Four-Star QB Steven Angeli Goes In-Depth On Notre Dame, Tommy Rees, More
Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic class of 2022 quarterback Steven Angeli has been on Notre Dame’s radar for a while. After all, he’s been under the national spotlight for over a year.
Before he even threw a pass as a sophomore in high school, Angeli had already picked up offers from Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers.
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees got in contact with Angeli and Bergen Catholic head coach Vito Campanile in late July to get the ball rolling on their recruitment of the four-star rising junior.
“We talked for about close to an hour,” Angeli said of his first conversation with Rees. “I got to know him, and he got to know me. I told him about my family, my life playing football and what I’m doing now at Bergen Catholic. He told me his football past, coaching career and everything he does at Notre Dame. We got to know each other; it was a great introduction.
“After the first sentence I heard from him, I knew he was a straight-shooter type of guy. He doesn’t sugar coat anything. He’s truthful and honest — and that’s what I’m looking for in a coach.”
That conversation was Angeli’s first time on the phone with Rees, and their next conversation occurred on Monday evening. Angeli wasn’t sure if the call would result in an offer, but it did.
“I was a little bit 50/50 on [if the offer would happen Monday],” Angeli noted. “My head coach has been in contact with Coach Rees. [Notre Dame] was only recruiting a short list of [2022 quarterbacks]. Coach Rees said that when he’d get back to me, it would most likely be good news. I hadn’t talked to him in two or three weeks, so when Coach Vito told me to give [Rees] a call [on Monday], that’s when I knew it would be something pretty good.
“We were talking on the phone for a second, seeing how each other were doing. Then he told me to go get my parents, so that’s when I knew, and the emotions started to come out a little bit.”
Angeli, the No. 5 player in New Jersey and the nation’s No. 12 pro-style quarterback per Rivals, is not at a shortage of big-time scholarship offers.
LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin were already on his list, including the three schools mentioned earlier that offered prior to his sophomore year of high school.
But landing an offer from the Fighting Irish was a special, emotional moment for Angeli and his family.
“I have Notre Dame heritage,” he explained. “My great uncle, Pete Berezney played offensive line there in the early 1940s and won a national championship [1943]. Right away, my mom was overjoyed with emotions; she talked to Coach Rees about everything that Notre Dame means to our family and the relationships and connections we have with Notre Dame. He said, ‘We want to keep this Notre Dame tradition going on in the Angeli family and are going to offer you and only one other kid tonight.’”
The other quarterback Notre Dame offered Monday was Owensboro (Ky.) High’s Gavin Wimsatt, the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and No. 50 overall prospect per Rivals.
Wimsatt posted his offer right at 8 p.m. ET on Monday night, while Angeli posted his about five minutes later. While it’s unimportant in the grand scheme of things, Angeli was technically the first offer.
“I took time to soak it in with my family and call a couple of people; that’s why I didn’t post it right away,” Angeli said. “It was just surreal for me and my family. Notre Dame means so much to our family; it was truly a great experience.”
Angeli’s great uncle played at Notre Dame, but the ties his family has to the Fighting Irish don’t stop there. His brother Nick Angeli grew up playing little league football with Quenton Nelson, who would go on to be a standout Notre Dame offensive lineman and now is one of the best in the NFL. Nelson’s dad was the coach of those teams.
In high school, Nick played with Brandon Wimbush — who would go on to play quarterback at Notre Dame — at St. Peter’s Prep.
“I know Mr. Nelson; he’s still a very good family friend,” Angeli explained. “And I’ve talked to Brandon a lot throughout the recruiting process. Notre Dame has a lot of great guys, like the Ademilola twins and Shayne Simon – those guys are New Jersey legends.
“It’s a really good pipeline from New Jersey to Notre Dame and also with my family.”
Notre Dame has many factors going in its favor in Angeli’s recruitment, but at the end of the day, Steven has to feel that it’s the right pick as he’ll be the one actually putting on the pads and walking the campus streets every day.
“I really loved Coach Rees’ first impression and the way he coaches his quarterbacks,” Angeli explained. “The way he coaches quarterbacks is really appealing to me. The great fan base, the tradition and the premier people who come out of Notre Dame is unreal. It’s a really special place, in my opinion. The elite of people and players are the ones who are lucky enough to be offered by them or go there [as students].”
Notre Dame has only offered two quarterbacks in the 2022 class. To compare with a few other schools, Michigan and Penn State have offered 10, and Ohio State has dished out three. The Irish may have been the last school in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision to offer a 2022 quarterback.
Some prospects greatly value being one of a few targets for a school, while others couldn’t care less if they were one of two or one of 40 offers at their position.
“I think it’s a give and take situation,” Angeli said. “It definitely means a lot that Coach Rees had my number as one of the first two to offer. That definitely plays a big part in it.
“It’s great to be the guy that they want, but at the end, I have to pick the best place for me and my family.”
Angeli is planning to remain patient with his recruiting process. If this were a normal recruiting cycle, he’d probably commit before his junior season, but this is far from a typical year.
“Right now, I’m looking forward to getting on the field and getting my film back up to par and showing the country what kind of football player I am when I have the reigns on a team,” he said. “In a perfect world, I’d be able to take those steps — visits, camps and see things in-person for myself — but that’s not the case right now.
“I’m still sticking to my plan to commit after my junior season — definitely before my senior year. Hopefully the dead period is lifted so I can build that in-person relationship.”
Bergen Catholic’s season begins in October, and there is a mandated dead period for football in the state of New Jersey in early September. During that time, Angeli is considering taking a self-guided tour to Notre Dame even though he can’t see the coaches face-to-face due to the NCAA’s ruling. Angeli has yet to visit Notre Dame.
Angeli saw the field in 2019 for Bergen Catholic but mainly a reserve role behind senior Andrew Boel. Per MaxPreps, Angeli completed 30 of 49 passes for 372 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
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