Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP of those four linebackers for official vis- its, and Davis — who is ranked by Ri- vals as the No. 1 recruit in Alabama, and the No. 1 inside linebacker and No. 7 overall prospect in the country — will be on campus the weekend of Jan. 15 with his father for a visit of his own. While the 6-4, 236-pound Davis might be regarded as the alpha dog of the group because of his ranking, McCulloch seems to have received the most individual attention from the coaches to date. The 6-2, 235-pound McCulloch, who calls himself "The Shark" because of his predatory style of play, was in South Bend for the USC game the weekend of Oct. 17. He left campus with his mother high on the Irish and then hosted Kelly and defensive coordinator Brian Van- Gorder for an in-home visit in early December. The situation appeared to be going well for Notre Dame, and decision date was set for the Under Armour All-American Game Jan. 2, but then it changed. McCulloch hinted that he felt uneasy about the "quarterback situations" at both Texas A&M and Texas, and cited that as one of the reasons why he wanted to take a step back and rethink his options. "You really don't know at this point," he said when asked about quarterback play at both in-state schools. "I have talked to Texas coaches, A&M coaches, recruits who they have coming in … I have talked to everybody under the sun that I could about the problems." Still, while McCulloch — who is ranked as the No. 23 recruit in Texas, and the No. 4 insider linebacker and No. 183 overall prospect nationally — might seem like he's fetching for a rea- son not to pick Notre Dame, he stated that his interest remains solid in the Irish. "They truly have the best chemistry right now," he said. McCulloch has official visits to Ala- bama and Texas scheduled for Janu- ary. He said that the plan is to see both schools and then announce a decision on National Signing Day, which is also the case when it comes to Caleb Kelly. The No. 2 recruit in California, and the No. 4 outside linebacker and No. 17 overall prospect in the nation, Kelly was at Notre Dame for his official visit Dec. 13 with his family. He left South Bend with the Irish at the top of his list, but stated that Oklahoma, Michigan and Oregon remained in the picture. "The academics are different," the 6-3, 214-pound linebacker said when asked about Notre Dame. "It's more important, you can tell. The guys and everything they do is a lot different than some other places, too." While Davis, McCulloch and Kelly are all high-profile prospects that have gained plenty of national attention, Jones has flown a bit under the radar. The 6-0, 207-pound Jones — who is ranked as the No. 61 recruit in Flor- ida and the No. 19 inside linebacker in the country — has a top three of Notre Dame, Michigan and Duke, but many believe that it's a two-team race between the Irish and Wolverines, and one that is too close to call. "Those are the two schools, along with Duke," he said. ✦