2022 ATH Dallan Hayden Happy To Hear Notre Dame Is Interested

Dallan Hayden‍ has already attracted the attention of major college football programs and earlier this month, Notre Dame reached out to the 2022 Tennessee athlete’s coach.

“From my understanding, they asked my coach which position I like the most because I’m an athlete,” said the 5-foot-11, 187-pounder from Christian Brothers High School in Memphis.

“I don’t really know what position I’m going to play, so I just look at myself as an athlete.

Hayden doesn’t really have a position of preference.

“I’m a football player and I just like being on the field, so you could put me anywhere as long as I’m on the field with no complaints,” he said. “Some are recruiting me as a running back, some are recruiting me at DB, right now, it’s mainly corner. But some colleges have said they could see me maybe moving to safety at some point.”

He was excited to hear the Irish had reached out.

“It feels good,” said Hayden. “Notre Dame is not only one of the most historic football programs, they have one of the best academic programs. A degree from Notre Dame can get you a job pretty much anywhere you want after you’re done playing.”

Hayden said if Notre Dame were to offer at some point, he would “most definitely” take it serious and hopes to get to South Bend eventually.

“They tried to get me to come to a couple games this year, but I just couldn’t make it work with my schedule,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any college camps, but during the season, I think I’m going to try to get up for a game.

“I’d like to see the facilities, the campus, get a good feel for the coaching staff and that’s probably about it.”

Hayden has several offers already from schools like Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Florida and Florida State among many others.

“It just keeps me motivated to work hard so I can achieve my dreams of playing big-time college football,” he said.

It’s still early in the process and Hayden hasn’t taken many visits yet, but does have an idea of what he’s looking for in a college.

“I’d have to say coaching staff, like is the head coach going to remain there or will he take a job or get fired?” he said. “Academics is very important. My mom is always on me about academics because your degree will take you a long way once you’re done playing football, so that’s very important.

“And then, just how I feel when I visit that place. Does it feel like home? That’s what I’m looking for when I look at schools.”