Former Clemson commit Blake Hebert officially becomes Notre Dame’s 2025 quarterback

On Oct. 14, Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick School’s Blake Hebert flipped his commitment from Clemson to Notre Dame out of left field. It’s a move that caught the nation by surprise. And a month and a half later, Hebert officially joined the Notre Dame football family.

Hebert was a key target for Fighting Irish at the quarterback position, but the four-star prospect committed to Clemson during the summer of 2023. But after Deuce Knight left his Notre Dame commit and flipped to Auburn, the Irish wanted to see if Hebert was open to a flip. It helped that Hebert had two teammates committed to the Fighting Irish in offensive tackle Matty Augustine and safety Ethan Long.

“It was very friendly, and there was no pressure at all,” he said of ND’s pursuit of him. “It was basically relationship building and getting close with them … “It was a pretty tough decision. The people at Clemson were great, and it was nothing against them at all. It was just about what’s right for me and my family.”

Hebert used his Notre Dame official visit Nov. 17-19, which of course was a few weeks after he pledged to the Irish. He hadn’t been to South Bend since before his junior season.

“It was awesome,” Hebert told Blue & Gold about his official visit. “All of the meetings with the coaches, seeing everyone and sitting in the quarterback room — it felt like home. It was super important for my parents to see everything as well and get a good grasp on it. It was a great visit.”

The 6-3, 215-pounder notes that he will participate in postseason practices at Notre Dame this month, just like freshman signal-caller CJ Carr did a year ago. This will get him more acclimated to college football and give him a big leg up on spring practice.

“I’m so pumped,” Hebert said. “I obviously love football, so I can’t wait to get there, throw the ball around, get the playbook down and make myself better every day.”

Hebert ranks as the No. 365 overall player and No. 27 quarterback in America according to the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking.

On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power spoke to Blue & Gold to give his thoughts on Hebert as a player and the flip for Notre Dame.

“Hebert is a physically developed quarterback with a good combination of arm strength and athleticism,” Power said. “He has some twitch to his game. He’s shown the ability to push the ball downfield and has a live arm — both in the camp setting and on Friday nights.

“He transferred to Brunswick School for his senior year after missing a good chunk — if not the vast majority — of his junior season. So, we went almost a calendar year without seeing him on the field. What we’ve seen of his senior season is a first look at him in a while. Based on how he’s playing as a senior, the arm talent is still apparent. He’s also shown very good athleticism and rushing ability, running for seven touchdowns.

“He’ll bring that rushing element that we’ve seen Notre Dame employ with Riley Leonard. He has the ability to bring that to Notre Dame in terms of quarterback-designed runs. He’s averaging 10 yards per carry; Hebert can provide that.

“With his passing, he shows the ability to make tough throws over the middle of the field. There’s surely some things he’ll need to smooth out as a passer. He has a tendency to just try to throw a fastball often — adding some touch nuance and polish as a passer will help him.

“There’s tools to work with here; I’m excited to see what he does the rest of his senior year. He really didn’t get going until the middle of September because that league starts later.

“He brings some traits to Notre Dame’s quarterback room and provides another quality arm as the Irish continues to stack quarterbacks. They wasted no time in finding a replacement for Deuce Knight.”