2020 OL Michael Carmody Heading Back To Notre Dame As A Top Target

After going through the recruiting process for basketball with his son Robby and being in the midst of the process for football with his son Michael, Rob Carmody sees one major difference when it comes to visits for each sport as hoops prospects have the chance to get a feel for their potential teammates by playing pickup basketball while on campus.

“You get a feel for the guys who are there and also how they play and whether or not you fit in with the system,” Mr. Carmody says. “I know on Robby’s visit, that was huge, the opportunity to play with the guys and realize how well he fit in with them.

“Obviously, in football they don’t say, ‘Hey, Michael is coming in. We need 10 guys to be on offense and 11 guys on defense and let’s play.’”

College coaches would probably arrange something similar if it meant they had a better chance at landing Michael Carmody‍, a top offensive line prospect in the Class of 2020.

But while there are some differences, the overall goal for Michael is the same as it was for his brother, who ended up signing with Notre Dame as a member of the Irish’s 2018 recruiting class: finding the best overall fit.

Carmody has offers from schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Auburn among several others, but doesn’t have a public list of favorites or finalists.

“Mike’s a really unique kid,” his father says. “He’s really intelligent. His goal is to design rollercoasters one day. He has this passion for building and designing things. The football side of it, he’s not real loud or out there with, ‘Hey, I’m going here. I’m going there. I’m doing this.’ He really has not put out any kind of a list. It’s not something that fits his personality. And that’s great for Mike.

“Other guys like putting a list out and it works for them. Mike has gone about it kind of quietly. He’s been lucky. He has had the luxury of seeing his brother go through it, although it was basketball. But he got to see how Robby handled it and the things that fit Mike and fit Robby and fit our family.”

Notre Dame came in later than some of the other schools, extending an offer a month ago, but that won’t matter much, according to Mr. Carmody.

“Whether Notre Dame came in first, second or last in the offering process, I don’t think is of any real significance,” he says. “I think what’s significant is that when Mike gets up there, he feels there’s a connection to the players, to the coaches, to the school and that will be what ultimately determines where Mike decides to choose to go.”

The 6-foot-6, 295-pounder will get the chance to do just that when he takes an unofficial visit to Notre Dame this Thursday.

“We kind of felt best about doing it unofficially right now because we really haven’t been there in that capacity and to get Mike around the coaching staff and players,” Mr. Carmody says. “That’s something he hasn’t done yet.

“The nice thing for us as a family and for Mike is that he’s probably been to Notre Dame literally 20 times. Between going to basketball games and being there as a young kid, going to camp there, helping Robby move in. When we visited there when Robby was still a senior, Mike came up and visited the football facility. It’s not like Mike doesn’t know where something is at this point.”

The family felt it would be best to take an unofficial visit to allow Michael to get around the guys and feel comfortable in a less structured setting.

“It’ll be nice for Mike to get that opportunity at Notre Dame and be around Coach (Jeff) Quinn and some of the other linemen,” his father says. “He knows a few of the guys. Obviously, he knows Phil Jurkovec and there’s some other Pittsburgh guys there as well. I think the biggest thing for Mike is going to be that comfort level of how he feels at a certain place. It’ll be a nice opportunity for him to do that.”

Carmody took an official visit to Texas A&M last week and has officials planned to Michigan and Ohio State in the coming weeks.

The trip to College Station was impressive.

“It was really great,” Mr. Carmody says. “It’s a really unique place. Up here, we don’t hear a lot about it academically because they obviously don’t have to come to Pennsylvania to recruit their students. But for Mike, their Engineering department is fantastic. Obviously, they play in the SEC, so you’re talking about playing in a tremendous conference with a tremendous schedule every week. Coach (Jimbo) Fisher is a guy who won a national championship.

“There are a lot of positives to Texas A&M. We were there early in May unofficially and Mike said, ‘Hey, this is a place I want to get back to and I want to do it officially. I want to engage and be around the players and coaches.’ Fortunately, we were able to get that opportunity and get back down there. It’s a really neat place, really unique. When we went there in May, we didn’t know what to expect and by the time we left, Mike was like, ‘This is a place that I really like and I’d like to get back to.’ We were fortunate enough that they brought us back down there.”

Whether or not he decides to take any visits beyond the ones this month, Carmody definitely wants to have the process wrapped up by the end of the summer, possibly by the end of the month.

“If he feels in his heart that he’s found the right place, that’s what he’s going to do,” his father said. “If it has to extend longer, it will, but he definitely does not want to go into his senior football season with this decision hanging over his shoulders. He wants to have it out of the way.”

Robby committed to Notre Dame the June before his senior season at Mars Area High School, which allowed him to enjoy his senior year.

“He got to be a kid, he didn’t have to look over his shoulder at who was watching, he didn’t have to worry about going on multiple visits. He got to focus on ‘How do I get better as a person? How do I improve as a student? How do I improve as an athlete to help my school and my teammates and my friends win?’

“That’s very important to Mike as well. Mike will definitely have it wrapped up by the start of his football season, possibly earlier than that.”