Coach | 2021 RB Tavierre Dunlap A Steady Star

Tavierre Dunlap‍ is a damn good back right now and his coach believes his best days are ahead of him, which is why the 2021 Texas running back is receiving interest from some of the nation’s top programs.

“I think it’s a combination of things,” Del Valle High School head coach Charles Burton says. “First and foremost is his size. He’s a big kid. He’s about 6-1. He probably played at 200, 202 last year, but he’s about 208 pounds now. And his speed. When you watch his video, you never see him get touched from behind. The dude is extremely fast.

“The combination of both and then you bring in his vision, his hands, him expanding his game every single year…he could truly be a complete back in the future.”

Off the field, Burton says, “the kid is phenomenal, man.”

“He has a 3.6-something GPA,” the coach continues. “He’s one of the leaders in the school. He’s a leader in the classroom. He’s a leader in the locker room. He’s a kid who you wished you had an entire team of Tavierre’s.

“He comes to work every single day. He doesn’t have bad days. He doesn’t have good days. He’s not a roller coaster of emotions. When it comes to football and it’s time to put in work, he does that. That translates over to the weight room, that translates over to the film room. That translates over to everything he does with his everyday life, which is something that is beautiful to see.”

Notre Dame extended an offer to Dunlap last week, joining a group that already included schools like USC, UCLA, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Cal, Duke, Boston College and Virginia among others.

Burton says Irish recruiting coordinator Brian Polian has been by the school a few times.

“He’s familiar with Tavierre,” says Burton. “They go through their process of going through backs, what they like and don’t like. We’ve had coaches come through and say the highlight film was beautiful, almost too good to believe. 10.5 yards per carry is almost too good to believe.

“The dude’s got tremendous potential. He’s nowhere near his ceiling.”

Dunlap is grateful for every offer he’s received, but the Irish one definitely caught his attention.

“He understands he’s truly blessed to be in the position he’s in, so he’s truly appreciative of every offer he gets,” says Burton. “The Notre Dame one did pique his interest. He was excited. Tavierre is a diligent kid.

“He’s going to go in and do research on the school, research on the running backs who are there, the running backs coach. He wants to truly do all of his due diligence to make sure he’s putting himself in the best position possible to be successful on and off the field when he gets to college.”

Even with the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 crisis, Dunlap isn’t going to rush his decision.

“Tavierre does a great job of communicating to the coaches that he wants to be on campus and see it before he commits,” his coach explains. “You kind of see how the coaches feel after that. Do they take commitments from guys who haven’t been there and then forget about Tavierre or is he somebody they really want and are willing to wait and understand this kid is going through the process to try to do it the right way.

“I don’t know if he’s had that conversation yet with Notre Dame, but hopefully when he does, they’ll decide that he’s somebody they really want. He’ll definitely make time in the fall to make visits.”

Dunlap wants to be an early enrollee, so he’ll be mapping out a plan to cram in as many visits as possible before the end of the year.