Corey Todd is already receiving interest from some high-profile college programs, but the 6-foot-4, 215-pound sophomore quarterback from Naples, Fla., (First Baptist Academy) has one that sticks out.

“Out of all the schools that I’ve talked to Notre Dame is by far at the top of list,” said Todd.

Todd has also received interest from Miami, Alabama, Illinois, South Florida and Samford. Irish assistant Tony Alford was at First Baptist on Saturday to watch the young signal-caller during a spring practice.

“He came and watched our offensive period and watched me through 7-on-7 and run a bunch of jet sweep,” Todd said.

Alford couldn’t have direct contact with Todd per NCAA rules, but he did speak with First Baptist head coach Billy Sparacio and left some contact information and some material about Notre Dame with him for Todd.

“He said I have good size and that Notre Dame is very interested,” Todd said. “My coach is going to send him my highlight tape and my spring game tape.”

Todd ran for 800 yards and 15 touchdowns while throwing for 600 yards and six more scores as a sophomore. Sparacio puts a lot of responsibility of Todd’s shoulders in making decisions on the field and it’s something the young quarterback has proven he can handle.

“At the beginning, there was a lot going through my mind, but now it’s second nature,” Todd said. “It’s not even like I think about it much, it just comes natural.”

Todd believes he’d be a good fit in Brian Kelly’s spread offense because of the similarities to First Baptist’s scheme, which is about 99 percent shotgun.

“I think I could fit in real well just because of my style of play,” Todd said. “I’m able to run the ball, we run everything from the shotgun formation, so I’m used to running all of that stuff and I can throw it around a little bit.

“My style of play is very Tim Tebow-esque. I’m a big guy at 6-4, 215 and I run the ball a lot. I run like Tebow, with a big, bruiser running style and I like to get outside the pocket and make plays.”

Todd runs a 4.7, but is working on getting faster among other things.

“I’m working on speed and trying to get down to a 4.5, 4.45ish,” he said. “I want to get to the point where I can become more of a pocket passer as well, so I can pretty much do it all.”

He said “it feels fantastic” to be receiving interest from the Irish at this point.

“I like the area and I’m comfortable in a Christian atmosphere too,” said Todd, who is originally from South Carolina and has friends from Indiana. “I’ve always liked Notre Dame because of its football history.”

He’s been invited to Notre Dame’s camp next month, but isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to attend or not yet. In the early stages of his recruitment, the 2013 quarterback has already started to think about what’ll be important to him when he’s making a decision.

“The big one is going to be the relationship with the coach because I’m so used to having a close relationship with my coach,” he said. “The atmosphere of the school and I want to go to a school that once I get out of college is going to look good when I apply for jobs.”

Todd plans on taking some official visits before making a decision, but plans on deciding either during or right after his senior season.
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