2024 Safety Kennedy Urlacher Is A Key Target For Notre Dame
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We can too quickly create assumptions, preconceived notions and come to judgments in the recruiting world. There is an obsession over star rankings, some arbitrary ranking, from someone you don’t know, and what they think about a player.
Players quickly become just data points, completely losing context and what separates them as people. When talking about 2024 Chandler (Ariz.) High School standout Kennedy Urlacher, it is nearly impossible to get the full impact of him as a player from a box score.
When asking Urlacher to describe himself as a football player, he kept it short and sweet. There was a subtle confidence in his answer, a complete trust in himself as an athlete.
“Physically, explosive, fast and smart.”
Urlacher comes with a lot of expectations just based on his last name. He is the son of former Chicago Bears All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher, who Notre Dame fans should remember quite well.
During Urlacher’s 13 year career with the Bears, he was selected to eight Pro Bowls and a place on the All-Pro team four times. In total, he collected 1,361 total tackles during his career, including 138 tackles for loss, 41.5 sacks and 22 interceptions. His career was great enough to earn him an induction into the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame as a part of the 2018 class.
His son, Kennedy, brings a lot of the same qualities that made his father such an impactful football player. The physical style he plays with, the tenacity, the proclivity for making big plays; it’s all there.
Football was a sport that always gravitated to the Chandler standout. It all started when he was very young.
“I’ve been playing sports really my whole life,” Urlacher explained. “My first sport was football. I started playing tackle when I was like six and I think I was playing against players up two years older. It was not very good for me.
“I got taken out of that and I started playing flag football really until I got to Arizona,” Urlacher continued. “In fifth grade, I started playing tackle again and I have been playing tackle ever since. I played basketball, played a year of baseball, soccer, everything.”
It was a wise decision for Urlacher to return to football after dabbling in flag football for a few years. He spent the first twelve years of his life living in Chicago but picked the game back up as soon as his family made its way out to Arizona.
Urlacher has quickly risen on the recruiting trails after a slow start to his process. The 6-1, 180-pound defensive back has seen his offer list quickly expand. Some of the premier programs who have offered include the Fighting Irish, Miami, Penn State, TCU, Nebraska, Washington, Iowa, Kansas State, Arizona State, Arizona, Cal, Stanford and Kansas among others.
Notre Dame has quickly made Arizona a state that needs more intention with the influx of talent moving in over the last few years. Urlacher believes that Arizona is one of the more talented states in the country.
“There’s a ton of good football players in Arizona,” Urlacher stated. “Honestly I think it’s probably one of the best football states in high school.”
The Irish staff has clearly designated Urlacher as a priority for the defensive class in 2024. Once again, Urlacher kept it short and sweet on the potential impact if he ends up being a member of the class for Notre Dame.
“I mean, hopefully a lot,” Urlacher said with a slight giggle.
Humble, physical, mean demeanor and great young man; that’s what Kennedy Urlacher brings to the table.
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