Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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commitment profile: deshone kizer Irish Possess Winning Formula For Ohio Quarterback By Tom Loy T hroughout the recruiting process, Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic quarterback DeShone Kizer was adamant about wanting to attend a school with strong academics and a winning football program. The four-star prospect found everything that he was looking for in Notre Dame, and he committed to the Irish June 11. "From day one of this whole recruiting process, we as a family set up a formula that consisted of the location of school, coaching staff, academics and a winning tradition," the 6-5, 210-pound signal-caller said. "We pretty much spent the last two years trying to figure out what school would fit that formula the best. Fortunately I got put in a position at the end of this where I got to choose a school I wanted to go to that fit that the best. "I visited Notre Dame on Sunday, June 9 and I was blown away — it had everything that we asked for in a college and more. I knew then that I wanted to attend Notre Dame. There isn't a better place for me in the entire country." Kizer left South Bend feeling that he found his future home, but he wanted to take some time to think the situation over. Two days later, he called Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, who was visiting the New England Patriots 247Sports rates Kizer as a four-star prospect, the No. 7 recruit in Ohio, the No. 8 pro-style quarterback in the country and the No. 147 overall player nationally. photo courtesy 247sports training camp at the time, and shared the news that he was ready to be a member of the Irish football program. "Calling Coach Kelly was incredible, and I was ecstatic," Kizer noted. "They were actually at the Patriots' practice field. They were going over some offensive things. It was great to hear a head coach as excited as I was when I went to pull the trigger. "I committed on speaker phone, and Tom Brady and Tim Tebow were there to listen. You had one of the best prostyle quarterbacks ever in the room next to one of the best dual-style quar-