2019 OH RB Wants To Earn His Offers

John Branham doesn’t know much about Notre Dame right now, but the 2019 Ohio running back plans on learning more when he gets out to South Bend for this weekend’s Irish Invasion Camp.

“I just know about the gold helmets and the legendary coaches,” the 5-foot-9, 205-pounder from Columbus, Ohio said.

“I’m looking to build relationships with the coaches. I want to look at the campus and all of that, but my main thing is building a better relationship with the coaches.”

Branham has early offers from Cincinnati, Ohio, Toledo and Kent State.

His sub-4.5 speed and build attracts plenty of attention, but he believes his quickness helps him more than anything.

“As a running back, I would describe myself as quick, dirty,” he said. “I do have speed, but as a running back, you use more quickness. I have good vision and I catch onto things pretty quickly.”

He just camped at Pittsburgh and is planning to camp at Ohio State among others this summer.

While these programs are evaluating Branham, he’ll also be evaluating them, especially their staffs.

“One thing I look for most is building relationships with the coaches,” he said. “It’s not really about the offer, it’s about the relationship with the coaches.

“A school might give me an offer, but if I have a relationship with them, I can tell if it’s the real deal or not. For me, I don’t want a school to offer me just because they heard somebody else offered me. I want them to offer me because they see something in me and could use me.”

He said he’s looking for a school that will “build me up as a man,” but added that’s really it besides finding a coaching staff he has a strong relationship with.