Notre Dame Football: Irish Land Verbal Commitment From 2019 DT Jacob Lacey

Four-star defensive tackle Jacob Lacey has become the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s second verbal commitment to the Class of 2019.

The 6-foot-2, 295 line clogger from Bowling Green, Ky. had just announced a final six on Monday, a list that also included the Clemson Tigers, Louisville Cardinals, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans and Tennessee Volunteers.

Lacey told Irish Illustrated’s Pete Sampson that it was a conversation with a Michigan State student-athlete that ultimately convinced him Notre Dame was the perfect fit.

He helped me talk through everything, kind of cleared up all my questions. One of the things I wanted to know is if I wasn’t playing football, out of all the schools, where would I want to be. Obviously, Notre Dame has the best education for me. There’s no other place I’d want to go.

Lacey had a video teleconference with defensive line coach Mike Elston last night to discuss his desire to commit, according to Rivals.com. Elston happened to be sitting alongside Brian Kelly, so the coach passed the phone to his boss.

I committed right there. All the coaches were together and it was very exciting … It was kind of like a bunch of big kids hugging each other and screaming. It was like someone just scored the game winning touchdown. It was really cool.

Lacey joins three-star quaterback Cade McNamara in the class, and caps off a spectacular week that also included verbal commitments from linebacker Jack Lamb, rover Shayne Simon and running back Jahmir Smith, all of the class of 2018.

Potential teammates took to social media to share their excitement about Lacey’s decision: