden Harrison is just insanely fast. He’s an insanely explosive person." — starting nickel back Jordan Clark
Marcus Freeman, summing up Notre Dame's regular season:
"There are a couple of games between Tennessee State and now that we wish we could run it back and then do it over, but we can’t. But we’ve learned, and we grew."
Notre Dame 2025 QB commit Deuce Knight (
@DeuceKnight
) made it to South Bend for junior day.
Here he is with recruiting director Chad Bowden.
@BGInews
More Scheyer on Notre Dame: "It's clear they're building a culture. Good luck to whoever comes in here. It's a tough place to play. ... Their defense is legit."
Coming tomorrow morning to
@CoMoSports
: Luther Burden's dad and agent explain why Burden has never considered transferring from
#Mizzou
, as well as Burden's mindset heading into next season with Dominic Lovett likely on his way out.
#Mizzou
's Evans was asked who at Missouri (anyone, not just CBs) NFL media isn't talking about right now but will be talking about next year.
His answer: Slot CB Kris Abrams-Draine
"If I had to player comp him, he's like a Davante Adams type of guy. Crafty in his routes, a bigger person than you think he is too, so you have to stop him from catching the ball even if you do stay with him."
— Notre Dame nickel back Jordan Clark on Jaden Greathouse
Jaiden Ausberry will play linebacker. He'll play Aztec — a third safety position that often acts as a hybrid LB/DB — on passing downs.
Wherever he plays, Notre Dame sees him as an impact defender in 2024.
@BGInews
story:
Notre Dame 2025 DB commit Ivan Taylor was on campus today. Taylor is one of the top 100 rising HS seniors in the country, as well as longtime Steelers CB Ike Taylor's son.
@BGInews
2025 LB target Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng — brother of former Notre Dame star LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah — was a late addition to the junior day roster.
Here he is entering the Guglielmino Athletics Complex.
@BGInews
Sam Hartman just posted an emotional five-minute video on Instagram, thanking college football.
“I hope you had as much fun as I did.”
He never explicitly said he’s opting out of the Sun Bowl, but it sure feels like a “goodbye” message.
Notable night practice clips, via
@NDFootball
:
☘️Jeremiyah Love downfield reception
☘️Walk-on Colgate transfer Max Hurleman forced fumble
☘️Kennedy Urlacher INT
☘️Adon Shuler fumble recovery
☘️Jayden Harrison first down
A man with experience and wisdom does not make himself smarter by hoarding information. He disgraces those who passed knowledge to him, & cheats those who would benefit from his tutelage. His legacy dies when he does. There will be no stories told of his insights, & no
Watch Gerad Parker and Sam Hartman change the play at the line of scrimmage here. Parker confirmed that this was indeed an audible.
Navy showed blitz. Hartman looks to the sideline, looks at his wrist, changes the play.
Great communication, great result for Notre Dame.
🚨🚨🚨MONTGOMERY THREAD🚨🚨🚨
Many
#Bears
fans may be wondering why Ryan Pace traded up for David Montgomery when Darrell Henderson could’ve been had by trading up just 3 picks earlier.
🚨🚨🚨 MACK THREAD WEEK 14 🚨🚨🚨
First up, the third play of the game. Mack worked this plant with outside foot - come back inside - eat Goff alive move all night, and both OTs fell victim multiple times
Drinkwitz asked the media room where they want to go for the bowl game. The media room responded with a resounding "Vegas." Drinkwitz said, "Yeah, me too."
Life update: I'm starting a new job today.
I'm joining
@BGInews
and
@On3sports
as a Notre Dame beat writer, covering primarily football and men's basketball. Thank you to everyone at the Blue & Gold team for the opportunity.
This is Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, in the photo on the right, getting reps with the ones. Certainly not the first time we've seen that.
KVA will play early and often.