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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

OC: "Sky Is The Limit" For 2020 Notre Dame WR Commit Jay Brunelle

September 23, 2019
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Chris Moriarty wasn’t exactly sure what he had in his freshman receiver, but it didn’t take long before the offensive coordinator at Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury, Mass., realized he in fact had something special.

“I don’t get a ton of time with the freshmen, a little bit,” says Moriarty. “I watch their games, but he started showing up for summer workouts between freshman and sophomore year. I try to pinpoint those kids early on. He showed up and was working really hard. I thought we had something with him.”

Moriarty is speaking of Massachusetts wide receiver Jay Brunelle‍, who has transformed himself into one of the best prospects in the Northeast in the Class of 2020.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Brunelle was blessed with many physical gifts, but perhaps his greatest gift is his work ethic. It’s not rare for Brunelle to go to school, work out before practice, go to practice and then rush over to Exceed Sports Performance in Westborough, Mass., to get in another work out before going home.

“It’s a great thing,” says Moriarty. “He’s the kind of kid you want your own son to emulate. My kid is just a little guy right now, but he’s the kind of kid you want him to work with. He wasn’t an incredible athlete growing up. A lot of it is through hard work.

“I think our kids see that. When our younger guys see our best player doing that with that effort, it kind of forces them to do the same.”

The potential was obvious to Moriarty by the end of Brunelle’s freshman year and the wideout worked to maximize that potential.

“He’s turned himself into a really fast, big athlete,” Moriarty explains. “I know he works out at Exceed and they do a lot of work with him. He really loved football. He wanted to be good, he wanted to play at the highest level.”

Brunelle was one of two sophomores to play meaningful minutes on a St. John’s state championship squad back in 2017, but he continued to improve.

“I think his biggest strides were made from sophomore to junior year,” says Moriarty. “He played and he was a piece of that state championship team as a sophomore and was good. Maybe that really drove him because he showed up junior year as the kind of kid you’re seeing now, a Division-I athlete. You knew that kid could play at the highest level.”

Moriarty has coached guys like Richard Rodgers, Dan Light and Rob Brace, who all reached the NFL, so he understood what Brunelle’s potential could mean, but being from Massachusetts, he also knew it wouldn’t necessarily be easy.

“You worry about him not getting that kind of attention,” the coach says. “I knew he could be an Ivy League kid and he got those offers and wanted to go further. I didn’t know if he’d get the opportunity, but I thought if he could, he would shine in that setting and he has.”

Brunelle eventually earned offers from schools like Michigan, UCLA, Boston College, Wake Forest, Rutgers, West Virginia and Notre Dame among others and would go to commit to the Irish in June.

But even as Brunelle was attending camps looking to catch the attention of major college football staffs, he was always “working on his craft,” according to Moriarty.

“He was certainly there to showcase himself to the staffs whether it was at Michigan or Duke or Notre Dame,” the coach says. “But he was always taking something from it. He wasn’t just there to promote himself. He was listening to their coaches and trying to get better at his craft.”

Moriarty calls Brunelle’s route-running and understanding of the game “tremendous” while also noting how much bigger and faster he’s gotten over the last couple of years. Still, it’s the intangibles jump out as much as the physique.

“I think the best thing for him is that a lot of his stats come against the best teams we play,” says Moriarty. “He went against a kid from Catholic Memorial last year (Khari Johnson)…he went one-on-one against him and had a great game. And the Springfield kids (Central High School), even though they beat us twice last year, they’ve got Division-I talent in that secondary and he had great games against them.”

Brunelle had another great game this past weekend against Everett High School, catching five passes for 160-plus yards and two touchdowns against defensive backs like Tyrese Baptiste and Samy Lamothe, who have Division-I offers.

“He wants the ball when the game is on the line, he wants the ball against the best teams,” says Moriarty. “Some people pad their stats against some of the lower-level teams. He certainly doesn’t do that. He wants the ball in big spots and he wants to be in those positions.”

Moriarty knows Brunelle will have to adjust to the speed of the game from high school to college, but once he does that, “the sky is the limit.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s playing on Sundays,” he says without a hint of hyperbole. “I know it sounds crazy, but the more I watch him and the more he plays, I could see him playing professional football.

“I’ve been lucky. I’ve had three or four kids make it to the NFL. Those kids loved football and really wanted it. I think in terms of work ethic, he even has it over the guys I’ve seen make it to the next level.”

 
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