(This article was originally published in the July 10th issue of Irish Today.)

David Marrero has taken a special place at Notre Dame.  He is, essentially, the first commitment of Coach Willingham's first full recruiting class at the University of Notre Dame. David and his father, Manny, were kind enough to sit down and talk with Irish Today about their decision and their relationship with Coach Willingham.

Born and raised in Michigan, David Marrero grew up on football. His father Manny was a coach and the game was already in his genes. When Manny moved the family to Florida, he continued to coach his son and prepare him for his football career.

"I coached him as far as I could," Manny told me, "Going into high school, I needed to turn him over to someone that could continue what I started."

They did their research and ended up with legendary Florida Coach George F. Smith. Smith has guided David through St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale and, now preparing to choose his college, the process had to start again.

"It was time to find another mentor for David," Manny said. "We were looking for a place with a supportive structure in place that would get him through the tough times that may come. That's what we found in Coach Willingham."

In June, the process got into full swing as they began a tour of schools. After researching the institutions and considering their offenses, the list was trimmed to five.  

"We narrowed it to Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Boston College and Indiana. From there we trimmed it to Notre Dame and Stanford," Manny said.

So what pushed the Irish over the top so early? David explains.

"Three weeks ago, I took an unofficial visit," David said. "I was just so comfortable [at Notre Dame] and the treatment was wonderful. Talking to the players really helped a lot too. They talked about the transition from Davie to Coach Willingham. They told me how it was a new atmosphere and that football was fun again."

David also found a friend in Irish cornerback Dwight Ellick. Ellick, like David, is from south Florida and also runs track, as David plans to do. David was able to talk to Dwight and air some of his concerns about Notre Dame like. the weather.

"I was a little worried about those cold winters, walking to class and stuff," David said, "But Dwight was from Florida too and telling me how much he loved it up there, weather and all."

What put David over the top was Coach Willingham. 

"He told me that they needed a speed back to run as the single back and run out of the slot," David said. "He showed me tape and told me exactly how that wanted to use me. They said that was their number one priority with this class."

Willingham sealed the deal when he met with David and his father on campus for a couple of hours in South Bend.

"He said he was looking for a certain type of person that he wanted to surround himself with at Notre Dame and that David was it," Manny told me. "Then he pointed at the coffee table in front of him and told me to put every concern or rumor or question that we had about Notre Dame out on the table and he would address it item by item. And he did it. That says a lot about someone."

"All the coaches that I met with were nice," David explained to me, "but Coach Willingham was so genuine and connected with me on a personal level that I really appreciated."

Manny knew that Notre Dame was the right place for his son and Coach Willingham was the right mentor.

"Coach Willingham's presence and how they treated David," Manny concluded. "It's a special and spiritual place. Coach Willingham is a special and phenomenal man. He's got a job to do at Notre Dame to bring them back to where they were and he's going to do it and you can't help but want to be a part of it."

My sentiment exactly. Irish Today would like to congratulate David and welcome him to the Notre Dame family.