UCLA Football Recruiting: Four Star Defensive End Matt Dickerson Flips from Notre Dame to UCLA

There have been rumors for weeks regarding a secret or "silent" commit for UCLA, a high-quality recruit who plays a key position.

It's now been revealed that the player in question is Matt Dickerson, a four-star defensive end from Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo California. Dickerson committed to Notre Dame in October. While the circumstances are quite different, Dickerson is the second, highly-touted defensive lineman from Northern California to make the switch from the Fighting Irish to the Bruins. Last year it was Eddie Vanderdoes, who actually signed a national letter of intent with Notre Dame before securing his release to play closer to home at UCLA.

Here is the tweet from Bruin Report Online:

BRO just learned that San Mateo Serra defensive end Matt Dickerson has flipped from Notre Dame to UCLA.

— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) January 9, 2014

Props once again to the crew at BRO. They have been on this story for weeks. If you were ever thinking about subscribing, this is the month.

UPDATE (A): Mitch Stephens from MaxPreps has a story up about Matt and his decision. It's not all great news:

But on Wednesday, the soft-spoken, thoughtful giant had to deliver the bad news to the Irish. Three weeks ago Dickerson's father Clarence was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His mother Pam is also largely disabled. After long, careful deliberations between family and friends, Dickerson felt it was the right thing to stay closer to home.

It's great to have Matt committed to UCLA, wish his father's health wasn't part of the reason. Here's to a speedy recovery for Mr. Dickerson.

Stephens also points out that Dickerson missed his senior season due to a small vertebrae fracture.

Here are some Youtube highlights of Matt: