NBC star football analyst Cris Collinsworth has described how he knew the minute Brian Kelly was hired for Notre Dame that his star prospect son Austin was headed for South Bend. He said a visit to the campus just reinforced the message.

Harvard, Stanford, Cincinnati, Kentucky and Vanderbilt were also trying to hire the wide receiver at the time but Kelly made the difference his dad told Cincinnati.com.

"A couple days later (after Kelly was hired), he offered him a scholarship," Collinsworth said. "We went up there and academically, socially and the whole atmosphere ... a light went on and it was over."

What really clinched it for his son says Cris was the walk from the tunnel onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium.

"Football is so important for Austin that his eyes lit up and I saw that it was over," Collinsworth said. "We're all excited about it."