Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Signs 4 Recruits With NFL Lineage In 2026 Class

The sons of NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald, Thomas Davis and Jermichael Finley, as well as the second cousin of Mike and Maurkice Pouncey, signed with the Fighting Irish.
Jack Ankony|
Brophy Prep senior Devin Fitzgerald signs his letter of intent to play football for Notre Dame.
Brophy Prep senior Devin Fitzgerald signs his letter of intent to play football for Notre Dame. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame secured a 27-man recruiting class of 2026 during Wednesday's national signing day, four of whom have NFL ties.

Devin Fitzgerald (son of Larry Fitzgerald), Thomas Davis Jr. (son of Thomas Davis) Kaydon Finley (son of Jermichael Finley) and Ayden Pouncey (second cousin of Mike and Maurkice Pouncey) all signed with the Fighting Irish as part of a class that ranks No. 3 nationally, per 247 Sports, behind USC and Oregon.

Here's a closer look at those four players.

Devin Fitzgerald

Devin Fitzgerald Notre Dame Football
Brophy wide receiver Devin Fitzgerald (1) breaks a tackle at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Fitzgerald is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver from Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Ariz. He's considered a four-star recruit by 247Sports, which ranks him No. 215 overall, No. 28 among wide receivers and No. 2 in Arizona. He had offers from Michigan, Clemson and Florida State, among many others. Devin's father, Larry, ranks second in receiving yards in NFL history with 17,492.

"He reminds you a lot of his father," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. "He might come in here and he might not have the fastest 40 time, but he has some of the best ball skills of any wide receiver prospect I've seen. He's just always in position to make a play and he makes the play and it was too good to not go in full throttle and try to get him committed and we're grateful he did commit."

"His mom and dad are just such special people. I've said even on his official visit, his dad probably sold Notre Dame better than I did. His dad, he did a really good job of selling to other recruits, to parents, on what makes this place special. Larry has some relationships with a lot of key figures here associated with Notre Dame and his son sees what his endless possibilities are as a football player but also as a student here."

Larry Fitzgerald
Former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald wears a Notre Dame cardigan and speaks with Arizona Republic high school sports reporter Richard Obert prior to an early signing day at Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix, Ariz. on Dec. 3, 2025. Larry’s son, Devin Fitzgerald, signed with Notre Dame. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kaydon Finley

Finley is a 6-foot, 200-pound wide receiver from Aledo High School in Texas. He's a four-star recruit, according to 247Sports Composite, and ranked No. 129 overall, No. 18 among wide receivers and No. 18 in Texas. His father, Jermichael, was a tight end for the 2011 Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Kaydon picked Notre Dame over Jermichael's alma mater, Texas, as well as Texas A&M, Arizona State, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Miami and many others.

"He's playing probably some of the most competitive ball in all of high school in his conference, in his league," Freeman said. "He is as talented as anybody you'll see, and he's a guy we've been on for quite a while and we kept getting him up here. We kept getting him up here, we kept getting him up here and he took some other visits and finally for him to say, this is where I want to be."

"His dad went to Texas. We knew it was going to be a difficult recruiting process to try to convince him to come up here instead of maybe going somewhere where his dad went or somewhere closer to home. But I think with Kaydon it was the relationship. It was the relationships with the guys in this class that ultimately got him to say yes."

Ayden Pouncey

Pouncey is a 6-foot-2.5, 160-pound safety from Winter Park High School in Florida. He's a four-star recruit ranked No. 66 overall, No. 5 among safeties and No. 9 in Florida, according to 247 Sports. He also had offers from Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Florida and several others. Ayden's second cousins, Mike and Maurkice, combined to make 13 Pro Bowls at the center position.

"He is playing as well as any of the DBs as you watch what he does his senior year on film and what he's doing as a punt returner as a corner, as a safety on offense, man," Freeman said. "He's playing as well as anybody in that defensive back signee class."

Thomas Davis Jr.

Davis is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker from Weddington High School in Matthews, N.C. He's a four-star recruit ranked No. 250 nationally, No. 14 among linebackers and No. 12 in North Carolina. He also had offers from Ohio State, Oregon, LSU, Indiana, Miami, USC, Penn State and others.

His father, Thomas Sr., is 27th in NFL history with 859 solo tackles and won 2014 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.

Watch Marcus Freeman's full signing day press conference below.

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Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony has covered college football, college basketball and Major League Baseball since joining "On SI" in 2022. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism.

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