Zylen Little wanted to see Notre Dame for himself after receiving an offer from the Irish back in May.
After camping in South Bend and working with defensive line coach Charlie Partridge in June, the 2028 Florida defensive tackle has decided he wants another look.
Little will return to South Bend for Notre Dame's Nov. 7 game against Miami, giving him an opportunity to experience the Irish in a setting he didn't see during his first visit.
"I'm just trying to see the environment, the atmosphere," Little said. "I'm just trying to soak everything in, just see if I could envision myself playing at this program and at this school."
The 6-foot-2, 305-pounder has remained in consistent contact with Notre Dame over the summer. Partridge has been heavily involved, but Little's communication with the Irish extends throughout the staff.
"Everything with Notre Dame's been great, just building relationships," Little said. "I talked to Coach (Marcus) Freeman not too long ago. I have consistent contact with Coach Partridge, Nick Seabass, Coach DJ Bryant.
"So just building that relationship, building that connection with the whole entire coaching staff has been great."
The Carrollwood Day standout believes the number of Notre Dame coaches personally involved in his recruitment says something about where he stands with the Irish.
"That means a lot because that just shows I'm a top guy for them and priority when all these different coaches are reaching out to me, trying to build a relationship with me," Little said. "That really does mean a lot."
Little's relationship with Partridge has developed particularly quickly.
Since the Tampa native had the opportunity to work directly with the Notre Dame defensive line coach during camp, their conversations have allowed Little to learn more about Partridge away from football.
"He's a great guy," Little said. "He's a family man. He's sending me photos of his family all the time. He talks about his daughter. We really get to know each other outside of football. So just seeing a side of him is great."
Little has been equally impressed with Partridge as a coach.
"When I was able to get coached by him, he was awesome, a very detailed coach," Little said. "You could tell he cares about what he's doing. And even when I got to see him practice in live action, you could just tell he's a very great coach."
Freeman has made his own impression. The two recently spoke over FaceTime.
"Coach Freeman, he's awesome," Little said. "He just lets me know that I'm a priority. You could tell he's just a real genuine guy.
"When I was talking to him, you could tell he really wants to see his team win and take it all the way this year. And I definitely think they can."
Notre Dame will be one of several schools Little sees this fall.
Little has put together an extensive game-day visit schedule, beginning with Florida on Sept. 5. He'll follow with trips to Georgia Tech on Sept. 12, Auburn on Sept. 19, Florida State on Oct. 3 and Indiana on Oct. 17 before returning to Notre Dame on Nov. 7. Little is also scheduled to visit Tennessee on Nov. 21.
He previously indicated he wouldn't be surprised if he made a commitment around the end of his junior season. For now, though, he isn't putting a firm timetable on narrowing his options or making a final decision.
"This will definitely help probably narrow it down and just let me get a better thought of the schools that I'm interested in," Little said of his fall visits. "But I don't really have a set date of when I'll make a decision or when I'm going to narrow it down.
"I'm just going with the flow and how everything pans out and how it'll go."
Whenever Little does reach that point, he already knows what he'll prioritize.
"What's going to matter most I'll say is the development," he said. "I want to go to a program where I could get developed. I want to go to the NFL and I want to go to a program where I have an opportunity to get on the field early, get in rotation early as a freshman.
"And another thing I'll say is relationship. I want to have a good relationship with the coaches and things like that."
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