On Sunday, Notre Dame held their annual Pot of Gold offer event. The Irish staff offered over 100 of the top players in the 2026 recruiting class, including Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy safety Zech Fort.
Things have been trending in a good direction between Fort and Notre Dame. They have impressed the Florida star so far.
“My early impression of Notre Dame is how prestigious the program has been,” Fort told Irish Breakdown. “The tradition there is unmatched and they have always produced great defensive players.
“My relationship has been developing a lot with the Notre Dame coaches,” Fort continued. “Coach (Mike) Mickens and Coach (Mike) Brown have been great to get to know.”
Those relationships had been developing consistently over the last several weeks. Then Sunday happened, which just continued the momentum. Fort understands how big the event is for Fort and the other players being offered.
“I think that the Pot of Gold event is really dope,” he said. “Receiving an offer on St. Patrick’s day is special and different.”
Fort has seen a lot of interest from some of the top programs in all of college football. Offseason travels are going to be busy, including a stop in South Bend this week.
“My recruitment overall has been great,” explained Fort. “I have visits set to Ohio St on March 22nd, Notre Dame on March 23 and Alabama on March 28.”
Obviously getting Fort on campus is huge for the Irish. Impressing him on Saturday will be paramount.
Fort is already considered a potentially elite player in the 2026 recruiting class. On3, 247Sports and Rivals all have Fort ranked as a four-star recruit. Rivals is the highest on the Florida star currently, pegging him as the No. 7 overall player in the class. 247Sports also rates him as the No. 34 player in the country.
The 5-10, 185-pound safety has been pursued by several big time programs already. Some of Fort’s top offers so far include the Fighting Irish, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, USC, LSU, Florida State, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Utah, Arizona, Louisville, Arkansas, Washington State, TCU, Colorado, UCLA, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Kansas and Pittsburgh among others.
As a freshman in 2022, Fort was named a Freshman All-American after collecting 17 total tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack for the Ascenders. For the first time ever in IMG Academy history, a freshman was named a team captain.
Fort was limited to four games as a sophomore for IMG. He finished that campaign with 14 total tackles. There is an expectation that Fort takes a huge jump as a junior.
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