Kelly Visiting Dietrich Riley Wednesday
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly will be making one of his more important in-home recruiting visits of his early tenure at Notre Dame on Wednesday when he visits the La Canada, California home of standout safety prospect Dietrich Riley. Once considered a strong USC lean, Riley has opened up his recruiting some after the departure of Pete Carroll.
Prior to Carroll leaving for the Seattle Seahawks, most felt Riley was USC bound. Since Carroll’s departure, however, Riley has claimed that everyone is even again.
Brian Kelly will be making his pitch to Riley today according to Irish Sports Daily in what will be one of his more important in-home visits for this class considering Notre Dame’s need at safety. The Irish have a huge need at safety in this class and have only secured the verbal commitment of one safety thus far – early enrollee Chris Badger. Adding a safety of Riley’s caliber (a four star recruit on Rivals, Scout, and ESPN) would be a huge boast for Kelly and this year’s class. Riley would also compliment Badger very well with Badger being more of a strong safety and Riley being more of a free safety.
Even with a great in-home visit though, Notre Dame might need a little luck here since Riley will be visiting both LSU and USC in the coming weeks. Riley has already visited Notre Dame officially doing so during the season while Charlie Weis was still the head coach of the Irish.
Notre Dame has struggled a bit recruiting at the safety position with just four total recruits in the past three classes – Jamoris Slaughter and Dan McCarthy two years ago, Zeke Motta last year, and Badger this year. In fact, the lack of recruiting success at safety has left Notre Dame with very little returning experience and depth heading into 2010.
Adding Riley would be a great start to reversing Notre Dame’s fortunes at the position.
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
My point exactly : we keep recriting the big tackle only to find out he may not even qualify to be at ND.
What are our real chances of getting a commitment here?
When hell freezes over! Kelly wants Riley as a runningback instead when the article says “standout safety.”