Notre Dame continued its three-week recruiting surge with a bright-and-early Monday morning pledge from rivals.com four-star linebacker Bodie Kahoun (Patrick Henry High School; Roanoke, Va.). Since the end of spring practices on April 22, the Irish have now pulled in seven commitments in the class of 2024.
The No. 26 outside linebacker in the class, per rivals.com, Kahoun picked Notre Dame over his homestate powers Virginia Tech and Virginia, as well as names like North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida State and Stanford. He visited South Bend for the Blue-Gold Game, the same day this recruiting surge started with the commitment of consensus three-star defensive end Cole Mullins (Mill Creek H.S.; Hoschton, Ga.). That was Kahoun’s second visit to campus this spring.
At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, he first reached college athletics’ radars in lacrosse, at one point an Ohio State commit in that sport. That background shows in Kahoun’s willingness to make contact on the football field, and his broad shoulders welcome it. His frame elicits thoughts of a more classical linebacker design.
While speed is not something that can be much coached, acceleration can be developed. Kahoun already has some quickness in his first few steps, but dialing that up a touch more will separate him from most players in the tackle box and add further emphasis to his squared-up hits.
He also has an ability to recognize the best angle available to him to track down a ball carrier, even if not a dramatic or “successful” angle. The second clip in his highlight reel features the opposing running back making a significant gain, not a typical defensive highlight clip. Strong play design, a good running back and disciplined blocking left Kahoun no angle to meet the ball near the line of scrimmage. At best, he could try to blow through a block and have a chance at the stop. Kahoun instead dodged the block to take the quickest open lane to the sideline to prevent a score. Most players, high school or college, would struggle with that diagnosis. Talk to a lacrosse coach and that footwork will be recognized. The verb choice of “dodged” a few sentences ago came from such a conversation.
The 16th commitment in Notre Dame’s class and the second linebacker — following consensus three-star Teddy Rezac (Westside; Omaha, Neb.) on Friday — Kahoun strengthens the Irish class at No. 2 in the country, behind only Michigan (with 17 commitments) though the leads over No. 3 Georgia (12) and No. 4 Ohio State (13) are at least somewhat due to sheer quantity of commitments, mostly in the last few weeks.
Had a great visit this weekend with @NDFootball at the spring game!!@Marcus_Freeman1 @Bullough40 @CoachAlGolden @NDlacrosse @NDrecruiting01 @herecometheiris pic.twitter.com/3lMZLllKAO
— Bodie Kahoun (@bodie_kahoun) April 23, 2023
When he joins the roster in 2024, Notre Dame could still have its veteran trio of linebackers leading the way, with fifth-years Marist Liufau, JD Bertrand and Jack Kiser all having eligibility through the 2024 season, but behind them, the Irish have no player older than a current sophomore. Jaylen Sneed looks most set to join the rotation, and classmate Nolan Ziegler and the trio of early-enrolled freshmen impressed this spring, but there is not an abundance of experience behind the well-established starters.
