Recruiting Focus: Developing Talent
UHND.com - John Romanelli
December 28, 2000

(UHND.com) - As the college football season winds down, and bowl preparations begin, I can’t help but to look forward to the next six weeks of the focus of college coaches: recruiting.

Each year, I scan the internet, or fork over the dinero to hear an analyst tell me which great All-Americans will become the next Notre Dame legends. And each year, I am awestruck by the degree of talent that ND recruits. And I come away with the same thought every year: it’s not what talent you recruit, it’s what you do with that talent.

Think about it, as BGI recently pointed out: what team wouldn’t want a backfield of Jared Clark, Terrance Howard, and Mike McNair? That would be third-string at ND.

OK, so we get the All-Americans at ND. But what becomes of them? Certainly, two of the February, 1998 stars were Mike McNair and Carlos Pierre-Antoine. They were recruited by schools all over the country. They were USA Today 1^st team All-Americans. And they share another common bond: neither have contributed (on the field, I can’t speak for the practice fields) much at all. Why? Have they not developed? Are they undersized? Too slow? Not intelligent enough to grasp the college game? And if any of these are true, then how could so many "experts" be wrong?

These are not the first AAs to not develop at ND. Jason Ching and Brad Williams are two recent high school studs that enrolled at ND and were last seen on the backs of milk cartons.

Then consider this thought: did anyone ever hear of Glenn Earl coming out of high school? He was not a national name in recruiting until he committed to ND. Yet, he was one of the most important role players on the 2000 Irish. In fact, he was much less touted than his classmate, Gerome Sapp. But Earl was crucial this year. His special teams play, and spot duty at safety were vital to the team’s turnaround. Were the experts wrong again?

When salivating over the next 6’ 2", 230 lb stud with 4.4 speed, remember that developing into a great college player takes more than numbers. One can argue that the failures of McNair, Pierre-Antoine, Ching, etc. to develop into starters is a failure of the coaching staff. Maybe this is true. But others flourished in their place. Perhaps it is the player after all.

Granted, recruiting is an inexact science. Most would agree. But one thing is clear: success at the high school level does not predict success at the college level. It is not limited to Notre Dame, either. Just look at the recent flameouts of Justin Fargas and CJ Leak for proof. The single most important factor is the ability for the player to learn from the coaching system. That is why players like Glenn Earl succeed over Gerome Sapp, and Tyreo Harrison over Carlos Pierre-Antoine. They have developed faster in the Bob Davie system.

So would these players developed better in other programs? Perhaps. Players such as Dorsey Levens and Kent Graham flourished elsewhere and became NFL stalwarts. Not everyone is cut out to be a Notre Dame star, despite what Tom Lemming says.

So keep all of this in perspective when following recruiting this year. In an ideal world, all of these young men would develop to the fullest potential and win national titles in the blue and gold. We all know that isn’t the case. Attracting talent helps produce victories. Developing talent is even more important.

John Romanelli, ‘91