Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Megan Whitt is in her first year with the Notre Dame football program. In her current role, she assists recruiting coordinator Tony Alford and di- rector of player personnel Dave Peloquin. She or- ganizes all official and unofficial visits by prospec- tive student-athletes, manages compliance and academic records for recruits, oversees student workers and helps organize and direct game-day recruiting efforts. Before joining the Irish staff, Whitt served as the recruiting and operations coordinator at Ohio State, where she graduated in 2012 with a sport leader- ship and sport humanities degree. Blue & Gold Illustrated: Was it difficult to change allegiances? Whitt: "It wasn't as difficult as I thought. When I came here to interview and met with Coach [Brian] Kelly, I knew it was the place I wanted to be at and needed to be at after seeing his vision for recruiting. I knew I would be able to take things I did at Ohio State and implement them here. So once I got his backing, I was ready to go." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What new programs have you brought to the table? Whitt: "The biggest one I have done is the Irish Invasion, our big recruiting camp in June. I wanted to mock it off like The Opening in Oregon and turn it into a prospect camp where we had DJs, opened it up to the media and did it on our practice fields. "We had a junior day before that so the kids got to see our facilities, see our campus, interact with our coaches and then do a camp in front of our fans and media." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What about the ambas- sador program? Whitt: "The big thing with the program is when recruits come to campus, my No. 1 priority is that they get the individual attention that they deserve. They will be matched up with a stu- dent, and we will be able to make sure they get proper tours, get to meetings on time and see everything Notre Dame has to offer. "The ambassadors are also a great resource for parents to ask questions about the student life and things like that. We have 17 states represented in the group, with different majors and different activities they are involved in." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What is the best way to attract top recruits? Whitt: "It's always going to be about relation- ships. Somehow we have to create that relationship from the very first time that we can. "My philosophy is to find a common interest with that recruit and build upon that. If you can't relate to a recruit in one way or another, it's very difficult to move along the recruiting cycle." Blue & Gold Illustrated: How do you keep up with the recruiting cycle? Whitt: "The big thing to remember is that we are Notre Dame. We stay true to ourselves and true to our philosophy with high academics and extracurricular activities. Recruiting is a little differ- ent here because you are attracting a different kind of student-athlete. That doesn't mean our recruits don't like the Sports Illustrated covers, the posters, the tweets or videos, and we do that stuff. It's all about that common interest." — Staci Gasser Five Questions With … COORDINATOR OF RECRUITING OPERATIONS MEGAN WHITT Before coming to Notre Dame, Whitt served as the recruiting and operations coordinator at Ohio State. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS