Alex Anzalone may have reaffirmed his pledge to Notre Dame last month, but the 2013 Pennsylvania linebacker commit will clearly be a priority for the Irish staff until he enrolls early in South Bend next month.
“It’s pretty cool,” Anzalone said. “I guess it makes me feel important. It’s just seeing them in a different setting. It’s a great feeling knowing that you’ll be in good hands.”
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco visited Anzalone at Wyomissing Area High School on Friday.
“He just wanted to check up on me and show his face and let me know that he’s thinking about me and everything,” said Anzalone. “I sat down with him for a little bit.”
Irish recruiting coordinator Tony Alford made an in-home visit on Monday,
“It went really well,” Anzalone said of Alford’s visit. “We talked about a lot of things. We didn’t talk about anything too specific, we were just opening up a relationship and building on things.
“It was awesome. He’s probably one of the main coaches I’ve built a relationship with at Notre Dame. I think it was pretty important for me to have him see my house, my whole family and what I grew up with and everything. I guess it just makes us closer.”
The senior linebacker will be seeing Diaco again soon and he’ll be joined by Irish head coach Brian Kelly.
“I think Coach Kelly and Diaco are coming next Wednesday,” he said.
Anzalone has heard the reports about Diaco interviewing for head coaching jobs and while he would relish the opportunity to be coached by one of the nation’s top assistants, it won’t have an impact on his recruitment.
“I don’t think that would affect it at all,” Anzalone said. “I understand he has to do what he has to do and he has a family to take care of. I wouldn’t be worried about him leaving because I chose Notre Dame for Notre Dame and not necessarily for the coaches, they just add on to everything, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.”
The only thing Anzalone is worried about right now is finding a way to get his high school squad two more victories.
After a 52-0 victory in last week’s quarterfinals, the Spartans will face Imhotep Charter in the state semifinals this Saturday.
“It’s pretty surreal,” said Anzalone. “If we win this game, we’ll be the winningest team in our school’s history. It’s just crazy to think that the state championship is this close to us. I have two non-guaranteed weeks of my high school career, it’s just a surreal feeling.”
Both teams enter the game with perfect 14-0 records. Imhotep is led by former Irish running back target David Williams.
“They have a couple big guys up front and these guys can move a little bit and they have obviously have Dave Williams. I think we should be fine if we just play solid football and do our responsibilities and not make mistakes.”
