When Notre Dame landed a verbal commitment from 2025 quarterback recruit Deuce Knight in September of last year, it signaled more than the next big thing to drum up excitement about the future of the Irish football program.

Knight’s pledge showed an ability for Notre Dame to consistently reel in elite quarterback recruits under head coach Marcus Freeman. It illustrated Notre Dame’s fearlessness in recruiting in territories that don’t often lead to success for the program. And as recruiting analysts started to fall more in love with Knight between his junior and senior high school seasons, Notre Dame looked even better for its insistence on prioritizing Knight.

That all changed Wednesday, when Knight ditched his pledge to the Irish and flipped his commitment to Auburn. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound quarterback from Lucedale (Miss.) George County rerouted his recruitment following a July unofficial visit and four gameday visits to Auburn to start the season.

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Knight, who Rivals ranks as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback and the No. 31 overall prospect in the 2025 class, was an outspoken recruiter for Notre Dame who visited campus on 10 occasions since April of last year. He helped Notre Dame build a class that sat atop the Rivals team rankings for a long time in the 2025 cycle, but ND’s class ranking started to fade this summer.

While Notre Dame whiffed on its top remaining wide receiver targets in the 2025 class and four-star safety Ivan Taylor flipped his commitment to Michigan, several programs started to surge ahead of Notre Dame in the team rankings. The Irish dropped from No. 8 in the Rivals team rankings for the 2025 class to No. 12 following Knight's decommitment.

The Irish are left fighting to get back into the top 10. A dip in the class ranking was inevitable even with Knight still in the class. Notre Dame needed a perfect finish to even come close to the top three in February.

But how Knight’s recruitment spun away from Notre Dame was less predictable. Sure, Knight wasn’t shy about keeping lines of communication open with Alabama, Colorado, Ole Miss and Auburn. But he invested so much time into his commitment to the Irish and spoke so highly of Freeman, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and general manager Chad Bowden that his future in South Bend seemed secure prior to this summer.

Knight even joined Notre Dame quarterbacks Riley Leonard and CJ Carr at Leonard's retreat in Fairhope, Ala., in May to work out with former NFL quarterback Philip Rivers and several Notre Dame wide receivers.

And Notre Dame didn’t go down without a fight. While Knight continued to make visits to Auburn, the Irish were reminding Knight of why he committed to Notre Dame in the first place and implored him to watch how the 2024 season unfolded before make a decommitment.

That wasn’t enough to keep Knight away from whatever was pulling him to a struggling Auburn team — a closer proximity to home, a program with more recent success at the position, a chance to play in the vaunted SEC, a clearer path to the starting lineup, and an NIL package that comes with being with one of the top quarterback recruits in the country these days.

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What Knight won’t be is a bridge between Notre Dame’s highly recruited quarterbacks in the 2024 and 2026 classes. The Irish signed four-star recruit CJ Carr, who Rivals ranked as the No. 4 pro-style quarterback and No. 50 overall prospect in the 2024 class, in December, and he started impressing as an early enrolled freshman this spring.

Four-star recruit Noah Grubbs, whom Rivals ranks as the No. 8 pro-style quarterback and No. 103 overall in the 2026 class, verbally committed to Notre Dame on June 1.

Of course, Knight’s decision is a reminder that the Irish have a long way to go until they can sign Grubbs out of Lake Mary (Fla.) High. That’s why the Irish will continue to use Carr as a selling point as they try to finish out the 2025 class, particularly at the wide receiver position. Carr may be able to win the starting job as soon as next season, even though he’ll have competition ahead of him.

Notre Dame won’t stand pat at quarterback in the 2025 class. It will evaluate options with the hope of flipping a quarterback committed elsewhere or finding a late-rising senior who impressed this fall.

Finding one as good as Knight may be hard to accomplish. But finding one who’s willing to make it to the finish line with the Irish is far more important than unrealized potential.

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