Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MIKE SINGER Notre Dame is often good for one out- of-the-blue surprise commitment in every recruiting cycle, and for the 2027 class, it was West Hill (Calif.) Chami- nade offensive lineman Jackson Hill. The 6-foot-61/2, 300-pounder an- nounced May 14 that he would be flipping his commitment from UCLA to Notre Dame, without ever posting on social media that he had an offer from the Irish. Hill committed to UCLA April 4, pick- ing the Bruins over Oregon State, Col- orado State, UNLV, Nevada, San Diego State and a few Ivy League schools. He added an offer from Stanford May 5, but a few days later, he privately committed to Notre Dame after a few weeks of a quiet recruiting process with the Irish staff. "The education at Notre Dame is an opportunity you can't pass up," Hill told Blue & Gold Illustrated . "The alumni network is top-notch, and the football is incredibly good. It's not that UCLA had negatives, it's just that Notre Dame had so many positives. "I fit the best at Notre Dame. During my visit, I was able to eat wings with the offensive linemen, and I felt like I was so similar to those guys." Notre Dame's recruitment of Hill kicked off just less than a month before his commitment, and in that span, he developed a strong connection with of- fensive line coach Joe Rudolph. "He's incredibly smart," Hill said. "You can see the emphasis and detail he puts into his coaching. His message is focused on doing the little things right, and they will add up. I see him as someone who has high integrity and will coach me well, while also taking care of me off the field." Hill didn't plan on making a com- mitment to UCLA just to flip the next month, but his feeling of disappoint- ment on that front is outweighed by how fired up he is to be on the Notre Dame commit list. "I committed to UCLA and I don't love that I had to flip, but I'm very ex- cited," he added. "It's Notre Dame. It's going to be a great school for me, and I'm going to gain so much from it. "I'm really humbled to be going to Notre Dame. The fans and the culture of Notre Dame — it's all connected. I'm re- ally excited about the community there. Coach [Marcus] Freeman called me last Thursday when he was in Korea and con- vinced me that this is the right choice for me. I'm fully bought into his coaching, and he'll make me a better football player and definitely a better man." Irish assistant general manager Kenny Sanders visited Chaminade April 17 and met with Hill — a three-star prospect and the nation's No. 34 offensive tackle by the Rivals Industry Ranking — for a few minutes. Sanders spoke with the school's head coach, David Machuca, for a while about Hill, too. A couple of days later, Notre Dame reached back out and asked if Hill could visit April 22. Hill jumped on the opportunity. " W i t h i n 7 2 hours of Kenny Sanders coming here, Coach Ru- dolph was calling Jackson and got in contact with me," M a c h u c a s a i d . "From there, it got going really quick." Hill loved ev- erything about his Notre Dame visit that day. "I was able to se e wh a t No t re Dame was all about," he said. "We were in team meetings then position meet- ings, followed by practice. When I walked into the practice facility, my jaw dropped. It's genuinely beautiful." Hill toured campus, met with Free- man, Rudolph, strength coach Loren Landow, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, general manager Mike Mar- tin and others. He felt one central mes- sage during the visit with his father. "They have a standard of student- athlete and I think that I fit that stan- dard," Hill said. Hill earned his offer from Notre Dame during the visit but didn't commit on the spot because he wanted to think things over, especially after making his UCLA pledge three weeks prior and with everything happening so fast. A week after his visit, Rudolph was back on the West Coast to watch Hill practice and have a home visit. "We were able to talk even more about why he thinks I'm a great fit for Notre Dame," Hill said. On May 8, Hill called the Notre Dame staff to give them his commitment. "Notre Dame is not only getting a phenomenal football player but an in- credible young man," Machuca said. ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE JACKSON HILL Fighting Irish Flip California Offensive Lineman Away from UCLA FILM ANALYSIS "Jackson [Hill] is going to go to work every day, do exactly what you ask him to do, fix what he needs to fix and make his strengths even stronger. He might be more old school; a lot of prospects will do all the camps to get rated higher and get more attention. But that's not who he is. "He's a mean player. You wouldn't know that about him. Between the whistles, he has a big smile on his face and is the nicest guy. But as soon as the ball is snapped, he turns into someone completely different." — West Hill (Calif.) Chaminade head coach David Machuca Hill, a three-star prospect who is the Rivals Industry Ranking's No. 34 offen- sive tackle nationally, was committed to UCLA before switching his allegiance to the Fighting Irish in May. He also considered Oregon State, Colorado State, UNLV, Nevada, San Diego State and several Ivy League schools. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS