Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand hasn’t recruited an offensive lineman like Parker Boudreaux before. That’s because the Orlando (Fla.) Bishop Moore four-star offensive guard isn’t your typical lineman.
With a social media clout that includes 52,000 followers on Twitter, and a ring of acquaintances that ranges from country music star Cole Swindell to rapper Riff Raff, Boudreaux is cut from a different cloth than many of the Notre Dame offensive line recruits over the years. But just because Boudreaux’s personality glows off the field, doesn’t mean that he isn’t talented on the field, and that’s why Hiestand wanted him early in the recruiting process.
“Coach Hiestand said he never recruited a lineman like Parker before,” Parker’s father, Justin, said with a laugh. “But Harry was real good. I think what was great about the recruiting process is how he basically told Parker that if he gets the feeling that he has no chance of coming to Notre Dame, to let him know, because he said he would literally have to start over recruiting lineman. That was cool.”
It was also the truth.
Hiestand offered Boudreaux the spring before his junior season. At the time, the Florida lineman with the Cajun last name was mulling over offers from more than 50 schools around the country, but Hiestand wasn’t looking at many lineman outside of Boudreaux. That set the stage for a make-or-break type of recruitment for the Irish.
Boudreaux took unofficial visits to Clemson, Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama and Auburn. The plan was to see more, but then he took a two-day trip to South Bend in early June.
“When I went there, just to see how unique and different it was, was something,” he said. “The campus is beautiful, the people are amazing, and everyone just wants to see you succeed.”
A month after the visit, Boudreaux committed to Notre Dame by pulling a 16,000-pound yellow school bus in a Bleacher Report video. He fastened a belt around his waist and tugged on a rope that moved the bus to eventually reveal an Irish logo that was plastered on the ground. It was about as unique as an announcement ceremony could get, but one that only Boudreaux could pull off given his persona.
“Coach Hiestand is a little old school,” Boudreaux said. “But he loved the video of the bus. He said that he’s never recruited someone like me because I act like a skill player and not a lineman.”
Hiestand’s right. Boudreaux isn’t like the other line recruits, but he’s out to prove he’s just as a talented as an other lineman Hiestand has recruited.
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