On Tuesday night, 2023 class five-star defensive athlete target Samuel M'Pemba joined the Irish Player's Club Twitter Spaces to discuss his recruitment and Notre Dame interest. Here is the transcript of key points from the interview.
Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Will you get to see any games this fall?
A: "Yeah. I only got one official (set) right now. The rest I'm taking during the season."
Q: Which guys do you like to play with?
A: "Francis Maiugoa. He's a five-star tackle. I know that he will get his job done regardless. Carnell (Tate) is going to get his job done. It's the whole team, honestly. Everybody's going to do their job. I don't even know, to be honest. We have a different team this upcoming season because many guys graduated and went to college."
Q: What is IMG like, and do you get homesick?
A: "I don' really get homesick, honestly. Because I feel like I go home enough, but I feel like I was just ready for something different. In college, I feel like I will be so excited that I might even forget about home for a little bit."
Q: What are you looking forward to once you pick a college?
A: "Really just competing. I feel like that is the biggest thing — competing. I am trying to be that guy. Everybody's putting that work to be that guy when they go to college. Then, be ready by day one. I feel that's what I want to learn more about football, absorb it all and continue to work. Be the best."
Q: What is your go-to pass rush move on third down?
A: "Definitely that ghost move. I love the ghost move. I feel that I do that pretty well with my size. So you know, I set him up a couple of times with power on first and second down. Then, after that, on third down, when it's time to make a play, I am going to go with that ghost move. Or sometimes the speed move off the edge."
Q: How do you figure out setting guys up (for a pass rush)?
A: "First, it is watching film and their tendencies. See how the guy plays. I feel like that first because you're going to play faster. And then after that, we're just feeling how he plays because he's watching film on you too, so he's going to switch up with stuff."
Q: What was it like playing Bishop Sycamore?
A: "It was crazy. Their helmets were spray painted and stuff. When we were on the field, we knew something was up. But from the whole story of what was up, we didn't know all that. It was like, dang, we just put some points up on some grown men.
"Some of them, we could tell like, he was older; he looked a little off. They all have different helmets. There's one guy who spray-painted his black. We could tell something was off. The jerseys were off a little bit. We did not think anything of it until everything came out."
Q: What will your major be if you pick ND?
A: "I'm going to go into business and sports management. Those are the main two things that I will try to focus on. I'll probably pick one of them, but those two. They're just telling me the difference that education has. It's kind of like the Ivy League type of education. The type of connection you have just been at Notre Dame — the people who went to Notre Dame and what they can do for you."
Q: How will you announce your commitment?
A: "I'll probably do like the little hats. Then, I want to do a video."
Q: Will you fake anyone out?
A: "I'll probably fake some people out, to be honest."
Q: Do you have a hat in your room that you like a lot?
A: "Yes, I have a couple of hats I like right now."
Q: Does one of them happen to be green?
A: "Yeah, (one) happens to be green.
Q: Do you guys talk about each other's recruitments at IMG?
A: "Yeah, we'll talk about it sometimes. We'll share ideas. Sometimes, we'll see if a coach is saying the same thing because a lot of us get recruited by the same school, so we'll ask a coach the same question and see what they're talking about. Try to help our recruiting out, so we make sure we choose the best one for us. I give advice to some of the '24 guys and tell them certain things about schools or tell them stories about what I heard."
Q: So you try to figure out who is telling the truth?
A: "Yeah, we'll try to figure that out. Especially like the DBs coach because there are a lot of DBs. So a lot of times, coaches will be saying the same thing. We'll figure it out and see if they're telling the truth or not."
Q: Is recruiting overrated or underrated?
A: "Maybe just a little underrated because it's a lot of stress. A lot of times, kids don't understand how you got all these offers and this and that, so pick this school, this school, this school. There's a lot that goes into it—a lot of time. So, you can't make that decision off one day or one visit. It is time-consuming, but it is a blessing for sure. I don't want to say it is overrated because it can change your life. I don't want to say it's underrated either because a lot of people know about recruiting.
"Recruiting has changed my life. Talking to coaches and building connections with guys. It's different just talking to them through football — it's cool."
Q: When will you make your decision?
A: "I am probably going to do it during the season or after the season. Right now, I'm playing the long game. I am going to take my visits and take my time because I don't want to rush anything."
Q: Are there any commits that you know?
A: "Yeah, I saw Keon (Keeley) before. I saw him at Florida. Keon is tough because he is big as hell. There aren't too many people to see, just the school again for myself."
Q: What are you looking forward to seeing at ND again?
A: "The official, I moved it to the season. I moved it to the Clemson game. I want to see the campus during a game. The game day environment because that's the most important thing. You're there to win games. So I want to see the campus to get another look at it."
Q: What could a fan do to best help Samuel M'Pemba?
A: "Show love, honestly. There is a lot of hate going on, so showing love to one another. Especially for me, show love. I am a pretty chill person. I show a lot of love. Reciprocating that is important."
Q: How do you describe yourself as a player?
A: "I would say that I am pretty versatile for my size. I feel like nobody can move like me. The way that I always train and I work out. My workouts have been different. So it's tailored, my body is to move differently. I am pretty versatile. I am just different."
Q: What is your ultimate goal?
A: "Winning a couple of Super Bowls. I want the people around me to be happy. Help some people around the world. It's to be happy and learn from other people — going through different cultures. Experiencing new things."
Q: Have you thought about what it could be like to win a national championship at a different type of program?
A: "For some schools, you win the championship so many times, it's like, dang, you have another championship. I have thought about that. It's exciting to think about."
Q: What do you need to see in a school?
A: "For them to have all the qualities. My mom got to like it; she got to love it. That is the main thing because my mom is a pretty hard critic."
"If she doesn't like the school, she'll tell me she doesn't like it or say that she thinks I can do better. So if you can approve my mom, like 100%, that's going to buy me into a school a lot more."
Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Will you get to see any games this fall?
A: "Yeah. I only got one official (set) right now. The rest I'm taking during the season."
Q: Which guys do you like to play with?
A: "Francis Maiugoa. He's a five-star tackle. I know that he will get his job done regardless. Carnell (Tate) is going to get his job done. It's the whole team, honestly. Everybody's going to do their job. I don't even know, to be honest. We have a different team this upcoming season because many guys graduated and went to college."
Q: What is IMG like, and do you get homesick?
A: "I don' really get homesick, honestly. Because I feel like I go home enough, but I feel like I was just ready for something different. In college, I feel like I will be so excited that I might even forget about home for a little bit."
Q: What are you looking forward to once you pick a college?
A: "Really just competing. I feel like that is the biggest thing — competing. I am trying to be that guy. Everybody's putting that work to be that guy when they go to college. Then, be ready by day one. I feel that's what I want to learn more about football, absorb it all and continue to work. Be the best."
Q: What is your go-to pass rush move on third down?
A: "Definitely that ghost move. I love the ghost move. I feel that I do that pretty well with my size. So you know, I set him up a couple of times with power on first and second down. Then, after that, on third down, when it's time to make a play, I am going to go with that ghost move. Or sometimes the speed move off the edge."
Q: How do you figure out setting guys up (for a pass rush)?
A: "First, it is watching film and their tendencies. See how the guy plays. I feel like that first because you're going to play faster. And then after that, we're just feeling how he plays because he's watching film on you too, so he's going to switch up with stuff."
Q: What was it like playing Bishop Sycamore?
A: "It was crazy. Their helmets were spray painted and stuff. When we were on the field, we knew something was up. But from the whole story of what was up, we didn't know all that. It was like, dang, we just put some points up on some grown men.
"Some of them, we could tell like, he was older; he looked a little off. They all have different helmets. There's one guy who spray-painted his black. We could tell something was off. The jerseys were off a little bit. We did not think anything of it until everything came out."
Q: What will your major be if you pick ND?
A: "I'm going to go into business and sports management. Those are the main two things that I will try to focus on. I'll probably pick one of them, but those two. They're just telling me the difference that education has. It's kind of like the Ivy League type of education. The type of connection you have just been at Notre Dame — the people who went to Notre Dame and what they can do for you."
Q: How will you announce your commitment?
A: "I'll probably do like the little hats. Then, I want to do a video."
Q: Will you fake anyone out?
A: "I'll probably fake some people out, to be honest."
Q: Do you have a hat in your room that you like a lot?
A: "Yes, I have a couple of hats I like right now."
Q: Does one of them happen to be green?
A: "Yeah, (one) happens to be green.
Q: Do you guys talk about each other's recruitments at IMG?
A: "Yeah, we'll talk about it sometimes. We'll share ideas. Sometimes, we'll see if a coach is saying the same thing because a lot of us get recruited by the same school, so we'll ask a coach the same question and see what they're talking about. Try to help our recruiting out, so we make sure we choose the best one for us. I give advice to some of the '24 guys and tell them certain things about schools or tell them stories about what I heard."
Q: So you try to figure out who is telling the truth?
A: "Yeah, we'll try to figure that out. Especially like the DBs coach because there are a lot of DBs. So a lot of times, coaches will be saying the same thing. We'll figure it out and see if they're telling the truth or not."
Q: Is recruiting overrated or underrated?
A: "Maybe just a little underrated because it's a lot of stress. A lot of times, kids don't understand how you got all these offers and this and that, so pick this school, this school, this school. There's a lot that goes into it—a lot of time. So, you can't make that decision off one day or one visit. It is time-consuming, but it is a blessing for sure. I don't want to say it is overrated because it can change your life. I don't want to say it's underrated either because a lot of people know about recruiting.
"Recruiting has changed my life. Talking to coaches and building connections with guys. It's different just talking to them through football — it's cool."
Q: When will you make your decision?
A: "I am probably going to do it during the season or after the season. Right now, I'm playing the long game. I am going to take my visits and take my time because I don't want to rush anything."
Q: Are there any commits that you know?
A: "Yeah, I saw Keon (Keeley) before. I saw him at Florida. Keon is tough because he is big as hell. There aren't too many people to see, just the school again for myself."
Q: What are you looking forward to seeing at ND again?
A: "The official, I moved it to the season. I moved it to the Clemson game. I want to see the campus during a game. The game day environment because that's the most important thing. You're there to win games. So I want to see the campus to get another look at it."
Q: What could a fan do to best help Samuel M'Pemba?
A: "Show love, honestly. There is a lot of hate going on, so showing love to one another. Especially for me, show love. I am a pretty chill person. I show a lot of love. Reciprocating that is important."
Q: How do you describe yourself as a player?
A: "I would say that I am pretty versatile for my size. I feel like nobody can move like me. The way that I always train and I work out. My workouts have been different. So it's tailored, my body is to move differently. I am pretty versatile. I am just different."
Q: What is your ultimate goal?
A: "Winning a couple of Super Bowls. I want the people around me to be happy. Help some people around the world. It's to be happy and learn from other people — going through different cultures. Experiencing new things."
Q: Have you thought about what it could be like to win a national championship at a different type of program?
A: "For some schools, you win the championship so many times, it's like, dang, you have another championship. I have thought about that. It's exciting to think about."
Q: What do you need to see in a school?
A: "For them to have all the qualities. My mom got to like it; she got to love it. That is the main thing because my mom is a pretty hard critic."
"If she doesn't like the school, she'll tell me she doesn't like it or say that she thinks I can do better. So if you can approve my mom, like 100%, that's going to buy me into a school a lot more."
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