Notre Dame OT Caleb Johnson no longer with program
Every member of Notre Dame’s five-man 2021 offensive linemen class stayed on campus for two seasons. It won’t be fully intact for Year 3, though.
Junior-to-be offensive tackle Caleb Johnson is no longer with the program, Marcus Freeman said Wednesday after Notre Dame’s first spring practice. He played in one game during his two seasons with the Irish. He took a redshirt year in 2021 and primarily operated with the third-team offensive line in 2022. He will have three years of eligibility left at his next stop.
Johnson’s short- and long-term path to playing time became obscured when tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher – also part of that 2021 class – earned starting jobs as freshmen. Fisher was the opening day left tackle, but suffered a torn meniscus two quarters into his career that sidelined him for the rest of the 2021 regular season. Alt, the third starter Notre Dame tried there after Fisher went down, proved to be the best option. He kept the job, causing Fisher to move to right tackle for the Fiesta Bowl and stay there in 2022.
Alt and Fisher started every game of 2022 and will enter 2023 with a firm grasp on their spots. The former was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press and a second-teamer by several other outlets. Their presence left Johnson looking at 2024 as the best case for competing to start, barring injury.
Johnson was a notable part of that 2021 class, though. He was a four-star prospect and the No. 341 player in the 2021 On3 Industry Ranking. He was rated below Fisher and guard Rocco Spindler, but ahead of Alt and interior lineman Pat Coogan. Notre Dame pried him away from a commitment to Auburn. The Irish were recruiting him before he chose the Tigers in May 2020, but remained in contact with him and flipped him in November of that year.
The 6-foot-6, 295-pound Johnson is a product of Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic High School. He moved to Florida from Fort Wayne, Ind. before his sophomore year. His father, Aaron, was an offensive lineman at Ball State whose pro career included stops in the NFL (Kansas City Chiefs practice squad), the Arena Football League and in NFL Europe.
Notre Dame has signed five offensive linemen in three straight classes. The Irish have eight tackles without Johnson: Alt, Fisher, seniors-to-be Tosh Baker and Michael Carmody, rising sophomores Ty Chan and Aamil Wagner and incoming freshmen Sullivan Absher and Charles Jagusah.
