Story Poster
Notre Dame Football Recruiting

Seriously Interested In Notre Dame, 2023 OL Charles Jagusah To Make First Trip

October 22, 2021
4,323

The Monday after a recent game, Alleman Catholic High School head coach Fritz Dieudonné asked his team why they thought their teammate, Charles Jagusah‍, was receiving so much attention from Division-I colleges.

The 2023 Illinois offensive lineman has landed scholarship offers from schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Tennessee and Vanderbilt among others.

“They said, ‘Oh, he’s big. He’s hard-working,’” Dieudonné recalls.

The coach latched onto the hard-working comment, following up with his squad asking them how a college scout could see Jagusah’s work ethic on film. Then he showed them a play from the previous game, where Jagusah was playing nose tackle and chased down a ball-carrier running toss sweep to the wide side of the field.

“He was still the guy who took the angle, sprinting down field by linebackers, running by DBs, running by guys who he has no business running faster than in a straight-line footrace, to catch a tailback who is less than half his size,” Dieudonné says.

“That’s just effort.”

Dieudonné and his staff challenged the team to find their individual “D-I efforts.”

“We probably had our best week of practice,” he says. “That whole week, we had great competition. We had kids going hard during practice and they started asking each other, ‘Where’s your D-I effort?’”

It’s a question he never needs to ask the 6-foot-6, 310-pound Jagusah.

“That just jumps out at you when you watch him,” the coach says. “Between his effort and his ability to make adjustments on the fly, he’s a special player. He’s a very intelligent football player.”

Physically, it’s what Jagusah can do with the frame he was given.

“His ability as a massive lineman to drop his hips and regain pad level is incredible,” Dieudonné says. “You can see his flexibility, you can see the fact that he’s a wrestler. He’s blocking guys who are smaller than him. It’s easy to think ‘I’m massive and I’m just going to try to out-muscle you,’ but his ability to drop his hips and maintain pad level with guys he has several inches on just screams at you.

“He has the foot speed, quickness, flexibility and power in his hips to handle big-time college football. Physically, he’s not done growing. Charles will turn 17 in January. He’s a young junior.”

Prior to the season, Dieudonné’s first as head coach, Jagusah and his mother informed him they would do everything in their power to be sure recruiting didn’t interfere with Jagusah’s obligations to the team, which would always come first.

“They’ve kept their word and they’ve truly been dedicated to the program,” the coach says.

After receiving an offer from Notre Dame in August, Jagusah will get his first look at the school during an unofficial visit this weekend. It’s a school he’ll seriously considering, according to his coach.

“I would say the biggest thing is the push from his mom in terms of him getting a great education,” Dieudonné says. “His mom is a Northwestern alum, so his academics are important to her. His academics are important to him. He’s got extraordinary gifts as a football player, but he’s a brilliant kid. To be able to find the highest level of competition and demands on the football field and a storied program like Notre Dame that will also grow him as a person and challenge him academically, I think it’s very appealing to him and his family.”

“Historically, people can’t argue with what it means to get a Notre Dame education and what it means to wear the Notre Dame gold helmet.”

 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.