The Notre Dame football team always knew that hiring Messiah Mickens’ position coach was just part of the battle for the 4-star running back. Now that Ja’Juan Seider is officially part of the Irish staff, the Blue and Gold was able to lock down an official visit from Mickens.
However, it’s clear that while the Penn State commit is indeed looking to see what South Bend has to offer. He’s not, however only looking at Notre Dame. He’s locked in several other official visits and it certainly seems like Bill Belichick and North Carolina are going to make some noise in this pursuit.
On the same week that Mickens locked down an official visit with Notre Dame football, he also set an official visit to North Carolina. He’s going to be heading to Chapel Hill from June 20 to 22 and that means there are some questions to answer.
Notre Dame football has North Carolina Tarheels as a real problem
It may come down to which 2026 running backs want to commit first, as Notre Dame has multiple targets that are highly considering joining the recruiting class. You’d have to expect that Mickens would be a take if he ends up flipping.
Of course they’ll first need to fight off some big name teams. North Carolina looks like they’re one of them.
The question also becomes, when exactly is Mickens heading to South Bend? It was thought he was headed to see the Notre Dame football team on June 20. That’s the date for North Carolina. Stay tuned on when his Irish official visit does come.