Notre Dame Offer Leaves 2024 S Kennedy Urlacher Speechless
Notre Dame cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens made the trip out to Chandler (Ariz.) last week to get eyes on 2024 safety Kennedy Urlacher and it quickly led to more.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and safeties coach Chris O’Leary made a stop at Chandler High School on Monday and Urlacher was offered following a workout.
“I was so happy when I got the offer,” Urlacher told ISD. “My lips were quivering and I was just really excited.”
The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder was caught off guard by the good news from Notre Dame, but he was also surprised to have Freeman at his school.
“That was crazy,” said Urlacher. “It was awesome. I was really shocked, but happy he was there.”
Urlacher is the son of NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher and has seen a quick rise in his recruitment.
The three-star prospect holds early offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado State, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Miami, Nebraska, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Notre Dame, Penn State and Wisconsin. Urlacher also is hearing from other Power Five programs that could be close to offering.
“I’ve heard a lot from Missouri and Oklahoma,” stated Urlacher. “I kind of saw it coming from my film, but I didn’t expect it to come like this at all. This hit me by surprise.”
When you turn on the film, Urlacher’s physicality sticks out, which shouldn’t be a surprise given his genes.
“The best part of my game is just doing my job every player whether it’s in coverage or coming to fill the alley,” Urlacher explained. “I’m trying to get more active in the run game. It’s harder than in the passing game. When your defensive line and linebackers are so good - I didn’t get a lot of opportunities to make plays in the middle of the field. I would love to be able to make some plays if they would throw the ball in the middle of the field.”
As for growing into a linebacker like his father, Urlacher has had that conversation with a few programs already.
“Some schools have talked about it, but we’ll see how it goes,” Urlacher said. “Right now, I’m a safety, but we’ll see how I grow and how it all works out.”
It’s still early in his recruitment, but it’s clear Notre Dame has Urlacher’s attention and he’s planning to get to South Bend sooner than later.
“After today, I know a whole bunch about Notre Dame,” said Urlacher. “I’ve never been over there.” I’ll get out there. Guaranteed.”
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