Jackson Coleman didn’t arrive at Notre Dame with the kind of buzz that usually follows a receiver commit, but he’s making it harder by the week to keep him in the background.
The 2027 Fighting Irish pledge has opened his senior season at Highlands Ranch (Colorado) Valor Christian with two eye-catching performances, and Friday night was the loudest one yet. Against Faith Christian, Coleman caught 7 passes for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 46-9 win.
That came on the heels of another big outing to start the year. In Valor Christian’s 38-22 victory over The Kinkaid School, Coleman led the team with 7 receptions for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. Through two games, he has 14 catches for 310 yards and 4 touchdowns.
For Notre Dame fans, the early production is enough to get attention on its own. For the Irish staff, it also gives wide receivers coach Mike Brown a strong early case that his evaluation on Coleman was right on the money.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound receiver is currently ranked No. 692 overall in the 2027 class, No. 93 at wide receiver and No. 5 in Colorado in the Rivals Industry Rankings. If this pace holds, those numbers may not stay put for long.
Coleman was never a one-off flyer, either. He already had more than 20 offers when he committed, and his speed has long been one of the biggest reasons teams came calling.
As a junior in 2025, he caught 45 passes for 975 yards and 9 touchdowns across 13 games, averaging 21.7 yards per catch. As a sophomore, he added 18 receptions for 296 yards and five touchdowns. That gives him 63 catches for 1,271 yards and 14 touchdowns over those two seasons.
He’s also proven himself on the track. Coleman has run the 100 meters in 10.67 seconds and finished fifth at the Colorado Class 5A state meet as a sophomore.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Fans Should Love What Champ Monds Is Showing Early
Champ Monds is giving Notre Dame fans an early look at why the program pushed hard to land him. The four-star quarterback in the 2027 class has opened his high school season with strong performances as both a passer and a runner, stacking up touchdown throws and rushing scores while looking every bit like one of the more dynamic signal-callers in the country.
Monds also brings some added intrigue because he reclassified from the 2028 class into 2027, a move that raised his profile even further among national evaluators and in Florida. For Notre Dame, where the quarterback room already has plenty of bodies, the appeal is less about immediate need and more about adding a player who already looks like a high-end bet to keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Fans Just Got A Reminder Why This Rivalry Matters
The absence of USC from Notre Dames schedule this season was a reminder of how much the rivalry has meant for nearly a century. Played almost every year since 1926, the annual meeting has long been one of the sports most recognizable non-conference games, and its loss left a noticeable hole on both sides. USCs replacement opener against San Jose State only underscored the point, with the kind of thin crowd that can make a routine matchup feel even more ordinary.
For Notre Dame fans, the bigger takeaway is that the series is not disappearing for good. After scheduling disagreements kept the rivalry off the slate this season, the schools have since reached an agreement to bring it back in future years. Until then, the opener served as a pretty clear snapshot of what college football looks like when one of its marquee intersections is missing. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Freshman Is Making A Loaded Secondary Harder To Ignore
Notre Dames secondary already had some established pieces heading into fall camp, but Joey OBrien has made it harder to keep the freshman out of the conversation. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash said the former five-star recruit is expected to have a role in the safety rotation this season, and that comes after OBrien worked back from an injury suffered in the Blue and Gold game. Since then, he has drawn attention from coaches and reporters alike during training camp.
Brauntae Johnson and Adon Shuler still give the Irish a pair of experienced options, so OBrien is not in line to crack the starting job right away. Even so, the early signs point to meaningful snaps for the freshman once the season begins, which is a reminder of how quickly a deep secondary can turn into a crowded one when a talent like OBrien starts flashing. [Read more 🡒]