Tae Johnson would still remember the moment the golden dome first came into view. The campus was hushed, and Notre Dame looked every bit the postcard he had seen on recruiting mailers, and for a while, the dream seemed complete. “I know if I go to Notre Dame, I won’t have to worry about anything,” Johnson recalled thinking at that time. “I know that it’s a win-win for me, regardless of football and life. Me being an Indiana guy, I get to stay close and stay home.” But that impression quickly gave away to the reality of transition. The freshman safety says he felt an almost instant disconnect once he found his seat in a packed introductory class. “It’s not a community where a lot of people like me go to. Like once you once you on campus, once you in class, like it’s a shock. Like it’s not the same,” he told on The Separation Podcast, laughing at how quickly the pristine quads and limestone arches could morph into a reminder that he was far from his Fort Wayne roots. 

The dissonance gnawed at him over those first weeks, a low-grade hum beneath the excitement of college football. Tae Johnson’s lifeline became head coach Marcus Freeman, who, in the player’s words, “understands what type of community Notre Dame is” and meets him with a paternal calm whenever the doubt flares. “My relationship with Coach Freeman is almost like father-son,” Johnson said, recalling impromptu visits to the coach’s office when homesickness threatened to overwhelm him.  

A former four-star prospect whose high-school tape screamed effortless athleticism, Johnson suddenly found himself worried less about coverages than about whether he could laugh at the same jokes as classmates or find a barbershop that knew his fade. Freeman never dismissed any of his concerns; instead, he offered perspective: “He’ll just put me in his office and talk to me about how many billionaire CEOs Notre Dame produced,” Johnson said, the memory drawing a faint smile.

Those meetings gradually reframed the campus that had felt so foreign. Freeman pushed Johnson to see opportunity in boardrooms as eagerly as in bowl games. “Education [is] probably more valued than football there,” the coach told him, a mantra Johnson repeats now as if it’s part of the playbook. He admits there were nights he wondered aloud whether Tennessee or Georgia might have been easier landing spots, places “where it’s more people like me.” But Freeman’s steady reminders about the doors a Notre Dame degree can open kept Johnson rooted in South Bend even when doubt whispered otherwise.

Still, the freshman’s adjustment was hardly linear. “There definitely were times where I was like, bro, I don’t even belong here,” he said. The next morning invariably included a drop-in with Freeman, who would assure him that tempestuous feelings were normal and temporary. “Having him in my corner… it just reminds me why I’m actually doing this,” Johnson said. Only near the end of his talk, Johnson gave voice to the deeper reason Freeman’s presence mattered so much. “Just seeing him as a black head coach it makes me understand why I do want to be there,” he confessed softly. In that instant, the puzzle pieces clicked: the culture shock, the longing for familiarity, and the comfort of Freeman’s door always being open. 

What once felt like an obstacle had become a charge to thrive where few who look like him have walked before. And with that realization, Johnson says, “I respect Coach Freeman a lot and I trust in what he’s doing and I appreciate him for sure.” Because it’s thanks to Coach Freeman that the campus no longer seems foreign to Johnson, and it feels like the start of a legacy he couldn’t wait to build.

Johnson’s moment arrives

No player turned more heads on the first day of fall camp than sophomore safety Tae Johnson, whose pair of interceptions, both off freshman quarterback CJ Carr, left reporters scrambling to tweet practice updates and coaches smiling at the sideline. Those early fireworks instantly propelled Johnson into every projected depth chart, a timely development for a Notre Dame secondary that must replace All-American ballhawk Xavier Watts when the Irish open in Miami on Labor Day weekend.

Head coach Marcus Freeman made it clear the splash plays weren’t a fluke. “Tae-Tae’s one of those guys you just love to coach… if you listen to Tae-Tae he’ll be the best wide-out and the best DB,” he joked, before pivoting to substance. “He’s learning the skill set that’s just not natural… the consistency, the trust—those things it takes to be an every-down player. He’s learning what’s expected, and it’s helping him play fast”. Tae Johnson’s raw athleticism has always been evident, but the staff now trusts him to pair instincts with assignment discipline, a prerequisite for matching up against Miami’s tempo offense.

That growth is why all eyes will be on No. 9 when Notre Dame steps into Hard Rock Stadium. Johnson’s length and closing speed give the Irish a potential eraser against the Hurricanes’ vertical passing game, and his knack for finding the ball could flip momentum in a season-opening spotlight. The two-pick debut was “old news” by the end of that first week, but it set the expectation. If Johnson can bottle that camp confidence and apply Freeman’s call for consistency, he’ll announce himself as the next star in the Irish defensive backfield.