New assistant Ja'Juan Seider shares his recruiting plan for Notre Dame football

New assistant Ja’Juan Seider shares his recruiting plan for Notre Dame football

Posted by author February 26, 2025 Football

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Ja’Juan Seider, Notre Dame’s new associate head coach and running back coach, emphasizes building relationships with recruits and their families.
Seider believes trust is crucial for recruits when deciding between schools with similar resources and opportunities.

SOUTH BEND — Ja’Juan Seider, Notre Dame football’s new associate head coach/running backs, has built a reputation as one of the sport’s leading recruiters.

Seider, 47, pulled back the curtain on Wednesday in explaining his approach to and prowess in an increasingly competitive process.

“It’s about relationship,” the former Penn State assistant said in a news conference at Notre Dame Stadium. “Establishing relationships, establishing trust with the players, but it’s not just the players. It’s the family. Those kids didn’t get there by themselves.”

Besides the parents, Seider noted, it’s important to determine who the decision makers are for any high school recruit.

“It may be the grandparent that’s raising that kid, it may be the uncle, it may be that person at the school that you don’t think about, maybe that custodian that’s really close to that guy,” Seider said. “Who’s helping this kid make decisions? It’s a transitional world we’re in right now with NIL and the revenue sharing that’s come along, but at some point, it’s got to be even.”

That’s where the deciding factor, Seider has learned, often comes down to trust.

“What’s going to separate when Notre Dame can pay this and Ohio State can pay this and Penn State can pay that?” he said. “We can all say we got the same things, but at the end of the day that kid can come to me because I built the best relationship where there’s a little bit of trust: ‘OK, I can trust this coach is going to develop me, he’s going to be there through my tough times.’ “

Seider, who recruited the current Penn State duo of Nicholas Singleton (Shillington, Pa.) and Kaytron Allen (Norfolk, Va.) during his seven-year run in State College, referenced the same sort of father-figure role held by his Irish predecessor, Deland McCullough, now with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.

“Every kid is going to go through homesickness,” Seider said. “You’re on your own for the first time. Mom’s not there making your bed or fixing your breakfast. And then it comes down to outworking people.”

More than ever, that applies to the transfer portal and the re-recruiting that must happen from season to season. Former reserve running back Devyn Ford spent the past two seasons at Notre Dame after leaving Penn State as a graduate transfer.

“If you’re going to sit around and not communicate with the kid and the parent, well, somebody else is,” Seider said. “I never change. I’m going to outwork you. I take recruiting the same way I take coaching, the same way I played. I want to be the best at it, and I hate losing, so I’m going to do everything I can to give me an opportunity to win.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.