Dexter Williams to Notre Dame!

The first announcement of the day that Notre Dame was waiting on has gone the Irish’s way with Dexter Williams announcing that he selected Notre Dame over in-state Miami giving Notre Dame’s its much needed second running back in the process.

[Related: Meet all of Notre Dame’s offensive recruits that signed LOI’s today]

Williams (6’1″, 195, 4.5) is a dynamic running back that brings big play potential to the Notre Dame backfield.  He will pair with fellow classmate Josh Adams to Notre Dame another great duo like the current combo of Tarean Folston and Greg Bryant.

Nicknamed “Juice”, Notre Dame running back coach Tony Alford, the principle recruiter for Williams and a huge reason why the Irish have been able to lure talent out of Florida in recent years seemed confident leading up to Williams announcement.  He Tweeted out this picture Wednesday morning.

Nothing like fresh JUICE in the morning! pic.twitter.com/oeRc2ES6Gt

— Coach Tony Alford (@CoachTonyAlford) February 4, 2015

As a senior, Williams ran the ball 124 times for 871 yards (7.0 ypc) with 10 touchdowns.  While those stats might not be eye popping, Williams put up some impressive SPARQ scores over the summer which showcased his explosiveness and athleticism.  Williams also picked up offers from Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, and USC along the way.

Notre Dame’s quest for a second running back was a roller coaster ride over the last few months.  Originally it looked like Soso Jamabo would be Notre Dame’s answer but he cooled on the Irish throughout the season.  In early January it was Jordan Cronkrite that looked like he would fill the role of second back, but he took cooled on the Irish.  Even on the weekend that Williams visited Notre Dame he was not the only running back in attendance as he was joined by Ke’Shawn Vaughn of Nashville.

Brian Kelly and Tony Alford deserve credit for bringing Williams into the fold.  After Williams visit to Notre Dame in January, Kelly made his in-home visit which prompted Williams to cancel plans for any other official visits before Signing Day. At that point it looked almost like a lock for Notre Dame, but a decommitment from Jordan Scarlett at the 11th hour brought on a hard charge from the Miami coaching staff in an attempt to add him back into their class.

Notre Dame withstood the push from Miami and as a result ended up signing a running back duo that gives Notre Dame two all-around backs both of which are capable of being every down players.   And that is a good thing for Notre Dame too.  After Bryant and Folston, Notre Dame doesn’t have a single other scholarship running back on its roster for 2015 meaning both Adams and Williams could see the field very early in their careers.

Interestingly enough, Notre Dame now has three running backs from the Sunshine State on its roster for 2015 with Williams, Bryant, and Folston all hailing from Florida.  Credit Tony Alford for his ability to attract top notch talent at the position from the state that he has owned for the Irish since arriving during the Charlie Weis regime.

With Williams on board, Notre Dame is up to 23 members in the class of 2015 with hopefully more to come later today.  Equanimeous St Brown, a 4-star wide receiver from California, is set to announce his decision at 3:15 PM today on ESPNU and Notre Dame heads into that announcement as the decided favorite.  Notre Dame is also still hopeful to add another safety to this year’s class with Arrington Farrar announcing at 3:00 and Nathon Meadors at 4:00 on Fox Sports.