Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532365
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2025 75 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY KYLE KELLY I f you want to have a role in Cincin- nati St. Xavier coach Steve Specht's defense as a defensive end, you better be unselfish. Notre Dame 2025 signee Gordy Sulfsted learned that early in his high school football career. A c c o r d i n g t o t h e 6 - f o o t - 4 , 245-pound Sulfsted, On3's No. 51 pros- pect in Ohio and No. 113 defensive line- man in his class, the Bombers' defense is a "read scheme." Simply said, you have to read "your key" on the play before you can make a move. So, unless you're sure the of- fensive lineman shows a pass set to in- dicate the quarterback is dropping back to throw, don't expect to break out into a pass rush. As a result, stats are hard to come by. To become a highly recruited player on the St. X defensive line, you must mas- ter your technique and play fast and physically. Neither was an issue for a selfless and skilled Sulfsted in the last three seasons. He received his first scholarship offer from Pittsburgh during the spring of his sophomore year. Then, during his junior season, he managed to collect 41 tackles (22 solo), 6 stops for loss and 3.5 sacks in 12 games. Iowa, Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers and Vanderbilt all offered. A new batch of offers came before the calendar turned to 2024. Purdue, Duke, Stanford, Illinois, Miami and Virginia were among them. Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech came calling in January 2024. He entered the spring with a group of schools he considered contenders for his eventual college commitment. Then, the Fighting Irish shook things up after they evaluated him in person and of- fered him a scholarship in May. He basi- cally committed on the spot. "I just knew Notre Dame's too hard to pass up," Sulfsted told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "First off, their school is too hard to pass up. Everything about it — football and then the staff — is great. I trust all of them. [Defensive line] Coach [Al] Washington is the guy I want to work with." With his college football recruitment in the rearview mirror, Sulfsted turned all his attention to his senior season. However, an unfortunate preseason knee injury prevented him from playing regular season games. Despite the devastating news, Sulf- sted worked with Specht to make major improvements that also excited the Irish coaching staff. One of them was how he refined his skills as a pass rusher. "I was working on that a lot com- ing up to the season," Sulfsted said. "I wanted to get quicker off the ball. That was something I was looking forward to getting better at." Sulfsted trained exceptionally hard in the offseason. His head coach saw the investment Sulfsted made toward physical upgrades pay dividends. "He was physically developing," Specht said. "It would have been a lot of fun to watch him play this year because of that physical change. You could tell he worked so hard in the offseason to get bigger, stronger and faster. He had an extra step — an explosive step." Even though a knee injury kept Sulf- sted from shining as a pass rusher dur- ing his senior season, he is expected to recover fully. He will enroll at Notre Dame in June and, soon enough, start chasing down opposing quarterbacks again. "He'll come back stronger than ever," Specht said. ✦ Sulfsted, who was sidelined by a knee injury his senior season, is expected to fully recover and "come back stronger than ever." PHOTO BY KYLE KELLY Improving Pass Rusher Gordy Sulfsted Poised To Bounce Back From Injury GORDY SULFSTED DEFENSIVE LINEMAN 6-4 ∙ 245 ST. XAVIER H.S. CINCINNATI RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪ ✪ ✪ — 69 26 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 117 51 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 73 26 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 84 31 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 39 22 STATISTICS • Missed the 2024 season due to injury. • Collected 41 tackles, 6 stops for loss, 3.5 sacks and 3 passes broken ups in 12 games in 2023. NOTABLE • Greater Catholic League Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2023. • Ranked No. 6 on Cincinnati Fox 19's Top 19 before 2024 season. • His father, Alex Sulfsted, played at Miami (Ohio) before going to the NFL and playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals. • Invited to play in U.S. Army Bowl. RECRUITMENT • Committed to the Fighting Irish on May 19, 2024. • Closely considered Duke and Wisconsin before making a surprise Irish commitment. • Recruited by defensive line coach Al Wash- ington. • Visited Notre Dame five times, including his official visit on June 7, 2024. 2025 PROJECTION • Best suited to redshirt to fully recover from injury and add necessary weight to compete on a collegiate defensive line. THEY SAID IT BlueandGold.com analyst Tim Hyde: "He plays with a lot of energy. My No. 1 trait is his hand placement. He has unbelievable leverage with the way he plays off blocks. … "He's a big athlete who is going to grow and develop. … He comes from a great high school football league. There are a lot of really great traits he is going to bring to Notre Dame."