Coach | Notre Dame "Package" Enticing For 2022 DE Alex Bauman, Family

Prior to becoming Red Bank Catholic High School head coach, Mike Lange served as the Caseys’ defensive coordinator, which means prior to coaching 2022 New Jersey defensive end Alex Bauman‍, Lange coached his brother, Kevin.

“They’re very similar in a lot of ways, very coachable,” Lange said of Kevin, who’s in his freshman year as a tight end at Notre Dame, and Alex, who was offered a scholarship by the Irish last month as a defensive end.

“(Alex is) a hard worker. He’s becoming more and more of a leader of our program and just does things the right way.”

In addition to the Irish, the younger Bauman also has offers from schools like Rutgers, UConn and UMass among others.

“The big thing is for his size – he’s probably about 6-4.5, 230 right now – he’s super athletic,” Lange said. “He’s versatile on the field. He’ll play the tight end spot, but also play the outside receiver for us.

“On defense, he’ll play weakside end, but he’ll also play middle linebacker for us. He’s very physical, similar to what Kevin was, but he’s very athletic and moves well laterally.”

Lange notes that the future college defensive end currently serves as the point guard for Red Bank Catholic’s basketball squad.

“It just shows you the athleticism,” the coach said.

As a kid in the hallways of the school, Lange said “he’s a pleasure.”

“He’s about a 4.4 GPA,” Lange added. “He’s well-received by teachers and administrators. You can’t have enough good things to say about him. He’s just respected on our team. He’s grown from that quiet sophomore into his junior year, where now he’s more of a vocal leader.”

Neither Bauman nor Lange downplayed the potential impact of Kevin already being in South Bend on Alex’s recruitment.

“I think them being back together, for their family, the whole package of it is very enticing,” said Lange. “It makes a lot of sense. Right now, I think he’s just excited to get out there.”

Obviously, we’re in the middle of a dead period that is currently set to expire next April, but with his brother already at Notre Dame, Alex is more likely to have a reason to visit.

“Just like everything else in the world, you’ve got to be open-minded and open to visiting at any point here as far as when the window opens up that you can go visit a school on your own, whatever the case may be,” Lange said of the message he’s giving his players right now.

“I just tell my guys to be super open-minded and flexible to their approach. Whether you’re a coach or player, we’re all kind of dealing with the same thing. We’ll work together on it to get through. They’re still well-versed and understand the whole process right now.”