After jumping up a year to the class of 2027, Bergen Catholic’s Jackson Vaughn made his decision on where he’ll be playing college football Tuesday evening at the Prudential Center’s Prudential Lounge. The fourth-ranked player in New Jersey announced to a 100-plus person audience and a live broadcast on CBS Sports’ College Football YouTube channel that he will be taking his talents to South Bend, Indiana, where he will join the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
You had the sense that Vaughn was going to pick Notre Dame before the event even started. With some in attendance wearing Fighting Irish apparel, and 247Sports listing their prediction as 100 percent Notre Dame, his announcement made it official.
“You can go to a lot of places that get good at football, but just what Notre Dame provides on and off the field, that is very important to me,” Vaughn said on why he picked Notre Dame over other schools. “I feel like Notre Dame does a good job setting up guys after football. And then it’s also very high-level football.”
The edge rusher has been a crucial member of the Bergen Catholic defense the past two seasons. With 14.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss in his career, he has competed at a high level for one of the top high school programs in the country.
Originally, Vaughn was top-ranked in New Jersey for the class of 2028. However, he made the massive decision to reclass and move up a year to 2027. In this scenario, where he graduates high school early, he will head to Notre Dame this upcoming January.
“So a lot of things went into that decision. Mentally, I feel like I got to a good place, and then physically, I feel like I’d get there just being at a college weight room.” Vaughn said, explaining his decision to reclass. “And then being able to talk to these different coaches and getting their opinion on it, and most of it was positive from the respective schools I wanted to go to.”
The decision between reclassifying and picking Notre Dame were in the best interest of the Plainfield native. He will move on from the prestigious program in Bergen Catholic, which has the resources and connections that send players to top college programs and sometimes the NFL. I asked Nate Vaughn, Jackson’s father, why this was the right move for his son and to give up a year at his alma mater.
“I would push back and say, why not, right? And, you know, I’ll tell you what made this decision so much easier for us is he had the backing, truly had the backing of his head coach. And, you know, his head coach is a coach, Coach Vito that, you know, very unselfish guy. And he felt like Jackson was ready to make that next step. So once we got his blessing, and he anointed Jackson to move on it, made that decision to reclass a lot easier.”
Vaughn won’t be the only athlete from the Garden State joining the Fighting Irish’s football program. St. Peter’s Prep offensive lineman Oluwasemilore Olubobola and edge rusher Aidan O’Neil of Don Bosco Prep, ranked one and three in the class of 2027, have both announced their commitments. When asked if there’s anyone he would recruit, Vaughn mentioned his friends: St. Joseph’s Montvale linebacker Tahj Gray, ranked number two in the class of 2028, and Marcus Fakatou, a highly ranked five-star lineman out of Riverside, California.
It will be hard to find a replacement as good as Jackson Vaughn, who has set the bar high at Bergen Catholic. I asked head coach Vito Campanile how losing him will effect future and his future game plans.
“No, it’s not easy. I don’t, you know, I don’t think he could replace a high school All-American. You know, we’ve been fortunate; we’ve had eight years straight where we’ve had one. You know, and those guys have been really, really, they’ve been great players for us. But at the end of the day, you know, my job is just to coach and develop kids to be the best version of himself. And if Jackson’s had to paramount of that and it’s ready to take the next step, I’m going to support him in whatever decision he’s going to make.”
While the big buzz has been moving up a grade and committing to Notre Dame, it can not be forgotten that Vaughn has one more high school season to go. It is without a doubt he will put on a show and will be critical to what is expected to be a big year for the Crusaders.
