Signing Day Capsule: LB Bo Bauer
MATTHEW BAUER - LINEBACKER
ISD: 3-star
Composite: 3-star
Erie, PA (Cathedral Prep)
6-foot-3, 220 pounds
Senior Stats: 83 solo tackles, 96 total tackles, 18.5 TFL, 9 sacks, 1 FF, 2 Blocked Punts
Recruiter: Mike Elko/Clark Lea
Recruitment Rundown: Bauer worked out at Irish Invasion the summer before his junior season. He wasn’t offered by Notre Dame on the spot, but returned to South Bend a couple months later, when an offer was extended. Bauer wasted little time accepting. Brian Kelly had barely finished talking a minute later when Bauer informed him he was accepting the offer. Bauer also had offers from schools like Penn State, Michigan State, Virginia and West Virginia among others.Cathedral Prep head coach Mike Mischler: “Obviously he has all of the measureables. He’s big, he’s tall, he’s strong, he’s extremely explosive, quick feet. He’s got great lateral movement, straight-ahead speed, he get into his drops. For me though, he loves the game and he plays it like he loves it. He plays with passion and he brings everybody around him up a couple notches with his attitude and how he plays the game. He’s a great teammate.
“In high school, he’s probably better-suited outside, but we made that move last year…He could probably outside as well, but he can move. I think they’re going to be able to put about 25, 30 pounds on him and still not really miss much as far as quickness and explosiveness is concerned.”
ISD expert Jamie Uyeyama: Bauer was offered by Notre Dame shortly after Irish Invasion back in 2016. I’d be lying if I said was blown away by him as a prospect at that camp. I’ve seen him another two times in person since then. He competed at The Opening Cleveland in April and Irish Invasion again in June. I saw improvement from him in those two camps compared to how he looked that first Invasion, but also had some of the same questions about him as a football player.
He is not a natural athlete and that showed with him in coverage at those camps and on film as a senior. That’s something I worry about with his future at Notre Dame because there are so many teams that will spread defenses out and sling the ball all over the field. He still has a lot of improvement to make in that area to make up for some of his limitations.
However, he’s really advanced his game in other ways. I was so impressed with his efficiency of movement with his shuffle and his recognition versus the run. Bauer does a tremendous job of slipping blocks and finding the football between the tackles.
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