Notre Dame lands four-star safety whose brother once decommited from Fighting Irish
Notre Dame
has bolstered its secondary for the 2026 college football season after it was confirmed it had landed four-star safety Ayden Pouncey.
Pouncey, from Winter Park High School,
Florida
, announced he would be committing to Notre Dame on the back of two former Fighting Irish stars,
Benjamin Morrison
and Xavier Watts, being drafted on the second day of the 2025
NFL
Draft.
The 6-foot-3 safety opted to join Notre Dame amid interest from the likes of
Alabama
,
Michigan
, LSU
Florida
, Florida State and Penn State. However, in the end, Pouncy opted to commit to the Fighting Irish,
who made the National Championship game earlier this year which they lost to Ohio State
.
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"I really thought I wasn't going to like Notre Dame," Pouncey said,
via On3
, of his first visit to South Bend. "I didn't know about the area and I didn't think it would be a good fit, but it was a lot different than I thought it would be. That is why I wanted to get back for a second visit. I really liked it, so I wanted to make sure I got another look.
"What makes them different is that, outside of football, the education is second to none. It is one of the best in the country and you can be set for life with that degree. At Notre Dame, you are not just developed on the field but off the field also."
The newly signed Notre Dame safety isn't the only Pouncey the Fighting Irish have tried to bring to South Bend in the past either. Previously, the Fighting Irish nearly landed Ayden's older brother, wide receiver Jordan Pouncey, back in 2017. While he was committed to Notre Dame, he opted to decommit following the 2026 season, which saw Notre Dame finish 4-8.
In the end, he opted to sign with
Texas
, before transferring to Florida. They also had an offer out for Ethan Pouncey, a 2020 class cornerback, who ended up choosing to sign with Florida. He ended up transferring to Georgia Southern, where he will play out his senior season.
However, the youngest of the three, Ayden, will be heading to South Bend to start his college career. And the 2026 commit admitted he is a big fan of both head coach Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens.
"I like Coach [Mike] Mickens a lot," Pouncey recently said of the pair. "We went over the fit and the specifics on how they would coach me. That was cool. Coach [Marcus] Freeman is a player's coach and I love that. He treats all of his players the same. Notre Dame has a great tradition too; it is a good school, a good place and the players all want the same thing."
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