Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528160
42 OCT. 26, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY KYLE KELLY The Notre Dame football program concluded its search for a quarterback in the class of 2025 on Oct. 14. Twelve days after longtime Fighting Irish pledge Deuce Knight flipped his commitment to Auburn, Notre Dame plucked Green- wich (Conn.) Brunswick School three- star recruit Blake Hebert away from Clemson's class. Hebert is On3's No. 7 prospect in Con- necticut and No. 37 quarterback nation- ally. Lucedale (Miss.) George County's Knight is the No. 2 player in Mississippi and the No. 6 signal-caller in the class. Notre Dame initially offered He- bert during an unofficial visit on June 10, 2023. However, the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder declared to head coach Dabo Swinney's program six days later. When that occurred, the Irish piv- oted to Knight and secured his verbal on Sept. 18, 2023. But after he flipped to Auburn, Hebert re-emerged as coach Marcus Freeman and Co.'s top target. After a persistent 12-day pursuit from Freeman and the Irish coaching staff, he switched to Notre Dame. "My heart was with Notre Dame the past couple weeks," Hebert told Blue & Gold Illustrated recruiting insider Mike Singer. "It felt right. "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 is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. He moved to Massa- chusetts at 14 and eventually enrolled at Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic, the same school that produced Notre Dame sophomore linebacker Preston Zinter. Hebert played with Zinter during the 2022 football season. After three years with the Raiders, he transferred to Brunswick School in Connecticut, home to Irish 2025 class commits offensive tackle Matty Augus- tine and safety Ethan Long. Augustine and Long, both three-star prospects who are the Nos. 4 and 9 se- nior recruits in Connecticut, played a part in making Hebert comfortable with the possibility of playing for the Irish. "That was definitely a factor," Hebert said. "The people here at Brunswick are so great, and a lot of them are part of the Notre Dame family as well. That was definitely a draw." Notre Dame director of athletics Pete Bevacqua graduated as valedictorian from Brunswick School. Hebert has helped guide the Bru- ins to a 5-0 start this season. Through five games, he had completed 50 of 92 passes for 900 yards with 8 touch- downs and 5 interceptions. He also has 23 rushing attempts for 234 yards and 7 scores. As a junior, Hebert suffered a broken ankle, which basically erased his en- tire 2023 season. During his sophomore year, he played in 12 games and com- pleted 111 of 185 throws for 1,748 yards with 24 touchdowns. Before committing to Clemson, he held 16 other scholarship offers. Besides Notre Dame and Clemson, he unoffi- cially visited Penn State, Rutgers and Virginia. Now that his college decision is final- ized, he will sign with Notre Dame in early December and enroll at the uni- versity in January. "I'm going to come in and work my tail off and do what's best for the team always," Hebert said. "I'm going to be the best version of myself every day." ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE BLAKE HEBERT FILM ANALYSIS "Blake Hebert is a physically developed quarterback with a good combination of arm strength and athleticism. He has some twitch to his game. He's shown the ability to push the ball downfield and has a live arm 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. We went almost a calendar year without see- ing him on the field. What we've seen of his senior season is a first look at him in a while. The arm talent is still apparent based on how he plays as a senior. He's also shown good rushing ability, running for 7 touchdowns. "He'll bring that rushing element that we've seen Notre Dame employ with Riley Leonard. He can bring that to Notre Dame in terms of quarterback-designed runs. He's averaging 10 yards per carry. "With his passing, he can make tough throws over the middle of the field. There are some things he'll need to smooth out as a passer. He has a tendency just to try to throw a fastball — adding some touch nuance and polish as a passer will help him. "There are tools to work with here. I'm ex- cited to see what he does the rest of his senior year. He didn't get going until the middle of September because that league starts later. He brings some traits to Notre Dame's quarter- back room and provides another quality arm as the Irish continue to stack quarterbacks. They wasted no time in finding a replacement for Deuce Knight." — On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power Hebert, a Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick School product who is On3's No. 37 signal-caller in the 2025 class, changed his verbal commitment from Clemson to Notre Dame Oct. 14. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER/COURTESY ON3 Notre Dame's Hunt For 2025 QB Ends With Flip Of Clemson Commit