Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame 2026 QB Commit Noah Grubbs Locked In After Deuce Knight Chooses Auburn

Irish 2026 quarterback pledge Noah Grubbs appears to be locked in.

Mason Plummer

George County quarterback Deuce Knight, photographed in Ridgeland, Miss., Aug. 10, 2024, is a member of the 2024 Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen.
George County quarterback Deuce Knight, photographed in Ridgeland, Miss., Aug. 10, 2024, is a member of the 2024 Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen. / Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Recruiting sure is fun, isn't it?

Wednesday night, 2025 quarterback Deuce Knight (finally) decommitted from Notre Dame and announced his commitment to Auburn. The months long saga of Knight's recruitment is seemingly over, likely much to the delight of Irish fans who were ready for it to be over.

Notre Dame's other quarterback commit, and only now, 2026 signal caller Noah Grubbs was seemingly prepared for Knight's decommitment and let Irish fans know that he is here to stay.

It wasn't overtly stated by Grubbs that this was in direct reference to Knight's decommitment and subsequent flip to Auburn, however the timing of it was too perfect. Also, Grubbs was quick to retweet my post about his 'response' to Knight, all but confirming that it was in fact his answer.

Knight's decommitment after visiting Auburn for seemingly the past 70 weekends in a row now allows Notre Dame to be *public* about its 2025 targets at quarterback to replace the southpaw.

It can be reasonably inferred that the Notre Dame staff had been in contact with other quarterbacks in the 2025 class during this time when Knight was looking around at Ole Miss and Auburn.

We should see those names emerge very soon.

All in all, this should be even more reason for Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman to double down on his stance to not allow committed players to visit other schools. You are either locked in with Notre Dame or you're not.

We have seen this Notre Dame staff get burned by Dante Moore, Keon Keeley, Peyton Bowen, Ivan Taylor and more by allowing them to visit other schools. Some will say that is how you have to 'play ball' in these scenarios, but I don't agree. Stick to your guns, Marcus.

Lastly, take a look at Auburn's record, quarterback play and head coach Hugh Freeze's recent comments about his own players, and ...

Notre Dame has its guy in Grubbs to look forward to.

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Mason Plummer
MASON PLUMMER

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