4-star athlete Tae Johnson commits to Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Fort Wayne (Ind.) North Side four-star athlete Tae Johnson narrowed his decision down to Notre Dame, Purdue and Tennessee. The Fighting Irish ended up standing out to the 6-foot-3, 170-pound recruit for multiple reasons.

As Johnson thought about his college destination, he spoke with people from his town who played for Notre Dame. Those discussions were one part of his decision to commit to the Fighting Irish, which he officially announced on Saturday.

“I know if I go to Notre Dame, I won’t have to worry about anything,” Johnson told On3. “I know that when football comes to an end, that’s where Notre Dame is a win-win because the education is top-tier. It is one of the best schools in the country. It’s just my situation. I know that it’s a win-win for me, regardless of football and life. Me being an Indiana guy, I get to stay close and stay home.”

Since Notre Dame offered Johnson last June, he has felt like a priority to head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff. The No. 3 player in Indiana was told multiple times that he was the top player on the Fighting Irish’ safety board. Once Johnson told the coaches he wanted to play in the defensive backfield, “they were fired up.”

Johnson visited Notre Dame at the beginning of June for an official visit. That trip ended up being the only official he took.

“I see motivation from coach Freeman,” said Johnson, the No. 164 overall prospect and No. 5 athlete in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking. “Every time I would go there, he would always say, ‘What’s the next sport to win the championship at Notre Dame? It’ll be football.’ I feel like I have faith in him that he can get that done and he can get Notre Dame back to its winning ways. I feel like he’s taking the program in the right direction. This is his second or third recruiting class and it just keeps getting better and better. He’s taking Notre Dame on the right path and I feel like Notre Dame will win the national championship in the next couple of years under coach Freeman.”

Johnson is excited to play college football in his home state

A big part of Johnson’s decision was trust. He certainly felt that at Notre Dame.

Johnson developed close relationships with multiple staffers. They included Freeman, defensive back/safeties coach Chris O’Leary and Director of Recruiting Chad Bowden.

“Those are the two people I talked to the most, coach O’Leary and Chad, the recruiting director,” Johnson said. “Also, coach Freeman, he definitely made me feel like a priority for sure. He came to my school two or three times and really gave me the picture. They were recruiting me hard.”

Some schools were recruiting Johnson to play wide receiver. However, the four-star is confident in his future at safety, especially because he is playing under O’Leary.

“I feel like I built that trust with coach O’Leary, just based off him recruiting me and going to the Junior Days and the other players that he’s done it with,” Johnson said. “… The players he has coming up, they’re all similar to me. We all played receiver and defensive back in high school. Those are the type of guys that he looks for at safety.”

Johnson also feels great about his future at Notre Dame because he is staying in his home state. It is less than a two hour drive from Fort Wayne to South Bend.

“I feel like it will just mean more to me and it’ll mean more to the state of Indiana and my hometown of Fort Wayne,” Johnson said. “Doing what I’m going to do at Notre Dame, it just means more because I’m a homegrown kid and I came up in Indiana and I’m going to college in Indiana.”