The signs have been clear for some time now, but it seems increasingly likely that long-time Notre Dame “commit” Deuce Knight will eventually decommit. Despite withstanding a strong push from Ole Miss in the spring, Auburn now appears to have all the momentum and may successfully flip Knight sooner rather than later.
On Monday, On3 reported that Knight is scheduled for an official visit to Auburn on August 31st, coinciding with a high-profile game against Alabama A&M. While Notre Dame will be in College Station for a major game against Texas A&M, Knight will spend the weekend on Auburn’s campus.
This visit doesn’t come as a shock to those who have been following Knight’s recruitment. For months, the writing has been on the wall, and it was doubtful that Notre Dame could retain Knight’s commitment, which he made over a year ago. Predictions have increasingly suggested that Knight would end up somewhere other than Notre Dame, with early speculation favoring a flip to Ole Miss, and more recently, Auburn, after the Tigers ramped up their interest following misses on other top quarterback targets for the 2025 class.
Notre Dame has likely been preparing for this situation and quietly assessing other quarterback prospects to potentially flip. If they haven’t done so already, now is certainly the time.
Several factors, mostly self-inflicted, have contributed to Notre Dame’s current predicament. Last year’s lackluster and uninspired offense failed to attract recruits, committed or otherwise. The hiring of Mike Denbrock provided some hope, but the exodus of wide receivers and Notre Dame’s failure to secure any top-tier receiver targets this summer created opportunities for Ole Miss and Auburn.
Had Notre Dame’s offense performed better last season and if they had secured commitments from a couple of top-100 receivers for the 2025 class, the situation might be different. However, neither occurred, leaving the Irish still in a “prove-it” mode on offense—a challenging position given the loss of their starting left tackle and the likely scenario of starting a true freshman at a crucial offensive line position.
The emergence of true freshman CJ Carr has also likely contributed to Auburn’s surge in Knight’s recruitment. Auburn may have highlighted Carr’s impressive spring performance to plant doubts in Knight’s mind about the starting QB role at Notre Dame, which might not open up again until 2027. While this could be advantageous for Notre Dame at the top of the depth chart, in the age of the transfer portal, it’s crucial for the Irish to secure a quarterback capable of starting at the college level, rather than just filling depth chart gaps.
Notre Dame has faced similar challenges under head coach Marcus Freeman. After going all-in on Dante Moore two years ago and coming up empty, the Irish were left scrambling to find a quarterback late in the cycle, ultimately flipping long-time Pitt commit Kenny Minchey. Notre Dame can only hope for a similar outcome this time if Knight decommits.
There’s still a slim chance Notre Dame could stay in the race if their offense excels in September, but with so many new pieces, some growing pains are expected. The Irish will certainly try to remain in contention, even if Knight publicly decommits, given the time and effort they’ve invested in his recruitment over the past 18 months.
Regardless, Notre Dame needs to be actively exploring alternative options behind the scenes, reaching out to every quarterback they’ve had on their radar, in case Knight officially commits to Auburn. One approach they could take is emphasizing that Denbrock was not at Notre Dame when the Irish secured Knight’s commitment last year—that responsibility fell to former offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, whose uninspired offense last year contributed to the current situation. In fact, Notre Dame had been recruiting Knight even before Parker took over for Tommy Rees in 2023.
Whatever strategy the staff adopts, they need to be proactive now if they haven’t already, because they could face a very thin quarterback room in 2025 if Carr wins the starting job and both Minchey and Steve Angeli decide to transfer.
