Notre Dame Safeties Are Poised For A Breakout Season In 2025

The safety room in South Bend has been an interesting conversation throughout the offseason. Notre Dame is now eight days away from kicking off their season against Miami down in Hard Rock Stadium, and they haven't announced a starter to replace the departed Xavier Watts who now plays for the Atlanta Falcons. The one sure thing on the back end of the defense is redshirt sophomore Adon Shuler who started all 16 games last season.

It's unclear as to who will start along side him, but there has been a lot of growth from this inexperienced room throughout the offseason. First year defensive coordinator Chris Ash is confident in his room and is pleased with the development of veteran Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Stroman .

"He's really improved every single day," Ash said about Stroman. "He's a smart player; he's an older player. He's been around a lot of football. He's missed a lot of time over the last year, but in the spring the mental reps were really important for him. Every day, he just keeps getting better and better and better, and you could see why Notre Dame wanted him here. He's going to be a player that's in the mix and really help us."

Even though Stroman is the veteran in the room, Ash, along with head coach Marcus Freeman are confident you'll see a handful of younger players over the course of this season.

"Listen, we’ve got four safeties," Freeman stated about the safeties last Sunday. "Adon, obviously, is a starter. I don’t know who’s gonna run out first with him. We’ve got a couple weeks to decide who’s going to go out for the first series. But, I can tell you all of them are going to play. All four of those guys."

As talented as that room is, rotating in four safeties along with Shuler will be a difficult challenge, but one that their first year defensive coordinator is up for.

"There's a lot of talent in that room, but we have to make sure they're also good communicators, they're instinctive and they can recognize things so they can react quickly and communicate loudly," Ash explained. "That's really what we're still evaluating, who those guys are. I like 'em all. I don't think there's much of a difference in any of those players.

We'll fi nd out how much we rotate and who gets what kind of reps. None of that's been decided yet. But we feel good about the group, collectively. They're competing every single day. It's probably, in my opinion, the most improved room since I got here from the start of last spring to where we are today." 

Their rotation remains uncertain, but what is certain is the exceptionally high ceiling of this group. The safety position, despite losing a two-year consensus All-American in Watts, is in a really good position ahead of the 2025 season. Stroman, Luke Talich , Tae Johnson and JaDon Blair are all in a position to contribute alongside Shuler this fall.

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter