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Notre Dame visitor reaction: Irish stand high for elite safety Peyton Bowen

Notre Dame had a handful of notable prospects on campus Saturday for its 44-34 victory over North Carolina. Denton (Texas) Guyer class of 2023 safety Peyton Bowen was certainly one of them.

Ranked as Rivals’ No. 78 player and No. 5 safety in America, Bowen is a big target for Irish head coach Brian Kelly in the 2023 cycle. They rolled out the red carpet for him during his time on South Bend.

“I really liked it,” he said. “We went to the top of Touchdown Jesus and looked over the whole campus, which was really cool because they don’t really let people up there. Some of the coaches hadn’t even done that before.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football recruiting target and four-star safety Peyton Bowen
The Fighting Irish staff hosted Bowen, a 2023 Rivals100 defensive back, for a visit this weekend. (Rivals.com)

“It was overall really good. I really liked my last visit there too. I like the environment there. The student section was crazy. I like it up there.”

Kelly, defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and safeties coach Chris O’Leary all had sit down conversations with the 6-1, 185-pound prospect.

“Coach Freeman was talking to me about how they want to lead Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff,” Bowen recalled. “They’ve been in the tournament but never won it, and that’s why Coach Kelly brought him in. He said that they need me to help them take that next step.

“Coach O’Leary was talking about where I’d play on the field and how they’d use me. Coach Kelly was reiterating to me about how they graduate champions.”

The likes of Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas are on Bowen’s impressive offer sheet. Bowen noted that he may commit to a program after the season, and the Fighting Irish will be in the running down to the end.

“They’ve always been high for me ever since my last visit, and that hasn’t changed,” Bowen added. “They’re very high in my recruitment.”

Georgia linebacker enjoys Notre Dame visit

Troy Ford Jr. experienced Notre Dame for the first time over the weekend, and another first checked off the list for the Savannah (Ga.) Calvary Day class of 2023 linebacker was getting on a plane. All went well on the trip for the 6-2, 215-pounder.

“The visit was great,” he said. “Notre Dame itself is an amazing place with great people. The atmosphere was great. We sat in right in front of the student section, so it was very loud.”

Among the Notre Dame staffers Ford spoke with were defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and defensive director of recruiting Chad Bowden.

“We had great conversations, and they are very fun to talk to,” Ford added. “The coaches treated me really well.”

Notre Dame offered Ford back in March during its Pot of Gold recruiting initiative on St. Patrick’s Day. Ford recently told Rivals that Notre Dame hadn’t been in too much contact but picked things up with text messages since Sept. 1, leading to the weekend visit.

Auburn, Georgia Tech, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, UCF and Virginia Tech have also offered the three-star prospect.

Tennessee offensive tackle Ayden Bussell takes in Notre Dame

Mount Juliet (Tenn.) High class of 2023 offensive tackle Ayden Bussell was going to camp at Notre Dame in June for Irish Invasion until an injury knocked him out from the summer camp circuit.

The 6-5, 291-pound three-star prospect finally made it to South Bend this weekend.

“The visit was awesome,” Bussell said “The facilities were nice, and the campus was really pretty.”

Bussell had conversations with Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn and director of recruiting Aaryn Kearney during the visit.

“The game was great, super cool atmosphere,” continued Bussell. “The overhead push-ups when they scored were super cool too.”

Bussell plans to visit Auburn, Mississippi State and Ohio State in November. He holds five scholarship offers coming from Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.

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