Council favors the Irish

Defensive back Rod Council was a little surprised when Notre Dame suffered an unexpected loss to Michigan State on his official visit to South Bend two weekends ago. But despite that, Notre Dame still tops his list.

"Notre Dame is my favorite school at this point," said Council. "They really need playmakers that can break a game open, so I think I would fit in real well there. I like their coaches a lot, especially Coach Willingham. They're big on discipline, and everybody on that team has bought into what they're trying to get done. They aren't going to be down for long."

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound corner from Charlotte (N.C.) West Charlotte is one of the best players in the western half of North Carolina and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. While the Irish lead, they aren't recruiting him the hardest.

"They're recruiting me hard, but Virginia's staff is on me all the time," he laughed. "You can tell they're really interested in me. I like their enthusiasm. I'm going on an official visit the weekend of Oct. 17th. I'm taking an official visit to Michigan the weekend of Oct. 24th. I'd like to set up a trip to Virginia Tech some time, and probably will. I just haven't picked a date yet."

Council has led West Charlotte to a 5-0 record and has totaled nearly 350 yards of total offense with five touchdowns. On defense he's intercepted four passes, despite being thrown away from most of each game.