Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544783
32 SUMMER 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MIKE SINGER Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Ma- donna Prep safety John Gay III an- nounced his pledge to Notre Dame April 22, just four days removed from his first visit to South Bend, picking the Irish over Florida, Ole Miss, Syracuse and others. "Notre Dame felt like home," Gay told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "They treated me like I was family already." The Irish offered the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder a scholarship Feb. 18, and defensive backs coach Aaron Henry, running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider and safeties coach Jevaughn Codlin built strong relationships with him. They're all Florida natives, which was key, while one relationship in particular was most important in Gay's decision to pick Notre Dame. When Gay was a freshman, his high school track coach was current Irish assistant wide receivers coach Shaun Shivers, who was a class of 2018 pros- pect out of Chaminade-Madonna Prep. Shivers went on to play for Auburn and Indiana. Shivers was also the running backs coach at Gay's high school during his freshman year. "My relationship with those guys is very good," he noted. "We communicate almost every day. Coach Shivers has been my guy since my freshman year of high school. He's always said I'd be great one day, and look where I'm at now." Notre Dame sees Gay as a versatile piece in its secondary. "They told me that I'll play wherever I can get on the field soonest, whether that's safety or nickel," he said. "I'll have the option to play either." Gay — who is Rivals' No. 67 safety and No. 73 player from the state of Flor- ida — informed Shivers about his com- mitment two days before announcing it. "I called Coach Shivers first, and he's the reason all of this is happening to be honest with you," Gay said. "He was fired up when I called to commit." He also spoke with Codlin and Henry, followed by head coach Marcus Free- man. Henry posted a picture on social media of himself holding a fish, adding that he "Just caught my first fish on the property!" While he quite literally did catch a fish, he was hinting at Gay's commit- ment to the Irish. "He caught the fish when I was on the phone with him," Gay added. "That was crazy. He was saying how small the fish he caught was but said he was happy he caught the big fish." Half the games Gay played in as a ju- nior were blowout wins, but in 12 games last fall, he posted 32 stops, 3 tackles for loss, 1 interception returned for a score and 3 passes broken up. "On the field, I'm a smart, versatile player and I play with energy," he said. "I'm fast, physical, I do my job and do whatever it takes for the team to win. Off the field, I like hanging out with my friends. I love to go bowling. I can be a pretty good bowler on some days." His first scholarship offer came last summer from Mississippi State, but of- fer No. 2 didn't come his way until the end of January when Pittsburgh offered. In the following month, his recruitment skyrocketed, adding South Florida, Boston College, Texas A&M, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and a few others to his scholarship sheet. ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE JOHN GAY III Three-Star Florida Safety Embraces Family Atmosphere At Notre Dame Gay, Rivals' No. 67 safety nationally and No. 73 player in the Sunshine State, committed to Notre Dame over Florida, Ole Miss and Syracuse. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS FILM ANALYSIS "You see [John Gay III] move around the formation a lot on his highlight tape, whether it's nickel or as a box safety. He's versatile enough to play in different types of coverage, isn't afraid to come up and make a tackle and will blitz every once in a while. He has decent size, and you don't get a great sense of speed when watching him. "Gay is solid; there's not a lot that jumps out on the page. But he's in the right spot more often than not, and there may be more than meets the eye when you see him in person, rather than 15 plays on a highlight reel." — Blue & Gold Illustrated's Tyler James