The Pac-12 came calling for Jaden Mickey, but he’s solid with Notre Dame
On Nov. 29, the Notre Dame football world was faced with unexpected news LSU hired Brian Kelly away to be its next head coach. And with that news, many Fighting Irish football recruits were left with many more questions than answers.
Corona (Calif.) Centennial class of 2022 cornerback and Notre Dame pledge Jaden Mickey was hoping to get those answers during lunch on Nov. 30 with special teams coordinator Brian Polian, but that visit was cancelled. Mickey was bummed, to say the least.
“I felt like I did everything right for so long; I committed early and was so locked in,” Mickey told BlueandGold.com. “It felt like my whole world was flipped upside down. I was just waiting and staying patient to see what happens.”
With the cloud of uncertainty about who would be Notre Dame’s new coach and what would happen with the assistants on staff, Mickey set up December official visits with Oregon and Washington. The Ducks were a finalist for Mickey before he committed to the Fighting Irish March 14, and the Huskies were a new team to start expressing interest in him. Several other schools reached out to Mickey as well.
News broke Wednesday night that Marcus Freeman would be Notre Dame’s new head coach and that the defensive back coaches were sticking around, too. By the next day, Mickey decided to cancel his visits and locked back in with the Fighting Irish.
And Notre Dame even got an assist from Polian, who seems to be moving on from Notre Dame for other opportunities.
“First, I heard from Coach Polian, and he told me how good of a program Coach Freeman is going to build,” Mickey said. “Then I heard from Coach Freeman and Coach [Mike] Mickens for the first time in a couple of days. Once I heard from them, it set my mind at ease.
“Knowing that the program is going to be run by Coach Freeman and that Coach Mickens would still be there — those are my two guys. And hearing from Coach Polian — even though we don’t know where he’s going to end up — that I should be at Notre Dame and to stop my visit was big.”
Mickey calls Freeman a “player’s coach” which is something many other recruits have echoed.
“He is someone who players want to go play for,” Mickey added. “He knows what he’s talking about and is going to run a strong program.”
Mickey will ink with the Fighting Irish on Dec. 15, the first day of the early signing period, and enroll at Notre Dame in January.
“I can’t wait to get up there and get bigger, stronger and faster with the rest of the team,” said Mickey.
Rivals ranks Mickey as a four-star prospect, the No. 37 cornerback and No. 22 player from his home state of California.
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