By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic football player Michael Mayer, one of the nation’s top college prospects in the high school graduating class of 2020, made a commitment with the University of Notre Dame on Sunday.
Michael Mayer was being recruited by several major college football powers before he committed to Notre Dame. (Photo by Bob Jackson)
After playing tight end and defensive end on CovCath’s undefeated Class 5A state championship team last season, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound sophomore received scholarship offers from several college football powerhouses, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan.
Mayer announced his decision to attend Notre Dame on his Twitter account a little before 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Fighting Irish coaching staff recruited him to play tight end.
“What they do is they put tight ends in the NFL and that’s something that obviously attracted me a lot,” Mayer said. “On the education side, they have great academics. It also helps too when they have a tight ends coach who’s also the offensive coordinator. That helps because he knows the tight ends a little more and I just felt like everything was the right fit for me.”
Chip Long joined the Notre Dame coaching staff as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in January of 2017. He recruited Mayer for the same reason the other major college teams showed an interest in the big, strong, athletic player.
In recruiting rankings posted on the 247Sports.com website, Mayer is the nation’s No. 3 prospect at the tight end position for the 2020 graduating class. He’s ranked No. 133 overall among college prospects and No. 2 among Kentucky blue-chip recruits in that class.
Michael Mayer
Last season, Mayer played tight end on a CovCath offensive unit that averaged 421 yards and 45 points per game. He caught 14 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns from senior quarterback A.J. Mayer, his older brother.
As a defensive end, Mayer had 79 tackles, 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries for the Colonels. He was selected to the Northern Kentucky Coaches Association All-Star Team in that position, but he prefers playing tight end on offense.
“I love it,” he said of his favorite position. “There’s nothing better than pancaking somebody (with a block) and letting your running back score a touchdown.”
Mayer’s decision to make his college commitment with two years of high school remaining is a little usual. On the national list of top prospects in the 2020 graduating class, only 22 of the first 150 have committed this early.
“I was going to wait until after my junior season,” he said. “But (recruiting) started a little early on me and it kind of took a toll on me. I just felt like, why wait. That’s why I decided to do it early and get it over with.”
Notre Dame posted a 10-3 record last season and was ranked No. 11 in the final Associated Press poll. In September, Mayer attended the team’s home game against Miami University of Ohio. He made the trip with his older brother, who was recruited by the visiting Miami team.
At that time, Notre Dame wasn’t showing any interest in recruiting the younger Mayer. He said assistant coach Long had a lot to do with him making an early commitment with the Fighting Irish.
“He understands the position a lot and actually it was just his personality,” Mayer said of Long. “He’s a down-to-earth guy who really understands life and the game of football, which is a great combination.”
