Notre Dame made a strong first impression on Casey Barner when the 2028 Georgia safety visited South Bend for Junior Day.
The next step for the Irish is getting the McEachern High School standout back to experience Notre Dame in a completely different setting.
Barner has remained in regular contact with Notre Dame defensive backs coach Aaron Henry and safeties coach Jevaughn Codlin since his initial trip.
“Contact with me and Notre Dame, it's cool,” Barner told Irish Sports Daily. “It's a vibe for sure.”
The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder hears most often from Henry and Codlin, who have started laying out how they believe he could fit into the Irish system.
“They’re just basically telling me the vision they have for me and how I could impact the defense coming there,” Barner said.
Barner already has something to compare those conversations to after getting his first look at Notre Dame during Junior Day.
“It was the first time I'd been there,” the Powder Springs, Ga., native said. “It was amazing. It's kind of different from a lot of schools I've been to.”
Barner would like to build on that experience with another trip to South Bend, although he doesn't have one scheduled yet. If he can find a date, a game visit would provide a perspective he couldn't get during Junior Day.
“Just the atmosphere of the fans in the game in general,” Barner said of what he'd like to see. “Just seeing how everything operates around there.”
Finding that date could be a challenge.
Barner already has a packed fall visit schedule that includes planned stops at Georgia, USC, Texas A&M, Miami, Ohio State, Indiana and Alabama, with Ole Miss another possibility.
The McEachern standout has a lengthy offer sheet that also includes Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC and Wisconsin among several others. He intends to trim that down in the coming months.
“Probably after the fall season, for sure,” Barner said of when he could begin narrowing his list. “I don't think that's my main focus right now. I’m just worrying about just playing ball and just improving my game.”
Barner isn't ready to make those evaluations just yet, but he already knows what will matter when that time comes.
“The development part and just making sure I'm on the right path and just being a great man in life.”
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