Four-star LB Fox lives the dream

It was never close for four-star linebacker Dan Fox out of Rocky River (Ohio) St. Ignatius. The 6-foot-4, 219-pounder made his pledge today to Notre Dame over offers from approximately 20 other schools.

"I committed today to Coach Weis," he said. "I went up to Notre Dame. I wanted to do it in person. I spent the whole day there and took a tour, it was great."

How did his decision go down?

"Coach Weis was just telling me all about his family and what he's doing right now and asked me what I was thinking," he said. "I told him I've worked out a lot of schools on my list. I have 20 offers or so and none of them stack up to Notre Dame. I think I'm ready to make my decision based on all the tradition, coaches, football, academics and also the fans.

"He was really happy. He congratulated me and welcomed me to the family. He told me we've got a good thing going, a good base and already a couple really good kids in this class. He was really excited to have me. Then Coach Polian told me he was happy it all worked out, that meant a lot to me. He has been recruiting me for awhile."

In the end, it was never close for Fox.

"A lot of factors played into it, but I realized if I had offers from every single college I'd still want to go to Notre Dame," he said. "I had been a Notre Dame fan my whole life. Once they offered me I knew I was going there, even though I was interested in Virginia and Michigan State. I liked them, but when I visited Notre Dame. I knew I couldn't go anywhere else. My family is really excited too.

"I really like where they are headed. They had a great recruiting class, young talent and it looks like they'll be good the next few years. They got a lot of freshmen experience even though they had a 3-9 record last year."

For Fox, the coaches were a factor as well.

"I like them a lot," he said. "Coach Tenuta and Brown are really nice. Coach Tenuta is aggressive and an intense. One of my friends was telling me how great Tenuta is and how he'll make me a good linebacker."

Clearly Notre Dame is willing to play young talent. What are Fox's chances of seeing the field early?

"They did mention it a little bit," he said. "They seem me at the sam linebacker spot. They told me if I'm good, I'll play. I like that, I like competition."

Already the No. 13 outside linebacker in the country is recruiting for the Irish.

"I've already talked to Pat Muldoon," he said. "I played against him and know he's a really good player. I want him to join me at Notre Dame."