Notre Dame All-American S Xavier Watts returning for 2024 season

Field Level Media|published: Sun 31st December, 17:52 2023

Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Xavier Watts (0) scores a touchdown in front of USC Trojans wide receiver Mario Williams (4) after a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 48-20. credits: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame unanimous All-American safety Xavier Watts has elected to return to the Fighting Irish for the 2024 season.

Watts simply said "run it back" on his various social media sites while pitching the video of his announcement. The video was filmed in a Western outdoor setting in El Paso, site of the Sun Bowl, and Watts dug up a gold bar out of the ground that said, "XAVIER WATTS returns in 2024."

Notre Dame finished its season with a 40-8 shellacking of Oregon State at the Sun Bowl in El Paso on Friday.

Watts won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation's top defensive player among a slew of honors.

Watts led the nation with seven interceptions. He added 52 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He scored a touchdown on the fumble return during a 48-20 win over Southern California on Oct. 14.

Watts was a receiver when he arrived at Notre Dame and he played in two games in 2020 and redshirted. He moved to defense during the 2021 season when the Fighting Irish were dealing with injuries in the secondary and he has been a fixture at safety the past two seasons.

—Field Level Media

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