Latest news with #AydenPouncey
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Notre Dame football stays hot recruiting adding 2026 3-star safety Nick Reddish
It seems like every time Notre Dame is a finalist for an uncommitted prospect, they're winning out the battle and the trend continued on Friday with 2026 safety Nick Reddish. The 5-foot, 11-inch and 185-pound North Carolina star picked the Irish over Wisconsin, Indiana and Virginia Tech. Notre Dame's 2026 recruiting class now is up to 26 verbals, and there isn't much room left to add any other prospects. Advertisement Reddish is the third safety in the class joining two elite others in Joey O'Brien and Ayden Pouncey. He's a bit smaller than his future teammates, as both of them have the size and frames to outgrow the position. As the No. 681 overall player in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports Composite. He's set to join an absolutely loaded position group, as Adon Shuler is expected to be a starter, while Luke Talich, JaDon Blair, Ben Minich and others battle out for the opposite starting job. That's not including either of the two transfers in Devonta Smith and Jalen Stroman, as the Irish possess one of the deepest units in the country. Reddish is a great addition to the room, as Notre Dame's class continues to impress. This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Nick Reddish commits to Notre Dame over Wisconsin and others
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Notre Dame Considered A Big Recruiting Winner In June
Notre Dame Considered A Big Recruiting Winner In June originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Putting together a top recruiting class can often be a bit of a roller coaster, and that has certainly been true for Notre Dame in recent months. Notre Dame just finished off a red hot month of June that vaulted the Irish 2026 class up the rankings. ESPN named Notre Dame as one of the biggest recruiting winners of the month. Advertisement Notre Dame landed just one recruiting in January (Tyler Merrill) and didn't land a single commitment in February or March. The month of April was a strong one for the Irish, who landed five commits in the month, including big time ends Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade, wide receiver Bubba Frazier, offensive lineman Gregory Patrick and cornerback Ayden Pouncey. The Irish staff continued building in May by landing elite running backs Javian Osborne and Jonaz Walton, linebacker Jakobe Clapper and must-get defensive tackle Tiki Hola. Join the Notre Dame Champions Lounge for the latest intel and analysis of the Fighting Irish! As good as those months were it was nothing like what Notre Dame accomplished in June as the Irish added six more players to the class, which earned them the honor from ESPN. Here is what they had to say about Notre Dame's hot June. "A slow start in the 2026 cycle gave way to an explosive spring for Notre Dame, highlighted by 11 ESPN 300 pledges since April 1. As things stand, Marcus Freeman and the reigning national runner-up Irish are on track to sign a historic class later this year. "Three ESPN commitments over the past 30 days made June a high-quality, low-volume month for Notre Dame. The Irish beat out Michigan, Oregon and Penn State for No. 2 overall cornerback Khary Adams on June 20, then edged the Ducks, Nittany Lions and Clemson for safety Joey O'Brien hours later, forming the foundation of the program's 2026 defensive back class, which also includes top-200 safety Ayden Pouncey. Adams, No. 28 overall, is Notre Dame's top-ranked commit in the cycle following the latest update to the 2026 ESPN 300. No. 5 overall tight end Ian Premer's commitment marked the latest bit of recruiting momentum in South Bend. If Premer signs later this year, he'll be the program's highest-ranked tight end addition since Cane Berrong in the 2021 cycle, and Notre Dame likely isn't done adding pass catchers, with wide receivers Kaydon Finley, Devin Fitzgerald and Brayden Robinson set to announce commitments later this week." - Eli Lederman, ESPN Advertisement Notre Dame will hope to continue its hot recruiting in July. On top of the three receivers discussed by ESPN, Notre Dame will also hope to add defensive tackle Elijah Golden (July 26th commitment date) and safety Nick Reddish (July 11th). Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge Irish Breakdown Content 2025 Scholarship Chart 2025 Football Schedule Notre Dame 2026 Commits Notre Dame 2026 Scholarship Offers 2025 Commit Rankings - Offense 2025 Commit Rankings - Defense 2024 Recruiting Class 2023 Recruiting Class 2022 Recruiting Class ——————— Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more. Advertisement BECOME A MEMBER Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time! Join the Irish Breakdown community! Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178 Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Class Impact: Notre Dame Lands Cornerback Khary Adams
Class Impact: Notre Dame Lands Cornerback Khary Adams originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Notre Dame remains a red hot team on the recruiting trail, this time landing Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield cornerback Khary Adams. The Irish beat out Penn State, Oregon, Michigan and South Carolina to land this elite cornerback. Let's break down what this commitment means for Notre Dame and how it impacts the Notre Dame 2026 recruiting class. NOTRE DAME CLASS IMPACT Adams is the 18th player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2026 recruiting class. He's also the eighth defensive player to commit to the Fighting Irish and the third cornerback in the class. He joins Florida defensive back Ayden Pouncey and Tennessee cover man Chaston Smith. Advertisement Numbers wasn't really the focus for Notre Dame at the cornerback class in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Notre Dame landed three very talented cornerbacks in the 2025 class (Dallas Golden, Mark Zackery, Cree Thomas) and two talented players in the 2025 class (Leonard Moore, Karson Hobbs). The focus in this class was more about impact talent than it was about numbers, and the Irish actually met their numbers goal when it landed Pouncey and Smith. Despite meeting those numbers, Notre Dame continued to make Adams a major priority because impact talent was more important than numbers, and Adams is simply too good to not keep recruiting. Moore being a likely three-and-done player means this class will only be on campus for one season with him. Notre Dame is also doing more looks where three corners can be on the field .Combine all that with the elite upside that Adams possesses and you understand why the staff continued to push so hard for him. Adding to the unique nature of this class is that Pouncey not only grades out as a high-level cornerback, he also has the tools to potentially move to safety and thrive there if the need arises. That means that Adams, Pouncey and Smith could play together either in three-cornerback looks but also with the potential of Pouncey playing on the back end if the need was there. NOTRE DAME FIT There are several attributes that Mike Mickens has consistently looked for at the cornerback position, and Adams grades out well in each of those areas. His combination of length, speed and football IQ all grade out well. He has all the tools you want in a high-level pure cover player. Mickens also likes two-way players and Adams is also an impact high school wide receiver. Adams has the range, cover instincts and tackling potential to thrive as a field cornerback. He also has the length, speed and instincts to grow into a dominant boundary cornerback. That positional flexibility is a big reason why Adams fits so well into the Notre Dame defense. FILM ANALYSIS The length that Mickens has added to the secondary in recent recruiting cycles has been incredibly impressive, and that continues with the pickup of Adams. At 6-2 he certainly has excellent height, but Adams also has the arm length to match. That makes him an incredibly difficult player to throw the ball over or around. Adams is on the lean side right now and he's listed at 180 pounds, but he has a solid frame that reminds me a lot of former Notre Dame cornerback Cam Hart, who was 6-3 and skinny in high school but grew into a 205-pound player for the Irish. I could see Adams eventually getting to the 200-pound mark as well. Advertisement Adams is an excellent all-around athlete that has all the physical traits you want in a cornerback. He has top notch foot quickness and agility, which allows him to change direction with ease and impressive quickness. He can plant and drive on the football as well as any cornerback in the class. Adams has loose hips and transitions with ease as well, showing the kind of open-and-run skills you need to play man coverage. Adams also has elite speed, both from an initial quickness standpoint and second gear. When he commits to going full speed he gets to his top gear in a hurry, and his long speed is tremendous. He covers a ton of ground and he's able to overcome mistakes much easier than most cornerbacks because of his combination of elite length and speed. With Notre Dame potentially looking to play more zone coverage, Adams also needs to be able to handle that part of the game as well. One could argue that his unique skillset projects just as well to being a zone defender. His length and speed allows him to cover a ton of ground in off zone coverages (Cover 3, Cover 4), and his ability to redirect and close so well should allow him to be incredibly difficult to throw at in those zone looks. His length and foot quickness also gives him traits to be a difficult player to throw over in the tighter zone looks like Cover 2. That all-around ability is why his upside is so high. Adams will need a lot of technical at the next level, which is why picking Notre Dame is such a good move for him. That's where Mickens thrives, and Adams will benefit greatly from that tutelage. Adams gets by on elite talent right now, but he's a two-way player for his high school, which makes it harder for him to master the technique at one spot. That's not a knock on his prep coaching, as the coaches should absolutely use him both ways. It just means he'll have more to learn once he focuses on one position. He'll also need to learn to better use his length to his advantage when playing press and re-routing receivers. Adams is a willing tackler but he's more of a form tackler than a thumper like Hart or Moore. He'll need to not only fill out but also improve his upper body strength. His play strength is one of the areas where he grades out the lowest. That will come in time as he gets into the college weight program and continues to physically mature. The fact he's not afraid to stick his nose into traffic is important, because once the strength comes his impact in the run game will be much improved. Advertisement Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge Irish Breakdown Content 2025 Scholarship Chart 2025 Football Schedule Notre Dame 2026 Commits Notre Dame 2026 Scholarship Offers 2025 Commit Rankings - Offense 2025 Commit Rankings - Defense 2024 Recruiting Class 2023 Recruiting Class 2022 Recruiting Class ——————— Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more. BECOME A MEMBER Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time! Join the Irish Breakdown community! Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178 Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
17-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Watch: Notre Dame football commit Ayden Pouncey with an amazing touchdown catch
Watch: Notre Dame football commit Ayden Pouncey with an amazing touchdown catch While Notre Dame football 2026 commit Ayden Pouncey will line up as a defensive back at the next level, that still won't stop his team from using him on offense during his last high school season. Football in his home state of Florida has a much different spring than others, as they play teams in exhibitions, which is exactly what happened on Friday night. The 6-foot, 3-inch and 160-pound Pouncey added to his highlight reel yesterday, with an amazing, weaving through the defense touchdown reception. The Irish got a very good one in Pouncey, as he's ranked as the No. 146 overall prospect nationally by the 247Sports Composite. Notre Dame has had success with Xavier Watts making a transition from wide receiver to safety, and they could have a good problem with the opposite switch with the star safety. Pouncey is showing that he's not just a star on defense, but he could be a difference-maker on offense as well if needed.
USA Today
26-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Notre Dame gets a huge 2026 commitment during the NFL draft
Notre Dame gets a huge 2026 commitment during the NFL draft While it might not have played a big role in Ayden Pouncey's decision, he committed to Notre Dame during the final rounds of the NFL draft. The 6-foot, 3-inch and 160-pound safety comes from a football family, as both of his brothers played high-level football as well. Both of them were with the Florida Gators at some point in their careers, so the Irish luring him up North should be viewed as a massive recruiting win. As the No. 140 overall player in his class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Pouncey brings the size, speed, and talent that Notre Dame looks for in its safeties. They love going after larger players at that position, and that goal was accomplished on Saturday. Notre Dame now has twelve commits in the class, one that is ranked as the No. 3 class in the nation according to the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings.
