Notre Dame Still Pushing For 2021 Standout Texas Safety
Notre Dame continues to make one of the best players in Texas a priority, and the Irish are in the hunt for his signature.
One of the most highly coveted prospects from the Dallas area is defensive back JD Coffey from Kennedale (Texas) High School. He’s a versatile prospect that already played safety, cornerback, and running back. Here’s a look at Coffey’s film.
The 6-0, 180-pound safety prospect played right away in high school, picking off six passes as a freshman. He intercepted another six passes as a sophomore, and added two more as a junior. Coffey’s instincts show well on film, and that’s also the case in the classroom.
“3.7,” Coffey said of grade point average. “I’m taking the test March 4th.”
That’s the type of safety recruit Notre Dame needs. A great player on the field and one that takes academics seriously. Safety recruiting has been difficult to decipher the past three years. From 2018 through 2020, the Irish signed five safety recruits, but none within the class of 2020.
With the unbalanced classes in mind, position movement has been a theme. 2018 safety recruit Derrik Allen transferred to Georgia Tech, while 2018 safety recruit Paul Moala moved to the rover-linebacker position, and 2018 cornerback recruits DJ Brown and Houston Griffith moved from cornerback to safety. For the 2020 class, the signing of Ohio State graduate transfer Isaiah Pryor was definitely a needed addition as well,
In short, safety has been a turnstile of players coming and going. What Notre Dame truly lacked, sans the addition of 2019 talented safety Kyle Hamilton, would be top-end safety recruits that stuck at the position.
Amongst the safeties headed into spring practice, Hamilton would be the only current Irish player that’s made a consistent contribution. Still, the Irish have talent in the backend of the defense. The primary goal for 2021 will be finding players that can push the depth chart. Notre Dame needs impact players.
Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Polian was the Irish coach mentioned by Coffey. He’s been active in Texas this year, with Coffey being a priority.
Coffey admitted that he liked to watch several different teams growing up, but that LSU, Ohio State and Oregon were his favorite teams to watch on television. Here are some comments about programs involved with his recruitment, as he provided a bit of ‘rapid fire’ commentary regarding a few schools.
Texas: “My home state school. Very interested.”
Baylor: “I’m going for the March 1st elite junior day. Definitely interested in Baylor.”
LSU: “I went to the Auburn-LSU game. I’ve been talking with LSU quite a bit.”
Auburn: “Coach (Chad) Morris, we had a good relationship when he was at Arkansas.”
Penn State: “Talk to me a lot. They’ve been recruiting me.”
Notre Dame: “Talk to me a lot. Recruiting me hard. They are still an option.”
Michigan: “They offered me recently. They’ve been trying to recruit me.”
Some of the schools that are not involved would be Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. Those three programs recruit Dallas, but are not coming after Coffey. It’s interesting considering programs such as Texas, LSU, Notre Dame and Michigan offered.
Even with the wide variety of schools, there are still more options. Coffey plans a spring break excursion that includes visiting Washington, California, and Oregon. With that, Coffey does not yet know any of his official visits.
“I haven’t pared down my list yet,” Coffey admitted. “I will get it down though.” Coffey wants to visit schools this spring, as mentioned above, and continue to learn about each of the schools recruiting him. He
“I plan to graduate early (to enroll in January).” That’s an important factor for Notre Dame and all the schools recruiting Coffey to consider. With that, Coffey does have a timeframe for a decision.
“I want to make a decision before my season. A summer decision.”
Coffey could take a few official visits in April and a few in June. He’s truly in the midst of learning about several different programs. He does know what he’s looking for when it comes time to decide.
“A school that loves to compete. A school that feels like home when I’m there. A place where my mom is comfortable with it.”
For Notre Dame to land Coffey, it must continue to recruit the safety hard. He has a plethora of options and he’s communicating regularly with several of them. He wants to develop relationships in an effort to learn about the schools and the coaches.
Of course Notre Dame needs to earn an official visit, which does appear to be a possibility. Look for LSU, Texas, and Notre Dame to amongst the schools that contend for official visits. Oregon should be another program to watch as well.
