Notre Dame Visit Stands Out For Tight End Carter Nelson

Notre Dame just wrapped up its second big recruiting weekend of June, which gave the Irish coaches an opportunity to once again impress Ainsworth (Neb.) High School tight end Carter Nelson. The talented tight end made his first return campus to visit since he visited Notre Dame in November for its matchup against Boston College.

According to a source close to Nelson, this official visit over the weekend was a needle mover for the talented tight end. It has helped to solidify the Irish right near the top of his list.

"It was a great visit,” the source told Irish Breakdown. "It was nice to have more time and better weather than the last trip out there. The official visit was definitely up there with any visit he has had. It will really make his decision even tougher.”

One person who has stood out during this visit for Nelson was offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Gerad Parker, who has been out to Ainsworth High School several times over the last few months. He has quickly developed an outstanding relationship with the Notre Dame coordinator.

"They had a lot of meetings with the whole family, plus both facility and campus tours,” the source stated. "There was also a chance for the boys to hangout and have some bonding time. Plus there was a lot of great food.”

The staff’s pitch remained the same during this visit. Yes, Nelson would add to an extremely talented tight end room. His impact, however, goes way beyond busy another number in the room.

"The staff’s message is that they want him bad and they would use him all over the field. They want to take advantage of his explosiveness and playmaking ability.”

As of now, Nelson has two official visits left. He will be visiting Penn State next weekend and then finish his tour with Nebraska the weekend after. Leaving the visit, it appears that Notre Dame has separated themselves along with Georgia. The next couple of weeks will likely determine which program can close for this elite talent.

At 6-5 and 210 pounds, Nelson is the type of athlete who can pretty much do anything he wants to on the football field. For the 9-1 Ainsworth squad, he was the team’s leading rusher with 761 yards and 14 touchdowns on 119 carries, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Nelson is also the team’s leading receiver with 525 yards and 11 touchdowns on just 28 total receptions.

He has done all that while also playing a lot of reps as the team’s quarterback. On the season, he threw for 663 yards and 15 touchdowns on 83 attempts. The junior has also been careful with the football, only throwing three interceptions on the year.

It doesn’t end on the offensive side of the football for Nelson’s impact. Doubling as a dynamic safety for Ainsworth, he hauled in six interceptions and totaled 41 tackles.

Nelson is also the team’s top punter to boot, averaging 39.6 yards per punt. That is on top of him being a dynamic basketball and track and field athlete as well for Ainsworth.

Despite being an eight man football star, Nelson is being heavily pursued by several big time programs. Notable schools such as Notre Dame, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Penn State, Miami, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Auburn, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Colorado, Louisville, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Purdue, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Baylor, Iowa State, Duke, Kansas and Illinois among others.

The Nebraska standout is considered a consensus four-star recruit by every major recruiting platform. Nelson ranks highest on the 247Sports ranking, which has him pegged as the No. 40 overall player and the No. 2 tight end in the 2024 recruiting class. ESPN, 247Sports and On3 all have him rated as the top player in Nebraska.

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Irish Breakdown Content

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Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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