Advertisement
football Edit

Farley goes Irish

All Matthias Farley could think about on his return flight from Notre Dame was making a commitment.
There remained, however, at least one step before he could render a decision. The athlete from Charlotte, N.C., had to talk things over with his parents and let the impact of his fourth unofficial visit sink in.
Advertisement
Either way, it wasn't going to be long before Farley decided to become Notre Dame's fourth commitment in the Class of 2011. He delivered the news to the Irish coaching staff Wednesday morning.
"I committed to Notre Dame this morning," Farley said in a text message. "Go Irish!"
Farley chose Notre Dame over offers from Duke, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, UCLA and Wisconsin while drawing interest from Cincinnati, East Carolina, Kansas and Wake Forest, among others.
Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State all received visits from Farley but it was his first trip out of the state that left the biggest impression.
Farley and his coach set foot on Notre Dame's campus for the first time Monday and did everything from tour campus to sit down with the coaching staff to discuss the specifics of playing at Notre Dame.
"I love the coaches," Farley said in an interview following the visit. "The facilities are beautiful. I like how the football team lives with normal students. You're not always with the football team like a lot of schools where you live with people on the team. I like the admissions office. Good people on campus. It was just overall a great place."
One of the things that stuck out to Farley is the relationship head coach Brian Kelly and his staff are building with their players, something he started to pick up on during his conversations with Notre Dame's coaches.
One of the biggest changes is a player's access to the coaching staff, which Farley got to see first hand while walking around the Guglielmino Athletics Complex.
Rather than needing special clearance and passwords to get through the building, things are wide open.
"The first thing they did was switch all that," Farley said, "and bought a bunch of door stops so you can go talk to your coaches. The coaches are all on the guys' side."
Now Farley is on theirs.
Advertisement