Talented 2022 Offensive Tackle Discusses His "Big" Notre Dame Offer
Despite its struggles with the 2021 offensive line class, the Notre Dame staff is still grinding to look for the best 2022 players at the position. That is why the Fighting Irish staff offered Greenville (S.C.) High School offensive tackle Collin Sadler.
Sadler knew a Notre Dame offer could come in the future after he visited campus to watch the Irish take on Boston College. That offer ended up coming this past Tuesday, after a conversation with Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.
“It’s definitely big,” said Sadler of his Notre Dame offer. “When I went on my visit last November, everything was great there. Everywhere you look you can see the culture. There is some old, as well as a whole lot of new, which to me is really cool to see.”
Standing at 6-6 and weighing 295 pounds according to 247Sports, Sadler has a massive frame entering his junior year of high school. Plenty of big-time schools are taking notice as well, as Sadler’s offer list is very impressive.
Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Louisville, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina and others are considered to be the heavy hitters for Sadler so far, as well as Notre Dame.
With a majority of Sadler’s offers coming during the COVID-19 pandemic, he is doing his best to build bonds with various coaching staff and players without being able to visit anywhere.
“This whole process is about relationships,” Sadler said. “There is no use in a team offering late and doing nothing with it. I’m going to end up spending four or five years at the college I end up at, and I want to have good relationships with the people there.”
A relationship that has been building since Sadler was offered, is the one he is developing with Quinn. Sadler was not able to talk to Quinn during his visit last November, but the two have gotten to know each other since Notre Dame offered almost a week ago.
“From my conversations with Coach Quinn, I feel like he is a down-to-earth guy that is going to tell it to you straight, and that is really what I am looking for in a coach,” Sadler explained.
Notre Dame reaching out to Sadler early and Quinn making an effort to get to know him is causing Sadler to take stock in the Irish and what the staff is trying to pitch him.
“We are still relatively early in this recruiting process, but anyone who invests in me this early is going to interest me a lot,” Sadler stated.
As far as what he is looking for in his future school, the South Carolinian has priorities different than most in his position.
“At the end of the day, I am not a guy who is impressed with a school’s jerseys or facilities and stuff like that,” explained the talented tackle. “I am looking for relationships. I want to be comfortable where I end up, whether that is two miles down the road or across the country.
Another priority for the talented junior is academics. Sadler currently holds a 4.6 GPA at Greenville High School and wants to attend a school where he can earn a great degree that he can fall back on if his NFL dreams do not pan out.
“I am not looking into my investment in a school just for football,” Sadler explained. “Scholarships and scholarship return are huge for me, you always have to have a Plan B.”
Making the next step towards where Sadler makes his investment and plays his college football is something that is out of his control, however.
He intends on taking as many visits as he can, as soon as he can, but ultimately the NCAA will decide when he and other recruits around the country can begin to take college visits. Sadler told Irish Breakdown that visits are massive for him in his recruitment, for more reasons than one.
“When you break it down, everyone at these schools is a salesman,” Sadler stated. “They can make everything sound great over the phone, but in person, you can really tell what kind of person they are.”
Once Sadler begins to take his visits, he will start to eliminate schools and narrow down where he will be attending.
Notre Dame has a chance in this one, but it will be a challenge. Being that Sadler is from South Carolina, Clemson has a massive edge here if the Tigers make a push. There is still plenty of time for Notre Dame to attempt to make up ground, but if the Tigers make a push they could be hard to beat.
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