{"id":828999,"date":"2026-03-23T12:14:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T12:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/828999\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T12:14:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T12:14:32","slug":"2027-lb-joakim-gouda-likes-what-he-sees-at-notre-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/828999\/","title":{"rendered":"2027 LB Joakim Gouda Likes What He Sees At Notre Dame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joakim Gouda\u2019s<\/a> first visit to Notre Dame centered on building relationships, but it also provided him with a clearer picture of the program.<\/p>\n

The 2027 Georgia linebacker got to campus for this weekend\u2019s Junior Day, shortly after receiving his offer as the Irish look to build momentum with one of the top defenders on the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good,\u201d Gouda told Irish Sports Daily. \u201cIt was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder spent time touring the facilities, getting a look at campus and sitting down with the staff as he worked through a full visit itinerary.<\/p>\n

He was able to meet with linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary and head coach Marcus Freeman as those relationships continue to develop.<\/p>\n

A key part of the visit centered on the defensive scheme and how he would fit within it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fit in it,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I fit into any scheme, but that\u2019s something they got going is very kind of pro style. So definitely something that could help me in the future league wise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity to see the full operation up close gave him a better sense of what Notre Dame offers off the field.<\/p>\n

The South Paulding High School standout pointed to the academic structure and overall environment as part of what stood out during the visit, noting the selectivity and resources available to players.<\/p>\n

The message from Freeman reinforced that combination of football and academics.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis message is just that Notre Dame is the best opportunity you can get football-wise and academically in one school,\u201d said Gouda.<\/p>\n

The Douglasville, Ga., native also got a chance to take in the overall feel of campus, describing it as different from other schools he has visited but still appealing in its own way.<\/p>\n

As a newer target for Notre Dame, the focus moving forward will be on continuing to build relationships with the staff and learning more about how he fits within the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting to know more of the coaches, just seeing if it’s a good fit for me and getting to know the players and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gouda holds offers from Notre Dame, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Kentucky among others.<\/p>\n

He is scheduled to visit Auburn next weekend and already has official visits set with Georgia, Texas, Florida and Auburn, while continuing to consider whether to add Notre Dame to that group.<\/p>\n

With a full spring schedule ahead and multiple official visits already set, Notre Dame needs to find a way to get him back for an official.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regardless, Notre Dame clearly opened Gouda\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery, very historic,\u201d he said of his overall impressions.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Freeman is making a great effort to bring it back to how it was back in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> YETI Notre Dame Fighting Irish 20oz. Rambler Tumbler with Magslider Lid<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joakim Gouda\u2019s first visit to Notre Dame centered on building relationships, but it also provided him with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[114588,59102,35873,7,4618,17048,114589,1401],"class_list":["post-828999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-2026-junior-day","tag-59102","tag-christian-mccollum","tag-football","tag-football-recruiting","tag-irish-sports-daily","tag-joakim-gouda-football-recruiting","tag-notre-dame"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116278439873655476","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}