How Notre Dame is building a 'Florida Dame' recruiting pipeline

On Feb. 19, new Notre Dame assistant wide receivers coach Shaun Shivers posted “#FloridaDame” on Twitter after he and the Irish staff offered a few underclassmen recruits in the Sunshine State. Shivers probably had no idea at the time that he’d be starting a Notre Dame recruiting initiative with that phrase.

Notre Dame had to overhaul its defensive staff in the offseason, and whether it was a coincidence or not, Marcus Freeman hired staffers who all hail from the Sunshine State — defensive line coach Charlie Partridge (Plantation), defensive backs coach Aaron Henry (Immokalee), linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary (Apopka) and safeties coach Jevaughn Codlin (Delray Beach).

Codlin re-joined the staff after a two-month stint at North Texas, and in mid-February, Notre Dame stole Shivers away from Florida State. And that’s to go along with other Irish staffers from Florida, such as running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider (Belle Glade), general manager Mike Martin (Tampa) and defensive analyst Tre Reader (Tampa).

With all these ties in Florida, Notre Dame made an effort to recruit hard in the state, and it starts with the head man. Freeman spent several days in the Sunshine State during the January contact period.

At the end of April, Notre Dame landed a pair of safety commitments from South Florida, coming from Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna’s John Gay III and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas’ Zayden Gamble. That’s when the Florida Dame trend picked up more momentum on social media.

“At first, it was just a saying, but it’s real,” Gamble told Blue & Gold. “It’s the start of a pipeline. They’ve got Florida guys there now, but nothing like our class now. We have four commits from South Florida alone and countless coaches from here. It’s just the start of what’s to come.”

In addition to Gamble and Gay, the Irish have Florida commitments from Vero Beach (Fla.) High quarterback Champ Monds and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy linebacker Amarri Irvin, a Miami native.

“When I went up there, that’s all Coach Shivers was saying — Florida Dame, Florida Dame,” Gay added. “They’re trying to bring more Florida guys up there, and they’ve definitely done that.”

Gamble’s best friend is four-star wide receiver Julius Jones Jr., who is also his teammate at St. Thomas Aquinas. Jones is high on Notre Dame, and if he ends up committing to the Irish, the Florida Dame initiative would reach new heights.

“Coach Shivers — that’s my dog,” Jones said. “He’s from down here, and Florida Dame — Coach Shivers started that! They’re trying to build a pipeline down here because they know the talent South Florida has. It’s the best state for football, and they’re trying to get it going.”

Blue & Gold spent three days in the greater Fort Lauderdale area and asked recruits and even a high school coach for their interpretation of the Florida Dame trend. This included elite 2028 quarterback Neimann Lawrence from Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage.

“It’s coming to get the Florida dogs — trying to get them up in Indiana,” Lawrence answered. “There’s a South Florida swagger with intensity and high-level football. They want to stack up the best guys down here — not only on the field, but off the field from some of the best schools.”

Gay’s head coach, Dameon Jones, has a longstanding relationship with Seider, who is well-known as an ace recruiter in the area, and Jones was Shivers’ high school head coach. Chaminade is perennially one of the top schools in Florida.

The Irish building a pipeline at this school could pay dividends, and Notre Dame already has several underclassmen offers out at the school.

“Whatever job Coach Seider has, he always will recruit down here,” Jones added. “We have a great relationship, and Shivers played for me here. He’s been hitting the ground running. He’s known all over Dade, Broward and West Palm from when he was a player but also coaching here. He trained guys and is well known.”

“When Coach Freeman was down here in January, he was talking about creating a pipeline from down this way.”

West Palm Beach (Fla.) Palm Beach Central four-star defensive tackle Tyler Alexander is well aware of Notre Dame’s push in Florida as well.

“You know what they call Notre Dame, right? They call it Florida Dame,” Alexander stated. “Like half the coaching staff is from Florida. They’re big on recruiting people from Florida, especially Coach Partridge. He loves getting D-linemen from Florida.”