Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING against Boston College, the early pledge was well received. "Coach Kelly was really excited when I told him," Hayes shared. "He told me that he couldn't wait to have me there, and I could hear the rest of the coaching staff going crazy in the background. It was a good feeling. He knows that I'm a good kid and what I can do. He knows that Coach Diaco is going to put me in the right spot." According to Mangiero, Hayes has it. When he turns it on he's not going to be denied, and he has that passion to fight through the blocks. "That makes Hayes more than a low four-star recruit. His motor, tenacity and desire to be great and compete separate him from the others below him in the rankings. "He's a great get for Notre Dame in 2014." Hayes is the third verbal commit- looked like a natural fit for the next player in line to go from Poly Prep to Notre Dame. "He loves the school and the whole idea at Notre Dame," he said. "He knows he's going to get a great educa- tion and a high level of football. He's a smart kid, and he has a very smart mom. "He can really run, almost a freak. ment in his class for the Irish and has been recruited to start his career as a defensive end with the growth po- tential to be an interior lineman, simi- lar to current freshmen Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones. He made his choice based on more than what takes place on the gridiron. "You should always keep into con- You wouldn't think a big guy like that would move that quickly. That's why he has all these scholarship offers. He's a rare bird. … A tremendously dedicated kid. He loves football and loves everything about it." 247Sports national recruiting direc- tor JC Shurburtt explained why Hayes is the top player in New York, the No. 8 defensive tackle in the land and the country's No. 114 overall recruit. "He's a very intense young man," sideration that you're going to be spending the next four years at this place and are going to be getting a degree from there," he said. "People don't realize that after their time in the NFL they're going to have to wake up and do something. Notre Dame will prepare me for that. "It's just an honor to know that I'm Shurburtt said. "In addition to being 6-5, 270 pounds and athletic, he brings his heart to every camp setting I've seen him in. Even though he's a little raw, I feel all defensive tackles are raw coming out of high school. "What you look for is the combina- tion of size and athleticism, and Hayes going to be part of that defense. I want to be a playmaker for Notre Dame, showcase my skills and show how dy- namic my game is." The next step for him is helping con- tinue to build the 2014 group while the finishing touches are still being made on the class before him. "I'm going to be recruiting hard for Notre Dame," Hayes said. "No one needs to worry about that. I'm trying to get a national championship, and we need good players to do that." ✦