Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Irish Gain Pledge From Top Junior In New York FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY JASON SAPP S peace of mind in making a decision. Jay Hayes knows exactly how that feels. ometimes in life you just get a feel- ing about something and have COMMITMENT PROFILE JAY HAYES sive lineman from Poly Prep High in Brooklyn, N.Y., which former Irish players running back Marcus Wilson (2001-04) and offensive linemen JW Jordan (1998-2001) and Eric Olsen (2006-09) attended, had labeled Notre Dame as his leader over Alabama, Mi- ami, Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA, Vir- ginia Tech and others in October, and he was ready to take his recruitment a step further when he woke up Nov. 7. "I just realized that this is what I The 6-5, 270-pound junior defen- 247Sports rates Hayes as a four-star prospect, the No. 8 defensive tackle in the land and the No. 114 junior nationally. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS needed to do," Hayes said after his coach, Dino Mangiero, first reported the decision to BlueandGold.com. "I would compare Notre Dame to all of the other schools, and I realized that the academic and athletic opportunity there was too much to pass up. It's also just a great football program. "When [defensive coordinator and linebackers] Coach [Bob] Diaco and the rest of the coaches from Notre Dame came by here last spring, they walked in here like professionals. I'm all about handling business, so I re- spect that. The whole program, espe- cially the coaches, just give off this positive vibe, and I want to be a part of it. I really can't wait to play defense for Coach Diaco and [head] Coach [Brian] Kelly." In addition to Hayes making a deci- sion more than a year before his class' National Signing Day, he hasn't even been on Notre Dame's campus yet. "I'm really not worried about not having been there yet," he continued. "Everyone that knows my personality tells me that I will love it there. I know it's beautiful, and just the sight of it is incredible. I feel it's going to fit all of my needs, and I know I'll be happy there." Even though the coaching staff's main focus was improving to 10-0