Recruiting Impact of Coaching Moves
Charlie Weis addressed how the changes to the coaching staff have affected the recruiting areas on Friday. Here’s a recap of who will be handling which areas.
- Frank Verducci will be handing New Jersey. Considering his Jersey ties, this was a no-brainer for Weis. He will also handle Iowa where he coached the OL for Hawkeyes for 10 years.
- Tony Alford will handle the Dallas area of Texas because of the ties he has there. He’ll also handle Colorado and Northern Florida.
- Rob Ianello used to recruit the Dallas area, but will shift his focus in Texas to Houston because of Alford’s ties to the area.
- Ron Powlus used to recruit Northern Florida.
- John Latina used to handle Pennsylvania, but those responsibilities have been given to Jon Tenuta. I’m a little surprised this area wasn’t given to Powlus since his name is legendary in the eastern part of the state.
Something Weis didn’t mention that I think will happen is Brian Polian getting some more area to cover. The changes to the staff have ended up making a stronger unit which should allow Polian to focus more of his efforts on recruiting – an area he’s excelled at the past few seasons.
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
Zach,
We already have Polian working in California. He pulled out Shaq Evans and Cierre Wood under USC’s nose and overall we have pulled out a lot of talent from California under Weis.
Brian,
I am originally from that area as well and Powlus’s name is HUGE in the area. He had an amazing career for Berwick and his name carries a lot of clout in Eastern PA.
I agree that Powlus recruiting PA would make sense, but to say his name is legendary in the eastern part of the start is an overstatement. I live in the same town he played high school football in as well as Raghib Ismail, and Ismail is held in higher regard that Powlus. He is more known for not living up to his hype.
I wonder if it’s possible to find someone who can recruit California to combat USC, even though we have been a bit successful lately. It would give us a really far-reaching staff.
Not much to recruit in Iowa. Surprised he isn’t more utilized in Ohio where we do not get enough of the abundance of recruits.