When John Turner (Indianapolis Cathedral/Indianapolis, Ind.) arrived Notre Dame’s on campus last summer for camp, he knew he had something to prove.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound safety had an opportunity to show the Notre Dame coaching staff in person that he was worthy of an offer.
"I came into that day telling myself that whatever happens, is going to happen, but leave it on the field," he said. "I thought I was able to show my abilities and prove that I had what it takes to play at this level."
The Indiana native was able to impress the coaching staff enough and he received that elusive offer. Once he received the offer from the Irish coaching staff, he knew where he'd attend college.
"I acted like I needed to think things over, but I knew where I wanted to go," he stated. "Notre Dame has everything I want in a school, it's close to home, it's the perfect fit for me and my family."
A lot of people criticized the offer to Turner and he entered his senior season with a chip on his shoulder to prove what type of player he was.
"It doesn't really matter, as long as the coaching staff and my teammates have confidence in me," said Turner. "I think the coaching staff has a good idea about who can play college football. I don't really use it as extra motivation because I don't need any extra motivation."
After an 0-2 start to the 2011 season, Turner helped lead his Cathedral team to an 11-1 finish and a Indiana 5A State Championship. Now the Irish safety is looking to help bring a championship to South Bend.
"At Cathedral, we play the best teams in the country and we proved not only that we're the best team in Indiana, but one of the best teams in the country," he stated. "I hate to lose and I know Coach Kelly hates to lose, we're looking to bring a National Championship to Notre Dame."
Once the regular season ended, Turner stayed in contact with Irish assistant Mike Elston and he's been counting down the days until he could sign with Notre Dame.
"Coach Elston has always treated me very well and when he would come by the house it wasn’t always about football," he explained. "I've been waiting for this day to come for a long time and now that it's here, it's almost surreal. When I committed last summer, signing day seemed so far away."
Now that Turner has inked with Irish, what does he expect during his time in South Bend?
"We’re going to win a lot of games," he said. "I'm just looking forward to enjoying the entire college experience and building new relationships. It's really awesome to have an opportunity to get a great education and play football at a high-level."
