Notre Dame Football: Sinclair Interviews 4 Star OLB/S Alan Tisdale

Notre Dame offered several linebackers lately.

On Friday night, Slap the Sign’s Kevin Sinclair spoke with Notre Dame’s newly offered LB/S recruit, Alan Tisdale of Greensboro, North Carolina.

I asked Tisdale about the offer and how it came about.

“It was the week before Tuesday. Mike Elko, he was at Wake Forest, he had told me to be patient and wait because they would offer me soon. He said my offer was coming. A week after that, they offered me,” Tisdale explained.

He went on to explain more of the story,

“I didn’t know Mike Elko had left Wake Forest….They (Elko and Lea) had been showing me interest throughout the season.”

“Yes, yes. I’ve been looking forward to getting the offer….I plan on taking a visit. I don’t know when yet but it’s going to be soon,” Tisdale explained when I asked him if he was excited about Notre Dame.

Tisdale explained to me that he plays outside linebacker and safety. I mentioned that there was speculation that he would be a great rover at Notre Dame. He responded:

“Oh yeah! Yes sir. I play the rover type at my high school.”

This last week, Notre Dame also offered a few other athletes from North Carolina. I asked if he was fimiliar with them. He explained.

“I know Dax (Hollifield)….Me and him have always been recruited hard. We have some similar offers. I was thinking about that the other day. Him playing inside and me playing outside at the same college.”

I asked Tisdale how much he currently weighs and what his off season plan was.

“I’m 6’4, 210 pounds. My goal for the season is 225….I run outdoor track. It helps me out. I’ve been getting interest from everybody because of my speed.”

I asked Tisdale who had been recruiting him the hardest and he answered, “Virginia Tech.”

To finish the conversation, I asked Tisdale who his favorite college team was growing up. Without hesitation, he answered, “Florida State.”

With the offer now on the table and signs that Elko and Lea are keen recruiters, I expect Notre Dame to be in close contact with Tisdale. They will need to close the gap between them and other programs who have also built strong relationships with him.

This recruitment has gotten off to a great start as a result of previous recruiting efforts by Mike Elko, once again. His ties to athletes who fit his defense from the ’18 class seems to be fairly thorough so far.

Click here for Alan Tisdale’s profile on 247 Sports

Click here for Alan Tisdale’s profile on Scout

Film Analysis

First of all, Tisdale is all of 6’4. He has wide shoulders and a huge, powerful frame that could easily carry another 40 pounds and carry it well. His width and long arms give him a huge tackle radius which he uses efficiently.

He has good lateral quickness and diagnoses the play very well. The Page High School star goes sideline to sideline as good as anybody. His long legs and long strides eat up yardage quickly.

He plays the linebacker position well from the inside and the outside. As his program runs a similar defense to Mike Elko’s, he has experience playing the rover position as well.

His biggest upside, in my opinion, is at the buck or rover positions, He especially excels at coming off of the edge. He shows great speed and uses his long arms and tough hands well to get off blocks.

Because he also plays the safety position and shows serviceable pass coverage, I believe he could be a candidate to be a large rover at Notre Dame.

Due to his frame, he could also end up a mainstay at buck linebacker or even grow into a defensive end. His frame is big enough. That said, I think his athleticism will keep him in the second level of the defense in the end.

Along with position flexibility, a common theme with Notre Dame’s defensive recr, Tisdale has an elite skill set and frame to be excited about. Familiarity with the 4-2-5 base defense is a huge plus.

More from Slap the Sign

This article originally appeared on