Archive for the ‘Notre Dame Recruiting’ Category

Notre Dame had more than 1/2 of this year’s recruiting class on display in San Antonio this weekend for the Army All American Bowl and here are some observations after watching the game and seeing random video clips throughout the week.  All in all, the ND guys were very impressive.

• Dayne Crist, QB
  Crist looked like a natural leader on the field and threw a very nice pass.  He’s got a big league arm and a quick release.  After watching him play in person earlier this year, the one knock Ihad on Crist was his accuracy and that was a bit evident on Saturday as well.  Crist missed a couple open receivers, but overall, he turned in a fantastic performance.   Crist was 5 of 12 for 113 yards with a 56 yard touchdown to fellow ND commit Michael Floyd.  He showed he’s got all the tools to be a star quarterback for the Irish.
• Michael Floyd, WR
  If there was a better wide receiver in the game, I didn’t see him.  Floyd showed he can burn a corner one on one when he torched Michigan commit Boubacar Cissoko on the 56 yard touchdown.  He also showed he can use his body to shield a defender in the end zone when he caught a jump ball from Andrew Luck for a score over fellow ND commit Robert Blanton.  Floyd’s performance did nothing to quiet the internet chatter that he will start from day one at Notre Dame.
• John Goodman, WR
  Goodman looked pretty skinny compared to the other wide receivers in the game, but he looked pretty good out there and ended up catching a fourth quarter touchdown pass over Gerrell Robinson after Robinson picked Arizona State over the Irish.  The Samardzija comparisons are a bit premature right now because he doesn’t have the kind of size and strength that Jeff had, but he looks like he’ll be a pretty good receiver.
• Kyle Rudolph, TE
  Rudolph didn’t see too much action in the passing game this weekend, but by all accounts he was pretty impressive throughout the week in practice.  Rudolph will be the #3 tight end next year at least and appears ready to play.
• Lane Clelland, OL
  Clelland will probably drop down in the recruiting rankings a bit after the game, because it showed that he is still a bit raw and needs some work in the weight room before he’s ready to play.
• Mike Golic Jr, OL
  Golic was easily the smallest offensive lineman in the game, but he actually surprised me with how well he played despite the size disadvantage he was at.  Golic looked like a very polished blocker already and looked pretty good at run blocking.  He is going to need to spend a ton of time in the weight room, but if he makes Reuben Mendoza his best friend once he gets to Notre Dame, Golic is going to be much more than a “filler” recruit as many felt.
• Trevor Robinson, OL
  Robinson got some rave reviews throughout the week, but didn’t quite live up to those reports in the game.  Robinson was not by any means disappointing, but he did not dominate in the game as many reports had suggested he was doing all week in practice.
• Darius Flemming, DE/OLB
  Flemming was playing defensive end in the 4-3 defense the East team was using and showed that he is quick off the line and can rush the quarterback pretty well.  Flemming nearly had (and probably should have had) Luck sacked in the end zone for a safety.  He was tough to block for the West OL whenever he was in the game and showed that he will most likely be able to come in and play next year.  Brian Smith and Kerry Neal will likely cement the starting OLB positions in the spring, but I would expect we will be seeing Darius get snaps on passing downs next fall.
• Sean Cywnar, DT
  Cywnar ended up recovering a botched snap by Crist in the first half and showed a good motor in the game.   He reminded me of a much bigger Pat Kuntz during the game.  He’s not the biggest or fastest guy, but he plays hard from snap until the whistle.  With Cywnar enrolling early, it is conceivable that he will be worked into ND’s thin defensive line rotation next year.
• Brandon Newman, NT
  No one player may have surprised people as much this week.  By all accounts, Newman was much, much better than most people expected he would be in practice all week long.  Newman showed that he is quick off the snap and can handle double teams.  He will need to start working on his conditioning right away, however, as he showed up pretty out of shape.  Still, Newman probably could not have surprised anyone anymore than he did this week.  Newman could be able to take some snaps at NT next year if necessary.
• Anthony McDonald, LB
  McDonald was playing in a 4-3 defense this weekend after playing a 3-4 in high school and looked a bit out of place at times.  He over pursues a couple of running plays early, but he looked pretty athletic for an inside linebacker and his game should translate very well into Notre Dame’s 3-4 attack.  He wasn’t among the most impressive linebackers in the game, but he was far from the least impressive either.
• Steve Filer, LB
  Filer was adjusting to the 4-3 defense this week just like McDonald so its tough to judge his performance too much.  He did make one nice stop on a run play in the game, but other than that, his name was not called that much.  He already looks about as big as Mo Crum though which is encouraging considering our lack of size among the interior linebackers.
• Robert Blanton, CB/S
  Blanton played safety in the game, but will be lining up as a corner once he gets to Notre Dame.  Blanton looked great in run support and hit pretty well.  He’ll need to add some size before he’s an every down type of player, but he raised some eyebrows this week.  He did get beat by Floyd in the jump ball in the end zone primarily because Floyd just out positioned him and shielded him from the ball showing that Blanton will need some work on his technique as well.
• Jonas Gray, RB
  Gray was slowed by injuries during the week and didn’t see a whole lot of action.  He had a couple runs up the middle, but never really got into space to show his speed.   He had 3 attempts for 8 yards in his limited action.

Two of Notre Dame’s top remaining prospects made their college decisions known during the two All Star games on Saturday afternoon.  Gerrell Robinson, who was playing safety for the West squad during the Army All American Bowl, picked local Arizona State, but Deion Walker, a five star wide receiver from Virginia, picked the Irish during ESPN’s Under Armour All American game.

Conventional wisdom suggested we wouldn’t get both prospects considering we already had two wide receivers committed in this class in Mike Floyd and John Goodman, so it’s not surprising that we landed only one of the two.

No matter which way this played out for the Irish, it was a win-win situation as both Robinson and Walker are very gifted prospects at the position.  Had the Irish coaching staff been able to convince Robinson to play defense, where many believe is better suited for, its likely he would have landed in South Bend.

Regardless, getting Walker is HUGE for this class by giving it three All American wide receivers.  Here’s some quotes about Walker’s decision from an ESPN article.

“The value of Notre Dame’s academics is excellent, and I have developed a strong relationship with Charlie Weis,” said Walker. “He is just a cool guy and really put in a lot of effort calling and recruiting me personally.” From a football and receiving standpoint, Walker felt there would be no better mentor than the three-time Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator.

“He is an offensive-minded coach who knows the game and how to get the ball to his wide receivers. Coach sees me as a receiver who can play in the slot and also split out wide. “He said I have the green light to come in and challenge for a starting job.” We agree with Weis’ assessment of the Virginia prep standout and feel Walker possesses the elite receiving skills and elusiveness needed to become a much needed playmaker for the anemic Fighting Irish offense. ESPN’s No. 8-rated receiver prospect is tall with a long, rangy body and is very smooth in all of his movements. Walker displays very soft hands and precise route running skills with a good burst out of his breaks for a taller receiver.

I’ll post more thoughts on the game later on.

As reported by ESPN on Sunday, Omar Hunter has officially decommited from Notre Dame and it appears as though the Irish are now completely out of the picture for the five star defensive tackle.

“I committed to Notre Dame four or five months ago,” Hunter said. “I went there on my visit and my intentions were to commit to Michigan. I fell in love with Notre Dame when I was there and I liked the coaching staff and facilities and that won me over.”

It was a little more than distance that weighed into his decision, but he is certain he will not be playing for Notre Dame next season.

“Just watching Notre Dame, their style and how they played,” Hunter said as reasons for making the switch. “It doesn’t really fit with the way I play. I am not really sure about the coaching staff there, I know they are good guys and I love them, but I am not comfortable with the decision I made. I am officially decommitting from Notre Dame.”

For now there are three schools in the race, two which are geographically close to Buford.

“I am definitely looking at USC, Florida, and Auburn, those schools that have kept in touch with me,” Hunter said. “Those are the schools I am looking at. This dead time I have been looking around and see what I like.”

The loss of Hunter is no doubt a huge blow to Notre Dame’s and the whole saga which has been unraveling over the last couple weeks has tested Weis’s policy of “If they’re looking, we’re looking,” that he instituted last year after the defections of Justin Trattou, Greg Little, and Chris Little all in January. According to Jeff Carroll of the South Bend Tribune, citing two different sources including Tom Lemming, Notre Dame informed Hunter that his Notre Dame offer would be off the table if he visited elsewhere.

According to an Internet report earlier this week by Rivals.com’s Mike Farrell, the Notre Dame coaching staff had informed Hunter that if he chose to take other official visits like he was talking about, then the Notre Dame offer would be withdrawn.

“That’s a fact,” competing recruiting analyst Tom Lemming confirmed Tuesday from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. “You can print that.”

Many will debate whether or not this was the best course of action over the month and it will be very interesting to see what Weis has to say on the matter at his Signing Day press conference next month.

Regardless, the only silver lining in this mess is that it happened in the beginning of the month and not the middle to end of January as last year’s defections did. The most likely replacement for Hunter in this class seems like it may be current Michigan commit Mike Martin according to NBCSports.com.

With committed nose tackle Omar Hunter now looking at Florida and USC, one name to keep in mind for the Irish is Novi (Mich.) Catholic Central’s Michael Martin. The 6-2, 290-pound Martin committed to Michigan but could be open to switching because of the coaching changes in Ann Arbor.

Martin is a four star DT from both Rivals and Scout and ranked as the #12 DT by both. ESPN has Martin as the #9 DT in the country. Look for Martin to visit Notre Dame sometime this month and decide whether or not he is sticking with Michigan or joining the Irish.

Martin would be much, much more than just a plan B type recruit should he land at Notre Dame . Martin likely would have been very heavily pursued by the Irish staff all along had Hunter not committed to the Irish so early which in essence ended Notre Dame’s recruiting at the position. The Irish staff, however, thought they were done recruiting DT’s and didn’t pursue any others at the time.

Hat tip to poster Killshot for the heads up on an incredible catch by Michael Floyd in section finals of Minnesota high school playoffs.

“Michael Floyd…just made a catch…that would make any NFL highlight reel.” -Killshot

In addition to returning a punt for a touchdown, Floyd had touchdown receptions of 52, 7 and 24 yards in the 53-32 win for Cretin-Derham Hall. Their next game is Thursday, 7pm (CT) against Lakeville North.

You can view the video at by clicking the Video link.

Also, check out the sequenced still shots:

After yesterday’s performance, many may have felt we blew our chance with the recruits on campus, but a day later Notre Dame has picked up a HUGE commitment from Mike Floyd according to Mike Frank of Irish Eyes.

“Yeah, I committed this weekend,” Michael Floyd said as we spoke to him as he was boarding his plane home from his official visit to Notre Dame this weekend.

Floyd was one of the most pivotal recruits remaining on the board for the Irish because he is a difference making wide receiver - something the Irish are disparately in need of. Check out his latest Rivals highlight video to get an idea of just how good of a receiver he is.

Hats off to Weis and staff for pulling in Floyd after yesterday’s performance because this was really a must get for Notre Dame to get back to where we want to be. And to recap, the staff hauled in this commitment despite the following recent incidents:

1. Matt Carufel who went to the same high school as Floyd transfers and isn’t exactly complimentary towards Notre Dame on the way out.
2. Notre Dame gets beat 38-0 at the hands of USC while Floyd is on his official visit.
3. Notre Dame currently sits at 1-7 with a struggling (to say the least) offense.

When you consider that Floyd still committed to Notre Dame despite all of that, you also have to give him credit for picking the Irish despite our recent struggles. Commitments like this one from Floyd are also exactly what we need to get back on top. This last quote from the IE article also gives you a clue that this kid’s head is definitely screwed on straight.

“It feels real good knowing that I have a school now,” he said. “I’m going to help them bring this back and I’m going to get a great degree.”

Welcome aboard Mr. Floyd, we are more than glad to have you.

While I was on my ND road trip two weeks ago, I took in the Sherman Oaks Notre Dame - Servite game to get a look at Dayne Crist and Anthony McDonald. Here’s some pics of Crist and a brief little scouting report. I’ll post some pics on McDonald tomorrow.

As for Crist, he surprised me with his mobility and pocket presence. He moved around very well and avoided a couple of sacks with his ability to stay alive in the pocket. He wasn’t making crazy moves to stay alive, but rather just made some good, tough plays.

His accuracy wasn’t very strong in the half of football I watched as he was high with his passes often. At one point he missed an open receiver for what may have been a touchdown. Overall though, I thought his mechanics were pretty good and he went through his progressions well. He didn’t just lock in on his receiver and throw that way. Overall, he looks like a very solid prospect who will need some work, but has a ton of upside.

ESPN released their latest Top 150 list Monday and Notre Dame is well represented both in terms of current commitments and prospects still interested in them.

Among the Notre Dame commitments in ESPN’s list, a couple things stand out. First off, this is the lowest I’ve seen Kyle Rudolph ranked. Rudolph is a five star prospect from both Scout and Rivals. On the flip side, Omar Hunter and Dayne Crist are both ranked much higher here than either Rivals or Scout. Many people feel Omar Hunter is under rated elsewhere based on the impressive list of offers he collected and these rankings seem to back that up. Crist is a top 100 prospect on both Rivals and Scout, but is on the other half of 50 on both.

The only prospect who is in both Scout and Rivals’ top 100 lists missing from ESPN’s is offensive lineman Lane Clelland. Robert Blanton, also missing from ESPN’s list, is on the Rivals Top 100. Below is a side by side comparison of how ESPN’s rankings matchup against Scout and Rivals.

Also for fun, here’s a look at some remaining Notre Dame prospects who are ranked in ESPN’s 150 and where they stack up against Scout and Rivals.

All of the above prospects have at least some interest in Notre Dame and among them, Sabino, Floyd, Filer, and Brown all look like they very likely could end up with Notre Dame. Among the four running backs listed, Notre Dame should also land one of them - likely Thomas or Williams. If that scenario were to unfold, Notre Dame would end this class with 12 of ESPN’s Top 150 this year.

As with the comparison of Notre Dame’s commitments, a couple rankings really stand out.  For instance, how on earth does ESPN have Matt Patchan ranked outside the top 100 when most consider him one of the elite offensive tackles in this year’s class?  ESPN also has Steve Filer (110) quite a bit lower than either Scout (28) or Rivals (34) who both have Filer as a five star prospect.

ESPN also ranks Carlton Thomas much higher than either Scout or Rivals.  Last year ESPN did the same thing with Golden Tate who is a similar player.  Both are smaller players who have elite speed and it looks as though ESPN’s rankings, compiled by Scouts, Inc., place a much greater emphasis on speed in their rankings than either Rivals or Scout.

There’s been quite a bit of debate over the last few weeks about whether or not this recruiting class that Notre Dame is assembling will end up ranking amongst some of the best recruiting classes in Notre Dame history. With the help of Chris94 from the football board, I have come up with this post comparing the last 20 recruiting classes using the USA Today and Parade All Americans. Granted, these teams are not necessarily the best comparison, but in looking at them we can get a very general idea of how talented each class has been perceived to be.

In looking at these last 20 classes, a few years obviously stick out - mainly 1989, 1990, 1995, and 2006 when Notre Dame signees occupied at least 8 combined spots on these two All American teams so for the sake of this post, we’ll take a closer look at those four classes.

1989

Lou Holtz brought in a total of nine USA Today and Parade All Americans, represented by seven different prospects - Rick Mirer, Irv Smith, Craig Hentrich, Stuart Tyner, Chet Lacheta, Dorsey Levens, and Nick Smith. Of those seven signees, four of them would end up to have varying levels of success in the NFL. Mirer was a three year starter for Notre Dame and was a Heisman candidate in 1991 and 1992, but never made it close enough in the voting to be invited to the Downtown Athletic Club. He would, however, be drafted #2 overall by the Seahawks and went on the win the offensive rookie of the year honors in the AFC. Mirer’s success was short lived in the NFL and he spent most of his career as a journeyman quarterback who held onto a clipboard more often than a football.

Irv Smith was a first round pick of the Saints in 1993 and had a fairly productive NFL career. Craig Hentrich was one of the best punters in the NFL during the 90’s and ended up going to to the Pro Bowl twice in his career. Dorsey Levens, who ended up transferring to Georgia Tech, also found Pro Bowl success in the NFL.

Not listed amongst the All Americans are Reggie Brooks, Demetrius DuBose, and Junior Bryant who also all went on to have productive NFL careers.

1990

This class is generally considered, along with the 1995 class to be one of the last truly great Notre Dame recruiting classes. This was the senior class for the 1993 team that was simply loaded with talent. There were eight All Americans represented by seven different signees in this class amongst the two teams. What really jumps out, however, is that two potential NFL Hall of Fame members were part of the same class for Notre Dame in 1990 in Jerome Bettis and Bryant Young.

Bettis finished his professional career as the fifth leading rusher in NFL history and went two six Pro Bowls during his 13 years in the league. Young has also quietly put together a Hall of Fame worthy career with four trips to the Pro Bowl as well as being named to the NFL All 1990’s Team by the voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

On top of Young and Bettis, Jeff Burris, Aaron Taylor, Mike McGlinn, Oliver Gibson, and Jim Flannigan were also represented between the Parade and USA teams. All but McGlinn went on to have successful NFL careers.

Not listed amongst the All Americans are the likes of Pete Berrich, Willie Clark, Greg Lane, Lake Dawson, Anthony Peterson, and Tim Ruddy giving Notre Dame 12 players in this class who at least had a cup of coffee in the NFL. Duplicating the mass of talent that comprised this class is going to be extremely difficult when you consider that 1/2 of the class would need to make it to the NFL.

1995

This 1995 class is the pretty much the epitome of the era of under utilized talent known as the tenure of Bob Davie. Five players (Jimmy Friday, Kory Minor, Tim Ridder, Mike Rosenthal, Jerry Wisne) were listed on both the USA Today and Parade teams and a sixth (Autry Denson) was listed on the Parade team. Despite the talent, this group produced just one steady NFL player - Rosenthal. Quite a few prospects in this class ended up having very brief stints in the NFL, but nothing worth mentioning really.

A lot of these guys cracked the line up early such as Kory Minor who started as a freshman, but never really improved much from there. Denson, the most successful recruit in the class, is the leading rusher in Notre Dame history, but despite holding that accolade most observers do not think of Denson when considering the great running backs that have played for the Irish.

Bob Davie’s five seasons as head coach of Notre Dame served as a career grave yard for a lot of high school All Americans and this class may be the epitome of that. While Lou Holtz is credited with recruiting this class, he only served as their coach for just the 1995 and 1996 seasons while Davie had them for 1997 and 1998. Furthermore, Davie was the defensive coordinator for Minor and Friday during Holtz’s last two years as well.

2006

Charlie Weis’s first full recruiting class at Notre Dame produced 11 All Americans between Parade and USA Today from eight different players - Chris Stewart, Konrad Reuland, Sam Young, Darrin Walls, Toryan Smith, James Aldridge, Demetrius Jones, and Matt Carufel.

This class is just starting to make its impact felt at Notre Dame, but already its starting to seem like this class could end up producing quite a few college stars as well as its fair share of NFL players. As true sophomores in 2007, the eight players listed in these two All American classes should all be at least second on the depth chart at their respective positions and several could earn starting roles.

Jones could end up as the starting quarterback for the Irish while Carufel is a likely candidate to take over one of the open guard positions along the offensive line. Sam Young already spent his entire freshman season as a starter at right tackle for the Irish and will stay there this year. Smith should also challenge Joe Brockington for the remaining inside linebacker spot next to Maurice Crum.

2008

This brings us to this year’s recruiting class which could certainly challenge any of these classes in the number of All American accolades, but in order to match the success of the class of 1990, some of these talented prospects are going to have to achieve greatness on both the college and professional levels.

In looking at the current commitments Notre Dame has gained, certainly there are a number of players who could find their names on either the Parade or USA Today team this year. Ethan Johnson, Kyle Rudolph, Omar Hunter, Anthony McDonald, Darius Flemming, Dayne Crist, Sean Cywnar, Robert Blanton, Jamoris Slaughter,Lane Clelland, and Dan McCarthy come to mind as likely All American candidates. Throw in names like Michael Floyd, Trevor Robinson, Steve Filer, Etienne Sabino, and Marcus Fortson - all of whom Notre Dame is still very actively recruiting - and its conceivable that at least on paper this year’s class could be on par or better than any in the last 20 years. As we’ve seen by looking at the other four classes, however, it will be a long time until we can really tell just how good this class truly is.

Allen Wallace of SuperPrep.com has a free article up on running back recruit Carlton Thomas in which he says Thomas is slightly favoring the Irish.

Although he says hell wait awhile before deciding, he admits to favoring Notre Dame slightly over West Virginia, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia and Iowa. All of Thomas’ favorites have offered as well as Michigan State, Rutgers, Arkansas, Connecticut, Central Florida, South Florida and others.

“Notre Dame is recruiting me the hardest,” Thomas said. “They check on me like every day and text me all the time. I love the school and the education. It’s a great program and they have great coaches. They all have a lot of experience and know how to produce great players.”

Notre Dame will take just one running back, if any, this year and Thomas certainly would be a nice addition if he were to fill that role. Scout lists his 40 time as 4.5, but check out his YouTube highlights below and look at how hard he runs and how decisive he is with the ball. There’s no dancing around in the backfield with him - he sees the hole and hits it. You can’t coach instincts and his highlight reel certainly suggests Thomas has the instincts to be a big time college back.

Getting at least one running back of Thomas’ caliber should be part of Notre Dame’s recruiting strategy every year. Over the last few years Notre Dame has been dangerously thin at the position and at times its cost the Irish wins. Remember the ‘02 Boston College game when every back who got thrown out there seemed to fumble at least twice?

Should Notre Dame end up landing Thomas, a future backfield in 2008 of James Aldridge, Armando Allen, Robert Hughes, and Thomas would likely rival that of any backfield in the nation.

According to GatorCountry.com, Michael Floyd, Notre Dame’s top target at wide receiver, is looking to visit the Gators for their “Friday Night Lights.”

The St. Paul, Minn. prospect has visited the three schools closest to him. He hopes to eventually make it down to Gainesville, with Friday Night Lights still a possibility.

“I’ve been to all three except Florida,” Floyd said. “I’m hoping to be there for Friday Night Lights. I’m trying to have my mom bring me down there. If I have enough money then I’ll come down.”

The Florida coach Michael Floyd talks to the most would be his position coach, Billy Gonzales, if he signed with the Gators.

“I talk to Coach Gonzales a lot,” Floyd said. “Our relationship isn’t too strong right now. We talk most of the time, and when we do it’s just about life. It’s not a whole lot of recruiting stuff, which I actually kind of like.”

Before the hyperventilating begins, things still look good for the Irish here although after the Arrelious Benn situation last year, news like this is sure to cause the blood pressure of a few Irish fans to rise.

Floyd is pretty much the undisputed #1 target at receiver for the Irish this year and with things not looking so good with Brice Butler and not too many other receivers on the horizon, Floyd is probably the most critical recruit left on the board for Notre Dame. With the stunning early success along the defensive line, wide receiver is probably the most glaring need left in this year’s class making Flloyd all that much more important for Weis and Notre Dame.

Let’s hope this is just a case of Floyd wanting to have a little fun in the sun down in Florida, but with recruiting you never know. Many feel Floyd is a heavy lean for Notre Dame, but a trip to Gainesville with everyone’s favorite former wide receiver coach isn’t exactly the most desirable situation.