Notre Dame landed a four-star cornerback commitment when Valrico (Fla.) Bloomingdale’s Philip Riley picked the Fighting Irish over Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Oregon, Texas, Washington and others.
Former Notre Dame linebacker and current BlueandGold.com analyst Mike Goolsby appeared on Pod Like A Champion, a recruiting podcast hosted by Mike Singer, and had his former teammate, Preston Jackson, on the show as well.
Jackson, who appeared in 37 games as a defensive back for the Fighting Irish during his playing days (2000-04), currently works as the CEO of Big County Preps, a scouting service in Tampa Bay, Fla.
When asked what Notre Dame is getting in Riley, who is from Washington but now plays ball in the Tampa Bay area, Jackson praised the 6-0, 190-pounder’s press man coverage abilities.
“[Press man] is very important when you know Notre Dame’s defensive scheme,” Jackson said. “Notre Dame has always been very good having an awesome front four and a very talented front seven — even going back to Mike Goolsby’s days. We ‘lunched’ with our defensive line and our interior linebackers. ... You can be more creative defensively if you can play press man behind the front seven. If you can do that, the sky is the limit.
“Notre Dame is going after talent on the perimeter so they can release the linebackers and unleash the defensive line. If you can do that, you can compress the playbook.
“The No. 1 thing with Philip Riley is that he can play press man. The second thing you can see is that he’s been coached very well.”
