Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Tae Johnson (16) celebrates after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Notre Dame’s Emerging Defensive Star Impresses on Day 1 of Fall Camp

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 3:16 PM ET

Notre Dame's first practice of 2025 fall camp has come and gone and one player seemed to turn more heads during it than any other.

Tae Johnson, a red-shirt freshman from Fort Wayne, turned heads during spring practice, and that only continued as fall camp opened.

In Thursday's first full fall practice, Johnson intercepted two CJ Carr passes in a short amount of time, and impressed many in doing so.

"Tae Tae (Johnson) is, man." Said Marcus Freeman following Thursday's practice, "He's one of those guys who you just love to coach. He enjoys it, he's grateful for the opportunities."

The boys are BACK ☘️#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/L09ghX98my
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) July 31, 2025

Johnson was injured at the start of 2024, keeping him from challenging for significant playing time during the year. He is certainly in the running to potentially start alongside Adon Shuler at safety, and after impressing Thursday, that talk will only grow.

"If you listen to Tae Tae, he'll be the best wideout and the best DB (defensive back)," added Freeman, "What you saw today was a reflection of how he's prepared from the spring. You go back again and you do it in the summer and you're doing it again at fall camp and so he's learning what's expected and it's helping him play fast, where he can use that athleticism that he has."

And if Johnson keeps progressing like he has in the last six months, you can count on seeing a lot of him in Notre Dame's secondary this fall.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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