Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2026 61 2026 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Denbrock and even Coach [Marcus] Freeman have given to Noah throughout the entire recruitment. "Coach Guidugli — much like Noah — has a fire under him. Those two get along great, and that couldn't be more evident during the last couple of weeks of Noah's high school career. Noah leaned on his advice, on top of what he was getting from [Grubbs' QB trainer] Baylin Trujillo and the Lake Mary coaches." It remains to be seen how well Grubbs hits the ground running on the field this spring, but off the field, he's already thriving with his fellow 2026 classmates. "He's had bonds with those guys for the past year or more, and they're all hanging out and working together," Mr. Grubbs said. "They're going out to din- ners, and it's been awesome. He's not homesick at all. He's having a blast." He's soaking in as much information in the meantime. "Noah has always done well when put in the position to be a leader, but he can also follow when he has someone to learn from," Ephraim Grubbs explained. "CJ Carr has been fantastic with Noah; he spends time with Noah after hours and is a great, classy person." Grubbs got a surprise late last year when he got word that Notre Dame's class of 2027 quarterback commit, Teddy Jarrard, was reclassifying to the 2026 class. Other schools hoped that it would get Grubbs to waver, but it didn't. And it didn't bother Grubbs either. "He didn't bat an eye," the elder Grubbs said. "He said that there's al- ways going to be competition. It doesn't bother Noah at all. In fact, it's moti- vational. The last thing I'd do is worry about Noah's competitiveness. That's one of his traits, and he has the talent. "Noah is all about Notre Dame. He's not just there to play football. He's there for the whole experience. That's what attracted him to that school — it's the entire package." Jarrard enrolls at Notre Dame this summer, putting him behind the eight ball, although he shouldn't be com- pletely counted out in the battle to be Carr's backup. It's expected to be be- tween Grubbs and redshirt freshman Blake Hebert, and Grubbs may actually be the favorite to win the job. "I'd always put my money on Noah Grubbs," Donnelly said. "He's very well prepared, and I know he already talks to Gino all of the time. Gino was up to date on what we were doing and helping him. I asked Gino in the past if there was anything we could put in that would help him get more prepared for Notre Dame, and he just wanted us to keep doing what we were doing." Donnelly still added some terminol- ogy that Notre Dame uses in his offense. "He's about as prepared as you can be," Donnelly continued. "He's an early enrollee and will use the spring to get himself ready to go. He's a hard worker and knows what it takes. He's been pre- paring for this for a long time. "He's ready." ✦ NOAH GRUBBS QUARTERBACK 6-4 · 209 LAKE MARY H.S. LAKE MARY, FLA. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪✪✪ 439 29 57 ✪✪✪ — 44 66 ✪✪✪ — 30 75 ✪✪✪✪ 242 16 36 STATISTICS • During his 53-game high school career, com- pleted 756 of 1,324 attempts for 11,537 yards with 159 total touchdowns and 40 interceptions. Notched a 39-12 record as Lake Mary's starting signal-caller. • Produced the second most passing touch- downs in Florida high school football history with 143, and set Seminole County records for passing touchdowns and passing yards. • Completed 234 of 402 passes for 3,250 yards with 40 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, plus ran in 7 scores, while leading Lake Mary to a Florida 7A state championship as a senior in 2025. • Set the school record for single-season passes completed and attempted in 2025. • Led Lake Mary to a 7A state championship runner-up effort as a junior in 2024. • Set the following Lake Mary school records as a sophomore in 2023: single-game completions (31), single-game passing touchdowns (8), single- game passing yardage (528), single-season passing touchdowns (49) and single-season passing yards (3,677). • Completed 25 of 37 passes for 528 yards with 8 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in a 76-60 triumph over Orlando-area rival Dr. Phillips as a sophomore. NOTABLE • Named Rivals Florida High School Football Player of the Year in 2025. • Tabbed as a Navy Bowl All-American in 2025. • Received MaxPreps Florida Player of the Year and second-team All-America accolades in 2025. • Also was 7A first-team all-conference and Flor- ida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football, which is voted on by the coaches in 2025. • Was a National Honor Society inductee in 2025. • Lake Mary won the state title in 2025 on a last- second Hail Mary thrown by Grubbs. It was the Rams' first-ever state championship. • Was the only player on the 2025 state cham- pion Lake Mary roster who held a Power Four offer. • Named a team captain in 2024 and 2025. • Earned Seminole County Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2023 and 2024. • Selected as the Orlando Touchdown Club Player of the Year in 2023. • Was the Central Florida Player of the Year in 2023. RECRUITMENT • Committed to Notre Dame on June 1, 2024. • Enrolled at Notre Dame in January. • Picked the Irish over Miami, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida and others. • Recruited by quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli. • Visited Notre Dame 12 times, including his of- ficial visit on June 13, 2025. 2026 PROJECTION • Grubbs could edge Blake Hebert to become Notre Dame's backup quarterback. THEY SAID IT Head coach Marcus Freeman: "Noah is as tal- ented of a high school player as we've evaluated, and he's playing really, really well in his senior year. He came up here in the summer after he was com- mitted, and I was watching him throw a little bit. He did some things like coming to camp even after he was committed. "I have a strong belief Noah will get here and do some great things in his first year. We're going to continue to make sure and hope that the future of our quarterback position is built through high school recruiting." Lake Mary offensive coordinator Adam Don- nelly: "He's a very likable kid; his teammates enjoy being around him and listening to him. They see how hard he works in the offseason. "Noah does so much extra, so our other kids do extra work to match it. He's a good person and can joke with you, too. The quarterback should be one of the coolest people in the room and have a magnetic personality — and he has that." Grubbs' private quarterback trainer Baylin Trujillo: "He's the most prolific quarterback in the history of Seminole County, and it's an area that's produced NFL guys like Blake Bortles and Jeff Driskel. He's done everything in terms of stats, and he led Lake Mary to its first-ever state cham- pionship. "Arm talent is his best attribute — it's not even close. He can make any throw on the field, and it looks easy."