2023 OL Ayden Bussell Impressed With First Notre Dame Trip

Ayden Bussell‍ made the trip up to South Bend from Tennessee this past weekend to see Notre Dame and the 2023 offensive lineman enjoyed himself.

“It was really fun,” the 6-foot-6, 290-pounder said. “Obviously, this was my first time up there, but I had a really good experience being able to see the campus, meet a few of the coaches, just see what it's about, what the atmosphere is like and see a little bit of the facilities was really cool.”

While in town, the Mount Juliet High School standout was able to speak with some of the Irish staff members.

“I got to talk to the offensive line coach, Coach (Jeff) Quinn,” he said. “Then, I got to talk to the recruiting guy, Aaryn Kearney.”

Both conversations were introductory in nature for Bussell, who already has offers from schools like Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Virginia Tech among others.

Bussell loved the atmosphere in and around Notre Dame Stadium for the Irish’s game against North Carolina.

“It was really awesome,” he said. “I didn't really know what to expect, but we got to go out on the field and everything like that and watch a little bit. Then, we made it to the stands. The atmosphere was really cool. Whenever they score, everybody in the stands does the push-up thing. That was something I'd never seen before, which I thought was awesome.”

He was impressed with the Irish’s 44-34 win over the Tar Heels.

“I thought they played really well,” he said. “I thought that the offensive line played pretty good. They moved the ball really well. I remember watching the 90-something yard touchdown, where he reversed it back to the other side and ran it. That was pretty awesome. I thought the offense looked really good.”

Bussell has one other trip locked in and a few other possibilities.

“We have Auburn versus Alabama at the end of the season,” he said. “I may be going to Ohio State, maybe Duke and then also Mississippi State maybe.”

He’d welcome the opportunity to return to South Bend as well.

“The next step is, probably in the spring, coming out to a camp and actually get to work a little bit more and show them what I've got a little bit more in person so they can see all about it.”