Christian Gray, Notre Dame Coaches Share "Tremendous Visit" During Staff In-Home

Notre Dame's coaches went in-home with future Irish cornerback Christian Gray, who enjoyed another experience around his future coaches

From the moment he committed to Notre Dame on July 4th, St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet Jesuit star cornerback Christian Gray has been a leader of the Irish 2023 class. Gray has not only been dominant on the field, he's been a key foundation of the class off it. Gray and the rest of the class are less than two weeks away from signing day, and the Irish coaches were on the road seeing their future standouts.

Head coach Marcus Freeman, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens, running backs coach Deland McCullough and wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey were all present for the in-home visit with Gray and his family.

Christian’s mother, Shonda Gray, gave some insight into the recent visit with the coaches, which was certainly a night to remember.

"It was a tremendous visit,” Gray said. "The conversations, the coaches taking a look at Christian's room, a relaxed environment. It was a great experience.

"It meant a lot for the coaches to come visit our home,” she continued. "It spoke volumes. The fact that they value my son and our family values is important. Taking time to learn a little bit more about us is great.”

As a mother, Shonda spent some time just watching how Christian and the staff interacted. It’s clear that he made the right decision back in July.

"He was extremely excited and comfortable in their presence,” Gray said. "He really appreciated all of the coaches that came to visit him and Coach Al Golden that reached out via text. They are very genuine coaches across the board. I love the player to coach relationship that he and Coach Mickens have started to build.

“Christian has nothing but genuine love and respect for these coaches,” she continued. “Coach Freeman and his coaching staff have shown that they are genuine, caring men that respect their players and want the best for them.”

As a family, they are all ecstatic for everything Christian has already accomplished. With the next chapter on the horizon, it is an emotional time for his mother but she understands how fortunate they are to be in this position.

"We are excited for Christian,” she said. "We are grateful for the opportunity to be at a great school with great coaches. We are excited for his future as a student and player at Notre Dame. As his mom, my emotions are kind of all over the place with gratitude being the highest!”

As mentioned, signing day is less than two weeks away, and just a couple of weeks after that Gray and much of his 2023 classmates will be enrolling at Notre Dame. All the emotions and running high, but more than anything, there is so much excitement for the next chapter.

"Christian is extremely excited, nervous, and ready to start his journey at Notre Dame,” Gray said. "He is looking forward to putting in the work to get on the field. With that being said, he is looking forward to National Signing Day and to make it all official.”

Gray was an all around weapon for DeSmet as a senior. On defense, he recorded 29 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and four interceptions. He was also a weapon on the offensive side of the football. Although in limited opportunities, Gray touched the ball nine times as a runner and receiver for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

He has also been a weapon as a return man. He averaged 40.3 yards per kick return, while also averaging 22.6 yards per punt return and two scores.

The 6-1, 175-pound cornerback is considered a Top 100 recruit by both Rivals (No. 78) and On3 (No. 93). He also sits as a consensus top 150 recruit and four-star by every major recruiting platform in the 2023 recruiting class.

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