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Notre Dame Keeping Tabs On 2022 QB From New Jersey

Talented 2022 quarterback Steven Angeli has early interest in Notre Dame
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With already 13 offers from top programs across the country, Class of 2022 four-star quarterback Steven Angeli is one of the more coveted recruits from his class.

The Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic star currently holds offers from LSU, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Miami, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Michigan State, Northwestern, Rutgers, Boston College, Nebraska and Old Dominion, and is receiving high interest from several others.

As is the case for every other recruit in the 2021 and 2022 cycles, the recruiting period has come to a screeching halt. Some recruits have shut down their recruitments earlier than expected, others have extended their timeframes. It is an unprecedented time for everyone, but for the 2021 and 2022 classes impacted by the COVID-19 virus and unable to visit college campuses and connect fully with coaching staffs, a new way to look at recruiting has been formed.

For Angeli, he was planning to get to several different campuses in the spring and summer, and because he hasn’t been able to make those trips he understands the process has been a little slower than anticipated. This includes a canceled trip to Notre Dame for their Quarterback Camp.

“Right now, I haven’t been able to get out with the spring recruiting period taken away,” Angeli said.“I wasn’t able to see these schools up close and in person. I’m honestly keeping everything level. No school is leading the pack for me right now, and I just want to make the best decision when it comes to that time.

“Outside of my offers, I’ve been in contact with Notre Dame,” he continued. “I was going to try and make it out to their camp, but it was canceled. I am trying to keep in contact with them. Georgia and Stanford have been recruiting me pretty hard. I’ve been in contact with Alabama a good amount, and Florida State. I’m just trying to build a relationship with these coaches and hopefully they offer me in the near future.”

Fortunately for Angeli, he has been in close contact with many programs and has built strong relationships with certain coaching staffs. He was also able to get to a few campuses prior to the shutdown.

“I’ve really been staying in contact a lot with LSU, West Virginia, Rutgers, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan,” he stated. “I’ve been to Penn State a couple of times … Ohio State, Pitt, Rutgers. Those are the main ones I’ve been to recently. Penn State was really surreal for the game experience vs. Idaho. I just think it was a really great glimpse into their culture. Ohio State, when I was there, you know to get my first offer from Coach (Ryan) Day was honestly just one milestone into the journey of my recruiting to know a school believes in me and that I can really do something.

“Pitt was really cool to see too,” continued the Rivals four-star quarterback. “I haven’t been able to get back or have more contact with them, but it was great. And then Rutgers is always great to me. Home school, they are recruiting me really hard, trying to build the program up. Their campus is great. Everything is great about them.”

The 6-3, 210-pound New Jersey native hails from a program that Notre Dame recruits on a yearly basis. In the 2022 class, they’ve offered his teammate and four-star defensive back Jaeden Gould, and the basketball program produced Notre Dame 2020 signee Matt Zona. These factors certainly help, and Angeli is excited about what Notre Dame can offer him if they enter the mix.

“Just to know that Notre Dame has an eye on me is great,” he explained. “It's such a prestigious program. Great academics, great culture, great football. They are really great overall in my opinion. "Hopefully they offer me pretty soon, and I would love to get out there when the pandemic is over. I am really excited for Matt Zona. He is a great kid, and he speaks very highly of Notre Dame. I think he is a great fit for their basketball program.

“I’ve been in contact with (Dave) Peloquin,” continued Angeli. “… He was really great. I haven’t been in contact with Coach (Tommy) Rees as much to be honest. My head coach has been in contact with him a good amount, but we haven’t personally spoken yet. I’m hoping I can speak with him in the near future.”

Notre Dame definitely feels like it would be a good fit based on what Angeli says he is looking for in a program. Academics are important, and he wants to find a home away from home. A place he feels comfortable at. Of course, a winning culture doesn’t hurt either.

“I have a lot of dreams, aspirations and goals for myself, but in a college I want it to feel like it is home for me,” Angeli explained. “A second place where I feel comfortable other than my home. I want to go somewhere that has a great coaching staff where I can build a strong relationship with the head coach, offensive coordinator, and everyone that is a part of the staff.

“I really want to win a National Championship while in college too,” he continued. “To find a team that has people around me to support me in doing that is definitely a big goal of mine and something I will look for in a program. Academics of course are important. I like to pride myself on being a student-athlete, getting it done in the classroom and on the field. I want to go somewhere that prides itself in academics as well and is not just for athletics, but also life after football. Weather is another thing for me too. I want to go somewhere that has great weather.”

Angeli describes himself as a leader first and foremost. Someone that wants the respect of his teammates and coaches. An athlete that is a passer first, but can make plays with legs. He prides himself on being able to make plays other players can’t and he works hard at his craft to ensure that is the case.

“I definitely describe myself as a passer, that is an athletic kid,” he told Irish Breakdown. “I’m a passer first, but I can get plays done with my legs. I really pride myself on extending plays, making all platform throws, and just doing stuff that not many people can do at the quarterback position. I feel that I can make every throw on the field, lead an offense, command a huddle, have precedence over a locker room and be an extension of the coaching staff on the football field.

“Right now, I am really just working on getting through my progressions, my reads, making sure my mechanics stay tuned and sound,” he continued. “Overall, just working towards the season. I want to be the best version of myself over the final two years of my high school career.”

As for a commitment timeline he doesn’t want to extend it into his senior year. As quarterback, he understands the importance of recruiting a class and building that class as a leader of it. Based on Notre Dame’s recent history in recruiting the quarterback position, that seems to fit the same guidelines and desire they have to lock up that position early on in the process.

“Obviously, the spring would have been huge for me to get around to some places, but I'm looking to make a decision before my senior year,” he stated. “I want to be able to recruit the class. I think it is really important for the quarterback of a recruiting class to build a relationship with the guys he is going to be playing with, so I definitely think it is important for me to pick a date that I feel comfortable with and make that commitment to a school. So I definitely think I will be committing a little earlier on.”

Angeli received his first offer from Ohio State before he even started a game for Bergen Catholic. Last year, he played sparingly as he sat behind senior Andrew Boel, who signed with Division III Bowdoin College in Maine.

He will take the reins this year as a junior and will presumably be the starter for the next two years before heading off to college. With a full season of high school film under his belt after 2020, more offers and interest should be coming his way in the very near future. 

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