Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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just make sure I knew that this was the place to be. Playing alongside each other was something we talked about, and we talked about being dominant. You want to play alongside the best and that's what we talk about with him and I on the same defense. "It would be a perfect combo seeing him on the edge and having me on the inside. It'd be a good duo." Early in Morgan's high school ca- reer, his preference was to get away from home and experience something different than what he's used to. Notre Dame is only 90 minutes from his home, and that played a role in his lack of interest early in his recruiting process. Down the stretch, distance along with academics were some of the positives about attending school in South Bend. "The fact that it's not far from home is a good thing," Morgan said. "It's good for my family, and they can see me play whenever they want. I can bring people to games, and my family won't have to worry about major trav- els costs. That's a bonus. There's just a lot that works on and off the field with me attending Notre Dame. "I'd say that Notre Dame is one of the top Division I academic schools that I know of. They have the aca- demic programs that I'm interested in and they do a good job of helping the students deal with school and football. That was good for me and my family when we were looking at schools." During his National Signing Day press conference, Kelly took the time to call Brooklyn (N.Y.) Poly Prep Country Day defensive tackle Jay Hayes his best recruiter in this class. Hayes became a big fan of Morgan's play on the field and was constantly in Morgan's ear during December and January. Come February, all his hard work paid off, and Hayes was elated to find out they would be playing to- gether at Notre Dame. "When I first heard we were getting him, I was so fired up," Hayes said. "He's the real deal. I watched a lot of his film and I wanted him playing with me up there. He's dominant out there. He's real aggressive and he hits hard and he just makes plays. "We've talked in the past and I knew he had some interest in Notre Dame, but he never came out and told me he wanted to come. That's so awe- some. We just got ourselves another All-American linebacker. We got our- selves a lot of wins coming in our fu- ture. Hopefully we can turn that into a championship." ✦ FILM ANALYSIS Strengths There are very few linebackers as aggressive as Morgan … He's a heavy hitter with very good closing speed … Loves to deliver the knockout blow to the opposition with his ferocious hit- ting ability … He's a smooth athlete with good change of direction … Very good form tackler … Polished linebacker with good vision and can sniff a play out well. Areas For Improvement Listed previously at 6-3, Morgan checked in at 6-1 during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl … Overall size isn't a concern, but height does make a difference … Much more of a pass-rush- ing linebacker than a coverage linebacker … Remains to be seen if that will require an adjust- ment period at the next level.