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I apologize for the tardiness of this article. I have been holding off to see what happened with Ryan Baker before I turned it in. However, since it looks as though there is no light at the end of the tunnel, here it is.

Too Little, Too Late

You're an idiot! That is what the subject read in a recent e-mail message in my in box. Ahh, yet another UHND reader sending good tidings. When I opened the message, I realized what he was talking about. He was sending this little gem to remind me about a recruiting prediction I had made several months ago in a letters article:

"I have said it before, and I will say it again, this 2004 class is going to surprise. It is only NOVEMBER and the fat lady has not even started to warm up her vocal chords. Talk of "disappointment" should be saved for early FEBRUARY, if at all."

How's that fat lady sound now, idiot? This class sure did surprise. It was surprisingly sub-par.

I will admit that back in November, I still had hopes that Ty & Co. could pull together an impressive class despite the shortcomings on the field earlier in the season. The team was coming off an impressive victory over BYU and I honestly felt the Irish were headed for a revitalizing 6-6 finish. I was wrong. In my humble opinion, any chance the Irish had at signing a top ten recruiting class was lost in the Carrier Dome December 6th. Getting mauled on national television by a team that had been pummeled by Rutgers the previous week was the equivalent of announcing to the recruiting world that the Notre Dame coaching staff was selling a faulty product.

It's one thing to say that you are serious about winning. It is another when your lack of doing so causes many to not take you seriously.

Is the fat lady singing? Is this class as bad as everyone is saying? Let me put it this way. In February 2004--she's belting out La Boheme. Now I know what a lot of you are saying. Recruiting rankings are overrated. Lots of unheralded recruiting classes go on to do great things. And, there is some truth to that line of thinking. But, what cannot be argued is this: there is a direct correlation to consistent recruiting success and consistent success at a program. Programs who consistently recruit what they need successfully, typical have consistent success--whatever the scale of that success might be. One hand washes the other. That is my rub with this recruiting class. God bless the kids we got, but we are missing much of what we needed in this class, overall, to be consistently successful. Especially considering the brutal schedule that we play.

Plain and simple: this class, talent-wise, is far below 2003. And that will represent a deficit that, at best, must be made up by overachievement. Not impossible, but it makes an already difficult job all the more difficult.

So what went wrong? Well, many things, but I can narrow it down to one thing specifically that, in my opinion, was most important. This staff, not known for being strong recruiters to begin with, were working with a plan that is great when things are going well, and recruits are buying your pitch, but is not built for a down year. In short, we had no definitive plan B. Oh, we had a B list of recruits. You can see that by simply looking at the success rate we had signing players initially offered (5 out of 37) and the second batch we offered (12 out of 25). But, we had no alternative recruiting strategy. It seems no one asked the question, "what if things do not go well? What will we do?" Desperate times call for, at the very least, alternative measures. This staff stuck to its plan, took a huge risk that it could somehow persuade many blue chippers who were not high on the Irish in the first place, and lost big time.

Is it difficult to recruit during and after a losing season? Yes, it is particularly difficult when you get a late start. It is particularly difficult when you end the season with a blow out loss on national television to an opponent with an identical 5-6 record. It is particularly difficult when you make your initial offers so selectively. It is particularly difficult when you are not diligent about staying in contact with your B list from the get go, so that when you contact a player later on, he at least feels as though you were always interested instead of suddenly desperate.

Now, you can certainly start recruiting a player in November, December, or January. Especially after a player has had an exceptional senior year. But, when the last time a consensus three or four star player has heard from you is pretty much May, and he has offers from a number of top programs (and you have just recently missed out on two or three other prospects) he is bound to wonder exactly why you are calling him now. High school kids are impressionable, but they can certainly recognize when something is a coincidence, and when it isn't. They also spend plenty of time on recruiting sites.

Our staff came off as desperate. Because they were.

Instead of securing verbals from kids who would say yes early on, and slowly building this class, they did the opposite later on in the year--and missed badly on a number of kids they could have had back in May or June. I cannot give this coach, or his staff the benefit of the doubt anymore. If they have not realized by now that the methods they used at Stanford will not cut the mustard at Notre Dame, then I don't know what to tell them. It's time to step up to the plate, boys, and start hitting the ball out of the park. As far as football expectations go, they are pitching underhand at Stanford. At ND you'd better be ready for the chin music.

Now, if it sounds as though I am being hard on this class, I am not trying to be. I have great respect for anyone who decides to play football for Notre Dame. I want, more than anything, to see that player succeed. Additionally, this is, after all, the assessment of an accused idiot that should not be taken too seriously. Besides, there are some things I really like about this class. These players have demonstrated confidence in their interviews. Ditto in the attitude department. And it is just what the doctor ordered.

However, if I am being honest in stating my opinion, there are also things I don't like about this class. Most importantly, there is no prospect with eye-popping ability. No one that has the pundits saying, "the kid has NFL first rounder written all over him". Victor Abiamiri had it. Brady Quinn had it. Greg Olsen had it. The 2003 class had star quality. No one is saying those things about the 2004 class. We are hearing things like, "solid", "capable," "could surprise," but no one is drooling. That is a sign that cannot be ignored. Terrail Lambert comes closest. But, that is because of his raw speed. Many a fast player has sprinted right to the "do not pass go, do not collect an NFL paycheck," line.

The truth is we need to do better than this for a very important reason. With the schedule we play, we cannot afford to run out of the tunnel with a roster full of "solid" prospects and hope they eventually "surprise". We need NFL scouts descending on South Bend like rowdy drunkards to Corby's on nickel pitcher night. While it is true that some of these highly touted prospects do not pan out, I'll take my chances with the "can't miss" crowd. Because at the time, they are a consensus of the best talent there is at the high school level. They "project" to be the best players. They offer you the best chance to succeed as a program. Plain and simple.

I also do not like Ty Willingham's overall recruiting strategy. I am from the school of thought that says at a place like ND you build a class slow and steady. Get what you absolutely need early from the Midwest, Northeast--impressive three and four star prospects--so you are not left holding the bag later on if you should miss. Then you hit Florida, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, et al--and hopefully slather your class in four and five star gravy. This staff, so used to being the underdog at Stanford, has not adjusted to being the top dog at Notre Dame. Let's hope they figure it out very soon.

They are running out of time.

Could it have been worse? Yes. Closing on Terrail Lambert and Chris Vaughn was a saving grace. But, getting those two signatures, after all the misses, was simply too little, too late. And, that leaves us, as fans, worrying about the future, instead of anticipating it.