Luca Silva was blown away by his first trip to South Bend for the Irish’s game against Syracuse last weekend.
“It was awesome,” the 2028 Ohio offensive lineman told Irish Sports Daily. “It was such an unbelievable atmosphere. It was my first time there. I kind of grew up a Notre Dame fan. My dad showed me them when I was younger. I was just obsessed with the sign, how they hid it when they walk out and everything.
“What really got me was the traditions; how many traditions I never realized that were there, and I could only realize when I was actually in the stadium. It was awesome.”
The people also made a tremendous impression on the 6-foot-6, 255-pounder.
“They were very courteous,” said Silva. “We got there. We were in the indoor facility. They had amazing food, to be honest. It was nice. We met with some of the recruiting staff and they were very nice. We had two speakers there. They even had a parent coordinator and they're the only college to have a parent coordinator. That's really cool. They had the general manager there. He just talked about how the culture is and how Notre Dame does some of the little things and compared to other programs, it makes a difference.
“Then we went out and we walked right in front of Touchdown Jesus, where people come in for the stadium. We were there for about 10, 15 minutes waiting for the team to come and walk in. That was really cool. I got to see the coach, got to see all the players and Touchdown Jesus, I mean, gosh, that is such a beautiful sight to see.”
After the Player Walk, Silva and the other recruits went into the players lounge to hang out before going onto the field for pregame warmups.
“I watched the line,” said Silva. “It was awesome; some big dudes. We went to our recruiting session and we got to sit down and we watched the game from very close. It was just so cool. The Leprechaun was dancing right in front of us. They had people throwing marshmallows down and we were supposed to throw them back up. It was really cool.”
Silva, who has early offers from Kentucky, Kent State, Appalachian State and UMass, was also impressed by Notre Dame’s 70-7 win over the Orange.
“I think they played amazing,” he said. “I think they played very focused. The beginning of the game, they didn't even really get out there before the defense scored three touchdowns for them. That was insane. I cannot believe that. They played great.
“I was really watching the line mostly. I think they did right with all their assignments. I think they were very focused and very disciplined, especially #54, I really think he played very great, stayed on blocks and everything. It was just a fun game to watch. Notre Dame's very hard-nosed football. It's just a great program. I love it.”
Silva believes Notre Dame’s scheme is one he’d fit.
“I really do,” he said. “I saw that they ran a lot of Zone and I really think I could do that. I can run gap scheme or outside/inside zone. Whatever scheme I could fit into. It was just so fun to watch the line move and get on it. It looked very effortless. It's just like second nature to them.”
While on campus, he also met with several staff members, including Director of Recruiting Advancement Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.
“I got to talk to him a lot,” said Silva. “He was actually the one that invited me to the game. He saw a little bit of my film and he decided to invite me. We just kind of hit it off and it was really cool. Sometimes you never know if that's kind of like a copy and paste message or anything, but it was very personal. It just felt like when they reached out, they were caring.
“He remembered everybody. He was coming up to everybody. He was very great to my parents. He was just talking about how I'm going to be a junior soon. I’ve got two more years and I'm just going to keep on working. I'm excited for this process.”
Silva also visited Marshall this season and anticipates going to some camps this offseason, including Notre Dame’s.
“I would love to do that. I'll just keep on going moving forward if that's what they want. I'm just grateful for the opportunity and I think moving forward, I think Notre Dame will be very close to my heart all the way through the process.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under Armour Sideline Meridian Cold Weather Pullover Hoodie
