'15 OH LB Justin Hilliard (Ohio State Verbal)

[Irishbounty28]

As much as it pains me to say the kid chose a pretty good football team, with a coach that has proven time and time again that he can win and compete for championships yearly. It definitely doesn't make me happy, but you can't blame the kid for his decision.

Best of luck in the future Justin. I will be rooting for you to have exceptional stats, and be a future first rounder, but play on a team that never makes the playoffs. No hard feelings.

 

[stlnd01]

As much as it pains me to say the kid chose a pretty good football team, with a coach that has proven time and time again that he can win and compete for championships yearly. It definitely doesn't make me happy, but you can't blame the kid for his decision.

Best of luck in the future Justin. I will be rooting for you to have exceptional stats, and be a future first rounder, but play on a team that never makes the playoffs. No hard feelings.

This. Also it would have been unusual for the best player in Ohio not to have chosen Ohio State, especially as good as they look these days. Hilliard seems like he seriously considered us, and that's something. No hard feelings (and keep in touch in case something goes awry there between now and February).

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Sucks

 

[phork]

I'll say it again....

Mentioning the academics of the school a recruit selects is boilerplate language. Almost every recruit does it. Some may believe the BS but others just do it to make their mothers happy or whatever other reason.

Academics is almost never the reason a recruit is going to choose a school and we shouldn't get so offended when they mentioned ____Business School.

I was just going to say this. This is the reason why I don't think ND will compete for a National Championship for a very long time if ever again. And don't say 2012 either, because any one of us knows in the deep dark recesses of our minds that ND didn't belong.

Academics don't matter to 95%, or higher, of the kids out there. Especially 5* star talent. So how do you offset that? You bring in superior coaching. Where is superior coaching found? Beats me. Kelly has done well and built a solid program, unlike Weis who did it with smoke and mirrors. The program will sustain, until he leaves. And then we'll flutter back into mediocrity for a years until you find another program builder.

I just don't think we'll get enough 5* guys to make a difference and I just don't think Kelly is going to be the guy to push the 4* over the top.

This year will tell the tale for me. You have everything you need to be a 10 win team. Can ND beat 10 of those teams?

 

[Irishman77]

I was just going to say this. This is the reason why I don't think ND will compete for a National Championship for a very long time if ever again. And don't say 2012 either, because any one of us knows in the deep dark recesses of our minds that ND didn't belong.

Academics don't matter to 95%, or higher, of the kids out there. Especially 5* star talent. So how do you offset that? You bring in superior coaching. Where is superior coaching found? Beats me. Kelly has done well and built a solid program, unlike Weis who did it with smoke and mirrors. The program will sustain, until he leaves. And then we'll flutter back into mediocrity for a years until you find another program builder.

I just don't think we'll get enough 5* guys to make a difference and I just don't think Kelly is going to be the guy to push the 4* over the top.

This year will tell the tale for me. You have everything you need to be a 10 win team. Can ND beat 10 of those teams?

This post is depressing....I disagree with all of it...Kelly walked into a qb nightmare and that is finally over.

USC has done nothing with all of their star power....

 

[Buster Bluth]

This year will tell the tale for me. You have everything you need to be a 10 win team. Can ND beat 10 of those teams?

...except a schedule conducive to achieving that.

 

[OCIrish]

This post is depressing....I disagree with all of it...Kelly walked into a qb nightmare and that is finally over.

USC has done nothing with all of their star power....

That's why, under his avatar, it plainly reads, "raining on your parade".

 

[irishff1014]

The most disappointing thing to me is that, after listening to Hilliard speak this morning, I don't think we ever really had a chance. I thought we had a legit shot and felt good about his recruitment since his profile was created on here over a year ago, but it sounds like he was headed to OSU the whole time.

Hell no we didn't have a chance. This was over a long time ago he was just saying and doing the right things to make it look good for ND.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Consider the world shocked...

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

...except a schedule conducive to achieving that.

Doesn't ND have one of the youngest teams in all of CFB for 2014? I think 2015 is a better batometer for Kelly's coaching ability.

 

[ACamp1900]

...except a schedule conducive to achieving that.

Exactly... that and maybe too much youth... but this is easily one of the more talented ND teams I have seen since the late 80's, early 90's... but 10 wins will be very difficult with that schedule.

 

[Luckylucci]

Doesn't ND have one of the youngest teams in all of CFB for 2014? I think 2015 is a better batometer for Kelly's coaching ability.

I don't like this line of thinking but there is a lot being said about this team playing for 2015. The only real impact player that we lose due to graduation is Ishaq and I think our young DE's by 2015 will collectively make up for his impact.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Doesn't ND have one of the youngest teams in all of CFB for 2014? I think 2015 is a better batometer for Kelly's coaching ability.

Dude we have said this since 2011 that "X year is our year." Respectfully, this season is our season.

 

[ResLife Hero]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Notre Dame's best way to beat Ohio State and Urban Meyer for a recruit? Have the recruit's brother on the Buckeyes. That says something...</p>— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithArnold/statuses/484360820948627456">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Emcee77]

fuckity fuck fuck. Sucks.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Notre Dame's best way to beat Ohio State and Urban Meyer for a recruit? Have the recruit's brother on the Buckeyes. That says something...</p>— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithArnold/statuses/484360820948627456">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ha. Good point. Jaylon, Heuerman ... are there others? Two is enough to make it a good joke, anyway.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Dude we have said this since 2011 that "X year is our year." Respectfully, this season is our season.

I'm not saying play for 2015 or that's "our year" I'm just talking about judging Kelly's ability to challenge for the top. There is lots of talent on this roster but there will also be some unusual challenges (also including an entirely new defensive scheme) that I'm not figuratively defenstrating Kelly if the Irish go 9-3.

 

[IrishLion]

Dude we have said this since 2011 that "X year is our year." Respectfully, this season is our season.

Respectfully, 2011 and 2013 should've been the big years for ND on the national stage, and thus true barometers of his success, just like 2012 was.

However, every time things look to align nicely for a run based on talent/experience/recruiting/coaching, something out of BK's control happened. In 2011, big players inexplicably shit the bed at terrible moments. In 2013, the program's dynasty QB got himself suspended for the year.

The "Wheel of Notre Dame Time" will once again come around to Celestial Alignment in 2015. There will be veterans at every position, and the schedule isn't as brutal as it is this season. That will be the best opportunity to see how a BK team responds when everything is in place. That will be the best time to judge the program's positioning.

 

[woolybug25]

I was just going to say this. This is the reason why I don't think ND will compete for a National Championship for a very long time if ever again. And don't say 2012 either, because any one of us knows in the deep dark recesses of our minds that ND didn't belong.

Ahh... yes, because you think we didn't belong translates to "it didn't actually happen".


It sounds stupid when you say its impossible for us to do something we just did because it was a "fluke".

Step off of the ledge, dude. We lost a recruiting battle, it happens every year. We've been recruiting on an elite level since BK showed up.

 

[Wild Bill]

I was just going to say this. This is the reason why I don't think ND will compete for a National Championship for a very long time if ever again. And don't say 2012 either, because any one of us knows in the deep dark recesses of our minds that ND didn't belong.

Academics don't matter to 95%, or higher, of the kids out there. Especially 5* star talent. So how do you offset that? You bring in superior coaching. Where is superior coaching found? Beats me. Kelly has done well and built a solid program, unlike Weis who did it with smoke and mirrors. The program will sustain, until he leaves. And then we'll flutter back into mediocrity for a years until you find another program builder.

I just don't think we'll get enough 5* guys to make a difference and I just don't think Kelly is going to be the guy to push the 4* over the top.

This year will tell the tale for me. You have everything you need to be a 10 win team. Can ND beat 10 of those teams?

I would agree that it would be difficult, given our restrictions, to consistently compete for titles, i.e., bama. I just can't go as far as saying we'll never compete for titles. Kelly has recruited the talent to be a consistently competitive team (top 15). Catch a few breaks, develop talent and lock down one or two five stars each year and we'll make the playoffs a few times a decade.

 

[irish4ever]

Ohio State

Not surprised at all. Hopefully he can wreak some havoc on scUm while at O$U.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm not saying play for 2015 or that's "our year" I'm just talking about judging Kelly's ability to challenge for the top. There is lots of talent on this roster but there will also be some unusual challenges (also including an entirely new defensive scheme) that I'm not figuratively defenstrating Kelly if the Irish go 9-3.

So a coach can't be evaluated until his sixth season?

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

So a coach can't be evaluated until his sixth season?

I have already concluded he is a good coach.

If you're taking it a step further and talking about whether he can ever put together a team which is genuinely the best in CFB then I think judgment should be withheld until he has had time to fill the roster with his guys and circumstances are favorable.

 

[Luckylucci]

Kelly has a 71% winning percentage since his time at ND. That equates to 9.25 wins per year. I think the real number is 10 wins per year. If he can consistently do that it'll be considered a huge success. So he is just short of that number and doing so against an extremely tough schedule.

 

[Irish#1]

D. partying
E. girls
F. Jashon no go at ND

Correct

mentioned his room was covered in osu gear, taking one outta the old Barnett playbook?

Maybe we flip him after all! The key is whether he already owns an OSU golf bag.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

fuckity fuck fuck. Sucks.



Ha. Good point. Jaylon, Heuerman ... are there others? Two is enough to make it a good joke, anyway.

What about Jaylon Smith?

Brother plays for Buckeyes, was asked by Meyer to leave the team. When Meyer saw how good Jaylon was going to be his brother rose mysteriously into the two-deep.

Frankly, we are stacked at LB and DE. Would rather have a shot at Coney, and Bilal, frankly.

 

[Luckylucci]

Regarding Dad not being happy and what it eventually boiled down to.


TJ,

He's not. Not at all, despite polite talk and appearances as one would expect from a supportive parent.

That's the way it goes, at least for now. Recruiting continues onward and time will determine how things actually work out and how silly much of this obsession is in the end. Good kid and great talent who simply wanted something very different in his next four-year experience. In that sense, he certainly made the right choice -- it couldn't be more different!

So, while the world is ending for some and the program is collapsing because of one still unproven kid's different decision for many others, this might be a good time to take a break from the madness, insanity, unhealthy devotion that often portends little on the front end. Enjoy some summertime fun and remember that a new season's hopes and expressions lie a mere month away -- where everyone is a "5-star beast" and we can finally smack talk opponents rather than ourselves. Just a thought.

 

[Fbolt]

I would agree that it would be difficult, given our restrictions, to consistently compete for titles,.

ND's restrictions are nothing. Win and ALL the big recruits will come. the talent level is on campus now. Win 10-11+ games for a few years-which is extremely doable-and ND shows some stability with winning - all will be okay.

Talent-ND has it
Facilities-ND has it
Coach-ND has it
History/Lore/Fans-ND has it
Name Recognition-ND has it
Education-ND has it
Contacts after graduation-ND has it
Wins-working on it. plan is in place and ND is moving in that direction.

 

[STLDomer]

This from Loy:

I spoke to a source that told me the Hilliard's reached out to a rep from Nike's The Opening and asked if Justin would be allowed to wear a Notre Dame hat (Adidas/Under Armour) while working out at a national Nike event.

Part of his explanation for sticking with ND. Explains Brian Stumph's CB as well.

 

[irishff1014]

This from Loy:

Part of his explanation for sticking with ND. Explains Brian Stumph's CB as well.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

Respectfully, 2011 and 2013 should've been the big years for ND on the national stage, and thus true barometers of his success, just like 2012 was.

However, every time things look to align nicely for a run based on talent/experience/recruiting/coaching, something out of BK's control happened. In 2011, big players inexplicably shit the bed at terrible moments. In 2013, the program's dynasty QB got himself suspended for the year.

The "Wheel of Notre Dame Time" will once again come around to Celestial Alignment in 2015. There will be veterans at every position, and the schedule isn't as brutal as it is this season. That will be the best opportunity to see how a BK team responds when everything is in place. That will be the best time to judge the program's positioning.

Winning takes care of all, it's no coincidence that Kelly has had his best recruiting year following a 12-0 regular season. IMO classes in the quality of the 2013 class are playoff-caliber with the right coaching and solid QB play. We're going to have to lean on the talent of that class to get there, after which recruiting will start to turn in our favor. I hope this year can finally be the year where we really turn things around so we can build for the future.