Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2015 RECRUITING ISSUE Cooks was influential in landing a pair of Louisiana recruits for the first time since 1999, as well as the signing of Al- len (Texas) High School wide receiver Jalen Guyton. "Coach Cooks is an amazing guy," Wallace said. "He introduced himself as a father figure first before he introduced himself as a coach. Other than that he's a cool guy, and I respect him a lot. "Notre Dame doesn't just say that I should come play ball here because they want me on the field. They stress life after football and how it's a life- time decision. It's not really about right now, but down the road in life. That really impressed my parents, too. I could tell." While Wallace's current weight of 215 pounds means he will need to bulk up for the college game, he has a 6-4 frame, which should afford him the ability to do just that. "He's long and athletic," John Curtis assistant coach Jeff Curtis said. "He's been great since he came over and has been very coachable since day one. He's come a long way. "We are very complex with what we do on defense, and he's done a terrific job with picking everything up and getting acclimated to what we do defensively. He's done a really good job with everything since becoming a student here." Three-star safety and John Curtis teammate Hunter Dale praised Wal- lace's play in an interview with Blue & Gold Illustrated in October. "I love Bo as a teammate," Dale said. "He gets to the quarterback so fast. He helps me pick up my reads, and he makes things easy for me in the secondary. I've gotten interceptions off of him just getting to the quarterback so quickly. He's just a great teammate and a real hard worker. "His speed is crazy. That's easily the best part of his game. I've never seen a guy move like he does and still be as tall as he is. He's also very smart. We'll be in the meeting room, and he'll ask questions about aspects of the game that I've never even heard of. He's a really smart guy." During his official visit, a few Irish players helped cement Wallace's deci- sion to commit. "I spent a lot of time talking with [freshman defensive end] Kolin Hill, [sophomore running back] Tarean Folston, [sophomore wide receiver] Torii Hunter and just picked their brains about Notre Dame," Wallace said. "I knew they all came here from another state, so it was helpful. I was just asking them about the school and their decision to leave home and head to South Bend. "They said that they love it, and they have never once regretted it. It made me feel really good about the decision, and it made me comfortable. "They all chose Notre Dame for the right reason and so did I. Like me, they made a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision." Wallace said he models his game af- ter Houston Texans All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt. While he is 64 pounds short for now of matching Watt's weight, the Irish signee hopes to be similarly harassing quarterbacks on the field in the future. ✦