Three-star WR Jerome Bettis Jr. follows Notre Dame football legacy
Another Jerome Bettis plans to play college football at Notre Dame.
Three-star wide receiver Jerome Bettis Jr., the son of former Irish running back Jerome Bettis Sr. (1990-92), announced Sunday his verbal commitment to Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class.
Bettis Jr. shared the news on St. Patrick’s Day, which also serves as the football program’s “Pot of Gold” Day in which close to 100 offers are expected to be extended to 2026 class recruits. On last year’s “Pot of Gold” Day, Bettis Jr. received his Notre Dame offer.
“It means a lot, because I know it’s a big day for Notre Dame football as a whole,” Bettis Jr. said of the timing of his announcement. “For that to be able to be a part of it, that means a lot. Obviously, that’s the day last year that I announced the offer. For it to be one year exactly, that’s pretty cool.”
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The 6-foot-2, 191-pound Bettis Jr. has been a frequent visitor on Notre Dame’s campus since receiving an offer last March. He visited five times last year and was on campus in January for junior day. He plans to return for another visit Friday.
“The biggest thing that led to my decision was the just the feeling I get when I’m at Notre Dame,” Bettis Jr. said. “Much more than any other school — obviously, people say this all the time — it just feels like such a home for me. I feel so comfortable there with everybody there. The players, the commits, the entire staff, the people at Notre Dame. I feel comfortable there, and that made my decision super easy.”
Bettis Jr. remained a priority target for the Irish through the offensive coaching staff transition this offseason. He’s been getting to know new wide receivers coach Mike Brown and is excited to see how offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock improves the Irish offense.
“Getting to know him as a person and as a man has been great,” Bettis Jr. said of Brown. “I’m sure he’s somebody who can help mold me both as a person and as an athlete. I’m excited to get to know him more and then eventually get to work with him.”
Denbrock’s history with Notre Dame matters, but Bettis knows him from his work at LSU, where he coached Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and two potential first-round NFL Draft picks at wide receiver, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., last season.
“To bring that to Notre Dame when they’re in need of a highly explosive offense and knowing he can deliver on that, that’s something that’s really exciting,” Bettis Jr. said. “I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
Head coach Marcus Freeman has been the constant in Bettis Jr.’s Notre Dame recruitment.
“I’m sure everybody’s heard this a lot, but he’s such a great coach and he’s so personable,” Bettis Jr. said. “For him to be the leader of Notre Dame football, it makes it so much more enticing almost for me to want to go there and want to play under him. Just because of how great of a person he is. Then obviously he’s an outstanding coach. I’d love to play under him.”
Bettis Jr. will have to earn a path to playing time at Notre Dame once he arrives. He’s yet to be the star in College Park (Ga.) Woodward Academy’s offense. He finished last season with 30 catches, fourth on the team, for 369 yards and four touchdowns, both third on the team. Senior Ben Grice, who signed with Wake Forest, and junior Josiah Abdullah, who’s committed to Florida, were the leading wide receivers last season.
Bettis Jr. had plenty of college suitors even if many have long believed he would end up at Notre Dame. His offer list surpassed 20 schools and included Texas A&M, Duke, Mississippi, Missouri and Georgia Tech.
Rivals hasn’t been quite as sold on Bettis Jr.’s future. He was not included in the latest ranking of the top 100 wide receivers in the 2025 class. He’s slated as the No. 67 prospect in Georgia for 2025.
"Don't let the name create a narrative on anything surrounding Jerome Bettis Jr.'s game," said Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. "He is a big, filled-out wide receiver prospect with length and some polish to his name.
"Of course, the first departure from father to son, at least physically, is the height. Having seen the two stand next to one another, Jr. towers over his Hall-of-Fame dad by several inches on a listed 6-foot-2 frame. But like his father, the wide receiver is well-proportioned in his upper and lower halves, though he does have room to continue to fill out and project as a big wide receiver with a classic boundary build.
"As far as Bettis Jr.'s game, there is some physicality present at the line of scrimmage and at the top of the route, perhaps due to some secondary positional experience. He is strong off the blocks and early in his release, of course necessary as a big red zone and back-shoulder threat, and the hands flash away from his frame on routine.
"As the technical aspects of the full route tree get added into the repertoire, Bettis Jr. looks like he can become a strong complimentary pass-catcher at the next level."
Bettis Jr. became the third wide receiver to join Notre Dame’s top-ranked 2025 class of 18 verbal commitments. Notre Dame wide receiver commits Elijah Burress and Shaun Terry are also rated as three-star recruits. Both Burress and Terry were on campus with Bettis Jr. for Notre Dame’s junior day in January.
The Irish are expected to add at least one more wide receiver to the class with the top remaining candidates consisting of four-star recruits Derek Meadows, Talyn Taylor and Tanook Hines and three-star recruit Raiden Vines-Bright.
Bettis Jr. also became the third son of a former NFL player to join Notre Dame’s class following safety Ivan Taylor, son of 12-year NFL defensive back Ike Taylor, and Burress, son of 12-year NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Both Ike Taylor and Plaxico Burress were teammates with Bettis Sr. for multiple seasons on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But it’s not just a Pittsburgh pipeline to Notre Dame. NFL legacies have repeatedly found their way to the Irish football program. Notre Dame signed two NFL legacies in the 2024 class: defensive end Bryce Young, son of Bryant Young, and safety Kennedy Urlacher, son of Brian Urlacher.
“The biggest thing is that the fathers who have made it to the league and gone through everything and know what it’s like, they understand better than anybody that football doesn’t last forever,” Bettis Jr. “So the importance of a Notre Dame degree is something that you can’t really get from anywhere else.
“A lot of fathers who were also players definitely preach that to their sons and the importance of it, because they know what to look at when going through the recruiting process, what you’re looking for in a school and how that decision will affect the rest of your life even after football. That’s something that’s a huge part of it. “
Bettis Sr., who left Notre Dame after three seasons with 1,912 rushing yards and became the No. 10 overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, returned to Notre Dame after a Pro Football Hall of Fame career to graduate from the university in 2022. Receiving a Notre Dame degree fulfilled a promise Bettis Sr. made to his mother upon leaving Notre Dame early to chase an NFL career.
Another Bettis has already enrolled at Notre Dame. Jada, Bettis Sr.’s daughter, is a freshman this school year.
“He’s super excited,” Bettis Jr. said. “When I initially told him, he was ecstatic. … For him to have both of his children there after he went there and just recently graduated, it’s a surreal feeling for him, I’m sure. He’s pinching himself with how happy he is.”
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