Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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72 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY TODD D. BURLAGE I ncoming Irish linebacker Anthony Sacca has relived the moment along- side his father countless times. The year was 1990, and Anthony's father, Tony Sacca, was the standout quarterback for No. 18 Penn State, which was trying to win at No. 1 Notre Dame that November. With the Nittany Lions trailing 21-7 at halftime, odds for an upset of the high-flying Irish were long. Undeterred, Penn State outscored Notre Dame 17-7 in the second half and secured a 24-21 upset win, with the game-changing play coming on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Sacca to tight end Al Golden that tied the game late in the fourth quarter. "Just a little throwback moment," Anthony Sacca said. The ironies run deep in that Golden ended up the Fighting Irish defensive coordinator, and later became the pri- mary recruiter to lure the younger Sacca to Notre Dame from St. Joseph Prep in Philadelphia. "It's a full-circle moment," Anthony Sacca explained last month. "My dad was really good friends with Coach Golden in college, and now he's going to be coaching me." The last part of Sacca's plan didn't hold together — Golden took the de- fensive coordinator job with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals after the Irish's sea- son ended. But Sacca's commitment to Notre Dame held together just fine, and the Fighting Irish are getting a good one. With Tennessee, Ohio State, Geor- gia, Oregon, Penn State all in pursuit, Sacca's list of scholarship offers read like a 2024-25 College Football Playoff bracket. But the Notre Dame coaches were on Sacca early, offering a scholar- ship all the way back in December 2021 — the same month that Marcus Free- man became the new Irish head coach — and they never backed off. "All of these schools were great op- tions. There was no bad decision," Sacca said. "I talked to Coach Freeman on my visits and over the phone. Notre Dame was one of the most consistent schools throughout my recruitment." With his college recruit- ment finally in the rearview m i r ro r a f te r a l m os t fo u r years, Sacca was left with just one more project, and that was flipping his father's al- legiance from the White and Blue to the Blue and Gold. Mission accomplished. "I'm rooting for Notre Dame," the elder Sacca told the Philadelphia Enquirer the day before the Irish beat the Nittany Lions in the national semifinals. "I wish Penn State, and all my buddies, and all the alumni the best. But now I've moved on to my son going to Notre Dame, I will be rooting for Notre Dame." ✦ Sacca — whose father, Tony Sacca, was a standout quarterback for Penn State — called his pledge to Notre Dame "a full-circle moment." PHOTO COURTESY ON3 Anthony Sacca Is Flipping The Family Script ANTHONY SACCA LINEBACKER 6-3 ∙ 225 ST. JOSEPH'S PREP SCHOOL (PA.) DELRAN, N.J. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 342 34 8 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 73 17 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 53 12 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 173 20 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 114 8 2 STATISTICS • Recorded 76 stops (44 solo), 18 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 10 passes broken up, 1 forced fumble and 1 interception (returned 94 yards for a touchdown) as a senior. • Made 67 tackles and 2 interceptions as a junior. • Totaled 50 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovered as a sophomore. • Played a key part in St. Joseph's Prep winning Pennsylvania Class 6A state championships from 2022-24. NOTABLE • 2025 Navy All-American Bowl participant. • 2022, 2023 and 2024 Pa. Football Writers' Class 6A All-State team selection. • 2023 MaxPreps High School Junior All-America second-team pick. • 2021 MaxPreps High School Freshman All- America second-team selection. • Is the son of former Penn State quarterback Tony Sacca. • His mother, Michelle Otto, played soccer at West Virginia. RECRUITMENT • Recruited by linebackers coach Max Bullough and former defensive coordinator Al Golden. • Committed to the Irish on March 30, 2024. • Picked the Irish over Alabama, Duke, Ohio State and Wisconsin. • Visited Notre Dame four times, including his official visit on June, 7 2024. 2025 PROJECTION • Expected to redshirt. THEY SAID IT BlueandGold.com football analyst Tim Hyde: "I like his film. He comes from a national pow- erhouse high school, so you know he's going up against great competition and getting good coach- ing. When you watch him play, it looks like he's always thinking on the fly — he's breaking things down and reading and reacting to what's going on. "It's an old-school mentality — taking safeties and moving them to linebacker, taking linebackers and moving them to defensive end. And Sacca is going to keep developing for the Irish." On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power: "One of the strengths of his game is his instincts while playing in space that he brings from his experience as a safety. He's natural playing in space — his high school moves him all over the defense. He can play off-ball, he can play in the slot and even plays deep safety at times still at his size. He identifies plays quickly, recognizes route concepts and flows downhill to make plays. "Sacca has good physicality and is a solid ath- lete. He adds versatility and projects as a pure off-ball linebacker. He'll be fairly ready to go from a polish and experience standpoint. He has a well-rounded skill set with the linebacker size and the coverage chops of a former defensive back, which is always a positive. This is a nice pickup for Notre Dame."