Khalen Taylor didn't have much of a relationship with Notre Dame before Tuesday.
That changed quickly when the Irish offered the 2028 Texas linebacker/edge and Taylor found himself on a phone being passed around the Notre Dame football offices.
Notre Dame Director of Recruiting Carter Auman was the first to deliver the news before giving Taylor an opportunity to speak with several other members of the Irish staff.
“Mr. Carter Auman called me and then they just handed the phone around the facility,” Taylor told Irish Sports Daily.
It was Taylor's first time speaking with the Notre Dame staff, but it didn't take long for everything to become comfortable.
“The conversation was flowing like they were family,” Taylor said. “They were all amazing, upstanding men and we were able to talk easily. We were talking about food, just anything and everything under the sun. It was just amazing.”
The 6-foot-2, 216-pounder also learned more about what stuck out to Notre Dame about him during its evaluation.
“My versatility,” Taylor said. “They saw the hard work I've been putting in this offseason. They're excited for the things I'm going to do this season and they said I was just one of the guys they were looking at and they were ready to pull the trigger.”
The Ridge Point High School standout already owns offers from schools like Penn State, Washington, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, TCU, Baylor, SMU, Arizona, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Houston and Cal among others.
Still, the Notre Dame scholarship carried significant weight for the Missouri City, Texas, native.
“This offer means a lot because Notre Dame's a really big time program,” Taylor said. “They really have a spot in the playoffs almost every year. They have a chance to compete for the national title. Just getting the opportunity to potentially be a part of a program who will be in national title contention, that's awesome.”
Taylor is already thinking about dates to get to South Bend.
“The next step would probably be going up to a football game this season,” he said. “I want to go see what they have in store in person.”
He doesn't have a game picked out for a South Bend trip yet, but Taylor already has a couple other game-day visits locked in, Texas A&M's home opener and Texas’ matchup against Ohio State the following week.
Those trips will give Taylor an opportunity to evaluate some of the factors that will eventually determine where he ends up.
“Relationships, that for sure would be a big one, relationships with the staff and a place that allows me to show off my versatility and great education.”
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