2022 QB Commit Steve Angeli Excited For New Notre Dame Era

Just like anybody connected to the Notre Dame football program, Steve Angeli‍ had quite the week, but the 2022 Irish quarterback commit never truly panicked.

“I really just relied on the people I’m close with; my parents, Coach Vito (Campanile) and just the people who are in my inner circle,” the New Jersey native told Irish Sports Daily. “I really was just trusting that the best decision was going to be made for the head coach.

“In the end, Notre Dame's Notre Dame. The place doesn't go anywhere, so I wasn't too worried with everything going on, but it was kind of surprising just to see how everything went down.”

The news that Brian Kelly was leaving Notre Dame for LSU on Monday night was jarring, but within 48 hours, news began to spread that Marcus Freeman was being promoted to head coach with Tommy Rees remaining as offensive coordinator.

Both pieces of news had Angeli fired up.

Angeli hosted Rees and Notre Dame tight ends coach John McNulty in New Jersey on Saturday, introducing Rees to Campanile, Bergen Catholic’s head coach for the first time.

“They came in early in the morning,” said Angeli. “We spent an hour just talking with Coach Vito because that was the first time Coach Vito ever met Coach Rees. We were just talking about everything going on, the season, just kind of introducing each other and everything like that.

“After that, me, Coach McNulty, Coach Rees and my family went to a local diner and had a little late breakfast and really just had a normal talks, not much recruiting stuff. I'm so comfortable with them now, it's just kind of like a normal conversation. We can just talk about anything.”

Rees and McNulty talked about what their weeks were like and how everybody rallied around each other.

“They were saying it's been crazy,” Angeli said. “There was a lot of chaos, but they were saying how well the guys and the players stayed together and the culture. They really talked about that a lot and the staff and everybody that's staying and the way they're going to go finish the season out, it could be special.”

Because of the change at head coach, Notre Dame recruits are afforded the opportunity to take another official visit to South Bend, which Angeli and several others plan on doing this coming weekend.

Angeli spoke with Freeman about it on Thursday night.

“He was excited for me to get back on campus, spend some time with him,” Angeli said of the message from Freeman. “A lot of the commits will be there, so it'll be the first time we're all together in South Bend. So, I'm just looking forward to having a good time with my family and having a good time in my future Notre Dame family.”

At least two important members of the 2022 class won’t be there as receivers CJ Williams‍ and Amorion Walker‍ will be playing for state championships.

“They've got to go take care of business, so we'll let them do their thing,” said Angeli, who doesn’t seem as concerned about the potential of losing one or both receivers to another school.

Just as the current players and coaches rallied together last week, so did the Class of 2022.

“When everything was going down, we were a lot more active in the chat,” Angeli said. “I feel like we became closer because everybody had a good, open dialogue. We were just sharing our opinions and stuff and then when everything got settled, I think we all became closer throughout that.”

Angeli and his fellow commits are excited about the future of Notre Dame Football.

“Literally, it's a new era, the Freeman Era. This is a new chapter.”