BREAKING | 2021 CB Ryan Barnes Commits to Notre Dame

2021 Quince Orchard (Md.) cornerback Ryan Barnes‍ has been familiar with Notre Dame for quite some time and has now committed to the Fighting Irish. 

The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder had been to Notre Dame a few times as he has family in the area and will bring much-needed length to Irish secondary.

"He's probably 6-2, he's long, long arms," said Darnell Evans, who is Barnes' cornerbacks coach. "He's a long strider. He has good makeup speed, good hips for a guy his height as well. He's pretty physical, so when he gets his hands on a receiver, it's pretty much a done deal at the line of scrimmage.

"He can get out of his breaks pretty good for somebody his height…He has a good stride. He runs track. His stride eats up a lot of yards."

Barnes commitment gives Mike Mickens a second big-time pickup at corner to go along with Philip Riley‍. 

"Ever since I was young, just watching Notre Dame, I've been a Notre Dame fan," said Barnes in March. "I've been to the school and seen the campus right before the spring game when I was younger." 

As for a position, Barnes will start as a corner, but his personal cornerback coach, Kabote Sikyala, believes he could end up anywhere in the secondary.

"I think you can play him at safety, corner," Sikyala said. "Any position he's going to be at, he's going to succeed at because he can run. You can put him at free safety and he's going to be able to go sideline to sideline. You put him at corner and he can play man, he can play zone. We try to work with him at both."

Film Don’t Lie | CB Ryan Barnes