Notre Dame Stays Hot, Lands 2022 Athlete Nolan Ziegler
Notre Dame continued its fast start to the 2022 class, landing the third commitment of the class after picking up a pledge from Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholic Central athlete Nolan Ziegler.
The 6-4, 205-pound hybrid linebacker/safety informed the Notre Dame staff of his decision on Thursday night.
“I told them last night on our zoom call”, he mentioned to Irish Breakdown. “The call went amazing. Coach [Brian] Kelly was very excited, as were coaches [Clark] Lea, [Jeff] Quinn and [Nick] Lezynski. My parents got the opportunity to speak with them all last night as well. It was just an incredibly special night.”
Ziegler holds offers from many Power 5 programs including Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Boston College, and it is fair to say many more would have come along if he stayed open. However, after receiving the Notre Dame offer back on August 5th and many talks with his family, it was clear that no other school was going to top the Irish and what they have to offer.
“My mom asked me if I could really see myself playing for any other program, and I told her I couldn’t,” he stated. "Notre Dame fits so well in so many different ways. I am going to get a great education and win a National Championship.”
The 6-4, 205-pound hybrid linebacker/safety received his Notre Dame offer earlier this month, and the Irish immediately became a top contender. At the time he talked about how "emotional" he was after landing the offer. You can read that HERE.
The Notre Dame coaching staff likes Ziegler as a linebacker, but as he continues to fill out his impressive frame he could add positional flexibility to the Irish defense.
Ziegler is a bit of an Irish legacy. His grandfather is former Notre Dame All-American linebacker Tim Sullivan. If Notre Dame jumped into the mix they were always going to be a player, but the staff still had to put in the work to get him into the class, especially this early.
Ziegler developed a strong early bond with Quinn early on. Quinn, of course, coached at Grand Valley State for 15 years before spending three seasons at Central Michigan, and Ziegler's head coach, Todd Kolster, knows Quinn well.
That carried over into strong relationships with defensive coordinator Clark Lea and defensive analyst Nick Lezynski, and now head coach Brian Kelly.
With the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes bringing in just one linebacker, the coaching staff has attacked linebackers in the 2022 class hard. Ziegler kicks off what is expected to be a deep and talented group of linebackers.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes.
Follow me on Twitter: @NathanErbachIB
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook