Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian class of 2023 quarterback Christopher Vizzina received a scholarship offer he coveted when Notre Dame extended good news to him Oct. 27.
“It wasn’t out of nowhere, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that day,” Vizzina said.
Vizzina visited Notre Dame June 17 and participated in a prospect camp that day. It was a visit that he and his family still cherish.
“When we went up there over the summer, we loved it,” he told BlueandGold.com. “Right when we got there, all of the coaches came up to greet us. I remember all of it so vividly. Coach [Tommy] Rees and Coach [Lance] Taylor spent a lot of time with me. I got to throw for them, and they told me it went well. They said that they’d wait to offer some kids after camp, and after that, we stayed in contact.”
And once Sept. 1 rolled around – which was the first day college coaches could directly call and text message with class of 2023 recruits — Vizzina and Notre Dame’s contact heated up. The 6-4, 200-pound signal caller sent weekly film updates to Rees and Co., and the Irish staff saw enough to decide to go ahead and offer in late October.
“I got the phone call, and I was super excited,” Vizzina said. “My whole school was talking about it. Ever since I went up there — and even before — I had been saying that I wanted that offer. There’s something special about Notre Dame.”
Vizzina elaborated on what makes Notre Dame “special.”
“Going to a Christian school, all of my coaches put God first before football,” Vizzina, who is Catholic, explained. “It’s special if I can go to Notre Dame and God is first there too. There’s a lot of [faith-based] schools across the country, but not many of them are up there [in football] like Notre Dame.”
The combination of faith, high-level football and top-notch academics has Vizzina highly interested in the Fighting Irish. He also thinks the world of Rees, the Irish’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
“Something I like about Coach Rees is that he knows so much attention comes with being a quarterback and not a lot of people ask me about personal stuff,” noted Vizzina. “The first thing he asked when we got on the phone was how school is going. He’s super relatable and takes his time to get to know me.”
Vizzina visited Ole Miss last weekend, but moving forward with his team making a playoff run, he likely won’t take any visits, especially if they’re out of state. Rees spoke to Vizzina about potentially visiting in December, though.
Among the schools recruiting Vizzina the hardest are Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Kentucky and Notre Dame. Alabama and Clemson have not offered yet but are highly interested in the nation’s No. 4 dual-threat quarterback per Rivals.
“I don’t see myself cutting my list down any time soon,” Vizzina said of his timeline. “Offers keep coming in, so why would I do it right now? As far as a commitment, I would like to take my visits and commit right before the start of my senior year.”
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