Brian Kelly talked in detail about all 13 of the defensive players that are part of the recruiting class of 2015 that he and his staff hauled in yesterday. Here are some highlights about what he had to say about each of the 13.
Also be sure to check out what Kelly had to say about the 11 recruits Notre Dame brought in on the offensive side of the ball.
Tevon Coney – LB
Tevon Coney from Palm Beach Gardens, physically looks like a guy that has been in our program for a couple years. Very much has the physical traits necessary to compete early on. He’s dealing with the transition from being away from home for the first time very well, and matter of fact was very helpful in the process of recruiting Dexter Williams, another young man from Florida.
Josh Barajas – LB
Very active athletic linebacker, a winner. He’s been part of I think four teams that have played in the state championship. I think he’s won three out of four of them. Came up a little short this season but again, an extremely athletic player at his position. So we were looking for a guy that could potentially play on the outside and run and give us length and size, and Josh certainly can do that for us.
Asmar Bilal – LB
Another long player at 6‑3, 210 pounds. Actually in the State Championship Game he played free safety. Just, again, another guy that we are excited about developing physically and watching him grow. Range; and just a super young man, comes from a great family.
Nick Coleman – CB
We see him as an inside and outside corner for us. I think we have three of them that we recruited in Coleman and Crawford and Ashton White, all three of those guys can play both inside and outside for us. Meaning they can play that nickel or that corner position on the outside. Nick is a very good athlete, basketball player, played running back. I really like his skill set and again, will get a chance to compete on the defensive side of the ball.
Shaun Crawford – CB
What really sold me on Shaun Crawford, he’s a football player. In particular, he was playing a number of snaps during a game this year on both sides of the ball, and it was late in the game, and they were up and he blocked an extra point. And that just told me something about the way he plays. He never takes a play off.
Micah Dew-Treadway -DT
What really attracted us early on was his pass rush ability for his size. Even though he projects as somebody that may play inside, he has the ability to pass rush even from an inside position and that’s a unique quality for a guy 6‑5, 280 pounds. And we really liked his feet and his ability to play upfield.
Nicco Fertitta – S
What I love about Nicco is the toughness that he brings every single play, every single snap. I was looking for somebody in this class to bring that kind of dominant competitor spirit to our defense, and Nicco brings that. You know, he got a chance to play in the All‑Star Game and showed that he can play with anybody. He’s going to make an impact right away. You’ll see him on every special teams. You’ll see him with the energy that he brings, he’s pretty infectious to a football team.
Elijah Taylor – DT
An inside player who at times was unblockable. In that very good football in that Cincinnati area, talking to rival coaches, they said that when he was healthy, that he was not blockable. You could not block him up front and we were looking for an inside guy, that he is so physically strong at this time as a senior in high school.
Brandon Tiassum – DT
We were just really impressed with his personality, the way he played the game, and his‑‑ he jumped in every drill that we had. I mean, it didn’t matter what drill we were running, he was involved in it. We loved his want to, his desire and for a big guy at that size, we love the fact that we could develop this guy into being a really, really good football player.
Jerry Tillery – DT
Jerry possesses some skill sets that most defensive tackles don’t have, and that is the ability to use his hands. And I think that what we saw when we got a chance to talk to more people about Jerry was a unique ability to take that size of 6‑6, he’s actually 318 pounds now and use his hands and separate and run, that we could have a dominating defensive lineman.
Bo Wallace – DE
You know, we were looking for a flat‑out pass rusher, and we found one in Bo Wallace. He can come off the edge and pass rush. He’s going to have to put on some weight right now but we’ll get him in here in June. And Coach Longo and his staff will get to work with him. We’ll get him ready.
Ashton White – CB
Plays with a lot of confidence, and believes that he’s going to be the starter for us, and I love that kind of attitude. Those are the kind of guys that we are looking for here at NotreDame. But great skill set. You know, we had him up here and got a chance to see him in our camp and we loved everything about him.
Mykelti Williams – S
We think that we found a young man that has all the tools. He’s a guy that can play the ball off the hash. He can run the alley. He can play man‑to‑man. He’s smart. He’s got a high football IQ. He loves to play the game. And you know, checks all the boxes. A good student, great character, couldn’t be more pleased to have Mykelti with us
Tillery!!! Commits early as a OL. Has a great season playing defense. Says he has the athleticism. At his size if he turns out to the monster that we hope for, the D-line will become a strength. Speed rusher Wallace at DE. The future. I easily see Tillery playing this year. If he works his way into the line-up perhaps a ALynch year. With so many two-deep D players returning it’ll be hard for any of these guys to get significant playing time.
last year the Irish started the season on the defense side of the ball unsure of what to expect because of the suspensions that occurred. We were wrote off by most of the nation. But the young guys that filled those positions stepped up and filled those shoes early on. It wasn’t until the Florida state game that the wheels fell off. our young defense played well in most of all the games, but when your knuckle head QB turns the ball over ever way possible that is what killed us. I told my nephew when the season started that if nothing else it would give them experience that they would not have gotten otherwise. That add experience is going to show up big time this year. We are ND!
You are right on the money about missed tackles and overall tackling angles. There is talk about moving James Onwaulu to safety to make room for the massive depth we will have at linebacker next year. I read where Asmir Bilal played strong safety in his high school championship game. Here’s a move they won’t make but should because CJ Prosise was so effective at slot last year. There is also going to be a wealth of talent at the receiver position and Prosise was a safety before he was converted to offense. He would make an outstanding safety with his speed and physicality but it’s probably not in the cards for the coaching staff to ask him to switch back.
We have two of the most gifted athletes in the country playing safety currently (Shumate/Redfield). But for reasons unknown to most of us, it does not translate to the field. I know coach Kelly says the don’t communicate, but they are studs who should be laying the lumber to folks. Redfield takes horrible angles to ball carriers. They both miss way to many tackles, maybe it’s coaching. Maybe Kerry Cooks going to Oklahoma is a good thing.
Remember Harrison Smith wasn’t great until late in his career
glad to see you are placing an emphasis on defense. Felt defense was on the field too long last year!
BIG CONCERN—get back to running the ball! Get the big guys on the offensive line to punish opposing teams defense Hard to keep throwing the ball in November in South Bend!
I wonder which if any of the smaller faster LBs, or the WRs or CB recruits might end up as safeties,
seeing we have an abundance of athletes there, and a an apparent shortage at safety (especially with the uncertainty of Baratti’s recurring shoulder issues and the possible shift of Tranquil to LB as some have suggested).
BK said in his press conference yesterday he now feels he has the star quality and depth to compete with anybody in college. You got to respect him for stating that, as that puts all the pressure and expectation for NDs program rejoining the elite on him and his staff developing this young team. With the ballyhoo comes great expectations.