2023 TE Cooper Flanagan "Still Set" On Notre Dame

Cooper Flanagan‍ committed to Notre Dame back in September, but the 2023 California tight end hasn’t been able to get away from the recruiting process just yet.

Calls and major scholarship offers never really stopped coming his way. Then, Irish head coach Brian Kelly departed for LSU.

Flanagan was one of several Notre Dame commits hoping Marcus Freeman would be promoted to head coach. Once Freeman was named head coach, Flanagan was also comforted by the fact that John McNulty was being retained as tight ends coach.

Then, McNulty was offered – and accepted – the offensive coordinator position at Boston College and Flanagan learned he’d have a new position coach in Gerad Parker…all while the calls and offers from schools like Alabama and LSU continued to roll in.

But through it all, Flanagan remained committed to Notre Dame and Notre Dame remained committed to the De La Salle star.

Flanagan’s initial impressions of Parker have been extremely positive.

“He's a great guy,” Flanagan said of Parker. “I like him a lot. I'm happy.

“He sounds like a great coach who talks a lot about Notre Dame. He speaks super highly of Notre Dame. He has a great background. He's an awesome guy for sure.”

Meanwhile, Freeman has taken a personal interest in Flanagan’s recruitment.

“We talk weekly,” Flanagan said of himself and the Irish head coach. “He's been really cool too. He's kept in touch a lot.”

Having Freeman show that kind of interest has certainly caught Flanagan’s attention.

“That's pretty cool,” he said. “It's such an honor. He's an awesome guy too.

“It definitely makes me feel important, like they need me. It's definitely awesome to have the head coach have my back.”

Flanagan is planning to get back to South Bend “soon,” either this spring or summer.

“I'm not really looking for anything like in particular,” he said. “I'm just happy to go out and meet all the recruits, all the commits, all the new coaches.

As for the interest from other schools, Flanagan is being respectful.

“I mean it's an honor, it's pretty cool, but at the end of the day, I'm still set on Notre Dame,” he said.

“I'm not going to say it's hard. It's an honor obviously, but I'm just happy for the opportunity.”