Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Irish Land Top LB/DE Hybrid from Hawaii

Notre Dame’s connection to Hawai’i was strengthened Thursday when four-star defensive end Jordan Botelho announced his commitment to the Irish.

Botelho, a 6-foot-3, 230 pound force of nature from St. Louis High School (Honolulu) is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s seventh commitment in the 2020 class. The addition of the 105th rated prospect in the 247 Sports Composite puts the Irish in ninth place in the Composite rankings for this class year.

Botelho was on campus for an official visit during Blue-Gold Game weekend, and told 247 Sports he didn’t need to see any other schools before making his decision.

“When you leave Hawaii, it’s a long flight anywhere you go so distance from home didn’t mean anything to me,” Botelho told the site. “Right now I’m fully committed and I’m pretty sure I won’t take any other trips. I’m very happy and excited to be a part of Notre Dame’s program. I want to get back there soon, hopefully also make it out for a game this season. I’m completely locked in.”

Brian Polian, the team’s special teams coordinator, is largely responsible for cultivating a connection between Notre Dame and the island. In prior years, he’s coaxed commitments from Marist Liufau and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and assisted in Alohi Gilman’s transition from the Navy Midshipmen. Mike Elston, the team’s defensive line coach, is also credited with landing Botelho.

The top Hawaiian recruit told Rivals:

“My favorite part was probably the coach’s meeting with Coach Elston, when he showed me my film and compared it to his players. He’d show me a clip of me making a play and then his players doing the same thing. The position I’ll play is very similar to what I’m playing right now; I really enjoyed that.”

While the recruiting sites consider Botelho an inside linebacker, the Irish recruited him as a drop defensive end.

“He’s Manti Te’o almost. He’s that talented of an athlete,” Tom Lemming, a recruiting analyst for CBS Sports Network, told ND Insider. “To me, he’s a five-star talent. And he’s a top 25 player in the country. They haven’t gotten many of those lately.”

Bryan Driskell, a Blue & Gold Illustrated analyst, said he is impressed by the Botelho’s versatility:

“While he projects well at the drop spot, the position Notre Dame is recruiting him to play, his combination of size, foot quickness, physicality and instincts project well to the Mike linebacker position as well.”

Botelho also held offers from the Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners and USC Trojans, among others.

Here are some junior season highlights.