2023 TE Hawkins Polley Looking Forward To Notre Dame's Invasion

Hawkins Polley‍ is set for this coming Sunday’s Irish Invasion and the 2023 Texas tight end will arrive a couple days early in order to get a look at Notre Dame.

“I've watched them this past year quite a bit,” the Houston native says. “They have a freshman tight end who came from Kentucky. It looked like he really thrived and did well in the offense. I feel like if he can thrive there, it's a place that I should be able to check out and see if it's a good fit for me.

“I just want to get a feel for the town atmosphere and just want to see the campus and see if I could see myself being there in two to three years.”

The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Stratford High School has early offers from Baylor, Vanderbilt and SMU.

“It was kind of just a relief to get the first couple, to get the feeling that 'Hey, I'm one of these guys who has these opportunities,’” Polley says of the early offers.

“Getting the first one out of the way just makes the rest easier because there's no more pressure.”

He hasn’t had in-depth communications with the Notre Dame staff yet, but that could change this weekend.

“I'm hoping to introduce myself at the camp and get to know them and start building a relationship with the coaching staff there,” he says.

It’ll be a busy week for Polley.

“After Notre Dame, I'm going down to Ole Miss and Alabama and A&M all in the span of about a week and a half,” he says.

“I think it's going to be a great opportunity to have the coaches see me in person for the first time. I have to make good first impressions there. Also, I think it's going to be cool just to see different parts of places I haven't been to; be able to see campuses and see what all the different atmospheres are like.”

Polley has received plenty of positive feedback from college coaches both on and off the field.

“They said they liked my ability to move for how big I am. They also like that my high school coach has told them I'm a vocal leader. It doesn't come across on film, but I'm a vocal leader. I feel not everyone that's going to college wants to be vocal or likes to be a vocal leader. That's something that every team needs. Coaches have also really liked my hands. I'm not a body-catcher. I don't try to trap the ball with my body. I catch it out in front.”