Now that Xavier Watts is committed to Notre Dame I wanted to share some background.
First of all, Watts called the Notre Dame coaches on Monday and told them he was coming to Notre Dame. He would have announced the next day but his good friend (Blaise Gunnerson) was going to commit to Nebraska the next day and he knew that Caleb Offord was committing on Thursday, so we waited until today to go public.
This was one of the more unique recruitments I’ve covered in the last decade. It came across as very back-and-forth, and I read someone on the Nebraska site (a subscriber) use the word drama. I feel like any perceived drama or back and forth with this recruitment was more about how it was covered than what actually went on with Xavier. This one, for me, was pretty straight forward. There's a reason that for months, despite what others might be saying, that I was very firm with my Watts to Notre Dame vibe. I was fortunate to have some very, very good sourcing on this.
First of all, Xavier’s parents have been adamant with him from day one that he will make one commitment, and he will sign with that school, and he won’t transfer. Obviously dramatic situations can happen (a coach leaves), but that is their message. Honor your word. With that in mind, they have preached to Xavier not to commit until he was ready and 100% certain of his decision. That is part of the reason his recruitment dragged out as long as it did.
What’s interesting is that his family actually preferred Notre Dame all along. They were careful not to make that come across too strong because they wanted this to be his decision. But Xavier said during his first visit to Notre Dame in September (vs. Stanford) that Notre Dame was the move to make, but they didn’t want him to rush things. He almost committed during his unofficial in April, but they didn’t want him to make an emotional decision. Same thing happened in June, he almost committed but his dad was very much against that kind of emotional decision.
The first two times he left ND he still loved ND, but there were other schools in the back of his mind. That wasn’t the case after the third visit, and he knew that no one could compete with ND, so he made the move. Again, he made his decision known to his family and the ND coaches on Monday.
The notion that Nebraska is the clear No. 2 is also interesting and needs nuanced. While true, because they were his other finalist and he made so many spring trips there, the appeal there had to do with staying close to home for his family. I’m not saying he didn’t like Nebraska or its coaches, but Iowa State and Michigan were actually schools that sources told me were in higher regard for much of the process. Eventually it came down to staying home or picking the school he truly wanted, which was Notre Dame.
Watts supposedly loved Matt Campbell, and if Campbell was at a bigger school like ND or Michigan this recruitment would have been very interesting. Not saying ND wouldn't have still landed him, but just wanted to point that out since a lot of fans have their eye on Campbell.
There was a lot of discussion about Nebraska pulling ahead, or Nebraska being the team to beat, etc. That was never what was relayed to me, not at any point in the last several months. My impression, from talking with various sources, is that was more driven by the Nebraska (coaches, in-state pull) side of things than the Xavier Watts side of things. Did Nebraska’s staff work very hard on Watts? Absolutely. Did they give him a lot to think about? Absolutely. Does the family hold Scott Frost in very high regard? Absolutely. Does the family think Frost is going to get Nebraska turned around in a hurry? You bet. Not once source I spoke with had anything but great things to say about Nebraska ….. but it wasn’t Notre Dame.
Del Alexander and Chip Long worked overtime on this one. As soon as they saw his film he became an A priority player, right there with Jordan Johnson and Jalen McMillan. The staff treated him as such from that moment on. Notre Dame absolutely wanted to land all three of those players, and it had to land at least two for this class to be considered a success at WR. Now they have their man. There were Top 100 players ND could have had over Watts, but they wanted Watts.
From everything I was told about that, Notre Dame would have taken Xavier Watts whenever he wanted to come, just like Johnson, just like McMillan. He was a top, top priority on this. That's not my opinion, that's what I was told.
So for all the talk of this being back and forth, other schools making a run, etc. True, other schools made a run and Nebraska swung for the fences, but all my sources have been clear and consistent for months, Xavier Watts to ND was going to be the move. I'm sure Nebraska will keep trying, but this is a recruitment that would totally shock me if it went any other direction than it just did and the direction I've said it would go for months. Xavier Watts to Notre Dame.
Extra Note: I forgot to add this part. When Notre Dame first started talking to Watts there was a major debate on the staff about where to play him. Long/Alexander LOVED him at wide receiver and Lea/Joseph absolutely wanted him on defense. If Watts would have called ND on Monday and said, "I want to commit, but I want to play safety," the defensive staff would have taken him in a heartbeat. They would have said, "Yes" before he was done with his sentence. I thought that was fascinating.
First of all, Watts called the Notre Dame coaches on Monday and told them he was coming to Notre Dame. He would have announced the next day but his good friend (Blaise Gunnerson) was going to commit to Nebraska the next day and he knew that Caleb Offord was committing on Thursday, so we waited until today to go public.
This was one of the more unique recruitments I’ve covered in the last decade. It came across as very back-and-forth, and I read someone on the Nebraska site (a subscriber) use the word drama. I feel like any perceived drama or back and forth with this recruitment was more about how it was covered than what actually went on with Xavier. This one, for me, was pretty straight forward. There's a reason that for months, despite what others might be saying, that I was very firm with my Watts to Notre Dame vibe. I was fortunate to have some very, very good sourcing on this.
First of all, Xavier’s parents have been adamant with him from day one that he will make one commitment, and he will sign with that school, and he won’t transfer. Obviously dramatic situations can happen (a coach leaves), but that is their message. Honor your word. With that in mind, they have preached to Xavier not to commit until he was ready and 100% certain of his decision. That is part of the reason his recruitment dragged out as long as it did.
What’s interesting is that his family actually preferred Notre Dame all along. They were careful not to make that come across too strong because they wanted this to be his decision. But Xavier said during his first visit to Notre Dame in September (vs. Stanford) that Notre Dame was the move to make, but they didn’t want him to rush things. He almost committed during his unofficial in April, but they didn’t want him to make an emotional decision. Same thing happened in June, he almost committed but his dad was very much against that kind of emotional decision.
The first two times he left ND he still loved ND, but there were other schools in the back of his mind. That wasn’t the case after the third visit, and he knew that no one could compete with ND, so he made the move. Again, he made his decision known to his family and the ND coaches on Monday.
The notion that Nebraska is the clear No. 2 is also interesting and needs nuanced. While true, because they were his other finalist and he made so many spring trips there, the appeal there had to do with staying close to home for his family. I’m not saying he didn’t like Nebraska or its coaches, but Iowa State and Michigan were actually schools that sources told me were in higher regard for much of the process. Eventually it came down to staying home or picking the school he truly wanted, which was Notre Dame.
Watts supposedly loved Matt Campbell, and if Campbell was at a bigger school like ND or Michigan this recruitment would have been very interesting. Not saying ND wouldn't have still landed him, but just wanted to point that out since a lot of fans have their eye on Campbell.
There was a lot of discussion about Nebraska pulling ahead, or Nebraska being the team to beat, etc. That was never what was relayed to me, not at any point in the last several months. My impression, from talking with various sources, is that was more driven by the Nebraska (coaches, in-state pull) side of things than the Xavier Watts side of things. Did Nebraska’s staff work very hard on Watts? Absolutely. Did they give him a lot to think about? Absolutely. Does the family hold Scott Frost in very high regard? Absolutely. Does the family think Frost is going to get Nebraska turned around in a hurry? You bet. Not once source I spoke with had anything but great things to say about Nebraska ….. but it wasn’t Notre Dame.
Del Alexander and Chip Long worked overtime on this one. As soon as they saw his film he became an A priority player, right there with Jordan Johnson and Jalen McMillan. The staff treated him as such from that moment on. Notre Dame absolutely wanted to land all three of those players, and it had to land at least two for this class to be considered a success at WR. Now they have their man. There were Top 100 players ND could have had over Watts, but they wanted Watts.
From everything I was told about that, Notre Dame would have taken Xavier Watts whenever he wanted to come, just like Johnson, just like McMillan. He was a top, top priority on this. That's not my opinion, that's what I was told.
So for all the talk of this being back and forth, other schools making a run, etc. True, other schools made a run and Nebraska swung for the fences, but all my sources have been clear and consistent for months, Xavier Watts to ND was going to be the move. I'm sure Nebraska will keep trying, but this is a recruitment that would totally shock me if it went any other direction than it just did and the direction I've said it would go for months. Xavier Watts to Notre Dame.
Extra Note: I forgot to add this part. When Notre Dame first started talking to Watts there was a major debate on the staff about where to play him. Long/Alexander LOVED him at wide receiver and Lea/Joseph absolutely wanted him on defense. If Watts would have called ND on Monday and said, "I want to commit, but I want to play safety," the defensive staff would have taken him in a heartbeat. They would have said, "Yes" before he was done with his sentence. I thought that was fascinating.
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