Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1539887
16 OCT. 4, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA I f Jaiden Ausberry wanted to go home, he would've done it a long time ago. Home, by birth and where his fam- ily still resides, is Baton Rouge, La. Red Stick. The Bayou. Tigerland. Home of Louisiana State University. Jaiden's father, Verge, played linebacker for LSU from 1987-89. He's been em- ployed by the institution for 24 years and has been the executive deputy director of athletics since 2019. Jaiden's older brother, Austin, is on the Tigers' current roster as a defen- sive back. In the Ausberry household, everything comes up purple and gold. But for Jaiden, since he enrolled at Notre Dame ahead of the 2023 season, it's always been blue and gold. And even in the name, image and likeness and transfer portal era, he hasn't ever wavered on that. "Last year, a lot of people came after him," Verge told Blue & Gold Illustrated in relation to the transfer portal. "Big num- bers came after him. But like I told him, we're not making a decision about num- bers now. Your education is an important thing." The education. The people. The place. There's only one Notre Dame. Jaiden had scholarship offers from a plethora of other programs, from LSU to other SEC staples like Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Tennessee, amongst others. None of them had the pulling power of the Fighting Irish. So, instead of staying close to home, he chose to uproot everything he'd ever known in Louisiana and move nearly 1,000 miles away to South Bend because, when it finally came time to sign his na- tional letter of intent, he couldn't imagine spending his student-athlete experience anywhere else. "Everybody around here, the staff, coaches, the players, just the culture around here, the brotherhood that we got — I love being here," Jaiden said. "I love coming here every day, working with the guys, working with my teammates. It's just a great, positive, healthy vibe around here." 'VERY, VERY SPECIAL' It wasn't always Notre Dame and no- where else for Jaiden. Verge remembers when his son was set on committing to Ohio State. He also entertained a late recruiting push from Jim Harbaugh and Michigan, and from Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher, with whom Verge has an established rela- tionship through their careers crossing over at LSU. Dan Lanning and Oregon ON HIS OWN PATH Linebacker Jaiden Ausberry has LSU roots, but he's immersed himself in all things Notre Dame Ausberry had the fifth-most tackles of any Fighting Irish player in 2024 with 58. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER