A lifelong Notre Dame fan, Theo Schott got his first chance to take in a game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night.
“I loved it, man,” the 2028 Indiana tight end said. “It was a great time. The atmosphere was insane. I loved getting out there and seeing what the culture was like. It was awesome. Even though it was raining, I didn't really care. It was a fun game to watch and a great win.”
The Zionsville High School star was struck by the atmosphere for the game.
“Very diehard fans, everyone's into it,” he said. “Even though it was raining, no one left the game. Everyone was into it, doing chants. I just thought that was awesome and it was a great time.”
Schott was also impressed with the Irish’s performance during their 34-24 win over USC.
“They played awesome,” he said. “Obviously, their run game was great. Jeremiyah Love had an awesome game. He was really fun to watch and obviously being a tight end, I like watching tight ends. They weren't able to get him the ball as much, but he definitely had some good blocks. I was watching him and that was fun. The game was awesome.”
The Irish may not have featured the tight ends much during the win over the Trojans, but Schott is well aware of Notre Dame’s typical tight end usage.
“I've followed Notre Dame my whole life,” he said. “I know that they love to use their tight ends and they're considered Tight End U, which is awesome. I know that they didn't get the ball to the tight ends as much Saturday because their run game was working well, which is understandable. It won them the game.
“But yeah, obviously from the past, they've sent many guys to the NFL.”
The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder already has offers from Oregon, Louisville, Illinois and Purdue.
“It's great,” he said of the early offers. “I definitely wasn't expecting it. I didn't really know that you would get recruited this early, but it's awesome. I like to stay humble with all of it and don't really like to be outgoing with it and try to brag about it. I like to stay under the radar and just keep grinding and prove why I have those offers.”
His interest in the Irish brought him to South Bend on Saturday.
“I've grown up a Notre Dame fan just being in Indiana and them being a really good team,” he said. “I don't think that's the reason why it came out. I just know that they're obviously one of the most traditional football teams in college football history.
“Watching them go to the national championship last year and what they're doing with Coach (Marcus) Freeman it's really fun to watch and I wanted to see what that atmosphere was like.”
He’s excited to continue the recruiting process with the Irish.
“I want to keep growing the relationship with the coaches, maybe get a chance to talk to them in the future and maybe get out to camp and show them what I can do and try to earn an offer,” he said. “Really, just stay in contact with all the guys that helped me get out there.”
He’s already made visits to Purdue, Illinois, Louisville and Indiana. He has trips to Georgia and Oregon coming up later this season.
He knows what will be most important when it comes time to pick a school.
“Definitely my relationship with the coaches. I want to play for a guy who understands me and we have a good connection. Obviously, I said it before, but the culture. The culture is big for me. How often do the guys get together out of football? What is the relationship? How do coaches talk to each other? Just all of that. Just a big culture guy.”
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