Elite RB Gavin Sawchuk Building Strong Connection With Notre Dame and Lance Taylor

Over the last several weeks, Notre Dame running backs coach Lance Taylor has made an impact on the recruiting trail as evidenced by the pledge of Denison (Texas) High School standout Jadarian Price.

Taylor is building connections all over the country, which is must for the 2022 class. One of those ball carriers to connect with Taylor is Littleton (Colo.) Valor Christian star Gavin Sawchuk.

Standing at 5-11 and 185 pounds, Sawchuk is one of the most versatile runners in his class with the ability to run between the tackles, bounce the ball outside or even act as a dangerous threat in the passing game. As Sawchuk has continued to get to know the Notre Dame coaching staff, he is quickly finding out that his talents could be a perfect fit for the program's offense.

“I definitely talk to [Coach Taylor] the most [at Notre Dame], just building the relationship,” Sawchuk told Irish Breakdown. “We've been able to go on multiple Zoom calls to learn more about their program, the school. I've been able to be on Zoom calls with Coach Taylor one-on-one and be able to talk about their offense and plans that they have to use me in the backfield. [We've] talked about stuff they can do with their offense. It's just been amazing to be able to talk with them about that.”

Taylor recognizes that Sawchuk is not like most high school running back prospects in the sense that he is equally dangerous through the air as he is on the ground. Valor Christian employed a system that showcased Sawchuk's dynamic talent in 2020, and Taylor says the same could be possible in South Bend.

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“Of course running the ball, but mostly what we talk about is catching the ball out of the backfield, doing different routes, getting the running back open in space and being able to let him make his moves and do what he does best with the ball,” Sawchuk said. “That's really what we've been talking about. We talk about their running offense and their run game, but we also talk about how he wants to maximize the running backs and get them out of the backfield to catch in the passing game.”

With 24 offers to his name, Sawchuk is hearing consistently from a lot of major programs, but he mentioned Notre Dame is among those he talks to the most with USC, Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Alabama in the mix as well.

Due to the recruiting dead period, Sawchuk has been unable to travel and visit several of the schools he is carefully considering, but Notre Dame is one of the programs that he stopped at pre-pandemic, so he is quite familiar with the Fighting Irish campus.

“I was able to get there Spring of my freshman year going into sophomore year,” Sawchuk recalled. “I was able to check out Notre Dame. It was great being up there. I was able to meet Coach Taylor in person, so I really enjoyed that visit being up there. I would love to go back again and see some of the new things. When I was there, they were still doing the construction for the indoor facility, the indoor practice field they have. There's a couple things I haven't seen yet that I want to go back and see, but we will have to see when this dead period ends.”

The fact that Sawchuk is eager to take a return trip to the school bodes well for Notre Dame and shows that he is truly interested in what the program has to offer. In addition to its football amenities, though, Sawchuk has a three-pronged set of criteria that will play into his eventual college decision.

“Just being able to maximize my skills and be able to use me out of the backfield, I think it's a great skill that I have especially with my speed,” Sawchuk stated. “I love schools that show me how they want to do that and how they're already doing that. I also look at their education to see how good their education is, see what their connects with their alumni-base are so after football I'd have something to fall back on. Pretty much the last thing I look at is culture around the school, around the players, around other students. Those are the three main things I look at.”

Sawchuk is ranked as a five-star recruit, the No. 24 overall player in the country and the top back in the land according to 247Sports. Sawchuk doesn't have a firm date in mind for a commitment, but he knows that his decision will come before the start of his senior season.

“I'm not sure yet, especially now,” Sawchuk added. “We have spring break next week, our school does, so I plan on taking some self visits to go see USC and Stanford. It's still kind of up in the air, especially because I haven't seen some of these places. Maybe I use an official visit as a time to see a place if I can't do an unofficial visit, so I'm not sure where [the official visits] would go yet.”

If Notre Dame is able to reel in Sawchuk, the Fighting Irish would have a quality one-two punch with he and Price in the fold, and the five-star prospect stands as one of ND's top targets at the running back position.

Here is the Irish Breakdown film analysis of Sawchuk:

"Sawchuk is from the Chris Tyree school of running back. He's a one-cut and go type of runner with home run speed. Although his track times aren't quite as good as Tyree's, Sawchuk has the kind of acceleration and second gear to turn a crease into a home run, no matter where the ball is snapped. His explosiveness and big-play speed is a big reason he's considered one of the nation's best backs.

"I was a bit surprised to see how tough Sawchuk was as a runner. I expected a back with his size and home run speed to have a lot of wiggle and be a guy who looked to make defenders miss. Sawchuk needs to get a lot stronger, especially with his lower body, but he's more than willing to mix it up, he'll put his shoulder down when he needs to and he can run through arm tackles.

"Sawchuk is a well-schooled back and an efficient runner. He is a disciplined runner that stays on his run track, and I was impressed with his patience as a ball carrier. He shows a great feel for letting blocks develop, using angles to set up defenders for vertical cuts and his vision allows him to find and explode through holes. If anything, I'd like to see Sawchuk be a bit more decisive on a snap-to-snap basis.

"Sawchuk is more fluid than sudden, and you won't see him doing a lot of shaking in space. Instead, he uses his speed to push defenders to commit, and if they over-pursue he has the ability to quickly plant and cut behind them. If they don't have the angle he can turn on the after-burners and outrun them to the sideline for big plays.

"Sawchuk needs to clean up his route running out of the backfield, but he catches the ball relatively clean and should be a big-play threat in the pass game once he cleans that part of his game up a bit. Sawchuk needs a lot of work as a pass blocker, but honestly, with his home run speed, a smart offensive coordinator is going to want to get him in space instead of asking him to take on linebackers and defensive linemen in the pass game."

Take a look at Sawchuk's junior highlights:

Stay tuned to Irish Breakdown for further updates on Sawchuk's recruitment.

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