'08 MD OL Lane Clelland (Signed LOI to ND)

[Axl Rose]

He had offers from Michigan, Nebraska, Florida state, Florida , Maryland, Virginia.

 

[Irishknight1023]

What were his offers officially? I know of Maryland, Michigan, FSU., but whoelse offered?

 

[nthurman]

I was not trying to sound insulting I was just curious

 

[GoshenGipper]

I was not trying to sound insulting I was just curious

I don't think anyone took it that way.

 

[irishunclebill]

And the hits keep on coming. Welcome aboard Lane!

The only serious competition was Meechigan who partly because of Mike Farrell thought they were going to get Lane. Michigan at one time also thought that Blanton was a lock for them as well, so hopefully ND will eventually get a double knock against the GBW crew.

 

[Irishknight1023]

Rivals can have Farrell....I'll take Lemming who tries to accually get recruits to see the light haha....you gotta love how he has Hafis as a 5 star too.

 

[Junkhead]

does anyone know where he is ranked. He seems light for his position

At the earliest, it would probably be 2 years until he hits the field for ND. I'm sure he will be quite a bit bigger than 265.

 

[nthurman]

How long until Florida tries to steal him away

 

[Irishknight1023]

Right now....they were already recruiting him hard as it is.

 

[IrishCalves]

At the earliest, it would probably be 2 years until he hits the field for ND. I'm sure he will be quite a bit bigger than 265.

Well... if its two years, that means he could hit the field as a redshirt freshman?

I understand concern about weight, but the guy isn't even a senior in HS. Not saying that we should never worry about weight on a kid, but that time isn't now. Start looking at his weight, say, a year or so from now. Then we can more accurately project this kid's time table.

I'm telling you, Michigan has been getting walked all over by ND commits. They've got 3 verbals to our 12, and missed out on offers to Clelland, Fleming, Crist, Goodman, Rudolph, and Cave. Clelland said he had Michigan leading after his visits to South Bend and Ann Arbor, so I'd bet this one hurts the most. I know a lot of it is just how well ND is recruiting, but I also wonder if this is some of the backlash for Lloyd Carr's disciplinary issues, with guys like Adrian Arrington and Carson Butler.

 

[nthurman]

what discipline issues are you referring to

 

[IrishCalves]

Arrington, Butler to miss practice, maybe games

I don't know that players follow discipline heavily, but I'm willing to bet parents aren't thrilled hearing about this kind of t hing, and it could be the final straw that pushed a kid to another school instead of Michigan.

 

[irishlaw77]

Great surprise to come home from a 3.5 hour-long final exam in fiduciary provisions (not as exciting as it sounds) to find a new commit. I especially like hearing about this guy's quickness--hopefully he'll retain that as he adds mass. Sounds like a great pickup!

 

[GoshenGipper]

Great surprise to come home from a 3.5 hour-long final exam in fiduciary provisions (not as exciting as it sounds) to find a new commit. I especially like hearing about this guy's quickness--hopefully he'll retain that as he adds mass. Sounds like a great pickup!

I was only dumb enough to take a Sat class once. NEVER AGAIN.

 

[johnnd05]

Great surprise to come home from a 3.5 hour-long final exam in fiduciary provisions (not as exciting as it sounds) to find a new commit. I especially like hearing about this guy's quickness--hopefully he'll retain that as he adds mass. Sounds like a great pickup!

Man, that must be REALLY boring, then.

 

[RichardRiot]

I would agree that we shouldn't worry about a HS Junior's weight being 265, esp when the following highly-ranked 2007 Tackles were in the same ballpark listed as seniors:

- Ryan Miller 6-6 278 (Rivals rank #2)
- Matt Romine 6-6 285 (Rivals rank #3 - he is going to be a good one)
- Bryan Bulaga 6-5 270 (Rivals rank #6)
- Quinton Richardson 6-4 265 (Rivals rank #8)
- Matt Summers-Gavin 6-5 271 (Rivals rank #11)

Things you gotta love about this guy:
1)His sense of timing: how great to commit at WEST LAFAYETTE; the only things that could have made it better would have been a commit during a USC/MICH/FLOR official visit
2)Another wrestler: with Ragone and Goebel (possible commit) also, and Zibby a fighter, gotta like the team's odds if they 'need to step in the alley'
3)525 SQUAT: That is a BIG # for a HS Junior; obviously this guy will get alot of leverage

 

[irishunclebill]

How long until Florida tries to steal him away

Actually the Cockwad already did make a vain attempt to steal him away. After Clelland visited South Bend and Ann Arbor earlier in the spring, and it became clear that his choices were going to be between ND & Michigan, Meyer gave Lane one of his 100+ conditional offers. Clelland also made it clear from the beginning that he was going to make an early decision, so Meyer's offer to him was nothing more than a temporary road block to try to blindside him. Fortunately, smart kids like Clelland are starting to see the Urban BS, because even if Clelland decided today to commit to Florida instead of ND, he would have been told not to, even with an offer, because as good as he is he would not fall into Urban's "chosen 18" for 2008, at least not this early in the game. At this point in time, Meyer's offers are not really offers, but just a way of hindering other school's recruiting. That is exactly why, NC coach or not, Urban Meyer is an unethical low life, and hopefully some of these kids are starting to catch on.

I am sure that the Cockwad's ego (and his inimitable boyish charm) along with his NC make him feel certain that he will be able to hand-pick the 18 recruits he wants anytime he wants them, and he may be correct about that. However, the more that these recruits who want to commit early and are holding Florida offers see that those offers are not worth the paper they are written on, the more that word will get around that Meyer is simply using a lot of them as ploys. As it is elite recruits like Arthur Brown, Shayne Hale, and Marcus Forston, all of whom have Gator offers are showing little or no interest in Florida, and you have to wonder if Sweat, who loved Florida so much after his visit to Gainesville, also quickly realized that if he wanted to make an early decision that Meyer would probably not let him. I am also still confident that after a summer of reflection that Brendan Beal's love affair with Florida will also cool, and he may not be invited to the Cockwad's altar as early as October 12 anyway. Even "The Thrill" who a lot of the recruiting gurus predicted early on would eventually end up in Florida, (and he may still) seems to be more interested in FSU than Florida.

The point is Meyer's tactics may be starting to burn some bridges in the recruiting world, and not that he cares, but he certainly has to be one of the least favorite coaches out there among his peers. More importantly he may start pissing off some parents and high school coaches of these recruits that he casually throws offers at with no chance of accepting commits in return, and that could very well result in some serious damage to the Florida program down the road. Obcourse, the Cockwad will probably be long gone by then to the NFL, and if he is good riddance, as long as it is not with the Eagles. (FLY EAGLES FLY)

 

[GoIrish41]

Obcourse, the Cockwad will probably be long gone by then to the NFL, and if he is good riddance, as long as it is not with the Eagles. (FLY EAGLES FLY)

He's not going to the NFL. He's an offensive coach in college who runs a high shcool gimick offense.

 

[irishunclebill]

He's not going to the NFL. He's an offensive coach in college who runs a high shcool gimick offense.

Well, that's a relief, I'll be sure to pass that info on to Andy Reid.

 

[johnnd05]

A couple of good media bits ...

From the SB Tribune (link):

CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming rates Clelland as a five-star recruit, his highest rating.

"One of the best linemen in the country," Lemming said.

What a shocker -- Lemming gives five stars to an Irish recruit! (LOL)

And there's this, from the Baltimore Sun (link):

McDonogh's Lane Clelland, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound offensive tackle who is perhaps the nation's top recruit at his position, has orally committed to a full football scholarship to Notre Dame, his mother, Linda, confirmed last night.

Gotta love the hype -- time to live up to it, Lane!

Also, I hadn't seen this mentioned before, but both articles mentioned that his older brother played football at Northwestern.

 

[bayernarsch]

wrestlers on the lines

wrestlers on the lines

RichardRiot mentioned that this young man added another wrestler to the mix in reference to the team having a bit more back alley toughness. More important than the 'nasty' this may or may not bring, is the fact that wrestlers tend to understand the concepts of leverage and hip position. This becomes very important in the transition to college football for linemen, where these big young men no longer can simply steamroll over opponents. Congratulations to young Mr. Clelland on his decision.

 

[Specnatz]

Wow this is very nice indeed. At this rate ND will be full by the end of July. Has that ever happened before?

 

[GoshenGipper]

Wow this is very nice indeed. At this rate ND will be full by the end of July. Has that ever happened before?

No they won't. Mostly done, maybe, but completely done, highly unlikely. That is unless they can get most of the big time national recruits they are after to pull the trigger early which would an almost complete shock.

 

[Irishknight1023]

Having wrestlers on your football team is a HUGE boost. All of Rutgers D-Line was undersized, but fast and extremely athletic because their wrestling backrounds. And as far as Lemming goes giving Clelland a 5 star ranking, god bless him he's a true domer.

 

[Irishknight1023]

"All of the other programs did an awesome job recruiting me and they were awesome schools, and they've made it tough on me to make a decision. ... But I thought Notre Dame was a great program with phenomenal coaches, and the place where I thought I could do my best athletically and academically" Clelland said.

 

[Irishknight1023]

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070506/NDSports02/705060410/-1/NDSPORTS

 

[Irishknight1023]

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/video.asp?section=fbrecruit&vidtype=amp&vidid=2483

Rivals Mike Farrell talking about him and how he thinks Lane will work his way into the Rivals 100 and had offers for Florida, FSU and most of the East Coast.

 

[Sureal]

Thanks for the video, man dude's a beast. I had to laugh a when he mauled the one kid for about 10 yards then finished his block by landing on him...

 

[seniorle]

IK1023, thanks for the link and I love how it looks like he's just pancaking anyone in front of him. I think ND got a gem here, and when he fills out, I could see him starting at one of the tackle positions ine a few years.

 

[laxkid23]

If only he played lacrosse like Will Yeatman too, my dream would come true. This guy is from McDonogh, they are one of the top programs in the country, and top 10 year in and year out, they are ridiculous.