Notre Dame slammed the door on budding recruiting fight as 4-star QB is locked down

Having secured the commitment of 2027 quarterback Champ Monds less than a month ago, now the Irish know they don't have to worry about a wandering eye. The gunslinger was sought after by some of the biggest programs in the country, but he wants everyone to know that now that he's given his pledge, there's no chance he's playing anywhere but South Bend.

On Monday, On3's Mike Singer reported that Wonderful 'Champ' Monds has completely shut down his recruitment. "I don’t have to worry about recruiting anymore. I’m locked in with Coach Gino and Coach Freeman.”

Coach Gino of course is Notre Dame's quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli. The QB coach and head coach, Marcus Freeman, have clearly made a big impression on the 4-star gunslinger. That impression was good enough that he knows where he wants to sign in December closing out what was quite the whirlwind recruitment, if he truly isn't talking to any other schools.

Initially considered one of the top quarterbacks in the Class of 2028, Monds reclassified into the 2027 cycle on Dec. 31, 2025, opting to enter college following his junior season later this year. The decision triggered an accelerated recruitment for Monds and his family, who weighed interest from a long list of Power 4 programs and made stops at Florida, Florida State and Ohio State this spring before closing a busy run of travel with a visit to South Bend in April.

Champ Monds gives Notre Dame football another locked-in 2027 recruiting win

Notre Dame sealed Monds' recruitment on that visit on April 18. Monds told ESPN that Freeman, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli sold the big-armed passer on his stylistic fit within the program's offense.

That was hammered home when the young quarterback attended one of the team's final spring practices. There Monds watched current starter CJ Carr workout while also meating QB1s Riley Leonard and Sam Hartman.

"Not only did they show me multiple clips with quarterbacks that have similar play styles to me, but I got to see it in practice, as well," he told ESPN earlier this month. "When it comes to my throwing ability, I got to see things that I can do just like CJ Carr was doing in that practice. All of that led me to believe that coach Denbrock and coach Gino can develop me into the best quarterback I can be."

It seems Notre Dame has been pressuring some of its top commits to shut down their recruitment. That or the commits themselves have discussed the situation amongst themselves and decided they needed to make it clear South Bend was their final destination.

However it came about, Monds is the second commit in the last few days to announce they shut down the chase. Earlier this week, defensive back Zayden Gamble made it very clear he's going nowhere other than Notre Dame, despite interest from several Power 4 programs.

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