DiCosmo Passing The Torch And Lessons To His Son
It’s a big weekend for Notre Dame as the Irish host eight official visitors. 2019 Bergen Catholic (N.J.) defensive end Aeneas DiCosmo will be one of those visitors, and it’s a crucial visit with the 6-foot-3, 217-pounder expected to decide in July.
DiCosmo’s father, Anthony, is a legend in Bergen County, starring at Paramus Catholic before heading to Boston College.
The recruiting process has changed quite a bit since he was recruited coast to coast, but DiCosmo is taken back by his son seeing his son land over 30 offers, but also seeing his son eliminate dream schools.
“He got this down to four schools that are four amazing opportunities,” DiCosmo told Irish Sports Daily. “He passed on dream opportunities. Who gets the chance to say ‘Harvard, I’m not coming.’
“This is unbelievable.”
While he’s been involved in the recruiting process, DiCosmo wants the final decision to be his son’s.
“At this point, it has to be his decision,” explained DiCosmo. “I think the decision should be based on comfort. The guys he’s on the visit with are going to be the guys he goes to war with for the next five years. He’s going to suit up, eat and live with these guys. They are going to be his brothers for the rest of his life.”
The decision will be Aeneas’ final call, but DiCosmo has also made sure his son has all the necessary information on aspects most 17-year-old prospects miss.
“He’s going to commit to a brand and a great coaching staff, but never count on a coaching staff being there,” stated DiCosmo. “That’s just the facts and what we know. It’s great he has a great rapport with these coaches, and that’s important, so there is a guy who will take care of you when things are great and when things aren’t going so well.
“As a dad, it’d be phenomenal to be comfortable with the person who will be there for my son when I’m not around.”
Going back to his own recruitment, DiCosmo experienced coaches leaving a program and did precisely what he hopes his son doesn’t do, choosing a school based on the coaching staff.
Initially, DiCosmo had his heart set on Stanford, but when Bill Walsh departed as head coach, he looked for comfort.
“I was recruited by a guy named Bill McGovern, who is now the linebackers coach with the New York Giants,” DiCosmo said. “He was a Bergen Catholic guy. Some guys are great recruiters and some guys are great implementers, but there are very few guys that are both. I felt like Coach McGovern was that guy.
“I loved (head coach) Dan Henning and Boston College. I did the opposite of what I just said my son should do, but I learned from my experience. Don’t pick your school based off of coaches because you're committing to a brand. Fortunately, Boston College is a great brand, and it has done great things for me.”
DiCosmo ended up doing just fine as he recorded 107 receptions for 1,798 yards and 12 touchdowns at Boston College, which led him to the NFL, Arena League and he even scored the first touchdown in the XFL.
Picking a school for the coach is one of two lessons DiCosmo learned during his career. The other is making education the first priority.
“The idea of getting your degree as a backup plan is the most backward thing you can ever think about the process,” DiCosmo stated. “Your backup plan should be the NFL. You’re going to school to get a degree to last you like they say 4 For 40.
“If you go to the NFL, then your degree is your degree. The network you build is yours. If you make $20 million in the NFL, the network at Notre Dame you can tap into is going to make that into $100 million.”
The Boston College degree paid off for DiCosmo, who managed special projects for SpikeTV before becoming the Vice President of Public Affairs and Administration at Nickelodeon and then the Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing and Content at Nickelodeon.
DiCosmo was also one of 40 executives globally named Leaders Under 40 Class of 2017, and was one of 30 selected for Reality Sports 2017, a sports learning expedition to Israel via The Schusterman Foundation.
Despite seeing the success of a Boston College degree, DiCosmo admits he has seen the power of the Notre Dame degree on a personal level.
“Autry Denson was my roommate when we went to camp for the Bucs,” said DiCosmo. “I saw firsthand the power of Notre Dame. My agent was a Notre Dame graduate, the late Andre Jones.
“I know plenty of guys like Ryan Grant. These guys are good friends of mine, and I’ve seen incredible things from the alumni of Notre Dame that is unmatched in college football. I haven’t seen it anywhere else.”
Academics clearly lead the charge for DiCosmo, but that doesn’t mean the family isn’t interested in the plan Mike Elston and Clark Lea have for the three-star prospect.
“I’m interested in seeing what Notre Dame’s plan looks like for him at the weakside/drop end position,” the elder DiCosmo said. “I want to see what Coach Elston has to show us and really dial in on the X's and O’s.
“I want to get a sense for who the other guys are in that role, how they’ve been successful and where Aeneas can contribute. I want to see how comfortable Aeneas is with this position. It’s his natural position.
“We’ve been to a few schools where they’ve had a right defensive end and a left defensive end. You play that role regardless of who showed up on that side. That’s probably not the best situation for someone that’s built like Aeneas. He’s just a different kind of rusher, and it will be interesting to get a better feel for the scheme and an understanding of when and how they want to use him.”