The signs have been clear for a while, but it now seems almost inevitable that Deuce Knight, a long-time Notre Dame commitment, will eventually decommit. Despite fending off Ole Miss’s advances earlier this year, Auburn appears to have gained significant momentum and might succeed in flipping Knight sooner rather than later.
On Monday, On3 reported that Knight will officially visit Auburn on August 31st for a highly anticipated game against Alabama A&M. Meanwhile, Notre Dame will be in College Station with ESPN College Gameday for their matchup against the real A&M, while Knight will be spending the weekend on Auburn’s campus.
This visit isn’t surprising given the circumstances. The signs have pointed to Notre Dame potentially losing Knight’s commitment for some time. Over the past 4-5 months, predictions have consistently suggested that Knight would end up elsewhere. Initially, there were forecasts of him flipping to Ole Miss, but more recently, Auburn has gained traction, especially after missing out on other top quarterback targets for the 2025 class.
Notre Dame has likely been preparing for this possibility and reaching out to potential replacements, but time is running short if they haven’t already started this process.
Notre Dame’s current predicament stems from multiple issues, many of which were self-inflicted. Last year’s lackluster offensive performance failed to excite recruits, committed or not. While the hiring of Mike Denbrock helped, the mass departure of wide receivers and the failure to secure top receiver targets this summer opened the door for Ole Miss and Auburn.
Had Notre Dame’s offense performed better last year and had they secured top-100 receivers for the 2025 class, the situation might be different. However, with an unproven offense and the loss of a starting left tackle—possibly leading to a true freshman starting at a crucial offensive line position—the team faces challenges. Additionally, the emergence of true freshman CJ Carr could have influenced Auburn’s pitch to Knight, suggesting that the starting QB position at Notre Dame might not be available until 2027. While this situation wouldn’t be unfavorable for Notre Dame at the top of the depth chart, the current transfer portal era means the Irish need a quarterback who can contribute immediately, not just a depth chart placeholder.
Notre Dame is familiar with this scenario under Marcus Freeman. After pursuing Dante Moore aggressively two years ago and falling short, the Irish scrambled to secure a quarterback late, eventually flipping Kenny Minchey from Pitt. They can only hope for similar luck if Knight decides to decommit this time.
There remains a slight chance that Notre Dame could remain in the hunt if the offense performs exceptionally well in September. However, given the new offensive pieces, some growing pains are expected. The Irish will certainly attempt to stay in contention, even if Knight publicly decommits, given the extensive effort they have invested in recruiting him over the past 18 months.
Regardless, Notre Dame must be proactively searching for other quarterback prospects, even if not publicly, in case Knight formally commits to Auburn. One potential strategy is to highlight that Mike Denbrock, who was not with Notre Dame when Knight committed, is now leading the offense, whereas former offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, who contributed to last year’s issues, was in charge then. Notre Dame had been recruiting Knight even before Parker took over from Tommy Rees in 2023.
Whatever approach they take, Notre Dame must act quickly to avoid ending up with a thin quarterback roster for 2025 if Carr secures the starting role and transfers occur with either Minchey or Steve Angeli, or both.
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