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Notre Dame Is A Special Place For Family Of Safety Commit Derrik Allen

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No other visits were necessary.

Derrik Allen, Notre Dame’s four-star safety commit, knew where he wanted to go and didn’t need to see any other campuses.

“It came out of nowhere,” Allen’s father Derrik Allen senior said. “We were sitting at the table talking about some other visits we were going to take. He sort of looked at my wife and I and said ‘we can take the visits if you want to, but I know where I want to play college football. I want to play at Notre Dame.”

Starting next fall, that wish will come true for Allen, who just took his official visit to South Bend for the Georgia game on Sept. 9.

According to the elder Allen, that visit solidified the family’s commitment to the program even more.

“It was a great visit all the way around,” Allen said. “We had a ton of meetings with the coaching staff, the admissions director and the athletic director. The message was consistent from everyone. I had heard it before, but it really impressed my wife.”

Allen said the message was three-fold, and was exactly what a parent wants to hear from their child’s future school.

“It was about practicing academic excellence, athletic excellence and faith excellence,” Allen said. “That message was consistent from everybody and we were impressed that everybody was consistent in what the goals were.”

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The main goal of the visit was to let Allen’s mother Chinita get her first look at Notre Dame. According to her husband, any questions she had about Notre Dame were all answered over the weekend.

“It was about getting my wife comfortable with being a little bit of a distance away,” Allen said. “I think the trip successfully accomplished that.”

Allen said the biggest thing for Derrik himself during the visit was getting to spend more time with defensive coordinator Mike Elko, who he’s reportedly built up a strong bond with.

“I think he really fell in love with Coach Elko,” Allen said. “They get along very well and I think their personalities mesh. Coach Elko is very smart and understands defense.”

With his official visit in the rearview, all that’s left now for Allen is to sign on the dotted line and officially become Irish.

His father said that will be a happy day in the Allen household.

“I must admit, it does make you very proud,” Allen said. “I always knew Derrik was a talented kid and could play college football. Did I know he was a power five, Notre Dame type kid? No. But as we got through the process and he started looking at schools, we visited Notre Dame and I was like ‘wow, this place is special.”

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