Child of ex-NFL CB Ike Taylor dedicates to Irish

• Blake Baumgartner, ESPN Staff WriterDec 1, 2023, 04:38 PM ET

Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame got a substantial increase to the 2025 recruiting cycle on Friday with the dedication of four-star cornerback Ivan Taylor.Taylor (No. 30 general in the 2025 ESPN 300 )– the boy of former NFL cornerback Ike Taylor– is the fifth-best cornerback in the 2025 class and right away ends up being the highest-ranked prospect in the Combating Irish’s next class.” They’re certainly different when it

boils down to talking football and just being great individuals in general,” Ivan Taylor informed ESPN on Friday about Freeman and the rest of his staff.”I feel like that was [something] definitely [that stood apart] If you take the arena out of it, cash out of it, NIL out of it, it’s the coaches, the coaches hands down are simply [various] If they actually want you, they’ll inform you. They’ll reveal you.”

He added the personal touch Freeman and his staff added to their conversations and the care and interest they take in their players’ lives off the field was a significant selling point.Taylor took four check outs to Notre Dame before dedicating, including one as just recently as the group’s Nov. 18 game against Wake Forest.If he indications

, Taylor would be the highest-ranked cornerback to come to Notre Dame because ESPN began ranking players in 2006. For the 2025 class, Notre Dame now has 5 ESPN 300 promises (2 in the top 100), with Taylor joining defensive end C.J. May (No. 261 overall) on that side of the ball.Taylor, who’s Catholic and relied heavily on prayer in making his option, also looked at Florida State, Tennessee, Louisville and Wisconsin, with Wisconsin getting heavy consideration.In nine games as a junior for West Orange(Florida )High School this previous season, the 6-foot, 175-pound Taylor tape-recorded 45 takes on(22 solo)with 6 tackles for loss and 1 interception.Upon enrolling early in January 2025, he’ll provide defensive planner Al Golden some versatility as he can play both cornerback and security.” Checking out the play before it takes place,”Taylor said of his greatest skill.” I watch a lot of movie and I’m proud on that. So I feel like I understand the play before it comes. [Geno] Thompson, my head coach right now for West Orange, he is very big on seeing film and understanding what happens before it happens. “Ike Taylor played 12 seasons in the NFL at cornerback– all with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2003-2014)after being prepared 125th general in 2003– and

belonged to two Super Bowl-winning groups( XL and XLIII )in the Steel City.”Modest and strive, I would state is what he’s taught me the very best,”Ivan Taylor said back in July.”I’m welcoming [

the Taylor name] very much. My papa has taught me what he was being taught in the NFL.”So I feel like I’m currently ahead of the game due to the fact that he’s teaching me what NFL coaches and what it’s been like and what you have to go

through and how the entire thing is.”After securing a top-10 class in 2023 (No. 7 overall), the Combating Irish currently sit 13th overall in ESPN’s most current 2024 team rankings, which were released

on Thursday.”Whatever they need me to do, I’m absolutely going to do it, hands down, “Taylor said.” Whatever I can do for the group, I’m going to do. If they need me to recruit somebody, for sure, I will.”