Notre Dame pulled off a major coup when it landed a commitment from Jonesborough (Tenn.) David Crockett linebacker Prince Kollie earlier this month.
BlueandGold.com recruiting insider Mike Singer made the trek to Northeast Tennessee to spend some time with Kollie and his coaching staff to learn about how the 6-2, 205-pounder came to his Irish commitment.
*** Kollie’s recruiting process was fascinating for a number of reasons, and we’ll start with how everything came together for him. Kollie didn’t receive his first scholarship offer until January, and as a “late bloomer” in terms of offers, the dead period didn’t allow him to take any recruiting trips to his top schools. He had been able to visit Kentucky, Ohio State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest previously, but none of those schools made his final five.
*** His final five were Georgia, Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, and the only school he’s seen in person of that group is Georgia, as he made a trip to Athens in late July. Following that trip, Kollie’s plan was still to stay patient with the recruiting process and wait out the dead period, but Kollie admitted that he was favoring Louisville. He loved their defensive staff and had a strong connection with Cardinals’ safety commit Benjamin Perry from Chicago.
*** But Notre Dame was able to turn the tide and Kollie announced his commitment to the Irish Aug. 7. He came to the decision to pick the Fighting Irish the Friday before (July 31). A huge part of Notre Dame overtaking Louisville was his conversation with Irish linebacker Drew White.
“Drew told him the story of him getting hurt, and he said that it would’ve been easy for him to feel like an outcast, but he said that his teammates brought him meals, drinks and were making sure he felt like a part of the team,” David Crockett assistant coach Kevin Ramsey said. “That gave Prince the brotherhood validation that he was looking for.”
“He said when he got hurt, all of his teammates would bring him drinks and food and stuff,” Kollie added. “He compared it to his brother’s experience at an SEC school, and he said it wasn’t really a family bond at other places. That was huge and all I needed to know. It just clicked.”
*** Even the day before that conversation with White, Kollie was leaning towards Louisville. The switch flipped that quickly in Kollie’s mind, and on that Sunday [August 2], he told his high school coaches that he was ready to make his commitment. Ramsey, who serves as Crockett’s wide receivers coach, was surprised as it came out of nowhere and gave Kollie a phone call.
“We talked for about an hour, and I asked him a lot of hard questions,” Ramsey said. “The way that we feel is that if you give your word, then that’s what you’re going to do, but let’s not do that if there’s any kind of doubt in your mind. We went through my questions, and I felt pretty good about it.”
*** The next day, Kollie informed the Notre Dame coaching staff of his decision, which brought joy to the unwavering, calm demeanor of defensive coordinator Clark Lea.
“He almost fainted,” Kollie said. “He said this was one of the biggest moments of his recruiting career because he worked so hard to get me.”
*** From there, Kollie called every school, except for a few that stopped contacting him, to let them know that he was choosing Notre Dame. Kollie announced a top 10 schools list May 21 and then narrowed it down to five June 24. But even with schools being eliminated, those coaches still continued to recruit Kollie, and even after his Irish pledge, LSU continued to text him.
“I understand they want to keep the line of communication open if something changes, but nothing is going to change,” Kollie said. “It’s good to see that they really want me though.”
*** Lea and defensive analyst Nick Lezynski were instrumental in leading Kollie to his Notre Dame commitment. Kollie could speak for hours to rave about his future position coach and coordinator.
“Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah told me that [Coach Lea] is the most authentic guy he’s ever met,” Kollie said. “It’s so true. When we’d get on Zoom calls and you can see how genuine he is in whatever he’s doing. That’s what I want to have; he has my back at the end of the day. I’m excited.
“The way he approaches football is different from anything I’ve ever seen. He comes from Vanderbilt, so I know he’s smart. He doesn’t have to raise his voice to get his point across. He’s incredible.”
“He recruited the family, and that included his football family,” Ramsey added. “It wasn’t just about football. I had numerous conversations with him about life and all kinds of things. He did a great job and really connected with Prince.
“The relationship with Lea and Lezynski, opportunity for early playing time and academics was just icing on the cake. It was truly faith, football and academics.”
*** The last sentence of Ramsey’s quote truly sums up Kollie’s values and what he was looking for during the recruiting process. The mixture of faith and family equates to a strong brotherhood, which Kollie believes he has found in Notre Dame. His connection with Avon (Ind.) High five-star offensive tackle Blake Fisher played a key role in finding a like-minded friend.
“I wanted to know how important his faith was to him,” Kollie said. “I know he has my back. We have the same goals and aspirations. He told me he talks to God often, and that’s all I need to hear.”
For exclusive video and analysis of Prince Kollie's high school game this past Friday, CLICK HERE.
More On Kollie’s Decision
On Lea and Lezynski’s July 28 Zoom presentation ...
“He talked about the depth chart stuff early on and showed Prince where he’d be plugging in at and the hope for him,” Ramsey recalled. “Then he presented the four for 40 presentation and did it by 10-year slots. So a Notre Dame player at their 10-year mark [from graduating] right now, and he listed about 25 guys. Some are CEOs, coaches at a high level, own their own company – the list was crazy. Then he went to the 20 years, then 30 years, and up to 40 years. That flipped a switch from Prince as we look on it now. It was just me and Prince on that presentation; he texted me right after it and said, ‘Wow.’ Normally we’d text after each one of the [college] meetings, but he’d just ask me what I thought. For this one, he said, ‘Wow.’”
On choosing Notre Dame...
“The life after football – they’re in a different ballpark when it comes to the opportunities they have and amount of the success their players have when they can’t play anymore,” Kollie said. “I want to know that I can take care of my family if I get hurt or can’t go to the NFL. With a Notre Dame degree, I’m good.
“Another part was the brotherhood aspect. I had a key conversation with Drew White about how other schools run things more like a business, and I’m looking for a family. That made it a no-brainer for me – so was the education part.
“Some key things I was looking for when I started the process were education, a brotherhood and winning a national championship. I started leaning towards Louisville; I got away from what was really important to me. But I sat down and focused back up and thought, ‘What am I doing? It’s a no-brainer.’”
On conversation with Brian Kelly ...
“He’ll text me all of the time, showing me little things about the school and what not,” Kollie said. “When I committed, he was excited.”
On committing without taking recruiting trips to top five schools...
“It was really tough,” Kollie said. “My goal was to not make a decision until I could see campus, but it just felt right, and I didn’t need to wait on anything else.”
On family values ...
“Loyalty. Faith is a main one,” said Kollie. “I don’t think I can express how important faith is to us. You’ll just how to take my word for it.”
On Notre Dame positional fit ...
“Coach Lea’s words were that he’s going start me out at rover and then let nature take its course,” recalled Kollie.
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