Future Irish linebacker stud Jaylon Smith was his usual self at the West practice. And to say that he is a great player would be the understatement of the year.
By now, we have all heard the praise and accolades that have deservingly been thrown Smith’s way. However, Smith’s latest good work has gone in the way of trying to convince recent USC decommitment, defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes, that Notre Dame is the right place. The good thing for Irish fans is that Vanderdoes has done a lot of homework on the prestigious school himself.
“The big thing for me is the academic prestige and ND graduating 99 percent of their athletes and it’s obviously a football program back on the rise.” says Vanderdoes.
He is a well-spoken young man who seems to have a firm grip on what he wants from his collegiate experience both on and off the field.
Vanderdoes reiterated multiple times the importance of Notre Dame’s academic reputation and their graduation rate. And while USC would keep Vanderdoes in his native state of California, he doesn’t see going to school far away as an issue.
“They recruit guys from all over America, so they are all going through the same thing,” said Vanderdoes. “Jaylon says it’s a great place and something I really need to see for myself.”
And while Smith has helped talk up Notre Dame, Vanderdoes does state that none of the players at the practices have been pushy and they have all been understanding of the recruiting process and they are obviously going through or have been through the same type of things.
Vanderdoes loves Notre Dame’s academic reputation, but isn’t shy to express his affection for what they do on the field as well.
“I love that they are very multiple,” he says. “They play the 3-4 and the 4-3 and I really like how they mix it up.” says Vanderdoes.
Notre Dame is looking at him to play the five-technique and occasionally the seven-technique and even move into the three-technique and one-technique at times. His eyes lit up when talking about possibly moving all over the place as a part of the Irish scheme.
He stated this all while unassumingly saying that he would be willing to play anywhere along the defensive line, even the nose (one-tech) that most schools have recruited him as. The Notre Dame coaches believe they can make better use of his unique talents by playing multiple positions.
I feel he looks and plays as your prototypical five-tech who could eventually move down after a few meals at the North and South Dining Halls, plus the hearty Notre Dame training tables.
Vanderdoes stated that his reason for decommitting from USC had nothing to do with what they did wrong. In fact he was high in his praise of Ed Orgeron, who the Trojan coach recruiting him. He simply wants to open up his recruiting and given his intellect, really make an educated decision while having all of the information.
Plus, Vanderdoes said that he has been “100 percent honest,” throughout the entire process and he feels he has received that from USC as well. With that said, he did not want to mislead them and be the only recruit to flip in that class right before signing day.
“When I get home, I am going to sit down with my parents and come up with the actual dates of my visits.” says Vanderdoes.
We do know one thing; he will be paying close attention to the National Championship game. He stated that he will visit Alabama and Notre Dame for sure. The others on his list of five continue to be USC, Washington, and LSU. Though, he did not comment on whether he would take any other visits besides the two who square off this Monday night.
