Notre Dame football loses top safety commit to bitter rival

It happened. The thing that Notre Dame football fans were worried about since the commitment of JaDon Blair just after Indepedence Day happened.

That thing, unfortunately is that one of the top safeties in the 2025 class is no longer a commitment to the Fighting Irish. That’s the bad news when it comes to Ivan Taylor. There’s worse news too.

Not only did the Notre Dame football team lose one of its top commits, but it lost one of its top commits to the Michigan Wolverines. And it sure seems as though Taylor left specifically because Blair committed, even if that doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Notre Dame football suffers massive loss to Michigan

Taylor committed to the Irish back on December 1st of 2023. Landing the 4-star safety gave the Golden Domers one of the top defensive backs in the country, and he kicked off what has turned out to be an outstanding defensive class for Marcus Freeman and his crew.

While Blair’s commitment might have been the final straw, Taylor had actually started having a bit of a wandering eye since safeties coach Chris O'Leary departed for the NFL. 

It didn seem like the Irish had addressed his second thoughts and things settled down a bit. However, Taylor decided to take an official visit to Alabama. The following weekend he made an official to Notre Dame, and that was followed by a weekend visit to Michigan.

Despite the Notre Dame football team having its chance to lock him down, it looks like the Wolverines were able to drive a wedge between Taylor and Marcus Freeman and his staff. 

There is of course, a chance that the Fighting Irish could eventually change things back. There’s still a long time to signing day.