Notre Dame football falls out of the race for star LB prospect

The Notre Dame football team has been on a heck of a roll since it officially re-engaged in recruiting in a big way on Pot of Gold Day. Having said that, even the Fighting Irish can’t win them all.

According to 247Sports Tom Loy, one player Marcus Freeman and company are no longer in the running for, is one of the most talented linebackers in the class. Loy recently reported that Notre Dame football doesn’t appear to be in the running for 4-star linebacker Christian Jones.

That could come as a bit of a surprise for some Irish fans as it seemed as though Notre Dame was in good standing not all that long ago. In fact, just over a month ago, it felt as though Freeman and his staff were poised to steal Jones from Nebraska.

Now, it looks as though the Omaha Westside star is looking at other schools and likely won’t be taking a previously planned unofficial visit to South Bend later this month.

Notre Dame football loses out on Christian Jones

While the battle is far from over, this feels like a situation where the Irish might bow out. They had most likely been hoping they could lean on Jones’ teammates already heading to South Bend in the Rezac brothers.

However, it’s looking more and more like staying close to home is pulling on Jones. 

That doesn’t mean Nebraska has won the fight entirely. It also appears that some other schools such as Oklahoma and Wisconsin are making inroads.

It’s possible that should Jones decide to go somewhere else, it won’t be Notre Dame but could instead be in the SEC, or sticking around his Big Ten roots.

The addition of the Westside star would have been a massive boost to the 2025 recruiting class. Especially since Notre Dame football isn’t exactly stockpiling linebackers. The good news is they can just look at the next man up.