I spoke with 2026 prospect Marcello Vitti this evening. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound athlete visited the Irish Saturday after Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden contacted Christopher Lainey, Vitti's high school head coach at Detroit (Mich.) Divine Child.
Vitti plays running back and safety. As a freshman, he finished with 814 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns out of the backfield. He also totaled 64 tackles and two interceptions defensively.
Vitti told Inside ND Sports spent most of his time around Golden and safeties coach Chris O'Leary.
"He's been through many schools and coached in the NFL so his knowledge around football in general really attracts me," Vitti said. "Coach Leary talked to me a little bit. Something that stuck with me was [that] he said, 'No matter what coaches are at Notre Dame, Notre Dame is always going to be Notre Dame and it's going to have its history.'"
Rivals has not given out any stars or rankings to 2026 prospects. Vitti reports seven offers from Akron, Central Michigan, Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Toledo and Western Michigan. Although Notre Dame is on his list of desired offers, Vitti plans to control what he can control and said he is grateful for the opportunity to visit.
"It's an honor for me to just get an invite and talk to the coaches and to meet everybody and be in the facility and be in that stadium."
