Notre Dame Football Loses Top Recruit to Michigan. What Does It Mean For The Irish?

Highly-rated safety Ivan Taylor, son of 2x Super Bowl champion, leaves for Wolverines

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore watches warm up during the spring game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 20, 2024. / © Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Reports began to surface over the weekend that Notre Dame didn't appear to be in good shape with the top-ranked recruit in its 2025 class. Days later, the fears of the Fighting Irish have been realized as Ivan Taylor officially flipped his commitment to Michigan.

For Michigan, it's perhaps its biggest win in the 2025 recruiting cycle to date while for Notre Dame, its highly regarded defensive backfield takes a significant hit.

Taylor had previously announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Dec. 1, 2023. Fears of a flip began to grow when he took a visit to Alabama in early-June. Taylor visited Notre Dame a week later but the fact he still went on to visit Michigan the week after that made it clear that he wasn't a certainty to ultimately land with Marcus Freeman and company.

BREAKING: Four-Star Safety Ivan Taylor has Flipped his Commitment from Notre Dame to Michigan, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’0 180 S from Winter Garden, FL had been Committed to the Fighting Irish since December

Is the son of former NFL CB & 2x Super Bowl Champion Ike… pic.twitter.com/Kz8VH3u6pt

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 8, 2024

What Does Notre Dame Football Do Now?

Don't get it confused, even with the loaded secondary in the 2025 recruiting class, Notre Dame takes a significant hit. Taylor was probably the most ready player in the class, regardless of position so that part certainly stings.

This probably doesn't come as that major of surprise to Freeman and company, however. Notre Dame offered a scholarship to Fort Wayne, Ind. safety Brandon Logan on June 28, a move that is hard to see them making if they thought they were in great shape to hold onto Taylor's commitment.

As much as Logan may seem like a sure-deal to end up in South Bend (he holds football offers from Indiana and Iowa currently), Notre Dame will have to talk to him out of his current commitment to play baseball at Vanderbilt in order to land him.

See Marcus Freeman Pause from Alaskan Vacation to Watch Notre Dame's Latest Commitment Announcement