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Sources: Notre Dame hires Colorado staffer to recruiting office role

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•about 20 hours•

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Jourdan Blake
Notre Dame recruiting staffer Jordan Blake, then a cornerback at Baylor. ( Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

Notre Dame has hired Colorado staffer Jourdan Blake to a role in its recruiting office, Blue & Gold‘s Mike Singer reported Monday evening.

Blake was an assistant director of player personnel with the Buffaloes under head coach Deion Sanders, a role he held since 2023. According to Colorado’s website, he specialized in high school relations.

Notre Dame had been looking to fill out its recruiting staff after the departures of general manager Chad Bowden (USC), director of player personnel Zaire Turner (also USC) and director of recruiting Caleb Davis (San Diego State). Blake will join newly-promoted director of recruiting Carter Auman, director of scouting Matt Jansen, on-campus recruiting coordinator Becca Sites and high school relations analyst Deland McCullough as Notre Dame’s primary recruiting office staffers, along with the newly hired Ariella Ellis from Virginia State.

Blake will work with general manager Mike Martin, whom the Irish hired from the Detroit Lions in February. Martin admitted during his introductory press conference that his recruiting experience is limited, and he’ll need support from hires like Blake as Notre Dame builds its 2026 class.

“I’ve done some recruiting, but it’s undrafted rookie free agents or it’s recruiting guys in free agency,” Martin said. “I will lean heavily on my staff. Fortunately, I’ve walked into this awesome staff that they’re well versed in the recruiting world, and so really, I’m coming in saying, ‘Hey, where can I add value?’”

Before Colorado, Blake was the director of recruiting operations at SMU from 2022-23. That was his second stint with the Mustangs; his first came as their recruiting coordinator from 2019-21. Between his two SMU jobs, Blake worked as the recruiting coordinator at TCU in 2022.

Blake also gained NFL experience as a scouting intern with the Houston Texans in July 2024.

Blake played cornerback for Baylor from 2014-17 and SMU in 2018. He finished his career with 7 tackles (including 1 tackle for loss), and a pass breakup in 26 games played, including 2 starts. He was primarily a special teamer in college, before he transitioned to the recruiting office with the Mustangs in 2019.

The hiring of Blake is Notre Dame’s next step in an offseason of turnover in the recruiting office. It began when Bowden left for the general manager job at USC, resetting the market for that position in college football. He brought Turner with him shortly after starting his new role. Later, Davis was hired as the general manager at San Diego State.

The operation will continue under Martin and fourth-year head coach Marcus Freeman, whose latest addition comes from “Coach Prime” at Colorado. And Blake will likely not be the last hire in this cycle.

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