Notre Dame visit a big success for Irish TE commit Cooper Flanagan
Concord (Calif.) De La Salle class of 2023 tight end and Irish pledge Cooper Flanagan has made the trek from California out to Northern Indiana four times to check out Notre Dame, with the most recent trip being this past weekend.
Flanagan used his official visit to Notre Dame, and he loved every second of it.
“It was like a cherry on top,” Flanagan told Blue & Gold. “I’ve known that Notre Dame is definitely the final decision, but this was the last indicator. The coaches and players were great. I had a wonderful time.”
Colleges roll out the red carpets for the prospects during official visits with all sorts of fun activities, but for Flanagan and so many other prospects, it’s the personal connections with players and other recruits that often are the favorite part of a visit. Flanagan’s player host was rising sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans, and he also enjoyed hanging out with freshman quarterback Steve Angeli, plus fellow recruits Joe Otting, Brenan Vernon and Jaden Greathouse.
Flanagan also spent a lot of time with his future position coach, Gerad Parker.
“We had conversations about everything, really,” Flanagan said. “We talked about football and how they’re going to use me. We talked about personal stuff, too. It was great all around. Every single coach was awesome.”
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Parker served as Penn State’s wide receivers coach for the 2019 season and saw tight end Pat Freiermuth have a strong season, catching 43 passes for 507 yards and seven touchdowns. Parker compares Flanagan’s game to Freiermuth’s.
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“That’s someone he sees me as, which is pretty cool,” Flanagan said. “[Freiermuth] is a tight end who gets open. He’s not super fast, but he knows how to use his body to get open on anyone. He believes I’m elite as a blocker too.”
After speaking with Blue & Gold for this article, Flanagan picked up an offer from Oregon. Flanagan pledged to the Irish last September and picked up offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU and Miami a few months later. Other schools hope to flip Flanagan from Notre Dame, but by all accounts, he’s solid with his commitment.
And he’s excited to team up with the other recruits in the Notre Dame 2023 class.
“I believe that we’re going to play for a national championship,” Flanagan said. “They’re all awesome kids and football players. I’m going to have a great time getting to know all of them.
“Those are guys I’m looking forward to playing with for sure.”
Flanagan ranks as the No. 210 overall prospect and No. 11 tight end according to the 2023 On3 Consensus.
