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Notebook: Both Ademilola twins returning for fifth season at Notre Dame

Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola (57) and defensive end Justin Ademilola (9) have announced they will return to Notre Dame for a fifth season. Junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey (7) hadn't announced his decision as of Friday morning.
Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola (57) and defensive end Justin Ademilola (9) have announced they will return to Notre Dame for a fifth season. Junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey (7) hadn't announced his decision as of Friday morning. (Jed Jacobsohn/AP)

The Ademilola twins will play one more season together at Notre Dame.

Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola announced Friday that he will be back at Notre Dame next season. Defensive end Justin Ademilola shared the same news Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Jayson, who will use the NCAA’s COVID-19 eligibility relief for a fifth season of eligibility, could have tested the NFL waters following his first season as a full-time starter.

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Jayson finished the 2021 season with 13 starts and was fifth on the team in tackles with 49. Those tackles included eight tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks. Jayson also recorded four quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Pro Football Focus credited Jayson with the team's most pressures. His 43 pressures were eight more than runner-up Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.

The 6-2, 255-pound Justin can still play one more season beyond 2022 because he redshirted as a freshman. Justin spent his senior season backing up junior Isaiah Foskey while playing in all 13 games.

In his rotational role, Justin still finished second on the team in sacks with five (behind Foskey’s 11). He tallied 35 tackles, one tackle for a loss that wasn’t a sack, four quarterback hurries, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Foskey has not yet announced whether he will return next season.

DJ Brown back too

Notre Dame senior safety DJ Brown went from being benched after the season opener at Florida State to finishing the season as a crucial part of how the Irish survived after All-America safety Kyle Hamilton’s knee injury.

He’ll have at least one more season at Notre Dame to define another role for himself. Brown announced Friday night on Instagram that he will return in 2022 for a fifth season.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Brown only started one game in 2021 but played regularly in 12 games. He finished the season with 42 tackles, three interceptions, one pass breakup and one tackle for a loss.


“Of anybody I’ve been around the last couple of years, he has the best on-field football instincts,” safeties coach Chris O’Leary said of Brown last month. “That’s what allows him to make plays. His football IQ, his ability to anticipate what’s going to happen is as good as anybody I’ve seen. That’s up there with Alohi (Gilman) and guys like that.“

"That is, to me, what shows up on game day. For him, the transition was doing it in practice and on scout team to now, when the lights are on, he does the same thing. Once he got to that level, that’s why he’s been playing so well.”

Brown will return to Notre Dame alongside fellow senior safety Houston Griffith, who made his decision public on Monday.

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