Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 MARCH 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH NICKEL BACK In the past three years, the Irish acquired a plug-and-play graduate transfer nickel back. This season, they took a different approach: Collect the best group of defensive backs pos- sible and figure it out from there. Only one player on Notre Dame's roster (Dallas Golden) has significant experience in the slot. Is he one of the team's five best defensive backs? And if not, who is? And which one of them can play nickel? The Irish will have to do some cross- training in spring practice, though it's worth not- ing that DJ McKinney enrolls in June. 2026 S P R I N G F O O T B A L L O V E R V I E W BY JACK SOBLE M ike Mickens is gone, joining the Baltimore Ravens coaching staff after six trans- formative years at Notre Dame. But he left quite the going-away present. Mickens won't be around to coach it, but he is the architect of the best defen- sive backs room in college football in 2026 — at least on paper. His successor, former Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry, is tasked with turning that into reality. The last time Henry coached defensive backs and only defensive backs, he de- veloped little-known Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon into a consensus All-American and top-five NFL Draft pick. He inherits a player capable of doing the same. LEONARD MOORE is one of the most talented college corners in recent memory, earning unanimous All-America status as a sophomore in 2025. Moore would be enough to make any secondary worth paying attention to. Some believe the gap between him and the next-best cornerback is wider than any other position. Unfortunately for opposing quarterbacks, Moore is joined by three other returning starters and as much experienced depth as Notre Dame has in any unit. The Irish brought back redshirt junior safety Adon Shuler, who Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said was playing "lights-out" football toward the end of last sea- son. Redshirt sophomore Tae Johnson joins him on the back end, and he looked like a first-round-caliber talent in his first full year playing the position. Senior cornerback Christian Gray returns as well, looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2025. When healthy in November, though, Gray was targeted 8 times and allowed 1 reception. Also back for his senior year is safety Luke Talich, who played in Notre Dame's dime and big nickel packages and seemingly made a play on the ball every time he saw the field. To add to their core, the Irish brought in a two-year starter in Colorado cornerback DJ McKinney and a budding young player in Michigan cornerback Jayden Sanders. Sanders joins Mark Zackery IV and Dallas Golden as sophomores who played 300- plus snaps in 2025 as true freshmen. Star power? Check. Experience? Check. Depth? Check. Henry won the position coach lottery. ✦ PERSONNEL UPDATE Position Coach: Aaron Henry (1st season) Returning Starters: CB Christian Gray (25 career starts), S Tae Johnson (8) CB Leonard Moore (20) and S Adon Shuler (27) Projected New Starters: NB Dallas Golden (3) Returning Reserves: S Brandon Logan, S Ethan Long, S Luke Talich and CB Mark Zackery IV Departing Players: S Taebron Bennie-Powell, S JaDon Blair, CB Karson Hobbs (1), S Ben Minich, CB DeVonta Smith (16, 5 at Notre Dame), S Jalen Stroman (13, 5 at Notre Dame), CB Cree Thomas and CB Chance Tucker Transferred In: CB DJ McKinney (22) from Colorado and CB Jayden Sanders (2) from Michigan Transferred Out: Bennie-Powell to Boise State, Blair to Missouri, Hobbs to Florida State, Minich to Miami (Ohio), Thomas to Colorado and Tucker to TBD Incoming Freshmen: CB Khary Adams, S Joey O'Brien, CB Ayden Pouncey, CB Nick Reddish and CB Chaz Smith ALL EYES ON … FRESHMAN SAFETY JOEY O'BRIEN According to Rivals, O'Brien is a five-star pros- pect and the No. 1 safety in the 2026 class. He's a unicorn, standing 6-foot-5 with elite instincts, ball skills and athleticism. On3 director of scouting Charles Power described him as "one of the best defen- sive seven-on-seven players we've ever seen." On its surface, O'Brien's path to playing time at safety looks blocked until 2027. But don't underestimate a transcendent player's ability to force the issue. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER DEFENSIVE BACKS NUMBERS TO KNOW 4 Freshman All-America defensive backs for Notre Dame since 2019: Kyle Hamilton, Ben- jamin Morrison, Leonard Moore and, in 2025, Tae Johnson. Johnson is a budding superstar, with 4 inter- ceptions, 3 passes broken up and just 103 yards allowed in coverage as a redshirt freshman. He was also a tremendous tackler, with just 2 misses in 52 attempts. 21 Interceptions for the 2025 Irish, which ranked fourth in college football. Nineteen of them were by players who are returning for 2026, led by Moore with 5, Johnson with 4 and safety Luke Talich with 3. 28 Receiving yards for Southern Cal's Makai Lemon when matched up with Leonard Moore Oct. 18. Moore shadowed Lemon, the eventual Biletnikoff winner — mostly in the slot, a position he does not usually play. It will be in- teresting to see if the Thorpe Award finalist gets more slot work in spring practice to prepare for his next marquee matchup: Miami superstar Malachi Toney.