2025 WR Branden Hoch Recaps Notre Dame Visit, Plans to Return
2025 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) receiver Branden Hoch might be one the hottest players on the 7-on-7 and camp circuit this spring.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder has impressed not only coaches but also his peers. Some SEC commits have made sure to tell their future coaches about him after playing him.
Notre Dame is well aware of the South Florida native, which led to the Hoch family coming to South Bend this week for 48 hours on an unofficial visit.
“I had a great time with my family checking out everything,” Hoch told ISD. “The campus is beautiful. The facilities and everything are great. We had a great time the past two days.
“On Tuesday, my family and I toured around the campus. We just walked around and saw everything. We went to the store and got a lot of stuff.”
The next day, Hoch attended Notre Dame’s practice and got a good feel for how Mike Brown coaches his receivers and Mike Denbrock’s offense.
“It was run really well,” explained Hoch. “I like how they threw the ball and they throw the ball a lot. Coach Brown is out there running and showing the receivers what to do. He really cares about the receivers and let’s them know the plays. He’s just there for the receivers.”
Hoch also made sure to observe how Marcus Freeman carried himself and the expectations he had for his players during practice.
“Coach Freeman showed that he cares about the players and everything else that’s going on,” said Hoch. “He wants the team to be more competitive and there’s always room for improvement with him. He seems like a great coach.”
The emphasis on competition aligns with how Hoch views competition, which was another positive during his visit.
“I like to compete,” stated Hoch. “I really like to have competitive spirit during practice and he drives that all the time.”
Following practice, Hoch was able to have conversations with Brown and Freeman. Both were intrigued with Hoch transferring to St. Thomas Aquinas and let him know the staff would more than likely be down to see him practice this spring.
“I talked with Coach Freeman and he really wants to come down to South Florida soon, so I hope he can come down,” Hoch explained. “Coach Brown watched my film and he’s hoping to get down this spring. He wanted me to come back up to see him again soon.
“I think they want to see what I do with my opportunity at St. Thomas Aquinas. They want to see how I do in the spring.”
Hoch's decision to transfer to St. Thomas Aquinas wasn’t necessarily easy, but he knew it was the right choice for many reasons.
It has paid off, as Auburn, Miami, and Ole Miss have offered, while several other programs in the South, including LSU, are keeping close tabs on Hoch.
“I feel like I’ve always been playing this well, but I’m on a bigger platform now,” Hoch explained. “I want to show all these coaches that I can play. Last year, I was at a school where we ran the ball a lot. We had a running back, Javion Mallory, he got an offer from Notre Dame, but they would run the ball a lot to him so the quarterback couldn’t get me the ball as much.
“I had to make a decision to go to St. Thomas Aquinas because they lost two of their top receivers. One went to Miami and one went to Mizzou. It was a perfect spot for me and they have a great QB over there. We match up well together and they’re going to start throwing the ball more. It should be a good spring.”
As for what’s next, Hoch will head to The Plains this weekend.
“Right now, I have Auburn on Saturday,” said Hoch. “Other than that, I don’t really have anything. There are coaches texting me, but nothing really planned yet.”
Offers: Auburn, Bowling Green, Miami, Ole Miss, Temple and West Virginia
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