Notre Dame football misses out on 5-star pass rusher to an SEC program despite just hosting him for a visit 

Head coach Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame football misses out on an elite 2027 recruiting target to an SEC program.

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
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Mandarin's Knox Annis (8), center, is tackled by IMG Academy's Censere Gayloard (21), center back, along with Zyron Forstall (0), left, and Joseph Graves (75), top, during the second quarter of a high school football matchup at Mandarin High School, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. The IMG Academy Ascenders defeated the Mandarin Mustangs 57-7.

It is impressive to see the trajectory that Notre Dame football recruiting is on under head coach Marcus Freeman. After putting together a stellar 2026 recruiting class together, the 2027 group is well on its way to getting to an elite level once again.

The Fighting Irish staff did receive some bad news this week when elite 2027 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy pass rusher Zyron Forstall opted to commit to Texas A&M. Forstall chose the Aggies over Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Florida, and LSU, among many, many others. It is a tough loss for the Irish, which just hosted the star defender for an unofficial visit two weeks ago.

Forstall left South Bend with good vibes, and a strong opinion on the Notre Dame program, but it just wasn’t viewed as enough, which is why I didn’t discuss him more during my recap for that weekend. The Irish staff did about as well as they could, but things had been trending to head coach Mike Elko and the Aggies for some time now. Notre Dame did a very good job but it just wasn’t going to work out in the end.

While this is a loss, Notre Dame is still in a good spot with several talented 2027 defensive line targets, including Pennsylvania pass rusher Abraham Sesay. There is a ton of optimism that defensive line coach Charlie Partridge is going to put together a great group when all is said and done.

Zyron Forstall’s recruiting background 

Forstall is considered to be at least a four-star and a top-100 player by each of the major recruiting platforms. On the 247 Sports ranking, Forstall is currently pegged as a five-star, the No. 13 overall player, the No. 3 EDGE, and the No. 2 player from the state of Florida for the 2027 recruiting class. Forstall’s upside is very easy to see. 

If you aren’t impressed by Forstall’s recruiting rankings, you will be when you check out his offer list. Some of the top programs that have offered him include the Fighting Irish, the Aggies, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Florida, LSU, Miami, USC, Florida State, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Missouri, NC State, Georgia Tech, SMU, Boston College, Mississippi State, Baylor, and Houston, among others. 

In eight games as a junior, Forstall put together a strong season for IMG Academy. The 6-3, 225-pound pass rusher managed to collect 28 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, and five sacks. Forstall also had another four quarterback hurries and a pass breakup.

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