Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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78 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY KYLE KELLY R uss Mann remembered the moment vividly. Before Indianapolis Ben Davis High's Mann, who just finished his second season as the school's head coach, joined the Giants as a secondary coach in 2022, he recalled watching a young Mark Zackery IV run stride for stride with an effort to make a tackle. The ball carrier was former Carmel (Ind.) High wide receiver Desmond Duffy, one of the conference's fastest players. That was before 25 Power Four col- lege football programs offered Zackery a scholarship. Before he signed with the Notre Dame football program over Cincinnati, Florida and Michigan. And before he was a four-star recruit ranked by On3 as the No. 3 player in Indiana, the No. 15 cornerback nationally and the No. 119 overall player in the 2025 class. Zackery was just a freshman, albeit a freakish one. "On film, there was this No. 13 that doesn't catch Duffy, but doesn't break stride with him," said Mann, recalling the 2021 season when he scouted Ben Davis as an assistant coach for India- napolis Warren Central. "I was like, 'Who is this kid?' I looked at their roster because we had already played Ben Davis. I didn't remember the name, but I remembered No. 13." Mann said he did not know who Zack- ery was in 2020 because he was the de- fensive coordinator at Warren Central. Zackery played defense at Ben Davis, not offense, so Mann did not have to prepare for him. There was no need to know who wore that No. 13 jersey. When Mann accepted an assistant coaching job at Ben Davis before the 2022 season, he met Zackery and, after conversing with him, figured out that he was the mysterious "No. 13." During that meeting, he also learned Zackery's goals. It became apparent that Mann was not just dealing with an athlete with potential because of his speed. Zackery demonstrated that he had the desire to become something special. "That let me know, 'Get a good seat for this because this kid is about to put on a show,'" Mann said. He was right. And he had a front-row seat for all Zackery's accomplishments for the next two years. First, he saw Zackery help the school's basketball team win a state champion- ship as a sophomore. Zackery scored 16 points in a 53-41 Class 4A victory over Kokomo (Ind.) High and four-star center Flory Bidunga, the nation's No. 23 overall 2024 prospect who signed with Kansas. Then, in Mann's first season, Zack- ery led the Ben Davis football team to a Class 6A state title. In the champion- ship game, he had 6 catches for 86 yards Zackery had a decorated high school career, claiming a state championship as a junior and Indiana Mr. Football as a senior. PHOTO COURTESY ON3 'Pattern Of Success' Leads Mark Zackery IV To Notre Dame