On Tuesday, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., told Irish Sports Daily that he has accepted a preferred walk-on position with the Irish.
Schmidt, who also had offers from Air Force, Cincinnati, Villanova and Penn along with a similar preferred walk-on role at USC, made up his mind after taking a visit to South Bend last week. Schmidt had been excited about the prospect of joining the Irish since his coach first brought it up to the Notre Dame staff, but wasn’t completely sold until getting on campus last week.
“Going in I was a little iffy because I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to go so far away from home,” said Schmidt, who admitted he was leaning in another direction when he arrived on campus. “But if you were to plan the perfect visit for someone, I had the perfect visit. It was amazing.”
Schmidt said he had the chance to spend an hour each with Brian Kelly, Bob Diaco and Mike Elston.
“They told me exactly how they saw me fitting into the team, the structure of the team and how I could contribute,” said Schmidt. “They were just completely honest with me and I think that’s what I valued the most.”
Schmidt, whose sister attended Notre Dame, also had the chance to meet with players and students, which also made a big impact on him. He informed Diaco of his decision on Friday and was greeted with a big bear hug from the Irish defensive coordinator, who welcomed him to the family.
The Irish coaches were very clear with the plan they have for Schmidt.
“Coach Kelly told me how I could be an immediate contributor on special teams this fall,” Schmidt said. “He said if I end up playing and contributing and helping the team, I could work myself into a scholarship sometime in the future.”
Schmdit, who was also told by Diaco that he would have the chance to play inside linebacker, prides himself on his work ethic.
“It’s kind of given me an extra inspiration if I ever needed it,” he said.
Schmidt finished his senior season at Mater Dei with 98 tackles, including 10 behind the line of scrimmage and seven sacks. He is good friends with Notre Dame’s last verbal commitment, Troy Niklas of Servite High School, but Schmidt is also close with Max Wittek and Victor Blackwell, a pair of teammates who will be playing for USC.
Schmidt and Niklas, whose fathers played together in college, are excited to be playing on the same team again for the first time since middle school.
Schmidt’s high school head coach Bruce Rollinson approached Notre Dame about a potential preferred walk-on role for Schmidt late in the recruiting process. Rollinson has coached countless Division I players, including current USC quarterback Matt Barkley and former Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart, and is convinced Schmidt will be able to compete at the highest level of college.
“Definitely,” Rollinson told Irish Sports Daily last month. “He can get after it. I would not even pursue this with the family, I don’t think Notre Dame…would voice an interest if they didn’t think he could be a contributor.”
Rollinson also raved about Schmidt as a young man.
“He’s one of those kids that you wish your son would be like,” Rollinson said. “He’s a character kid. He’s a leader. He’s very solid academically. He’s tremendously poised for a boy of his age. He’s got a tremendous amount of confidence in himself and he can bring that hat.”
