Notre Dame landed its quarterback commit today.
Tom Loy
Notre Dame landed its class of 2022 signal-caller today when Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic three-star quarterback Steve Angeli announced his commitment for the Fighting Irish. The 6-3, 215-pounder chose Notre Dame over scholarship offers from Stanford, Oregon, Michigan State, Northwestern, Maryland, Miami, Nebraska, Penn State and many others.
As soon as Angeli landed the offer from Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish were going to be tough to beat. In fact, 247Sports Crystal Ball picks quickly came in and they all pointed toward him playing for head coach Brian Kelly in South Bend.
"It's amazing, the run they made, and everything they did during this hard time and this coronavirus season," said Angeli of Notre Dame during a previous interview. "My relationship with coach Rees been really well. He's a straight-shooter guy. He's really easy to relate to and I love everything he's doing with the offense."
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees is one of the biggest reasons Angeli decided to play ball for the Fighting Irish. Those two have become extremely close throughout the process. That tipped the scales in favor of Notre Dame.
"My relationship with coach Rees been really well. He's a straight-shooter guy. He's really easy to relate to and I love everything he's doing with the offense."
Back in December, Angeli and his father made their way to Notre Dame for a self-guided visit during the dead period. Despite not being able to talk with coaches or players, the trip couldn't have gone better. This was a trip and needed and one that greatly helped the Irish.
"It was definitely great finally getting on campus for the first time. Just being able to see some of the well-known spots at Notre Dame, things like the Grotto, Touchdown Jesus, the Golden Dome, a little of the stadium I was able to see, a little of the athletic department areas I was able to see outside of the Gug, and everything else they had going on," said Angeli. "I really thought it was awesome for my first time being in South Bend and to be able to kind of get my own bearings of the place and kind of develop my own opinion."
In-Person Evaluation from Irish Illustrated following a 7-on-7 workout this offseason: Off the hoof, Angeli has a big, filled-out frame. Size is not a concern here. He’s legitimately, at least, 6-2, maybe 6-3, and roughly 210 pounds. After seeing his father, he has the potential to add another inch or two. Angeli and the rest of the quarterbacks grabbed some footballs to get loose. They started with some long toss and man, Angeli throws the deep ball with ease. It’s effortless. There is very little reaching back to try and build up momentum and let it loose. It’s a clean, smooth motion that looks to require very little energy and the ball simply jumps off his hand. It’s easy to see why arm strength is one of his more impressive traits. They transitioned into some routes on air and this is where I wanted to see a little more from Angeli on this front. He looked to be taking a little bit off of his throws and pointing them, rather than letting it rip. He looked to be a little more focused on getting acclimated to his surroundings and getting used to the receivers. Nothing wrong with that at all, as he was fresh off a long two days of travel and also working with receivers he had never thrown with before. Then they moved into some 7-on-7, short-yardage work and I was very impressed with Angeli’s timing, footwork and ball placement. He was putting the ball into tight windows and making quick decisions. After that, he started throwing to receivers during one-on-one work and again, it was more of the same. Not everything was perfect, he didn’t hit every throw, but his velocity shined at this point, the deep balls were impressive, whether they were caught or not, and he was spinning the ball a lot better at this point. They wrapped things up with more 7-on-7 work, but it expanded to roughly 50 yards. Some of his throws were impressive, but it was his timing, decision-making and ball placement that left the best impression during this period.Angeli got better as the day went on, which is exactly what you hope to see. He was becoming more comfortable throwing to receivers that, to be quite honest, are more talented than he’s used to. They have more speed and quickness, and just move at a different pace, which absolutely is cause for an adjustment. When Angeli got settled in, he quickly became the player I expected to see from the start. He has a clean, smooth stroke. His footwork is strong. It’s easy to see why he has so many impressive offers to this point. Is he flawless? No. Does he have areas to improve? Absolutely. Is he a guy that has a ton of potential? No question. I’m not on the 247Sports rankings council, but since I’ve been asked by our subscribers where I’d rank him, I’ll make it known that Angeli has the look of a four-star recruit that I’d comfortably slot in the Top247 and more likely inside the bottom of the Top200 nationally.
