Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Commits “Trust the Process”

Notre Dame’s class of 2017 sprung another leak on Monday with the decommitment of Paulson Adebo.  Next to Donovan Jeter, it was the biggest of the now four decommitments that have occurred since the fall.  The rest of the class of 2017 – and those on board for 2018 – are rallying around each other with a social media surge.

One by one, the active tweeters among Notre Dame’s commitments for both 2017 and 2018 began tweeting out a simple message with the same picture.  Here’s one such tweet from the first commitment for the class of 2017 – Dillan Gibbons.

According to Jake Brown from Irish Illustrated, the coordinated social media strike was their idea – not some coordinated push from the Notre Dame staff – and the idea sprung up from a group text message chain following the latest decommitment.

This year’s class is one of the closest groups of commitments we have seen for Notre Dame in a while and is very reminiscent of the class of 2008 that was the highest rated of the Weis Era.  That class too came on the heels of a historically bad season for Notre Dame.  Charlie Weis’s disastrous 3-9 campaign in 2007.

Despite the decommitments – Adebo joined Peter Werner, Jeter, Jordan Pouncey, and Robert Beal (all but Beal have occurred since the fall) – Notre Dame has a chance to maintain a place in the top 10 of the recruiting standings in large part because of the commitment from the current commitments and the help they are giving Notre Dame on the social media front.

Following the decommitment of Werner last month, Notre Dame quickly emerged as the leader for Ohio State decommitment Antjuan Simmons.  Notre Dame’s class of 2017 were quick to swarm on Simmons with social media mentions and they haven’t slowed down.  Notre Dame remains in strong position for Simmons who like Werner is a 4-star linebacker recruit.

A lot can – and will – happen between now and National Signing Day but those recruits still committed to Notre Dame appear to be pretty firmly committed and dedicated to helping the Irish close this class out strong.  The new Irish staff certainly has their work cut out for them.

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25 Comments

  1. First – all these recruits decommit; and now it looks like all the offensive linemen are returning! When it rains, it pours.

  2. There are three things that can bring Notre Dame to the playoffs. 1) Teach Wimbush to reverse his field when he rolls near the sideline, rather than throw the ball away like Golson was trained to do. The vast majority of the time, those chasing him will not be able to get him and now he tires the defense out and gives the play a chance to gain yards–sometimes big yards. If the experiment doesn’t work–then throw it away. 2) When it’s obvious you will rarely stop a team (like Navy and USC in 2016), onside-kick on every kickoff. Extra time must be used to practice this. 3) Keep track of what’s working and not working. In the 2012 National Championship game vs. Alabama, ND ran option right for a first down and never ran it again. Three years ago FSU kept kicking to slow Cam McDaniel who was left in despite terrible returns.

  3. There isn’t enough upper 4 and 5 star talent out there, that can also meet the standards ND holds for their student athletes, to field a winning team. And when they bend a little on their standards you end up with things like what happened last year and the year before. And then you have to compete with programs like Stanford, UCLA, Florida St…. for the few that can make it as a 4-5 star and also make it in the class. Here is the thing, yes, ND definitely has lost the “its Notre Same” mystique, but the fact is warm weather, classroom standards, loyalty… all play a part in recruiting.

    1. E. Hicks just decommitted. Another 4-star recruit who will be replaced by a two- or three-star player. BK is following in the recruiting footsteps of TW! Not good!!!

    1. Needless to say, Peyton Manning had no natural talent. I wonder what his dad did for a living? I wonder if any of his siblings display any athletic abilities? Nope. It’s all about blood, sweat, and tears. Nothing natural about a professional or top-tier athlete. We could all be world-class athletes if we just spent a few more hours in the gym every week!

    2. BTW: This quotation is logically absurd, since both the dependent and independent variables in the equation are about TALENT!

  4. 4-star recruits being replaced by three-star recruits, three-star recruits being replaced by two-star recruits, no five-star recruits on the horizon, etc. That’s where ND recruiting stands. I know, I know, we’ll hear about how Eifert was a three-star recruit, and we’ll hear about Max Redfield being a stud five-star recruit and how that turned out. And we’ll hear about how it’s not about recruiting stars but about how players are developed (BTW: how good has BK and Co. been at player development anyway?!). We won’t hear how arguably our two best D players in the last two decades, Manti T’eo and Jaylon Smith, were both big-time, five-star recruits. But that’s OK, cherry picking facts are all too common these days. How have Bama and Clemson done on the recruiting trail of late? I know, I know. ND can’t compete with these schools on the recruiting trail. I guess that then it’s no secret why ND can’t compete with them on the field either. For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, law of cause and effect. Can’t recruit with the big boys, don’t expect to hang with the big boys. Plain and simple.

      1. Any actual football-related thoughts or too busy fantasizing about your next tryst with Mike Tomlin?

        Don’t lie, “Burgy.” We all know how you love dark meat!

      2. BTW…ND NFL’Rs since 2011:
        Harrison Smith FS MIN 5 yr / $51,250,000
        Kyle Rudolph TE MIN 5 yr / $36,500,000
        Michael Floyd WR NE 4 yr / $9,971,500
        Ronnie Stanley T BAL 4 yr / $20,484,331
        Ian Williams DT SF 1 yr / $3,000,000
        Tyler Eifert TE CIN 4 yr / $8,256,001
        J.J. Jansen LS CAR 5 yr / $5,500,000
        Zack Martin G DAL 4 yr / $8,967,800
        Theo Riddick RB DET 3 yr / $11,550,000
        Will Fuller WR HOU 4 yr / $10,164,313
        Manti Te’o ILB SD 4 yr / $5,172,420
        Stephon Tuitt DE PIT 4 yr / $4,609,446
        Jaylon Smith OLB DAL 4 yr / $6,494,970
        Troy Niklas TE ARI 4 yr / $4,023,300
        Chris Watt C SD 4 yr / $2,816,640
        Nick Martin C HOU 4 yr / $4,774,973
        Darius Fleming OLB NE 2 yr / $1,260,000
        Kapron LMoore DE CHI 0 yr / $1,504,496
        Keivarae Russel lCB CIN 4 yr / $3,363,128
        TJ Jones WR DET 1 yr / $600,000
        Louis Nix DT NYG 1 yr / $600,000
        C.J. Prosise RB SEA 4 yr / $3,112,464
        George Atkinson RB CLE 1 yr / $525,000
        Sheldon Day DT JAC 4 yr / $2,948,410
        Zeke Motta S ATL 4 yr / $2,205,896
        Cody Riggs CB TB 0 yr / $861,977
        Prince Shembo ILB ATL 4 yr / $2,520,584
        Ben Koyack TE JAC 2 yr / $990,000
        Cierre Wood RB BUF 0 yr / $575,423
        Bennett Jackson SS NYG 1 yr / $450,000
        Matthias Farley S IND 3 yr / $1,620,000
        Romeo Okwara DE NYG 3 yr / $1,620,000
        Kona Schwenke DT SEA 2 yr / $960,000
        Chris Brown WR DAL 3 yr / $1,620,000
        Braxston Cave C DET 1 yr / $435,000
        Ishaq Williams OLB NYG 2 yr / $990,000
        Kyle Brindza K NYJ 0 yr / $109,852
        Elijah Shumate S JAC 0 yr / $13,000
        DaVaris Daniels WR NE 3 yr / $1,585,000
        Mike Golic Jr. RT NO 1 yr / $435,000
        Amir Carlisle WR ARI 3 yr / $1,620,000
        Jarrett Grace LB CHI 3 yr / $1,620,000

    1. Clemson until a few years ago was always below ND in the rankings. The area ND lacks in recruiting is 4 and 5 star d-lineman. They have swung and missed on several. The last great Dline class was Tuitt, Lynch and Williams. They need to recruit Dline better if they want a solid defense. They have also had injury bug hit them and these players continue to get injured in the NFL.

      If Kelly wants to continue coaching at ND or anywhere else he is going to have to adapt and change his philosophy. He has needs some big boys upfront or guys with Zorich like heart or 7-5 and see you later

    2. ND could fall out of the top 20 in team recruiting rankings before it’s all said and done. Over the next month we’ll see a lot of articles about recruits who have ND in their top ten, but as always, they will all go elsewhere while ND swoops down and picks up the scraps. Guess all that tweeting doesn’t help after all.

    3. Shaz,

      On the one hand, that list proves how little BK has done with so much NFL-level talent.

      On the other hand, that list shows how little top-tier, Pro-Bowl, All-Pro level talent ND has produced in the last 7 or 8 years. I just don’t hear a lot of these names on a weekly basis on NFL broadcasts. Which is not to say we won’t in the future. Hopefully many of these ND alums turn out to be great pro players.

      Go Irish!

      1. I hear Golic’s name all the time. He works for ESPN. The CFL and AFL were too much for him apparently. But I know, I know…. tons and tons of talent… all the coaches’ fault.

      2. Shaz, not sure of your point in listing the ND guys making big bucks in the NFL other that .ND can land very goood NFL type califber talent…. I’m happy they are getting paid well in their post college football careers, but how many championships did they help ND achieve? Lack of player development and not having enough of this type of talent in the same season is a major concern for the ND program. The Irish will continue to feed the NFL players like you listed because they are talented, smart and good people.

  5. I don’t know how this recruiting class will finish, but I do like the new coaching, and strength and conditioning hires. How will those moves. Translate to the play on the field next season remain to be seen. I believe Notre Dame has really good talent especially on offense and special teams that has underperformed do to poor coaching.

    1. “HURLS,”

      I’ll be positive when there’s something to be positive about. Unlike you, I don’t accept mediocrity and make excuses for it.

      You want to keep trying to sell us on the fact that BK is a Bill Belichick protege. No, he’s not. Nick Saban is a real Belichick protege. Saban and Belichick have results to back them up and make their fans feel positive. I’m sure you claim to be a Patriots fan. If so, then don’t tell me you don’t know what a real head coach and team look like, “HURLS.”

      You’re an apologist for BK because he’s from Boston. I couldn’t care less if he were from Boston or Mars. If he wins, then I’m positive. Go 4-8 and hemorrhage recruits and I’m not so positive.

      You seem to confuse being positive with being delusional, “HURLS”.

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