On300 four-star CB Chaston Smith commits to Notre Dame football
Three days before the Notre Dame football program wraps up its 2025 recruiting class on National Signing Day, it has added one of the top 2026 defensive back prospects to next cycle’s commit list. On Sunday, Chattanooga (Tenn.) McCallie School four-star cornerback Chaston Smith announced his verbal commitment to the Fighting Irish.
According to the On3 Industry Ranking, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Smith is the No. 247 overall player, No. 17 cornerback nationally and No. 7 prospect in Tennessee in the high school junior class. He chose the Irish over 25 other scholarship offers from Power Four programs, including his four finalists: Clemson, Indiana, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Smith, the No. 10 2026 cornerback in the South, reported one unofficial college recruiting visit to Notre Dame, which was Nov. 9 for the Florida State game. Coming out of the trip, Smith set a Dec. 1 commitment date. Despite an eventual visit to Nebraska, the Irish impressed him enough to announce in favor of Marcus Freeman’s program Sunday.
“They made a great first impression on me,” Smith told On3 director of recruiting Chad Simmons on Nov. 12. “I wasn’t expecting it to be such a great visit.”
Smith was one of about 85 class of 2026 recruits to report his Irish scholarship offer on March 17 during the program’s annual St. Patrick’s Day-themed “Pot of Gold” Day recruiting event. Since then, Freeman and defensive backs coach Mike Mickens have led the charge in his recruitment.
“Coach Mickens does a really good job developing players,” Smith told Simmons. “Coach Marcus Freeman stays in contact with me, so I had to check out Notre Dame.”
He is the fourth to pledge to Notre Dame, joining four-star quarterback Noah Grubbs from Lake Mary (Fla.) High, three-star wide receiver Dylan Faison of Boca Raton (Fla.) Saint Andrew’s School and Matthews (N.C.) Weddington four-star linebacker Thomas Davis Jr.
All other three commits were also in South Bend for the Florida State game. Davis ended up announcing his declaration to the Irish three days later.
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Details on new Notre Dame 2026 CB commit Chaston Smith
In addition to his four finalists, Smith also reported scholarship offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee, Michigan, Oregon, Auburn, Alabama, Southern Cal, Penn State, LSU, Florida, Wisconsin and Missouri.
He took an extensive approach leading up to his commitment, reporting about 30 other recruiting visits. Kentucky hosted him four times, the most of any other program. Ole Miss was not far behind, welcoming him to campus on three occasions. He also made two trips each to Michigan, Tennessee, Indiana, Texas A&M, Purdue and Clemson.
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Oregon, Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia and Nebraska all hosted him once. The Bulldogs did not offer him a scholarship. Michigan State was the first school to offer, giving him one in the spring of his eighth-grade year.
This past season was Smith’s first at McCallie School. He only played four games before suffering a season-ending injury. In those outings, he compiled 5 solo tackles, 2 pass breakups and 1 interception.
Smith spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Knoxville (Tenn.) Bearden, about 100 miles northwest of McCallie School. Although his sophomore stats are unavailable, he had 31 tackles, 4 pass breakups and 1 interception as a freshman.
