Elite Safety JaDon Blair Felt A Part Of The Notre Dame Family

There were plenty of big time recruits making a return trip to Notre Dame for the "Grill and Chill" recruiting event, but this was not the case for Winston Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor standout safety JaDon Blair. This was his first time checking out the Notre Dame campus and program, and things went quite well.

The ultra talented safety had intrigue coming into the visit, but Notre Dame made sure he left the visit feeling great about the Irish program. Blair didn’t fully know what to expect, but was treated to an eye opening visit.

"Coming into the visit, I thought the facilities were going to be older, but they were traditional with a modern feel to them and that opened my eyes off the rip,” Blair told Irish Breakdown. "My view about Notre Dame is way better now because of how they set the day out for us and what they bring to the table.”

From the outset of the visit, the Notre Dame staff was able to make Blair and the other recruits feel comfortable and a part of something bigger.

"My favorite parts were the little mini games we played and how much of a fun competitive spirit we all had and that’s because we can see that in Notre Dame,” said Blair. "Like people I haven’t ever met before I felt so comfortable talking to them because of how much fun we were having and competing.”

From the other players on campus to the staff, Blair clearly felt like he belonged. Their ability to create easy relationships is very, very positive. Blair went into the trip with uncertainty for how he could fit in, but that has now been erased.

"My conversations with the staff were all great and I was comfortable talking to all of them like I have talked to them 100 times before and they were all energetic,” he explained. "Also talking to the recruits, like I said, all felt normal, like I’ve known them for a long time. The fun competitive games brought us all together and just made us have a great time.”

The key to this visit was moving the needle with Blair. Notre Dame needed a great visit to make sure they would be in this recruitment to the end, and the Irish staff did just that.

"The staff message to me was to just keep getting better and develop more, not just as a player but as a person too because it’s always someone watching me it doesn’t matter where i am at,” he stated. "They could see me succeeding and developing even more in their system and just working with them I could go far with my life and that is life after football also. It was an amazing overall experience at Notre Dame and a great learning experience too.”

Blair has received a flurry of interest from several notable programs thus far. Some of the top programs who have extended offers so far include the Fighting Irish, Penn State, Miami, Florida State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Duke, West Virginia, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech among several others.

On3 is especially high on the North Carolina star. Blair is rated as the No. 26 overall player and No. 2 safety in the 2025 recruiting class. That ranking also has Blair pegged as the No. 3 player in the state of North Carolina, an area that Notre Dame has made an impact in recently.

The 6-4, 180-pound athlete was a substantial producer from his safety position. He finished his sophomore campaign with 44 total tackles, two tackles for loss, an interception and two pass breakups.

Blair was also used on the offensive side of the football, although that was rare. He completed seven of twelve passing attempts for 70 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he also carried the ball for 28 yards on four carries.

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2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
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