Recruiting Week In Review
Written by Joe Bradshaw
Finding outstanding football players, who are high character young men and are also excellent students is the trifecta for Notre Dame coaches. There’s no question that there are numerous outstanding student who want to play college football at the highest level. However, the number who actually can is much smaller and when Notre Dame finds them, there’s no question that they pursue them with vigor. Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two young men, on in the 2021 class and the other in the Class of 2022 that check off all three boxes, outstanding football players, fine young men and excellent students. Both show great interest in the Irish. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Josh Moore, S, 6-3, 192, Marist School, Atlanta, GA makes no effort to hide the fact that he is very interested in Notre Dame. And if his high school sounds familiar it’s because that’s the same school from which the Irish signed budding superstar Kyle Hamilton. Like Hamilton, Moore plays safety but while Hamilton is already penciled in as a starter at free safety next season (if there is a next season) Moore’s future with Notre Dame lies at the Rover position.
Terry Joseph, Defensive Backs Coach, is Moore’s recruiter and when the two spoke recently Joseph had a big surprise.
“We were just talking a little bit and he let me know the situation with not letting guys visit,” Moore explained. “Then, he let me know they wanted to offer me a scholarship to Notre Dame. I’m just super excited.”
Moore clearly wanted an offer from the Irish and even thought it would eventually come but the timing took him completely by surprise. Notre Dame joined schools like Michigan State, Louisville, Nebraska, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Duke, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Penn, Princeton, Yale and numerous others in vying for his signature on Letter of Intent Day.
Of course, a big advantage that Notre Dame possesses that none of the other schools on the list do is the presence of Kyle Hamilton, his friend and former teammate.
“It’s pretty cool because he’s there,” Moore said. “Playing with him in high school and then playing with him in college would be insane to me.”
Joseph has made a good impression on Moore thus far.
“He’s authentic,” Moore said of Joseph. “He says what he means and means what he says. I look forward to building a relationship even more with him now and hopefully Coach (Clark) Lea, the defensive coordinator too.”
Moore has been communicating with the Irish for quite some time now, but the offer has encouraged him to step up his efforts in learning about the school.
“They already sent me a bunch of stuff so the next step is just learning more about it and hopefully visiting,” he shared. “Whenever we can take visits, I’ll definitely get up there. I just want to see the campus. I just want to walk through the stadium and just get a feeling like no other.”
Moore also has other visits in mind when the restrictions are lifted.
“I know Northwestern, I want to go visit there because it’s a cool place right near Chicago,” he said. “Duke, I want to go visit that place, Vanderbilt. I want to go visit all of those high academic schools because those are the schools I’m looking at.”
Moore plans to major in business.
Like Moore, Jack Nickel, TE, 6-4, 227, Milton High School, Alpharetta, GA recently earned a Notre Dame scholarship offer. His prospective position coach, John McNulty, gave him the good news.
“My head coach texted me to call Coach McNulty,” Nickel remembered. “We spoke on the phone for about fifteen minutes. He let me know he really liked my film and then he told me he wanted to FaceTime or a Zoom later in the night.”
Nickel hopped on a Zoom later that evening and at the conclusion of the thirty minute conversation, McNulty extended a Notre Dame football scholarship offer to him. Notre Dame joined schools like Wisconsin, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Purdue, South Carolina and many others.
“My parents became loud, they were so excited,” he said of the offer. “My dad was so happy.”
Nickel has already visited Notre Dame, taking a quick trip last fall. He’s also aware of Notre Dame’s traditions of academics as well as their success in putting tight ends in The League.
“Notre Dame obviously has great academics,” he said. “Since 2005 every tight end who has started has gone pro, so it checks so many boxes that it’s really exciting to get an offer from the Irish.”
Nickel hopes to make it back to South Bend soon.
“When this opens up, I’m going to try to get up there in the summer,” he shared. “If not, I’ll come back for another game. I just want to really see more of the campus and build more relationships with the coaching staff.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information each week on Irish Sports Daily.