There is no question that the defensive line is a position of great importance for the Notre Dame football team in the 2026 class, and Marcus Freeman and Al Washington are off to a fast start when it comes to locking the position down. Defensive line coach Al Washington has an outstanding trio already committed. Still, he’d love to bring Alister Vallejo into the fold as well and he’s enlisting the help of several current commits to get the job done.
Peer recruiting has already been a big story regarding the Fighting Irish recruiting class this year. It’s affected a number of players who decided South Bend is where they wanted to go.
Peer recruiting surge puts Notre Dame in pole position for DL target Alister Vallejo
Defensive back commit Jonaz Walton, who was also peer recruited during the big run that saw the Notre Dame football team surge into the Top 5 classes of the 2026 cycle, is now doing his best to turn around and peer recruit Vallejo.
Some of this peer recruiting is clearly done behind the scenes. Some is done right out there for everyone to see.
One such example is Walton using social media to pressure the 4-star defensive lineman out of Liberty Hill (Liberty Hill, TX). On a post where Vallejo asked his followers, “where is home?” and put up the colors for the three schools he’s still considering (Michigan, Kansas, and Notre Dame), Walton wasted little time.
The 4-star defensive back posted a sweet and simple message. “You know where home is,” followed by three clover emojis to signify the Irish.
The post did its job in the moment, getting 424 likes at the time of publication and served as a signal to Alister Vallejo that he’s wanted by guys who would be his teammates should he sign with Marcus Freeman and company.
Of course, there is quite a bit more work to do for the Notre Dame football team to reel in the Lonestar State defender, but with a commitment coming on June 10, we should find out soon enough if Walton managed to make an impact.