Tennessee Athlete On Why He’s Interested In Notre Dame
Collierville (Tenn.) Christian Brothers class of 2022 athlete Dallan Hayden has been on the recruiting scene for a couple years already and is right around 20 scholarship offers.
The 5-11, 192-pounder was planning to raise his profile even more in June, but the NCAA mandated a dead period due to the coronavirus pandemic. Still, Hayden has been able to pick up several new offers in recent months.
“It has been crazy,” Hayden said. “I was going to camp and visit a lot of places this summer. But the pandemic happened, so I’ve just been working hard, working out, and practicing position drills that I’d be doing at a college camp. Recruiting has been pretty good; I’ve been talking to schools I’m interested in.”
Hayden’s most recent offer comes from Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish extended the good news to him June 18.
“They’ve had interest in me since my freshman year,” Hayden explained. “They’ve been watching me and finally pulled the trigger [with an offer]. That one felt good; they really like my film and me as a young man. They said my grades were pretty good. That’s an offer I’ve been waiting on for a while.”
Hayden could play a few different positions at the next level. Running backs coach Lance Taylor was the Irish staffer who offered Hayden, which indicates that the staff sees his talents best translating to offense.
“He was telling me that I’m very versatile; I can play more than one position,” Hayden said of Taylor. “I line up at running back, slot and corner. He’s coached Christian McCaffrey, who caught the ball and lined up in the slot. He likes guys like that.”
Notre Dame will compete with the likes of Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M and others for the rising junior prospect.
“Their football history and they’re really good in academics,” Hayden said when asked about what has him interested in Notre Dame. “Their football is terrific. They’ve had guys like Jerome Bettis and Tim Brown.”
Dallan is the son of Aaron Hayden, who played for the Tennessee Volunteers before spending four years in the NFL (1995-98).
“He tells me to have fun with it because [the recruiting process] only happens once,” the younger Hayden said. “He also says not to get too caught up in it — know your goals and work hard but have fun during it.”
Hayden has visited Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Mississippi State and Tennessee.
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