Former Notre Dame football defensive lineman has decided he’s got a few more playing days in him after all. The former Fighting Irish player previously announced his retirement back in June but Aiden Gobaira now believes that he’s healthy enough to play again and will be doing it with a Sun Belt Conference powerhouse.
Gobaira had taken a medical retirement, which allowed him to keep his scholarship with Notre Dame. He and fellow defensive lineman Tyson Ford both announced their retirements at the same time.
Back in December, Ford also decided his retirement was premature. He left the Notre Dame football team for the Cal Golden Bears. Gobaira heads to James Madison through the transfer portal. It’s not clear when exactly he entered. Nor is it clear what changed that made him believe he could play again after sitting out the 2024 season.
Former #NDFootball DE Aiden Gobaira will join the Boca Raton Bowl champs: James Madison. pic.twitter.com/5YMNB14BqC
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) January 5, 2025
Notre Dame football player Aiden Gobaira heads to the Sun Belt
Now that he’s joined the Dukes, the defensive lineman will be closer to home.
Gobaira never played in a game for the Irish. He redshirted as a freshman with no game experience and missed his sophomore season with a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered in an August practice. Gobaira was still sidelined from the injury this spring. Prior to his injury, the 6-5, 249-pound product of Fairfax, Va., was expected to compete as a depth piece at defensive end.
Rivals ranked Gobaira as the No. 6 weakside defensive end and No. 84 overall recruit in the 2022 class out of Chantilly (Va.) High when he signed with the Notre Dame football team.
It would seem that perhaps his knee is now good enough that he believes he can compete for playing time with James Madison.