Holden Staes Calls Notre Dame His "Dream School"
Few programs in college football have been recruiting the 2022 class as well as Notre Dame, and no one recruits tight end better than the Irish. That point was cemented on Saturday when Atlanta (Ga.) Westminster School tight end Holden Staes went public with his commitment to the Fighting Irish. Staes, who is a four-star prospect, had been silently committed to Notre Dame for around a month, but he opted to wait for the right time to formally announce his college decision.
“I kind of knew a little while back in terms of Notre Dame was the place I wanted to be,” Staes told Irish Breakdown. “Probably about a month ago I committed to the coaches and let them know that I was done and ready to join the Notre Dame family and the program. I also told them I really wanted to film a commitment video this time. There's no doubt in my mind this is where I want to be. I want to make this one special, and I wanted my siblings to come to town so they could be in it and all that. We were able to film the video. I knew I wanted to wait a little after the Spring Game too so all the Spring Game hype could die down, and yesterday was just the best day for it.”
Earlier in the recruiting process, Staes issued a verbal pledge to Penn State, but the 6-4, 230-pound prospect backed off that decision in February. Shortly after that, the Fighting Irish offered Staes and really began to form a connection with the highly coveted recruit, one that eventually led to his Mother's Day Weekend commitment.
“Notre Dame has always been one of the dream schools for me,” Staes said. “There's everything the school has to offer from academics to football. Some of the biggest things were what they're doing with the tight end position. I can confidently say they put a tight end into the NFL almost every year. This year with Tommy [Tremble] going and being from Atlanta, that was huge. I talked to him a little bit and just got his perspective on the school and what he thought of it coming from Atlanta. He had nothing but good things to say.
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"Then just what Coach [Brian] Kelly and the rest of the staff is doing with the actual team," Staes continued. "Being in the playoff two of the last three years, that speaks for itself. I think that's only going to continue to keep happening with the way they're recruiting. I really see myself being really good friends with all those guys, playing with those guys, playing for the coaching staff. The brand that they have is great. Notre Dame is one of the biggest brands in all of college football, and once you're done playing football you definitely can't pass up on the academics they offer, so it's the best of both world with football and academics."
Notre Dame is known at Tight End U, and for good reason. It is clear that Staes was heavily impacted by this tradition.
“You're going to get exposure just because you're a Notre Dame tight end already," explained the Westminster tight end. "People are going to say, 'Who's that guy playing tight end for Notre Dame' just because of the history of the position at the school. On top of that, if you play well and you ball out and do all that, it's only going to help you.”
With all those aspects working in Notre Dame's favor, it is not difficult to see why Staes chose to become a Golden Domer. The tight end tradition wasn't the only thing that appealed to the Georgia native. The school also boasts a strong academic reputation for those that don't end up following a professional football career as well, so it's a multi-faceted set of advantages.
With Staes in the fold, Notre Dame now has two tight ends committed in the '22 cycle as three-star prospect Eli Raridon made his announcement last week. Prior to this point, Staes took part in numerous Zoom meetings with Irish tight ends coach John McNulty and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees so that he could see what his playing career could resemble if he chose the Fighting Irish.
“They see me playing a similar role as Tommy [Tremble] did, playing that H-Back position that's called the F in their offense,” Staes explained. “It's split out in the slot and doing a lot of stuff where he's leading the way in the run game. It's good that they see my athleticism, my physicality and ability to finish blocks once I get contact on those linebackers or safeties, so just bringing that to the table. Being a threat over the middle, if I'm getting lined up with linebackers then using my speed over them and using my height and weight over the safeties, so that's kind of the role they see me in. They see me as a three-down tight end where I can stay on the field every down. I think I'm capable of doing all those things, but they see that as well.”
Staes projects to be a versatile weapon that will be used heavily in both the run and pass game. As Staes said, that translates into being an every down tight end, so he will have the opportunity to impact the game in quite a few different ways at the next level under the tutelage of Coach McNulty and Coach Rees.
In terms of his relationship with those two coaches specifically, Staes spoke about how quickly they made an impact on him after he picked up his Notre Dame offer.
“I didn't know either of them before I got the offer,” Staes mentioned. “Once I started talking to them, I could see that they're really good guys. Obviously, the more I learned how good of coaches they were, McNulty has experience in the NFL. That was huge for me because he's going to know what the NFL wants in a player, a tight end, the way they play, the character and all that.
"What Coach Rees has done with the offense already, it's only going to get better,' continued Staes. "I had no idea that he played at Notre Dame and is already so young and calling the plays. When you start to realize that, it's like 'Woah, he's one of the best young minds in college football.' Both of those coaches were definitely a part of my decision because of the relationship we've built and what they're doing with the program.”
Now with his commitment in the rear view mirror, the next move for Staes is to visit South Bend for his official visit. Previously, Staes has seen the school for a camp and then went on a self-guided tour about two months ago, but his upcoming official visit will provide an opportunity to bond with some of his future teammates while also recruiting other uncommitted prospects at the same time.
“I'm going the 18th to 20th (of June), and I'm going with guys like Steve Angeli, Eli is going to be there,” Staes replied. “Guys that I've been talking to before I dropped my video yesterday, I've been talking to Dallan Hayden, the running back out of Tennessee. I've been talking to him a lot saying we'd love for him to join. Jake Pope, a big time player out of Georgia, I'm definitely going to get on him. I would say those are the two guys I'm mainly going to emphasize. With them being close to me, they'll be really easy to relate to and talk to. Now that I'm out in the public, I can get a little more on kids.”
Once Staes committed to the coaching staff a month ago, he was quickly added into the Notre Dame commits' group chat by quarterback pledge Angeli. Staes has had an opportunity to get to know the other commits through those means thus far, but he's anxious to see everyone in person soon and to meet the coaching staff face-to-face as well next month.
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