'22 CA WR C.J. Williams (Southern Cal Verbal)

[Free Manera]

There are a hundred Kelly recruiting stories coming out now. The only thing he was willing to do was in-homes at the end of the season. And he was good at that, which makes it more frustrating.

He had official visitors brought into his office for a quick talk then had the next one brought in. There were times when high level recruits literally could not get time with him. There were times when high level recruits, late in the process, would say "I still haven't talked to the head coach."

Meanwhile guys like Saban and Smart and formerly Meyer would be visiting schools constantly, building relationships with coaches and players. Saban texts and calls recruits ALL THE TIME.

 

[NDMatt91]

There are a hundred Kelly recruiting stories coming out now. The only thing he was willing to do was in-homes at the end of the season. And he was good at that, which makes it more frustrating.

He had official visitors brought into his office for a quick talk then had the next one brought in. There were times when high level recruits literally could not get time with him. There were times when high level recruits, late in the process, would say "I still haven't talked to the head coach."

Meanwhile guys like Saban and Smart and formerly Meyer would be visiting schools constantly, building relationships with coaches and players. Saban texts and calls recruits ALL THE TIME.

Thank goodness we now have a HC that will be relentless in recruiting like Saban and Smart are. I have no doubt that his staff will have the same mindset when it comes to recruiting.

To think of all the good/great players we've missed out on due to BK being lazy or clueless. And it's not just Chase Young. Zeke Elliott said he wanted to come to ND but they wanted him at LB and Tom Loy said a few years back that Curtis Samuel wanted to be Irish but Diaco and Kelly didn't give him the time of day. Incredibly frustrating to say the least.

 

[IRISHMAN]

On Chris Zorich’s podcast the other day Tom Lemming was saying that BK didn’t have relationships at the powerhouse Catholic high schools across the country. He didn’t mention Mater Dei specifically but you have to assume BK didn’t have much of a relationship there either. Since BK took over we’ve landed 2 players from Mater Dei, Joe Schmidt and Sam Bush who never played. SC didn’t really had the school on lockdown during BK’s time like it didn’t when Pete Carroll was there. There were opportunities to land kids from there, we just never did. Hopefully MFMF makes his presence felt there.

i hope MF can have a strong presence in the catholic schools, just think of the insane talent that these catholic schools produce every year in CA, OH, PA, NJ....

 

[irishff1014]

I know why they are but I wish some of these stories would have come out earlier.

 

[Free Manera]

I know why they are but I wish some of these stories would have come out earlier.

They have been circulating for awhile, but a lot of people didn't want to listen. The writers had to be kind of vague on it in the past, because Kelly was totally someone that held a grudge if you called him out, and they wanted access. Now they don't give a shit.

 

[IrishLax]

On Chris Zorich’s podcast the other day Tom Lemming was saying that BK didn’t have relationships at the powerhouse Catholic high schools across the country. He didn’t mention Mater Dei specifically but you have to assume BK didn’t have much of a relationship there either. Since BK took over we’ve landed 2 players from Mater Dei, Joe Schmidt and Sam Bush who never played. SC didn’t really had the school on lockdown during BK’s time like it didn’t when Pete Carroll was there. There were opportunities to land kids from there, we just never did. Hopefully MFMF makes his presence felt there.

I don’t know how true that is. Very well could be true for the Midwest and west coast. But I coach (not football, obviously) in the top Catholic school league in the DC/MD/VA area and ND did a solid job of recruiting the WCAC. They never got traction with some top recruits like Caleb Williams and lost head-to-head with Penn State for Landon Tengwall but I never got the impression that he has bad relationships with the coaches.

 

[IrishLax]

I will say that ND absolutely is not doing a good enough job overall in recruiting Mid-Atlantic talent. Way too many top kids from NJ, MD, VA, etc. end up at Penn State. I’m talking 5-star and 4-star kids that are fits for ND. Franklin really has invested time in the region.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Was checking to see if he may have retweeted the Freeman video.... then realized it's only 7:00 his time.

However, 247 saying he has an official at UCLA this weekend.

I honestly can't fault the kid for taking the visit. He had it scheduled and if I'm him I want to cover my bases. doesn't mean he has to sign with them, but just in case he decommits he needs something to fall back on. He's still planning to early enroll correct?

 

[arndtjc]

Top comment on the ISD instagram post this morning. Fantastic news here

 

[ab2cmiller]

I will say that ND absolutely is not doing a good enough job overall in recruiting Mid-Atlantic talent. Way too many top kids from NJ, MD, VA, etc. end up at Penn State. I’m talking 5-star and 4-star kids that are fits for ND. Franklin really has invested time in the region.

For whatever reason, Michigan draws well from that region too

 

[PANDFAN]

I don’t know how true that is. Very well could be true for the Midwest and west coast. But I coach (not football, obviously) in the top Catholic school league in the DC/MD/VA area and ND did a solid job of recruiting the WCAC. They never got traction with some top recruits like Caleb Williams and lost head-to-head with Penn State for Landon Tengwall but I never got the impression that he has bad relationships with the coaches.

dematha was a noted one

 

[Riddickulous]

Freeman is magic, I swear

 

[Trait Expectations]

I will say that ND absolutely is not doing a good enough job overall in recruiting Mid-Atlantic talent. Way too many top kids from NJ, MD, VA, etc. end up at Penn State. I’m talking 5-star and 4-star kids that are fits for ND. Franklin really has invested time in the region.

It would've been a walkoff grand slam to add Singleton to JD Price in the backfield. I hope Freeman can help improve the outcomes there because it's a fertile ground

 

[fightingirish26]

dematha was a noted one

Our dematha luck hopefully changes with Jason moore

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Our dematha luck hopefully changes with Jason moore

Need to get Brey into Dematha, football

 

[IrishLax]

dematha was a noted one

Interesting. For football in our conference DeMatha, Good Counsel, SJC, and Gonzaga are always loaded with talent. Not all of those players will be ND fits though.

I really think that the WCAC school to focus on building inroads with us SJC. They are a year or two away from being an IMG style football Mecca. And they have the Under Armour connection there.

 

[BrownerandFry]

For whatever reason, Michigan draws well from that region too

Yeah, but you gottadeal with Calabresepeople...................In Joisey.

 

[BrownerandFry]

Need to get Brey into Dematha, football

Freeman is too smart to deploy Mediocre Mike, with three losses already to set tone in November.

Freeman is not stupid. Neither is Niele Ivey. You know where her son Jaden plays? Yeah Purdue, for a REAL coach like Matt Painter. Not Mikey excuses.

 

[NDdomer2]

I don't know if he's still taking his visits. I would imagine he is. UCLA was supposed to host Washington in a bball game and that is now off. Usually those are something the recruits attend on their late non game weekends.

Also, Riley/USC flipped '23 WR Makai Lemon from OU. Lemon is from CA and is teammates with '22 RB Raleek Brown who also just flipped OU to USC.

 

[FWIrish4]

I don't know if he's still taking his visits. I would imagine he is. UCLA was supposed to host Washington in a bball game and that is now off. Usually those are something the recruits attend on their late non game weekends.

Also, Riley/USC flipped '23 WR Makai Lemon from OU. Lemon is from CA and is teammates with '22 RB Raleek Brown who also just flipped OU to USC.

To add to this, isnt USC making an Oregon WR commit a priority to flip? I would imagine with Cristobal possibly skipping town to Miami that it could be a likely flip. If that happens, there’s probably no room for CJ at USC since hasnt been a priority for Riley even at OK.

 

[Dale]

I don't know if he's still taking his visits. I would imagine he is. UCLA was supposed to host Washington in a bball game and that is now off. Usually those are something the recruits attend on their late non game weekends.

Also, Riley/USC flipped '23 WR Makai Lemon from OU. Lemon is from CA and is teammates with '22 RB Raleek Brown who also just flipped OU to USC.

Raleek is CJs teammate. Lemon is Malachi Nelson’s.

 

[Irishnuke]

I don’t know how true that is. Very well could be true for the Midwest and west coast. But I coach (not football, obviously) in the top Catholic school league in the DC/MD/VA area and ND did a solid job of recruiting the WCAC. They never got traction with some top recruits like Caleb Williams and lost head-to-head with Penn State for Landon Tengwall but I never got the impression that he has bad relationships with the coaches.

From what Lemming said it didn't sound like BK had bad relationships. It sounded like he had NO relationships with those coaches. Lemming said BK hadn't even visited Dematha. I don't know how true all of that is. I'm sure it's not to the extreme that Lemming said and I'm sure BK wasn't in all of the schools. Truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Whatever the situation I am sure MFMF is going to make his presence known to these coaches and kids at these elite programs.

 

[irishandy]

I think CJ will stick with his ND commitment.

The problem I have with Riley and recruiting- yeah he gets all the 5*'s but once they don't perform he moves on. Just because you are a 5* in high school, that doesn't always translate to college.

 

[Luckylucci]

VIP from Biggins at 247.

https://247sports.com/college/notre-...ng--177455034/

CJ was/is at USC’s late night event they held this evening. A marquee event they put together for top targets from the ‘22, ‘23, and ‘24 classes. And he had USC WR coach in for a visit last weeks. He did not take his UCLA OV this weekend. Freeman goes in-home on Tuesday.

 

[NDIrish88]

VIP from Biggins at 247.

https://247sports.com/college/notre-...ng--177455034/

CJ was/is at USC’s late night event they held this evening. A marquee event they put together for top targets from the ‘22, ‘23, and ‘24 classes. And he had USC WR coach in for a visit last weeks. He did not take his UCLA OV this weekend. Freeman goes in-home on Tuesday.

if I am CJ, I am waiting to sign to see who NDs WR will be. I would want to know ALL the facts before signing

 

[MacIrish75]

I think CJ will stick with his ND commitment.

The problem I have with Riley and recruiting- yeah he gets all the 5*'s but once they don't perform he moves on. Just because you are a 5* in high school, that doesn't always translate to college.

Do you mean…like ND did with Jordan Johnson? Any halfway decent Coach is going to move on if a player doesn’t perform. Weird argument.

 

[yankeehater]

Any comment from him after his SC visit this past weekend?

 

[Dale]

I think CJ will stick with his ND commitment.

The problem I have with Riley and recruiting- yeah he gets all the 5*'s but once they don't perform he moves on. Just because you are a 5* in high school, that doesn't always translate to college.

I don’t think he “moves on” more than any other coach, or really at all. Mario Williams got heavy time this year as a FR. Wease was out most of this year but started all his SO year. Haselwood played since he was a FR but was out most of last year, started this year. Bridges was kicked off the team and off field issues really followed him his whole time IIRC. Those are the 4 5 star types he’s had since 2018.

 

[BobbyMac]

Anything leaking out this morning regarding CJ's face2face with MF² ?

 

[Free Manera]

Anything leaking out this morning regarding CJ's face2face with MF² ?

We're still alive and maybe even looking good per Loy. However the USC boards still have him on their visitor list for Sunday. If that gets cancelled then Freeman locked it up.