Coach | New Notre Dame Commit Anthony Sacca Is Special

The Notre Dame coaching staff is convinced it landed a physical stud in Anthony Sacca‍, the 2025 Pennsylvania linebacker who just announced his commitment to the Irish.

Few would disagree with that.

But the Irish also added the kind of player who has his priorities in order to the point where he’s even more likely to fulfill his potential at the next level.

“His dad was a football coach, so he grew up on the sidelines,” St. Joseph’s Prep assistant Tom Sugden says. “He grew up in the locker room. He has a lot of emotional intelligence.”

Tony Sacca played quarterback at Penn State before being picked in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft by the Phoenix Cardinals. Sacca’s support system helped him stay grounded during a process that brought a lot of attention, not to mention scholarship offers from Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama and virtually everybody else.

“His old man's been through it, so he has a great foundation,” Sugden says. “His old man is a seasoned vet, played in the pros, played at Penn State. He was able to sift through a lot of that.”

Playing in a program like St. Joseph’s Prep, which produces high-major prospects year after year also helped Sacca throughout the process and will likely pay dividends moving forward as well.

“Without a doubt,” says Sugden. “I think it's very beneficial having a kid like that and he's coming from a program like ours. He's already played on ESPN four times. He's played against national guys. He's been in the spotlight. 

“When he was a freshman, he bust on the scene. Started as a freshman, gets All-American and all that. I think it gets stale. After the novelty wears off, he had three years of football, three years of growing and maturing. I already got through this initial process of being the bell of the ball almost and he got to realize quickly, 'What's really important? What am I really looking for in a school? What type of relationships am I trying to build?'

“A kid who might maybe come on the scene later might not have that opportunity to kind of go through that maturation process.”

At least from the outside looking in, Sacca’s recruitment was drama-free and, according to Sugden, he started narrowing in over the past few months.

“I think he wanted to just take a very mature approach to the whole process and do his due diligence,” says Sugden. “I think everything started to clear up after Christmas, after we got out of the holiday break. He was really zeroing in and Coach (Al) Golden has done a great job building a rapport and relationship with our staff and with Anthony. I think everything kind of makes sense.”

When Sacca first bursted on the scene as a national prospect his freshman year, it was as a potential safety. But at 6-3, 220 now, he’s being brought in to play linebacker for the Irish, although that experience in the defensive backfield is sure to help him.

“He's an absolute stud,” Sugden says. “This past year, he came down from safety to linebacker. His body keeps growing. He's got a ton of physical tools. He's so long and lean and has so much room to fill out, he has such a high football IQ as well. His old man was a quarterback. He makes a lot of our calls on defense. He does a lot of the responsibilities that a middle linebacker might do on our defense to get people set up. 

“From playing on the backend, being able to see everything in front of him and already having an understanding for where people are supposed to line up and how the pieces are supposed to fit allowed him to be able to transition into a position because he was already so accustomed to almost playing that quarterback back there. We do a lot of things. We're a multiple defense. We're in a 3-4, we're in a 3-3 stack, we're in a 4-3. It takes special guys like Anthony back there to allow us to do that, to be able to help and be able to support and make sure that we're getting the right checks and stuff like that. His preparation, his attention to detail and things like that. He is a football junkie.”

The transition wasn’t a huge surprise for Sacca.

“He knew that he was almost sizing out of safety,” Sugden says. “I think he kind of knew it was coming and that was always the plan for him unless he didn't grow. He continued to grow and expand. We always try to put the best 11 of defenders out in the field, he understood that he was probably better-suited to playing down low and he really excelled this year. 

“It took him a little bit to get comfortable, but you could see from days to weeks to months, the leaps and bounds he made at that position. I think the ceiling's extremely high right now.”

And the Irish are excited to help him realize that ceiling in South Bend…and so is the staff at St. Joseph’s Prep.

“He's a special cat. We're pretty pumped for him.”

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