Jayden Limar Is A Great Notre Dame Fit On And Off The Field
With the recent commitment of Lake Stevens (Wash.) High School running back Jayden Limar, there is a lot of excitement for what the 5-11, 190-pound athlete can bring to the Notre Dame offense. The full scope of the fit into the program is something that must be considered transitioning to a program like Notre Dame. Limar’s head coach at Lake Stevens, Tom Tri, gave Irish Breakdown some insight into Limar’s potential impact in South Bend and what the Notre Dame faithful should expect.
On the football field, there isn’t much that Limar can’t do. Tri compared it to a five tool player in baseball. His versatility has always been one of the big selling points.
“He is really a five tool talent… that’s the best way to put it,” explained Tri. “He can do so much on the football field; run inside, get to the edge, put his foot in the ground, catch the football, return kicks and punts. Jayden even plays SAM backer in our 4-2-5 defense and does a great job.”
Those duties have come naturally to Limar, they are familiar to him. The 2021 season, however, asked the Washington product to do something unfamiliar. He continued to excel in any role asked of him.
“When we had injuries at quarterback last year, we turned to him to play that role,” Tri said. “There was a game where we had to put him in at quarterback, ran the wildcat, he scored two touchdowns and won the football game for us 34-28. He is really a selfless player in that way.
“Jayden is the type of kid who will carry you down the field the entire way but take himself out of the game right near the end zone,” Tri continued. "It’s not because he’s tired, or because he isn’t effective near the goal line. He just wanted his little brother to get a chance to score. That’s just the type of young man he is - selfless.”
It didn’t take the staff very long to identify what they had in Limar. The intangibles pop off the screen but that shouldn’t undersell the quality of athlete he is; that was obvious early.
“We knew when we first saw him that he was special,” The Lake Stevens coach explained. “We ran a little combine his eight grade year on Memorial Day weekend. We run the forty, vertical jump, do all the combine testing and also do a little obstacle course. It’s just to get the kids competing and we knew right away that Jayden was going to be a heck of a football player.”
“He came in there and ran an electric timed 4.53 forty yard dash and jumped 40.5 inches … as an eight grader,” he continued. “He’s an extremely explosive kid.”
From that initial introduction, Limar earned a role among a veteran Lake Stevens squad. He was just too good to keep off the field.
“Jayden has been awesome for us going back to his freshman year,” Tri stated. “We had a really good running back in front of him but it was obvious that we needed to find ways to get him on the field. He was able to contribute, get some reps but also learned a lot early.”
The combination of athleticism, versatility and intangibles offers a rare combination. It’s something that Tri hasn’t seen much during his coaching tenure at Lake Stevens. Players like Jayden Limar do not come around very often.
“I’ve been here for 17 years and he’s one of the most talented kids we’ve had,” Tri explained. “He can do everything well, which is unique for a running back. He’s even really good in our pass protection game, which is again rare for a high schooler. It’s what makes him so special.”
That talent level hasn’t taken from Limar’s humbleness, which adds even more to what makes the running back special. It’s the little things that set him a part.
“Jayden is a team first guy,” Tri said. “He had like 23 touchdowns for us last season and you wouldn’t know it by talking to him. He’s very humble and mature in that way.”
The transition from high school to college can be daunting for any student. That is especially true for a student athlete traveling from the state of Washington to South Bend, Indiana.
“I think he will be able to make that transition pretty smoothly,” he said. “You really don’t know until the kids get put into the environment full time and he comes for an extremely supportive family, which I’m sure will be tough to be away from.
“He’s an independent kid who is self motivated and self disciplined,” Tri continued. “I’m sure his family will continue to support him through the transition and get out to most of the games. I believe Jayden will do well over there.”
By all accounts, Limar has what it takes to make a smooth transition to Notre Dame. He is a talented athlete with the personality to flourish on the next level.
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