Above all, Xavier Watts decided to come back to Notre Dame for a fifth year of college football because he wanted to work to become a better version of himself.
Even as a unanimous All-American and Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner in 2023.
Mission accomplished and then some.
And while helping the Irish onto a postseason path that could lead this 2024 team into history, he may end up making some of his own.
On Friday, the 6-foot, 203-pound grad senior safety from Omaha, Neb., was named first-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), hours after he made the Walter Camp Foundation first team late Thursday night.
More Content
► Chat Transcript: Figuring out Notre Dame's portal plan around CFP focus
► Portal Roundup: Former Notre Dame DT Tyson Ford commits to transfer to Cal
► An early look at Notre Dame Football's 2025 Scholarship Chart in the making
► Notre Dame football depth chart projection for CFP matchup with Indiana
► WBB: Hannah Time arrives again as Hidalgo, Notre Dame WBB take down No. 2 UConn
While there seemingly is a voluminous parade of All-America team reveals this time of year, there are five that matter when it comes to earning consensus or unanimous honors. And Watts is 2-for-2 so far, after becoming the first Irish safety ever to go 5-for-5.
Up Monday is the Associated Press team, with The Sporting News and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) teams the other two the count toward the bigger picture.
If Watts does indeed glean back-to-back All-America honors, he’d be just the fifth to do so in Notre Dame’s saturated history of excellence and the first since defense end Ross Browner repeated in 1977 — nine years before Watts’ head coach, Marcus Freeman, was born.
Freeman, Watts and the rest of the Irish kick off the first-ever, 12-team version of the College Football Playoff next Friday night (8 EST, ABC/ESPN), when 7 seed ND (11-1) hosts 10 seed Indiana (11-1) in a first-round game.
It was Freeman, as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator in 2021, who concocted an emergency move of sorts to flip the underused but promising wide receiver to defense, specifically the rover/linebacker position/ to help the Irish fight a war of attrition at that position.
Later in the season, Watts moved to safety when All-American Kyle Hamilton went down with a season-ending injury — and the rest was NOT history, until Watts made it so.
“I just kind of stayed the course and just continued to believe in myself,” Watts said, “and just kind of trusted the coaches in believing that they knew what they were doing in moving me around. Just staying with the process and trying to stay as positive as possible.”
With Hamilton working with Watts to accelerate the timeline.
Just like Watts did with freshman cornerback Leonard Moore, among others, this season after projected All-American and 2025 first-round draft pick, junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison, was lost for the season to a hip injury on Oct. 12.
Moore, on Thursday, was named Freshman All-American by the College Football Network (as was offensive tackle Anthonie Knapp).
As far as Watts’ own numbers, he has 49 tackles, 9 pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, three QB hurries and a tackle for loss. His five interceptions rank third in the nation, a year after amassing seven to tie for the FBS lead individually.
From a team standpoint, he helped the Irish lead in the nation in pass-efficiency defense for the first time in school history in 2023, and that’s where ND finds itself heading into the playoff this season.
And facing the No. 1 team in pass-efficiency next Friday night.
The Irish enter the playoff ninth in total defense after finishing fifth last season. If Notre Dame finishes in the top 10 nationally in that statistical category, it would be the first time since the last two years of coaching icon Ara Parseghian’s run — 1973 and ’74.
And Watts’ evolution as a safety would be a big part of it.
“I knew I was a good player,” Watts said after winning the Nagurski last season. “I knew I could play the position and be able to dominate, but this [award] kind of just set new standards and taught me that I can reach anything that I want …
“And I still have a lot more to go.”
NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL UNANIMOUS ALL-AMERICANS
1929-30 Frank Carideo, QB, (Vernon, N.Y.)
1932 Joe Kurth, T, (Madison, Wis.)
1938 Ed Beinor, T, (Harvey, Ill.)
1946-47 John Lujack, QB, (Connellsville, Pa.)
1949 Leon Hart, E, (Turtle Creek, Pa.)
1949 Emil Sitko, FB, (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
1952-53 John Lattner, HB, (Chicago, Ill.)
1954 Ralph Guglielmi, QB, (Columbus, Ohio)
1965 Dick Arrington, OG, (Erie, Pa.)
1966 Nick Eddy, HB, (Lafayette, Calif.)
1966 Jim Lynch, LB, (Lima, Ohio)
1969 Mike McCoy, DT, (Erie, Pa.)
1971 Walt Patulski, DE, (Liverpool, N.Y.)
1972 Greg Marx, DT, (Redford, Mich.)
1975 Steve Niehaus, DT, (Cincinnati, Ohio)
1976-77 Ross Browner, DE, (Warren, Ohio)
1977 Ken MacAfee, TE, (Brockton, Mass.)
1978 Bob Golic, LB, (Willowick, Ohio)
1980 John Scully, C, (Huntington, N.Y.)
1987 Tim Brown, FL, (Dallas, Texas)
1989 Todd Lyght, CB, (Flint, Mich.)
1990 Raghib Ismail, FL, (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
1990 Michael Stonebreaker, LB, (River Ridge, La.)
1990 Chris Zorich, DT, (Chicago, Ill.)
1993 Aaron Taylor, OT, (Concord, Calif.)
2002 Shane Walton, CB, (San Diego, Calif.)
2009 Golden Tate, WR, (Hendersonville, Tenn.)
2012 Manti Te’o, LB, (Laie, Hawaii)
2017 Quenton Nelson, OG, (Holmdel, N.J.)
2020 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, (Hampton, Va.)
2023 Joe Alt, OT, (North Oaks, Minn.)
2023 Xavier Watts, S, (Omaha, Neb.)
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
