2024 DL Owen Wafle Focused on Spring Workouts & Leadership

2024 The Hun School (N.J.) defensive lineman Owen Wafle‍ has seen his recruitment take off this spring as he’s earned several offers and hit the road for recruiting visits. 

College coaches have hit the road this month for the spring evaluation period and Wafle admits he’s lost count of how many schools have stopped in to evaluate him and his teammates.  

"I don't even know,” laughed Wafle when asked what schools have stopped by The Hun School. “It's been a lot. On Tuesday and Thursday, we had 30 schools come through to watch us move around and stuff. It was fun to get out there and be with the entire team." 

For Wafle, the pressure of multiple coaches on the sideline doesn’t get to him and he’s even taken on a leadership role to help calm the nerves of his friends. 

"I try to keep as level-headed as possible,” explained Wafle. “I'm not trying to psych myself out, so I try to stay calm. A couple kids were freaking out a bit and I was trying to calm them down. 

"It's definitely probably nerve-wracking to play in front of those guys. They are the guys giving you a future to play college football." 

The 6-foot-3, 270-pounder is also grateful for the coaches to swing by to check and watch his team compete. 

"It shows what kind of special place The Hun School is and how great our coach is getting all these coaches to watch us,” stated Wafle. “We're just going through drills, but it's what they do for a living. They love this stuff because they can actually watch the players." 

As it relates to Notre Dame, defensive coordinator Al Golden spent a couple of days in New York and New Jersey this week, so it wasn’t a shock to see him pop up at The Hun School.  

"It was so cool,” Wafle said. “He and I come from the same town and I went to his old high school for a year. I feel we've built a strong relationship, so it was cool for him to meet my coach because they had never met." 

Wafle and Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington have continued to build their relationship since the New Jersey native visited South Bend in March. 

"We have a good relationship,” said Wafle. “We still talk once a week and that's been going on for a long time. I feel we know each other well." 

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