Notre Dame puts WR Jordan Faison on football scholarship
Notre Dame freshman wide receiver Jordan Faison is on football scholarship, head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed at his weekly press conference Monday. Faison made his college football debut Saturday at Louisville, catching 2 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter.
Faison had a scholarship offer from Iowa to play football and interest from several other Power Five schools, but he chose Notre Dame to play lacrosse and walked onto the football team. NCAA rules stipulate that if a two-sport athlete gets on the field in a football game, then their scholarship is for football.
As recently as three weeks ago, Faison played with the scout team, but injuries at the position prompted the Irish to move the freshman up.
“[Faison] is a national lacrosse prospect, and he was committed to Notre Dame to play lacrosse,” Freeman said. “We wanted him [to be] part of our football program. He’s been a talented individual from the moment he stepped on campus in fall camp, and he has shown that he has a lot of ability.”
Notre Dame lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan no longer has to worry about Faison’s scholarship, Freeman said. But Faison will continue to play lacrosse in the spring.
The Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Pine Crest graduate provided an important spark to the Notre Dame offense in his college football debut Saturday, catching a 36-yard touchdown pass from graduate quarterback Sam Hartman. He also converted a third down with a 12-yard reception earlier in the series.
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Faison played 15 snaps, working exclusively out of the slot.
“He’s continuously gotten better and gaining the trust of his coaches,” Freeman said. “We knew going into this game we were gonna play him. I couldn’t tell you that he was gonna go and score a touchdown and have another big catch, but we have a lot of faith and trust that he could perform, or we wouldn’t put him in there.”
Faison is “absolutely” part of the plan at wide receiver, which now includes 10 scholarship players. Only seven of them are currently healthy, as graduate student Matt Salerno remains out with a lower-leg injury, junior Deion Colzie recovers from a knee scope and freshman KK Smith works his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.
The freshman impressed his teammates in fall camp, even earning an NFL comparison.
“He’s really electric,” senior running back converted wide receiver Chris Tyree told reporters during fall camp. “He kind of reminds me of Greg Dortch for the Arizona Cardinals. [Dortch is] from my area, so that’s why I know him really well. But their skill sets are really similar.”
Faison will look to build on his debut as the Irish take on USC at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in South Bend.
