When you are a rising young star in the coaching world, top programs easily flock to land you, even if you burn some bridges. A former Notre Dame analyst left the team three months back to join his mentor, Neal Brown’s North Texas. In an unexpected move now, he comes back to South Bend, getting a promotion and probably a pay raise.

According to CBS Sports, Matt Zenitz, North Texas’s safeties coach, Jevaughn Codlin is coming back to South Bend as safeties coach. Codlin, however, won’t be counted amongst Marcus Freeman’s 10 coaching staff. Still, getting Codlin back to South Bend is big for Notre Dame. Especially because the Kansas Wesleyan alum has led the Irish’s recruiting efforts extensively.

Brown had hired Codlin when he added several other names to his staff after becoming the Mean Green’s new head coach. The 45-year-old had added Errin Joe as GM, Matt Powledge as DC, and Patrick Johnston as Assistant AD. The head coach thereafter hired Codlin, owing to his WVU stint and the relationship he built with the young coach.

“Putting together a coaching staff is like putting together a puzzle,” Brown said about Codlin and his hires. “You have to have a really good understanding of those coaches’ strengths and weaknesses so that you can surround them with people who will be strong where maybe they aren’t as strong. We also need coaches with Texas ties and North Texas ties.”

The now Irish safeties coach played as a DB for Kansas Wesleyan from 2016 to 2019 and notched 145 tackles along with 45 PBUs. Thereupon, Codlin joined Brown’s WVU staff after spending the 2022 season at D2 Emporia State as assistant DBs coach and earning a BA in Sports and Exercise Science in 2022.  During his WVU stint, the Florida native served as assistant secondary coach after Brown promoted him from a graduate assistant in 2023.

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While the move to North Texas happened due to Jevaughn Codlin’s relationship with Brown. The switch back to Notre Dame likely has happened due to the higher optics, visibility, and career trajectory of the Power-4 job. Never mind the safeties coaches in South Bend easily earn the near 7 figures. Furthermore, Notre Dame has benefited a lot from Codlin’s coaching and recruiting prowess, and the program is hoping to do that again with him. 

The reason why Notre Dame roped Jevaughn Codlin back to South Bend

According to reports, Jevaughn Codlin helped Notre Dame seal some high-profile commits in the 2026 cycle. The former D-line coach had recruited five-star Khary Adams and Joey O’Brien in the secondary. Moreover, he also helped seal the commitments of Ayden Pouncey, Nicholas Reddish, and Chaston Smith. But he didn’t stop at that.

In the 2027 cycle, Codlin had helped Marcus Freeman’s team keep CBs Ace Alston and Xavier Hasan. His departure from South Bend raised some concerns about player decommitments. But now that Jevaughn Codlin is back, the recruits are also speaking glowingly of his return. “That’s my guy,” Hasan described Codlin.

“He knows my trainer well. When he was at West Virginia, he was recruiting me to go there, and we’ve been talking since my freshman year. I know him really well,” Xavier Hasan added. In his one year at Notre Dame, Codlin led the team to a 10-2 overall record and helped the team finish 12th nationally in scoring defense.

The Florida native was also pivotal in mentoring DL Boubacar Traore, and to help Irish finish 11th nationally in rushing defense. Traore was 22nd nationally in sacks, accumulating a total of 6.5 sacks in the 2025 season. Owing to the heroics, Codlin is a rising name in the footballing world and was named by 247 Sports in their 30 Under 30 list before the 2025 season. Notre Dame’s return seems like a plausible next step for Codlin. It will now open wider avenues for the young coach as he charts his coaching trajectory.