Why WR Jackson Coleman fits at Notre Dame, per Valor HC, former Irish OC Mike Sanford

Notre Dame fans didn’t have a lot of time to get to know their favorite program’s first class of 2027 wide receiver commitment. There were just 18 days between Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Valor Christian’s Jackson Coleman receiving the scholarship from the Irish and committing to Marcus Freeman’s team.

Blue & Gold caught up with Valor Christian coach Mike Sanford Jr. to learn more about the 6-4, 205-pounder, and Sanford has quite the unique perspective to provide on Coleman.

His father, Mike Sanford Sr., was Notre Dame’s quarterbacks coach from 1997–98, and the younger Sanford was a quarterback at Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn High and a ball boy for the Fighting Irish during that time.

Nearly two decades later, Sanford returned to South Bend in his father’s old role while also serving as offensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016.

Sanford knows ball, and he knows Notre Dame.

And he’s fired up about the future his star receiver will have at Notre Dame.

“An offer from Notre Dame is a big deal, and they don’t throw out 500 offers,” Sanford told Blue & Gold. “And I told Jackson that. You have to make the best decision for what you’re looking for and can’t think about when the process started. It’s all about the best fit.”

Coleman announced that he landed the offer from the Irish on April 16. Seven days later, he was in town with his father to experience Notre Dame for himself. Sanford gave them landmarks on campus to check out.

“They were emotional about the place,” Sanford added. “It’s easy to get caught up in how cool Notre Dame is.”

Details on how Coleman’s Notre Dame commitment came together

Sanford noted that Valor Christian takes academics seriously, and Coleman is an “Ivy League-type student” with a GPA around 4.0.

He had high academic programs such as Cal, Northwestern, Stanford and Vanderbilt after him, and he had high interest in those schools in large part due to the importance he places on education.

Oregon emerged as the team to beat, though, in large part due to how well they recruited him.

“[Ducks head coach] Dan Lanning himself spent hours with this young man,” Sanford said. “They came out the first day they could to see Jackson during the January and April recruiting periods. I thought Oregon would be hard to unseat because of the enormity of football there, and he really loves football.

“As much as he loved the academics of Stanford, Cal, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, it was the big-time College Football Playoff caliber football team that Oregon is perennially that separated itself. I thought they’d be hard to beat.”

Then Notre Dame came in and offered the best of both worlds.

Irish director of recruiting Carter Auman visited Valor Christian on April 15, the first day of the spring contact period, and Coleman got on a call with Marcus Freeman.

Sanford added that he was tempted to contact Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, whom he worked with during his Notre Dame stint, about Coleman. He has a connection with Freeman as well, but he opted not to reach out because of his experience as a college coach and remembering interactions with high school coaches wanting to promote their kids.

He never had to reach out.

“It all happened naturally,” Sanford said. “They came after him and sent out Carter Auman.”

What does Coleman give the Fighting Irish on the field?

Coleman had a strong junior season, hauling in 45 passes for 975 yards and 9 touchdowns.

“He has a great combination of size and speed,” Sanford said. “As a sophomore, I had the chance to advise his recruitment, and I knew that people wouldn’t trust that he was fast like I knew he was unless he ran track. It was his third track meet last year, and he ran a 10.67 in the 100 meters. At that point, the phone got pretty active.”

During his 17 years as a college coach, Sanford often saw high school coaches oversell measurables, so he did the opposite. He’d tell college staffers that Coleman was 6-2.5 or 6-3, but he got a call from Miami after Coleman’s trip there that he measured in at over 6-4 and 209 pounds.

“He averages basically a quarter of the field every time he touches the football,” continued Sanford. “He has the speed but also really good acceleration. Taller receivers take a while to get going, but he gets on cornerbacks’ toes in a hurry. He’s the perfect receiver to use as your shot guy.”

Sanford compared Coleman’s style as a player to one of Notre Dame’s best wide receivers in program history.

“I talked to Mike Denbrock about a week ago, and I said, ‘He reminds me of how you and I used Will Fuller back in the day.’ He’s like Will Fuller in the sense that if you have a shot play, you’d be dumb not to dial it up for that dude,” Sanford said.

“He has such a huge catch radius, and I think he’s a really underrated route runner. He’s a very smart football player. He picks things up extremely fast, and Jackson wants to be coached hard. He wants to get better.

“His overall skill set combined with his intellect makes Notre Dame the perfect fit.”

Coleman is just scratching the surface of how good he can be. He’s rated as a low three-star prospect by Rivals and 247Sports, but his ranking should be on the rise.

“For a guy with his size and speed, it’s impressive how quickly he can stop,” continued Sanford. “I’ve learned over the years that every route a receiver runs needs to look like a go route. Cornerbacks will have fear of the go route.”

Coleman won’t become a big slot like Jaden Greathouse. He’s an outside receiver who will excel in one-on-one situations.

“When you have that kind of vertical speed and ability to stop, it opens up the whole tree,” Sanford said.

Coleman will enroll early at Notre Dame, and it won’t surprise Sanford if Coleman is able to contribute right away in one way or another.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but we run a college offense, clearly. I run and call the offense,” said Sanford. “From the terminology to the scheme we run, it’s similar to what we did at Notre Dame in 2015-16. So he’s going to be ready. It’s not like he’s going to come in and not be able to learn the offense. He’ll be plug-and-play.

“Jackson will compete in his first year and find a way to contribute on the field. He loves special teams, too. He was our punt blocker, which was so awesome. He blocked a punt in our first game last year. That’s another way he can contribute right away with his desire to be on the field on special teams.”