Ronnie Stanley Commits to Notre Dame
Notre Dame picked up a much needed verbal commitment on Thursday when four star offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley selected Notre Dame over Arkansas and Nebraska.
Stanley, Rivals’ #19 offensive tackle and #170 overall rated recruit, became Notre Dame’s first verbal commitment since Will Mahone picked the Irish back in September. The two an a half month draught in commitments made Thursday’s news all the better for Notre Dame fans who haven’t had much to cheer about on the recruiting trail for a little while now.
While Stanley picked Notre Dame over Arkansas and Nebraska, he held offers from elite programs such as USC, Oklahoma, Oregon, Auburn, Florida, and Florida State. Stanley fits the profile of an offensive tackel to tee at 6’7″, 285 lbs and his 3.7 GPA fits the profile of a Notre Dame recruit to a tee as well.
After previously visiting his other two finalists, Stanley made his official visit to Notre Dame this past weekend where he was hosted by Davaris Daniels and got to take in the Notre Dame Awards banquet. The visit was apparently a major success for the Irish staff as it didn’t take long for Stanley to become the latest addition to this year’s recruiting class.
The Las Vegas native gives Notre Dame three offensive linemen in this year’s class joining Mark Harrell and Taylor Decker. Decker projects as a tackle like Stanley while Harrell projects as a center. Even with the talented trio on board, Notre Dame is not done recruiting along the offensive front. Josh Garnett, Rivals’ #28 overall ranked recruit, visit Notre Dame this past weekend with Stanley and remains very interested in the Irish.
Timing wise, Stanley’s commitment couldn’t have come at a better time as the Irish had hit a major lull in recruiting and were in some desperate need for some momentum. It appears as though there is a good chance Notre Dame will close strong again this year just as they did last year when Brian Kelly and staff were able to land the likes of Stephon Tuitt, Aaron Lynch, Everett Golson, and Ishaq Williams all after the season ended.
This year Notre Dame has just as many big time recruits left on the board including Gunner Kiel, Davonte Neal, Nelson Agholor, and Arik Armstead just to name a few. If the Irish are able to secure commitments from any of these headliners, Notre Dame could be in store for another strong close. Hopefully the commitment of Stanley is just the thing to get the ball rolling on another strong finish.
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
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Ronald Darby no longer commited to nf
If I were a top flight QB recruit I would sign with the team with the top flight offensive line recruits 🙂
Those of you who saw the Heisman trophy winner this year is what E. Golson will be… They are the same mold, but with Kordell Stewart flashes. We don’t need Gunner. We need defensive and offensive Lineman, to get to the next Level. And very good Secondary players….
I agree 100%. I don’t worry about Golson, I think he’s the future.
What is needed are guys in the trenches to take over a game (like they didn’t do against Stanford). And a secondary that can turn their heads and find the ball.
It was a nice pick up for ND on the recruiting trail.
Glad to see we are recuriting more and more guys to play in the trenches. I will take any top recruit we can get and if Gunner wants to come here, then Notre Dame will be more than glad to take him. You never know he may be a special player if he comes here. Hopefully we can get some more skill postion players along with some DBs and Arik Armstead (he could even help with the bball team). Someone earlier (Irish) said we had 2 #1 recruits for QB that didn’t really amount to anything. I disagree becuase Jimmy was good most of the games we lost under him (which we did quite a bit) was not all his fault. We could never have a defense that would take some of the pressure of him and the offense. I could go on a rant about Crist, but I won’t. All I’m going to say is I believe he was not given a fair chance (agree or disagree) I don’t think he was.
Any other new recruiting news that you guys have heard about?
One question I will have for the last 5 years: What if Charlie Weis did not waste Jonas Gray freshman and he could come back for a 5th season? Imagine how great our run game would be if that one year was not wasted on 20 carries that probably had no great impact.
Go Irish beat FSU!!!
keep it going irish, nice pick up
I hope we get him, but I really think that Golson will start next year. Watch his video’s from High School. He earned scout team player of the year award at the banquet also. This was a transitional year for Kelly to prep his QB, and I think that Golson will step into that roll next year. Perfect fit for the offense.
And watching the video, he has Robinsons escape ability but he also is a pass first run second QB. He is going to be dynamic.
I tend to agree with you – this kid is Kelly’s kind of QB and his video is impressive. I see TR at #3 next season.
Welcome aboard kid.
GO IRISH!!!
We need Gunner Kiel bad, I hope our inside track here will payoff?
I’m not sure I really care if we get Gunner. We had Jimmy and then Dayne commit, 2 #1 QB’s and it never amounted to anything. I’d rather see top rated Defensive players commmit. I can’t even tell you who plays QB for Alabama.
Kiel creates more “hype” to the class which usually leads to other top kids committing. Its that simple. These kids want to go where they can play with great players.
Frankly I think we have our QBs in Hendrix & Golson, but Kiel would be a solid add’n for that reason.