Peyton Newell arrived in South Bend a day before Notre Dame’s game against Wake Forest, which gave the 2014 Kansas defensive line prospect an early look at campus.
“We got there Friday about 1 o’clock,” the 6-foot-2, 280-pounder from Hiawatha High School (Hiawatha, Kan.) said. “It went really good. I really enjoyed it.
“We spent about four hours in the football offices and getting tours around campus. I really liked it. It’s really easy to get around campus. I didn’t find myself getting lost, so that was something I really liked.”
Newell had high expectations coming into the trip based on what he’d heard about Notre Dame and they were met.
“There’s a lot of tradition there and it’s everything that everyone told me about it,” he said. “It’s really loud and stuff.”
Newell already has 19 offers from schools like UCLA, TCU, Iowa, Illinois, Baylor, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas State, Kansas, Purdue, South Carolina, California, Oklahoma State and Northwestern, but didn’t get extensive time with the Irish staff.
“I wasn’t able to spend much time with the coaches because it was right around when they had practice, but other than that, I was really impressed with everything,” he said.
“I talked to (Director of Football Personnel) Tim McDonnell for a bit and then I spent about 10 minutes on Friday with Coach (Mike) Elston. He just said that he was glad I was there and they liked my highlight tape for this year and that they’re really interested.”
The Irish’s 38-0 win over the Demon Deacons certainly made an impact on Newell.
“It was really good,” said Newell. “I could tell the team was really playing with a lot of passion. I think that carried over. I was really impressed with the defense. It seemed like every time I looked, Wake Forest was punting. They ended up shutting them out. That was a really good job by the defense.”
Newell was also impressed with the Irish’s defensive scheme.
“I can definitely see myself fitting in there well,” he said.
Newell has visited several campuses over the last few months and has one more planned for next weekend.
“We’re going down to Texas A&M next weekend and that will be the last one for the year,” he said.
He plans on keeping in contact with the Irish staff and would welcome the opportunity to visit again.
“They said that they’re going to stay in touch with me,” he said.
“I’m really interested and I’m definitely going to do everything I can to get back up there soon.”
