Reflecting on Deuce Knight’s Notre Dame commitment and a wild 2025 QB recruiting saga

On Sept. 5, I was exchanging messages with a Notre Dame source about 2025 quarterback recruiting, and they said, “Something is going to happen soon on one of the two. I just don’t know which one.”

Of course, the source was talking about the saga that was Notre Dame’s hunt to find a quarterback in the 2025 class. Quarterbacks come off the board early; five of the top-10 signal-callers per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking are already committed to a school. And Notre Dame put itself to land a quarterback pledge early in the fall and capitalized.

During the weekend that Notre Dame had Murietta (Calif.) Valley’s Bear Bachmeier on campus, the Irish got word that it’d be landing its quarterback of the 2025 cycle. It wasn’t Bachmeier like most of us on the Notre Dame beat expected leading into the weekend, but rather, it was Lucedale (Miss.) George County’s Deuce Knight.

How did this all come together? Here are reflections from a Notre Dame recruiting writer who covered it from start to finish.

— On Friday morning, I was in my hotel room in Charlotte, N.C. having covered Notre Dame class of 2024 tight end commit Jack Larsen’s high school game the night prior. I wasn’t expecting my Friday to have any drama, but it did when I got a text from Knight saying, “I’m going to be at the O State game.” To which I replied, “The ND-OSU game?”

I had to clarify because it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Bachmeier would commit to Notre Dame over the weekend, and Knight wouldn’t get a chance to even take that visit. As one source put it earlier that week, “Deuce isn’t ready [to commit]. Bear is.” I was on the phone with sources a lot Friday to try to figure out what was happening and what was going to happen. Knight certainly made things go from a foregone conclusion that Bachmeier would be the guy to indicating that he (Knight) was indeed ready to commit. Bachmeier visited, left campus without making a decision and Knight called head coach Marcus Freeman to commit.

— If just one thing will stick from this article to Irish fans reading it, I want it to be this: The Notre Dame staff played this whole situation to perfection.

As a reporter, I have to figure out what’s being put out there for just a narrative and what’s actually true. And in digging for the purpose of this article, I asked a source point blank the following: “Was it really first come, first served between Knight and Bachmeier?”

It was. To recall discussion I had with Blue & Gold’s Kyle Kelly during our recruiting live show last Thursday, Notre Dame “prioritized” both quarterbacks. But don’t mistake priority with preference. The staff would have taken Bachmeier and been very happy; you only take a quarterback this early in the cycle if he is a priority. But there was no denying that they preferred Knight.

Going back to the bolded sentence above. By offering Bachmeier in July and prioritizing him (of course, along with Knight), they not only had a second option at the position in 2025 but it also allowed for them to put pressure on Knight. And without Notre Dame recruiting Bachmeier, my guess is that Knight would probably still be uncommitted right now. It was a brilliant move by Notre Dame, and the staff executed this beautifully.

— A Notre Dame source called Knight’s verbal commitment to the Irish Monday as the “best day in the Freeman era.” It’s a major recruiting win for the Irish to beat out Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Tennessee and others for Knight, the nation’s No. 39 player and No. 3 passer per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking.

— I understand that some reporters are saying that Knight actually committed to Notre Dame Friday. I’ve received several messages about it from folks who need to know all the behind-the-scenes drama in recruiting. Could Knight have given the staff some indication Friday that he’d commit? Sure. But Knight told me that he informed Marcus Freeman of his decision to commit on Sunday. And from what I understand, Bachmeier did not attempt to commit during his visit. That’s all that matters.

— Notre Dame fans: stop mentioning Knight and Dante Moore in the same sentence with your worries that Knight won’t end up signing with the Irish. The two recruitments are not similar. Moore was a “silent” commitment at one point, but this meant absolutely nothing as he continued to take other visits and had no intentions or plan to actually announce a verbal commitment.

Knight did give Notre Dame a verbal, public commitment. He’s visiting South Bend this weekend to help recruit. He’s already active on social media. Heck, Knight is even coming on the Blue & Gold live show Wednesday night. He’s embracing being the face of Notre Dame’s 2025 class. Moore did none of this.

And Knight told me that he’s done taking other trips. Could that change? Sure. Any of this stuff could change. It’s recruiting. But until Knight gives you indication that he could flip, stop projecting that on social media and on message boards.

— Knight’s ceiling as a passer is incredibly high. His floor might be low — lower than Bachmeier’s. But Bachmeier doesn’t have the ceiling of a Knight. That’s at least the opinion I’ve formed in seeing the film of both players and consulting football minds smarter than me. But I think landing Knight after a very high-floor quarterback prospect in Saline (Mich.) High’s CJ Carr — who also has a high ceiling in his own right — is a superb pairing in back-to-back classes.

Quarterback recruiting is in a fantastic spot under Freeman, offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and position coach Gino Guidugli.

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