Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman make surprise move to bring back familiar face

Just when it looked like Marcus Freeman was done making staff changes and Notre Dame was just focused on the upcoming spring practice session, a familiar face has returned to South Bend after one year away. Former defensive analyst Jevaughn Codlin is back with the Fighting Irish, and this time he'll be taking a more straightforward role with the team's safeties.

The return to South Bend came about rather quickly after just one year away from Freeman and his staff. Codlin joined the Fighting Irish program in February of 2025 as a defensive analyst, working with the defensive line. In December, Codlin was hired to coach safeties at North Texas, but that was short-lived.

Now he's back, and while there is some conflict over whether he's a safeties coach or an analyst who will work predominantly with safeties, his position is less important than his return to Notre Dame. While not being one of the 10 coaches on staff, he'll essentially do everything the safeties coach did.

Notre Dame football brings back Jevaughn Codlin to work with the safeties

Codlin will also be key to recruiting, something he made a large impact on during his short first stint with the Irish. Last time, he was a major part in Notre Dame signing the No. 4 recruiting class in the country, helping them land a pair of five-star defensive backs in cornerback Khary Adams and safety Joey O'Brien.

Codlin began his coaching career at Emporia State as an assistant coach for defensive backs. In 2023 and 2024, Codlin was on staff at West Virginia and worked with the Mountaineers' secondary.

Most important of all, Jevaughn Codlins' return is seen as a big part of Notre Dame's efforts to make sure 2027 secondary commits Ace Alston‍ and Xavier Hasan‍ stay locked in with the Fighting Irish.