Former Irish TE Oscar McBride Talks Servite Football And Notre Dame Recruiting
Notre Dame pays plenty of attention to what’s happening at Servite.
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The Notre Dame recruiting department has spent a lot of time focusing on players from California prep powerhouse Servite. Former tight end, and current Arizona Cardinal, Troy Niklas came from the Anaheim program as well as Equanimeous St. Brown
Another notable Notre Dame name is tied to Servite, Oscar McBride who played tight end for Lou Holtz. He also went on to play in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.
I spoke with McBride to get his perspective on Notre Dame’s presence in Southern California and to get his opinion on the recruits that Notre Dame is paying attention to.
“I’m the former offensive coordinator of Servite. I’ve stepped down as I have some other irons in the fire. I’m finishing my doctorate which is going to require a lot of time so I’m probably going to take a year off. I’m still on campus with the guys and still a big supporter of Servite football,” McBride explained before we got into recruiting.
I asked him if he could give me his thoughts on Servite safety Julius Irvin who holds an Irish offer. He had a lot to say.
“When I think of Julius Irvin, one word comes to mind and that’s ‘explosive.’ He’s an explosive guy. He has a really good feel for the game. He has a couple of plays on the highlight reel where he had a good idea of what they were doing and he just went.”
“He’s instinctive. He’s obviously explosive, he’s a heady guy, good kid, great family. He, in my mind, could fit the bill as your quintessential Notre Dame man for a recruit.”
“I don’t know where he’s at with his recruitment. I know that Julius is a very humble kid. I did have a chat with him when he got his Notre Dame offer. I ran into him on the way to his class.
"“I threw my arm around him and said “congratulations. You got an offer from Notre Dame, that’s a big deal. That’s big time Irv, and I’m really proud of you.””"
“So, I don’t know where he’s at but he’s smart enough and under the mentorship of his father, the great LeRoy Irvin of the Rams, I’m sure that he’ll give Notre Dame a strong look. He looks beyond just what’s on the football field and Notre Dame is ever consistent in that approach. We’ll see what happens,” said McBride.
Julius Irvin – Junior Hudl Highlights
With all of the extra football-related activity that goes on outside of high school football, 7-vs-7 and personal training etc, I asked McBride for his perspective on how it impacts the players and their programs.
Here’s what he told me.
“It expedites the maturation process in terms of the kids being able to, let’s say defensively, diagnose what an offense is doing or maybe a route concept. Maybe offensively, teams try to roll or disguise coverages, it may help them in that regard.”
“As a coach, I’m not a huge fan of the whole circuit, because to me 7 on 7 is a drill. If you ask any college recruiter, although it’s partial to their decision, they’ll tell you that it’s just a drill as well.”
“There’s so much involved in that. There’s the practice time, there’s the skills training, there’s the timing. These guys are spending lots of time, even full weekends playing 7 or 8 games in 7 on 7. Regardless if it’s a drill or not, if it’s that much concentrated time, if it was lineman one-on-ones for 8 games, their play would be exponentially better, so almost by default, and not to say that kids aren’t getting good coaching, but just with the number of reps and how much time they’re spending, it’s almost inevitable that they don’t get better.”
“The kids that may be OK become good players and the kids who are good players become great players because of that concentrated time. I think it’s a good thing but as a coach, I’d rather have my guys healthy for the season.”
https://twitter.com/JuliusIrvinn/status/833509808586190848
After watching film of Servite’s varsity football team from last season, I noticed they have several players who play at a high level who aren’t yet talked about as much as they should be. One of those players is receiver Delon Hurt.
McBride gave me his thoughts on him.
“Delon is phenomenal. He’s another explosive kid and he’s flying under the radar too. I love him in the slot but he wants to play outside. I think last year, he primarily liked playing outside.”
“I like him with the ball in his hands in space. The first guy there isn’t necessarily going to make the play because he’s going to run over him because he’s physical or he’s going to make them miss. His awareness on the field in terms of first down markers is phenomenal and he’s a great communicator.”
“He’s a very well-rounded player and a sleeper because he’s not getting nearly the attention that I think he should be getting.”
Delon Hurt – Junior Hudl Highlights
Next, McBride spoke to me about ’19 TE Kyle Ford who proves to be a recruit to keep an eye on.
“Kyle Ford, in one word, is a ‘freak.’ He is a puppy that is a big dog. He’s a young kid. He’s only a sophomore, tremendous ball skills, power and runs angry after he gets the football. Great stiff arm, can be little undisciplined but like I said, he’s a puppy.”
"“Once he figures out he’s the biggest strongest guy on the field, there’s no way that anyone’s going to be able to stop him.”"
“What people don’t know is that he’s a phenomenal baseball player. He’s just a freak of an athlete. He tears the cover off the ball. To be able to start at Servite in two sports, he’s a phenomenal athlete. He wants the ball, is really great competitor, he’s a leader. It doesn’t matter what’s on the scoreboard, he’s always encouraging his teammates.”
“He would be a great addition for any program. He could be a detached tight end. He could play in that kind of system, but also, he’s fast enough that he could be a bigger receiver outside. Maybe, if he gets as tall, a Michael Floyd type. He’s a physical specimen and he’s not afraid to stick his nose in there and block. He has all the tools to do whatever it is he wants.”
Kyle Ford Sophomore Hudl Highlights
Our conversation moved on to Notre Dame’s recruiting presence at Servite and in Southern California in general.
First, he spoke about former Notre Dame offensive coordinator, California-area recruiter and receivers coach, Mike Denbrock.
“Well, obviously there’s been a change in the staff, but I saw Mike Denbrock, it seemed like, every other week. He was here all the time. I really got to know him well. We talked about character. That was something that was really important, making sure that they were a fit to Notre Dame because although we want to win and be competitive, not everyone can be a Notre Dame guy, just like everyone can’t be a Servite guy.”
“It takes a special breed of guy in order to perform at Notre Dame. That was one of the things that was really impressive with Mike, aside from just their physical abilities, he was asking “what kind of kid is he? Is he a locker room guy? Is he a system guy or is he kind of a selfish guy?” He wanted to know all those kinds of things,” said McBride.
McBride then spoke about the presence that Notre Dame has in the area. “I don’t know the new staff as I’ve stepped away from the program. Maybe they were there today, I don’t know. I can’t tell you, but I do know that Notre Dame has a fairly large presence especially in the Trinity League. They’re well know by Servite and Mater Dei, St. John Bosco, Santa Margherita, you know, JSerra. Everybody knows Notre Dame very well. Their presence is huge.”
I asked him what he thought about new receivers coach DelVaughn Alexander, a Los Angeles native and ex-USC receiver. “He’s a sharp guy, a sharp, sharp guy. I don’t know him well or personally. I have attended a few of his football sessions that he held and in coaching clinic, talking a little football. But I do know he’s professional.”
“I know that he’s a really good coach in terms of scheme, in terms of getting guys to work on the minor details. His body of work kind of speaks for itself. Arizona State hasn’t been a powerhouse, per se, but they’ve been really good offensively.”
“If you’re running a spread-type offense, aside from your quarterback, your receivers have to be dynamic and he’s done a really good job with that so I’m excited to see what he brings to the table with our receivers. I think we’ve got some talent,” said McBride.
One thing is certain, Notre Dame recruits nation-wide. With DelVaughn Alexander and Brian Polian on staff, the Irish should be even more successful at bringing in solid talent from the Trinity League as well as from throughout the Southern California.