SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jordan Faison celebrated his first career touchdown reception by rubbing his fingers together to signal money.
That’s because the freshman walk-on wide receiver became officially elevated to a football scholarship by playing in Saturday’s 33-20 loss at Louisville. Because Faison signed with Notre Dame as a lacrosse player on partial scholarship, NCAA rules dictated he must become a full-ride scholarship football player after his first snap in a game.
Former walk-on turned scholarship wide receiver Matt Salerno, a graduate student, inspired the celebration.
“Matt Salerno did that before,” Faison said, “so he told me going into the game, if I score, I had to do it.”
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The 5-foot-10, 182-pound Faison looked good enough in catching two passes for 48 yards and one touchdown against Louisville that it’s easy to wonder why there was any hesitation to play him in the first place.
“With the health of our wide receiver room right now and where we’re at, we really had no choice,” said offensive coordinator Gerad Parker. “We have to get some guys that we believe can separate and run. We don’t care who or how tall they are. We have to have some guys who can separate and do this to finish this year the way we expect to on offense.”
As recently as two weeks prior to the Louisville game, Faison was working with Notre Dame’s scout team. But when Notre Dame was preparing for Duke with five of its nine scholarship wide receivers injured, the Irish started to prepare to bite the bullet and put Faison on football scholarship.
“He's been a talented individual from the moment he stepped on this campus, in fall camp,” said head coach Marcus Freeman. “And he has shown that he has a lot of ability.”
Faison verbally committed to play lacrosse at Notre Dame in October 2021. Then entering his senior season as a quarterback and defensive back at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Pine Crest, some football programs started to show interest in recruiting him. But only one school offered Faison a football scholarship: Iowa. The Hawkeyes offered him last October and hosted him for an official visit later in the month.
The following week, Faison visited Notre Dame and affirmed his commitment to play both football and lacrosse for the Irish.
“I love both sports equally,” Faison said Tuesday. “So if you could, a flax player or something. Just change the words or something.”
Rivals rated Faison as a two-star athlete following a senior season in which he rushed 143 times for 1,661 yards and nine touchdowns, threw for 280 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions on 21-of-46 passing (45.7%), and totaled 38 tackles, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, two blocked punts, one recovered fumble and one tackle for loss.
Then Faison watched Notre Dame win its first national championship in men’s lacrosse from afar.
“It was awesome,” Faison said. “That team was also very tight. Part of the reason I made a decision to come to Notre Dame was because of how tight they were. So it's just awesome watching those guys, and then I see him coming out of the weight room sometimes. It's just always a good time with those guys.”
Faison arrived at Notre Dame in June for summer workouts with the football program and start his freshman courseload. By the time preseason camp started in late July, Faison was already turning heads with his speed and agility as a receiver.
Faison claims he never gave much consideration to when he’d be given an opportunity to play in a football game for the Irish. He just wanted to put in the work.
“I definitely felt like I was doing good in the preseason and all through fall camp,” Faison said. “But it's more of a thing where it's like, I'm just humble and just keep trying to get better no matter what the situation you're facing.”
Because Faison didn’t play wide receiver in high school, he had a lot of learning to do. Wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey continues to spend extra time with Faison to discuss the intricacies of the playbook. His fellow receivers have helped with that, too.
“Matt Salerno was a big guy. He's been here a while. He knows his playbook. So picking his mind apart,” Faison said. “Also watching Chris Tyree run his routes. Being behind him has helped me a lot with like reading defenses and how to move around defenses. Those two have been a really big impact.”
Faison pointed to three areas he’s improved the most: route running, defensive recognition and hand usage.
“Coming in I was just relying on my speed, but now I realize the game is so much bigger than just running around,” Faison said. “You have to make your cut. You have to read defenses. You have to use your hands with DBs trying to get on you.”
All those things allowed Notre Dame’s coaching staff to trust Faison ahead of the Louisville game. Some of them, including Parker, hoped Louisville wouldn’t be aware of Faison before Saturday night.
“When we came out of media with [TV] production meetings, I asked [Freeman]. I’m like, ‘Free, did you say anything?’” Parker said. “Because it’s a little bit of no surprise what happened.
“Now we have to see if he can not be a flash in the pan. We’re going to need his help. He has a live set of legs. He’s competitive. He competes for the ball.”
Two plays before his 36-yard touchdown catch, Faison caught a 12-yard pass from quarterback Sam Hartman to convert a third-and-8. The moment never seemed too big for the undersized Faison.
At least he never showed it.
“I was definitely nervous going into the game, as anyone really would be,” Faison said. “But then as soon as you go into the field, it's like a feeling of you've played this game your whole life. It's just like any other game, so you get into the motion.
"Once you're running, you kind of lose all feeling. That feeling builds up and then ball’s in your hands. Next thing you know, you're just making plays.”
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