Recruiting Notre Dame's competitive culture stands out for 2026 DE Jarius Rodgers
- The Insider Lounge
- 0 Replies
Login to view embedded media
In February, Rivals national recruiting analyst @John Garcia Jr. revealed six prospects out of Florida worth monitoring in the 2026 recruiting class. One name on that list was Jarius Rodgers, who Notre Dame football offered a month later during Sunday's Pot of Gold Day recruiting event.
Rodgers, who told me he grew up watching Notre Dame games on TV, visited the Irish on Saturday for his first trip ever to the Midwest as a recruit. Rodgers holds 10 total offers including Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska and South Florida, but has only visited UCF and Duke, neither of whom have offered.
Notre Dame views the 6-foot-5, 195-pound defender out of Fleming Island (Fla.) High as a vyper end. Per Rivals, Rodgers is a three-star recruit and the No. 14 weakside defensive end in the 2026 class.
I had an opportunity to talk with Rodgers following his visit to see how his trip went, conversations with the staff and more.
On his visit:
"I enjoyed my visit a lot," Rodgers told Inside ND Sports. "It's a really nice campus and the football team is all about competing. Everything they do is a competition in some sort of way ... my favorite moment was seeing the players going out and competing at practice to get better and better."
On the love he's received from ND so far:
"Being a priority at Notre Dame at such a young age is big, they will help me be a great student-athlete. Getting to know [defensive line] coach [Al] Washington and [defensive assistant] coach [Nick] Sebastian was amazing. They were able to build a bond with me and that was important to me knowing that they are the type of coaches you're able to go to if something is wrong."
Rodgers said he also met with head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive coordinator Al Golden and recruiting analyst Becca Sites. He said everybody he talked with stressed the importance of football but educated him on how the program is set up to have its former players find success off the field once their football careers end.
Next season, Rodgers said he hopes to visit Notre Dame for a game. He would like to see how practice translates to a game and receive additional feedback on how he can improve from ND's staff.
Login to view embedded media
Link to full story:
notredame.rivals.com
In February, Rivals national recruiting analyst @John Garcia Jr. revealed six prospects out of Florida worth monitoring in the 2026 recruiting class. One name on that list was Jarius Rodgers, who Notre Dame football offered a month later during Sunday's Pot of Gold Day recruiting event.
Rodgers, who told me he grew up watching Notre Dame games on TV, visited the Irish on Saturday for his first trip ever to the Midwest as a recruit. Rodgers holds 10 total offers including Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Kentucky, Nebraska and South Florida, but has only visited UCF and Duke, neither of whom have offered.
Notre Dame views the 6-foot-5, 195-pound defender out of Fleming Island (Fla.) High as a vyper end. Per Rivals, Rodgers is a three-star recruit and the No. 14 weakside defensive end in the 2026 class.
I had an opportunity to talk with Rodgers following his visit to see how his trip went, conversations with the staff and more.
On his visit:
"I enjoyed my visit a lot," Rodgers told Inside ND Sports. "It's a really nice campus and the football team is all about competing. Everything they do is a competition in some sort of way ... my favorite moment was seeing the players going out and competing at practice to get better and better."
On the love he's received from ND so far:
"Being a priority at Notre Dame at such a young age is big, they will help me be a great student-athlete. Getting to know [defensive line] coach [Al] Washington and [defensive assistant] coach [Nick] Sebastian was amazing. They were able to build a bond with me and that was important to me knowing that they are the type of coaches you're able to go to if something is wrong."
Rodgers said he also met with head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive coordinator Al Golden and recruiting analyst Becca Sites. He said everybody he talked with stressed the importance of football but educated him on how the program is set up to have its former players find success off the field once their football careers end.
Next season, Rodgers said he hopes to visit Notre Dame for a game. He would like to see how practice translates to a game and receive additional feedback on how he can improve from ND's staff.
Login to view embedded media
Link to full story:
InsideNDSports - Notre Dame's competitive culture stands out for 2026 DE Jarius Rodgers
2026 VYP target Jarius Rodgers enjoyed the competitiveness he saw while visiting Notre Dame football on Saturday.
