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Florida safety John Gay III commits to Notre Dame football

Singer headshotby: Mike Singer04/22/26MikeTSinger

Notre Dame is set to go on a hot streak in the 2027 class, and the Fighting Irish got the party started on Wednesday afternoon with a new commitment.

Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna Prep safety John Gay III announced his pledge to Marcus Freeman’s program, 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. “They treated me like I was family already.”

The Irish offered the 6-2, 180-pounder a scholarship on 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 prospect 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 ranks as Rivals’ No. 67 safety and No. 73 player from the state of Florida — informed Shivers about his commitment on Monday.

“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 Freeman on Tuesday. Henry tweeted a picture 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 commitment.

“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 junior 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 pass breakups.

“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 offer No. 2 didn’t come his way until the end of January when Pittsburgh offered. In the following month, his recruitment skyrocketed, adding USF, Boston College, Texas A&M, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and a few others to his scholarship sheet.

Gay becomes Notre Dame’s ninth commitment and third defensive back in the 2027 cycle.