2020 Angola (Ind.) safety Ryan Brandt* made the short trip to South Bend on Friday to compete in Notre Dame’s Elite Skills Camp. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder ended the day as one of the top performers and hopes it caught the eyes of the Irish staff.
“I thought it was a good opportunity,” Brandt told Irish Sports Daily. “It was my final camp of the summer, and it was good to compete against some really good talent. It was nice because I knew they were evaluating me.
“It was nice knowing I wasn’t going there just to spend my money.”
The camp was Notre Dame’s best regarding talent, and it was something Brandt noticed as it was one of the most competitive camps he had attended.
“The competition was good,” stated Brandt. “The best competition I saw was at the Best of the Midwest camp at Grand Valley State. There were close to 1,000 kids there because Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer were there.
“A bunch of kids showed up, and there were some really good kids. There are always 5-10 guys that are way above average at every camp, so it was nice to compete with those guys.”
The smaller camp at Notre Dame was a big hit for several recruits, including Brandt as it was it was chance to get a ton of reps.
“The thing about all these camps is you can spend your money, and it’s a complete money maker for the college that is setting the camp up,” explained Brandt. “Sometimes you go, and there will be 400 kids there with 35 defensive backs, and you end up getting one-fourth of the work you’re supposed to get.
“It was nice to work with a smaller group at Notre Dame. Everyone got more reps, and it’s easier to get noticed with fewer guys.”
Brandt got to work with cornerbacks coach Todd Lyght and safeties coach Terry Joseph and learned some valuable lessons during the day.
“Coach Lyght helped me maintain my inside leverage during 1-on-1s, which is vital when you’re doing 1-on-1s,” said Brandt. “Once they break your cushion or leverage, a bunch of things can go wrong. Coach Lyght helped me read the quarterback, then get my eyes on the receiver and stay on the inside to avoid him cutting back and then forcing me to flip my body around.
“They also helped me with my technique and backpedaling. It was nice to fix the little maintenance things of my technique.”
The Indiana native also enjoyed the intensity that was brought by the Notre Dame staff.
“I liked how both of the defensive backs coaches were concerned with getting their point across and helping everyone,” Brandt explained. “You could tell they weren’t going through the motions and telling us to do the drill.
“If you messed up, they would make you do it again and fix you up, or they would direct you while you did the rep. It was nice to see they cared and were trying to make everyone better even though they weren’t recruiting everybody.”
Brandt didn’t get a chance to look around campus, but he plans to return to campus after being personally invited back by Director of Football Recruiting, Aaryn Kearney.
“I didn’t get to take a tour around campus, but I would like to. Mr. Kearney introduced himself after the camp and told me he wanted to stay in contact and to come up for a game this fall. I’m going to add that to my calendar.”
As the camp season ends, Brandt holds an offer from Purdue, but more could be on the way. Brandt visited Indiana last week, and the Hoosiers staff made sure to spend some quality time with him during the visit.
“I went on an unofficial visit on Thursday to Indiana,” said Brandt. “It was a great visit, and I enjoyed everything that was done throughout the day. I’m not sure if they are going to offer soon, but they seemed really interested. Coach (Kasey) Teegardin told me he wouldn’t have spent the whole day with me if they weren’t interested, so we’ll see what happens with Indiana.”
