Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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56 JUNE/JULY 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED PREP PROFILES Cross Plains (Tenn.) East Robertson class of 2022 athlete Taylor Groves received offers from Michigan and Notre Dame on Jan. 27. Nine days later, he announced his commitment to the Wolverines. On March 29, though, Groves opened back up his recruitment. "The biggest thing for me is to be able to get on campus in the next month or two and being able to see coaches face to face because we haven't been able to for a while," Groves told Rivals' Josh Helmholdt. "That played a big part in me decom- mitting from Michigan. I just felt that I had rushed that process, and I just want to start over and do it all again." Notre Dame wide receivers coach Del Alexander got back in contact with Groves the same day that the four-star recruit tweeted that he would be backing off his pledge to the Wolverines. They've already done a couple of Zoom calls since then as well. The first video call was about "different characteristics of the Notre Dame football program" per Groves. They had another call on April 13. "We went over their virtual tour — the stadium, the game-day expe- rience and things like that," Groves said. "It was great." Also on that Zoom, Alexander showed Groves some clips of Notre Dame's recent spring practice for a film study of sorts. He liked that por- tion of the call as well. "I'm enjoying it; it's been a great experience," Groves said about be- ing recruited by Notre Dame. "From seeing it through the virtual tour, it's been great. It's a school that I really want to take a visit to." Groves reports that he also ex- changes text messages with Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees on a daily basis. "They're definitely up there at the top of my list of schools," Groves said. "I've built a great relationship with Coach Alexander and Coach Rees. They compete every year. They're one or two pieces away from a national championship. "It would be great to play for a program like that." Groves has not set up any official visits yet. Notre Dame, Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, among others, are official visit possibilities for Groves. While Notre Dame is recruiting the versatile prospect at receiver, he has a handful of schools that see his tal- ents translating as a defensive back. Groves himself may agree that his biggest upside could be on defense. This will be interesting to monitor as his recruitment moves forward. — Mike Singer As a sophomore, New Hope (Minn.) Robbinsdale Cooper Senior High School class of 2023 tight end Jaxon Howard is just at the age of being able to get a driver 's license. He also has 51 scholarship offers to choose from — 48 from Power Five programs. "It's been crazy for me," Howard said of the recruiting process. "Some- times I can't even believe it's happen- ing to me right now. One thing that does help is that coaches can't call yet, but I have a feeling that when Sept. 1 of this year comes around, my phone will be blowing up a little bit. "I'm prepared to slowly but surely find which schools fit me and narrow my list down a bit." Howard is correct. Even if he trims his list in half by this fall, his phone and mailbox will be flooded by col- lege coaches. Even though coaches can't have in-person contact with Howard, they're still able to recruit him hard by setting up weekly phone calls. Notre Dame is among the schools that are recruiting him consistently and was one of his more recent of- fers. The Fighting Irish were offer No. 48 for the 6-4, 235-pounder in February, and it was one that meant a lot to him. "Oh yeah — it was extremely spe- cial," Howard said. "My dad added me to a call with their tight ends coach, and right away, I could tell something special was about to hap- pen for me. When they offered me a scholarship, it was pretty cool." Howard received the tender from tight ends coach John McNulty, who has recruited him for quite some time. "He's a guy who is extremely pas- sionate about football," Howard said of McNulty. "He's very proud of his tight ends and how he devel- ops them. We've been building this relationship for quite a while now. I've been on calls to get to know them. I've learned about their tradi- tion, and things have been going smoothly. "With them giving me the offer, it wasn't like they offered out of the blue. It definitely meant a lot to me." His father, Willie Howard, was a defensive lineman for the Stanford Cardinal before being selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the sec- ond round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played for two seasons before an injury ended his career. Howard plans to visit more than 20 schools in June, including Notre Dame on June 5. — Mike Singer Notre Dame Is In Pursuit Of Former Michigan Commit The Fighting Irish Are A Top Contender For Elite 2023 Tight End TAYLOR GROVES ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ East Robertson H.S. Cross Plains, Tenn. Status: Offered Class: 2022 Position: Wide Receiver Ht.: 6-3 • Wt.: 185 Rivals Rankings: No. 14 player in Tennessee and No. 46 wide receiver nationally JAXON HOWARD ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Robbinsdale Cooper Sr. H.S. New Hope, Minn. Status: Offered Class: 2023 Position: Tight End Ht.: 6-4 • Wt.: 234 Rivals Rankings: No. 64 overall player in the country