Notre Dame Recruit Zayden Gamble Puts Florida Schools on Notice

It's not that Notre Dame football hasn't had some success recruiting in the state of Florida all-time, but it hasn't exactly been a hot-bed of talent on the regular, either.

There are guys who have come from Florida over the years, and it's a state that has brought in a player or two pretty close to annually.

What Notre Dame is doing recently in Florida, though, is significantly different. It's an upgrade of talent from the Sunshine State, with more bodies joining Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish than at any point in recent history.

One of the biggest Florida stars in Notre Dame's 2027 recruiting class recently had some very positive things to say about the potential staying power of the Fighting Irish in the state.

Notre Dame Recruit Zayden Gamble Speaks on 'FloridaDame'

Notre Dame safety commitment Zayden Gamble stars at a traditional national powerhouse in St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale.

He's the top-rated safety in the class from Florida, and chose Notre Dame while being said to have considered offers from Miami, Ohio State, and others.

He also made recent comments that shed light on Notre Dame's plan to have a bigger presence in Florida for the foreseeable future, and that this isn't just some kind of flash in the pan.

New Irish safety Zayden Gamble told Isabella, money wasn't a factor when he chose Notre Dame.

"I didn't talk NIL with anybody else besides ND. What they have for you outside of football, that's priceless. I didn't care about the number. I just knew I wanted to be at Notre… pic.twitter.com/MVOjHjhaAn
— CathVSConf☘️ (@CathVSConf) July 3, 2026

While giving a recent interview (see above), Gamble quickly praised Notre Dame for all it offers outside of NIL, and how that is what initially drew him to the Fighting Irish.

"I didn't talk NIL with anybody else besides ND. What they have for you outside of football, that's priceless. I didn't care about the number. I just knew I wanted to be at Notre Dame."

He went on to discuss the pipeline that Notre Dame is establishing in one of the most talent-heavy states in the nation.

"This is really a pipeline. We are going to get your favorite player. Sorry to the schools in Florida, but we are going to grab all the recruits that we can."

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway

There have been some big-time players to come from Florida over the years, but them coming in multiples in the same class have been rare.

Yes, the likes of Sam Young, Armando Allen, Greg Bryant, and others have come from Florida, but those were mostly one-offs.

1000000000000000% LOCKED IN!!! #GoIrish ☘️☘️☘️ pic.twitter.com/I9kauyed46
— 4⭐️ Zayden Gamble (@ZaydenGamble1) May 29, 2026

It's clear that Notre Dame's message to Gamble has been that it won't be slowing down anytime soon in Florida, and why the heck should it?

As we've seen recruiting slow down a bit in California of late for Notre Dame, it needs to pick up somewhere else. If you can pick an area of the country for that to happen in, picking the greater Miami and Fort Lauderdale area is as good of choice as you could make.

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