Georgia On My Mind
Over the last few years Charlie Weis and his staff have done a pretty good job recruiting the state of Georgia and so far this year things haven’t changed much. Weis’s first full class at Notre Dame had two players who hailed from Georgia in Toryan Smith and Morrice Richardson and now Notre Dame’s latest commitment, Omar Hunter, also calls the Peach State home. Hunter attends the same high school Darius Walker attended a few years back.
Georgia is also still very much on the mind of Weis and his staff with two more highly rated prospects atop Notre Dame’s target list this year. Wide receiver Brice Butler and defensive back Jamoris Slaughter both have Notre Dame among their favorites and both are recruits that two pivotal recruits for this class.
Butler is the type of speed wide receiver the current Notre Dame roster lacks and could make an immediate impact for the Irish. Slaughter is an athletic, play making safety who fits the bill of Corwin Brown’s new aggressive defense to a tee.
Getting recruits like Hunter and potentially Butler and/or Slaughter are a real sign of the progress Weis has made in Notre Dame’s recruiting. Weis has been able to go into the South and pull recruits away from traditional SEC powers like LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, etc.
The South is still far from being a hot bed of recruits for Notre Dame, but the progress Weis has made is very encouraging. If Weis and staff can make similar progress in Texas – another area loaded with talent – the Irish could really return to the recruiting glory days of Lou Holtz and Vinny Cerrato.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Hate to bring it up, but “Poodle” Willingham had some success in Georgia too. Mark Richardson and Darius Walker, a couple of starters off last year’s team, come to mind. Ashley McConnell, who hasn’t done much but represented a good gamble, also. Willingham actually did recruit the suburban Atlanta and North Carolina areas quite hard, but always seemed to come in second to UGA, Georgia Tech, etc. Weis is having more success in that same region, but then again you would expect a former elite NFL offensive coordinator coming off back – to – back 9 win seasons to have more success than a guy who barely kept Stanford above water who was under .500 after that 8 – 0 start.
Texas is the last area of the country where Notre Dame really has no presence right now so if Weis can make any inroads there ND will officially be recruiting nationally again. During Holtz’s hey day he and Cerrato would recruit anywhere and everywhere and would get the kids out of State U’s backyard.
Now, I’m not saying Weis is owning Florida or the South or California, but he has went into all of those areas and brought out some very highly rated kids. In Texas, however, Weis and his staff haven’t had much luck and Haywood coached in Texas before coming to ND.
Obviously I am very, very pleased with what Weis has done. Getting some recruits out of Texas though would be the cherry on top of the sundae.
Charlie Weis, Corwin Brown and the rest of the staff can’t be given enough credit for all the hard work they put into landing these top recruits from across the country, but is pulling a few recruits from Texas too much to ask?