Notre Dame QB Commit Teddy Jarrard Praises Big Ten Squad: Is He on Flip Watch?

Illinois, which traveled to Duke for a game many expected would be extremely competitive and ultimately came away with a 45-19 win, has a head coach in Bret Bielema that loves social media. Few coaches in the country are more active on X than Bielema, and that held true following his squad’s dominant win on Saturday. 

He was on X, trolling Illinois’ non-believers, and his response to a post drew a reply from Jarrard, who simply said: “Nice win coach.”

What does it mean for Notre Dame?

Naturally, one can only wonder if that makes Jarrard a flip candidate – and if the Illini would be the favorite to steal him from the Fighting Irish. But, in reality, Jarrard’s comment doesn’t mean much. 

Assuming committed players aren’t being actively recruited by other programs in today’s era of college football is simply foolish. Jarrard has likely been in contact with Illinois – which offered him in January of this year – since he pledged to Notre Dame, and even if he hasn’t, he’s almost surely had other programs reach out to him. 

At the end of the day, that’s the status quo in recruiting nowadays – there’s no getting around it. But there’s a reason Jarrard committed to Marcus Freeman and his staff in the first place: the Fighting Irish are the reigning national championship runner-ups and one of the most historical programs in all of college football. 

To top it off, no school produces NFL talent at a higher rate, and there’s no place that Jarrard – who surely has aspirations to make it to the highest level – would have more tools at his disposal to develop his game than in South Bend. 

And although the Illini may have just crept up to No. 9 in the latest AP Poll (just one spot behind Notre Dame at No. 8), there are different tiers in college football, and the Fighting Irish are at the highest one. Moral of the story: there’s no reason to believe Notre Dame is in any jeopardy of losing Jarrard.