Safety DJ Brown returning to Notre Dame for sixth year
Brandon Joseph’s NFL Draft declaration and Houston Griffith’s expiring eligibility created a dearth of experience in Notre Dame’s safety room. DJ Brown, though, will stay around to help fill it.
Brown is returning to the team for a sixth and final season of college football, he announced Sunday. He gained eligibility for 2023 when the NCAA awarded a COVID-19 bonus season to all 2020 FBS players. He was honored on Senior Day – an indication he was strongly considering leaving – but opted to return in the end.
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The 6-foot, 200-pound Brown started 10 of 13 games this year and had 48 tackles, which ranked fourth on the team. He added 0.5 tackles for loss and 2 pass breakups. He has 105 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 5 pass breakups and 3 interceptions in 47 career games. He has played 1,178 defensive snaps since 2020. His 503 snaps in 2022 were the most among Notre Dame safeties.
Brown will likely be the only scholarship member of Notre Dame’s 2018 recruiting class to play six years with the Irish. Wide receiver Braden Lenzy also had that opportunity, but retired from football to start a job at healthcare consulting company Medasource. Guard Jarrett Patterson accepted a Senior Bowl invitation and appears NFL Draft bound. Defensive end Justin Ademilola declared for the draft.
Two former walk-ons, receiver Matt Salerno and long snapper Michael Vinson, will be sixth-year players in 2023. Fellow 2018 class members Griffith, cornerback TaRiq Bracy, defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola and linebacker Bo Bauer were super seniors in 2022, but did not redshirt and were out of eligibility after the season.
Notre Dame has eight safeties with Brown’s return: Oklahoma State grad transfer Thomas Harper, seniors-to-be Xavier Watts and Ramon Henderson, rising junior Justin Walters and incoming freshmen Ben Minich, Brandyn Hillman and Adon Shuler.
Watts started the last four games of the year and finished with 39 tackles (2.0 for loss) and 3 pass breakups. Henderson played 319 snaps, fourth-most among Irish safeties in 2022, and made 23 tackles (2.0 for loss). Harper could play more of a nickel back role to help replace the departed TaRiq Bracy. His safety role at Oklahoma State often put him in the slot.
Brown was a three-star recruit out of Washington (D.C.) St. John’s College. He was the No. 560 player in the 2018 On3 Consensus and was originally committed to Virginia. He is from Annapolis, Md.
