State of the Recruiting Class - 2024

[stpeteirish]

I have followed recruiting fairly heavily since the Weis era. This is about as close as I’ve ever been to just quitting or losing interest and just watching games instead. I’m just completely negative about recruiting nowadays. No hope really anymore.

Well, between paying the players and allowing unlimited player movement its pretty easy to get to where you are.
Separation into an NFL type college football league is our only hope as the lawsuits have destroyed NCAA compliance efforts. (Attorneys with knowledge on this subject feel free to weigh in).
And would ND join the semi pro league? Don't know. ND likes the money but they also like to follow the high road, or at least claim to be.

 

[PutuporShutup]

We will not be favored in OSU, Clemson or USC games. 11-1 is crazy optimistic. If Freeman goes 11-1 recruiting will get easier. No doubt 8-4 didn't help the ND recruiting.

All 3 games are TBD on who will be favored IMO. If OSU's new QB isn't dominating first game vs Indiana and Hartman is lighting up the scoreboard, I think ND is favored. Not sure how clemson will be and that's late in the season so a lot can happen by that game. Same with USC, i can't imagine Caleb is going to play as "free" with the draft so close.

Again, we could be underdogs vs all 3 or I could see us being favored vs any of them based on how things play out. I think vs clemson is most likely to be an underdog due to being on the road. But they have a few tough games before us too.

 

[irish4ever]

Amazing how many "Freeman critics" there are after only 1 yr. of head coaching! Hell, even the "coaching Gods" Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz took 3 yrs. to win their first natty! I suppose they should have fired Holtz for his 8-4 record in year #2 ('87)!

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

Will be really hard to sweep all three. I think we have a fair shot in each of those three games, but my base expectation is we win one, maybe two.

I don’t feel comfortable immediately extrapolating that to 11-1 or 10-2. Even if we should win each of the remaining games on the schedule, we have a young coach, and I don’t love our defensive staff. Feels like a 8-4/9-3 regular season to me.

 

[SoIll]

Amazing how many "Freeman critics" there are after only 1 yr. of head coaching! Hell, even the "coaching Gods" Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz took 3 yrs. to win their first natty! I suppose they should have fired Holtz for his 8-4 record in year #2 ('87)!

I'm not apart of the pitch fork freeman clan, but what has you optimistic he's going to kill it next year and going forward?

 

[irish4ever]

I'm not apart of the pitch fork freeman clan, but what has you optimistic he's going to kill it next year and going forward?

Nothing, but just give the guy a chance (definitely more than 1-2 yrs. for sure) before bringing out the pitch forks, as you state.

 

[NorthDakota]

Will be really hard to sweep all three. I think we have a fair shot in each of those three games, but my base expectation is we win one, maybe two.

I don’t feel comfortable immediately extrapolating that to 11-1 or 10-2. Even if we should win each of the remaining games on the schedule, we have a young coach, and I don’t love our defensive staff. Feels like a 8-4/9-3 regular season to me.

I think two wins is more likely than one win. But one win is more likely than a sweep.

ND should be better than Clemson. I think probably better than SC too. OSU has a lot of unknowns.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Are we still looking at WR's for 24, for are we shutting it down with 2?

Also:

I am all Team Freeman, but our losses in recruiting are not a good look, and a bit troubling. I am a sky is falling guy, but man we are taking some beat downs here.

 

[PutuporShutup]

Nothing, but just give the guy a chance (definitely more than 1-2 yrs. for sure) before bringing out the pitch forks, as you state.

that's why I think this year is so huge because i'm not sure how an unbiased person can think we'll be better in 24 than this year or even 25. Freeman would have to get a lot of top level players from the portal.

Losing potentially hart, mills, estime, hartman, alt, fisher, botelho, baptiste, nana, botelho, cross, tyree, harper. Good chance the majority of these players are gone, and they are huge for this years success.

QB, DL, OL would be my biggest concerns for 24 and those are probably the 3 most important position/position groups.

 

[irishandy]

Year 2 hasn't even started and by the sounds of it win or lose we should be looking for a new HC for next year per all the great pessimistic posters on IE.

@Irishdrunk- MacIrish said it perfectly OSU is not getting rid of Day for MF. MF will be at ND for 2024 and Day will be at OSU for 2024. BK isn't at ND anymore, get over it!

I want OSU & USC to be favored vs ND, I think ND can win both games, and these win's could boost recruiting. I have a ton of confidence in Sam Hartman and I am glad ND's offense isn't being talked about at the moment, let them blow up.

I have Clemson beating ND, but I think it is going to be a close game. Duke could be a trap game, Elko has that program on the rise.

I am more concerned about our defense, sure they are going to give up points, but I'd like to see them produce more turnovers like the 2021 season. While ND has a drop off at TE, I think our offense can hang with some of the top dog offenses.

Go Irish!

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

MF will get 5 years no matter what. Ty Willingham scenario will not be tolerated by the powers that be at ND. No bad press.

So IMO we better pray he figures it out and grows into the job, otherwise hello wilderness again . I have hope, but recruiting is not really killing it right now.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Listened to this last night. Can't say I disagree.

 

[ab2cmiller]

MF will get 5 years no matter what. Ty Willingham scenario will not be tolerated by the powers that be at ND. No bad press.

So IMO we better pray he figures it out and grows into the job, otherwise hello wilderness again . I have hope, but recruiting is not really killing it right now.

LOL, ummmm , no

This is an idiotic statement. "No matter what" is beyond laughable.

 

[PutuporShutup]

MF will get 5 years no matter what. Ty Willingham scenario will not be tolerated by the powers that be at ND. No bad press.

So IMO we better pray he figures it out and grows into the job, otherwise hello wilderness again . I have hope, but recruiting is not really killing it right now.

I think MF gets at least 2024 but that doesn't mean changes may not be dictated after this season if it isn't a great one.

I think pretty much everyone agrees both Offense and D should be significantly improved from 2022. But what if one isn't?

You have Parker who is a freeman friend that is a huge ? (Doesn't mean he can't be great). What if the offense struggles under him with our best QB in a decade? Does an AD force us to hire a proven top level OC?

What if the D doesn't improve? We did some good things last year of creating 3 and outs but we were terrible (the worst statistically) in the red zone D, didn't create many turnovers, and struggled to stop teams and the run in the fourth quarter. Does the AD force us to get a proven DC even though Freeman is a defensive guy and we're running his D with some tweaks from golden?

I really think ND is going to be good this year, and I see only coaches being the only reason this team wouldn't have big success. There really isn't a weakness if players are coached well and have the basic development one would expect.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Interesting read:

Will Notre Dame ever be able to attract five-star recruits again?

During my junior year of high school, the math team won the state championship in what some might consider unusual fashion. In the state competition, the team placed first in only one event. But a bunch of second-place finishes put the team over the top. It was a proud…

fightingirishwire.usatoday.com

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

LOL, ummmm , no

This is an idiotic statement. "No matter what" is beyond laughable.

Beyond murder or other felony charges I see no way MF will be removed before 5 years. If MF plods along and gets 7 wins or so a year he will get 5 years. Our admin would he scared to death to fire him "early".

If he goes 7-5
9-3
8-4

Our schedules are not overly tough so 7 should be a shoe in..
Do you honestly believe they will do anything? Our admin does not really care about winning, but they care a TON about PR.

Why attack? Say you disagree with a thoughtful response. Are you not capable of thoughtful responses?

 

[ab2cmiller]

Beyond murder or other felony charges I see no way MF will be removed before 5 years. If MF plods along and gets 7 wins or so a year he will get 5 years. Our admin would he scared to death to fire him "early".

If he goes 7-5
9-3
8-4
Do you honestly believe they will do anything? Our admin does not really care about winning, but they care a TON about PR.

Why attack? Say you disagree with a thoughtful response. Are you not capable of thoughtful responses?

If he followed up last season with a 5 loss year, he would be retained but would be on an very hot seat. If he followed up with another 5 loss season, (maybe even a 4 loss season) he would be shown the door after year 3 without even blinking.

Your "thoughtful response" contained a "no matter what" statement that had no basis in reality. You simply can't make that statement with a straight face.

Your hypothetical above I would agree that he probably sticks, but that's all dependent on recruiting.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

If he followed up last season with a 5 loss year, he would be retained but would be on an very hot seat. If he followed up with another 5 loss season, (maybe even a 4 loss season) he would be shown the door after year 3 without even blinking.

Your "thoughtful response" contained a "no matter what" statement that had no basis in reality. You simply can't make that statement with a straight face.

Your hypothetical above I would agree that he probably sticks, but that's all dependent on recruiting.

There is a thing called hyperbole. I believe he will be given massive leeway and get the benefit of the doubt. I assume no matter what we got him for 5 years. 7-9 wins is not hard to achieve, so I assume that going in.

PR and ND are a sacrament.

 

[stpeteirish]

We canned Ty after 3 primarily because it was on the heels of giving Davie 5, a decision that proved to be a big mistake. And he was obviously not recruiting worth a damn.

The first point is definitely not in play here, and the second highly unlikely.

Not that it'll matter; about the only thing Freeman and Willingham have in common is that they are both black.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

We canned Ty after 3 primarily because it was on the heels of giving Davie 5, a decision that proved to be a big mistake. And he was obviously not recruiting worth a damn.

The first point is definitely not in play here, and the second highly unlikely.

Not that it'll matter; about the only thing Freeman and Willingham have in common is that they are both black.

They are both black, and I remember the backlash that ensued after Ty was fired ( ND is racist). The backlash would be the same or worse now if we canned a black coach after 3 years. Have to give him 5 years Imo.

 

[TorontoGold]

Interesting read:

Will Notre Dame ever be able to attract five-star recruits again?

During my junior year of high school, the math team won the state championship in what some might consider unusual fashion. In the state competition, the team placed first in only one event. But a bunch of second-place finishes put the team over the top. It was a proud…

fightingirishwire.usatoday.com

Horrible article, a laughable part of the article -

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s worth questioning when or if the Irish will attract a bunch of college football’s top recruits again. We know they have plenty of three- and four-star recruits, but those only will take you so far if you want to win a national championship. Eventually, you need to either get a regular piece of that five-star pie or develop your own players to be on that level. The Irish don’t have a recent track record of doing either.

The "writer" must have some sort of brain damage since Ben Morrison doesn't exist in his reality. Clear example of strong development. In terms of recruiting 5 star talent, ND got a 5 star equivalent QB transfer with Hartman in the NIL era in 2023.

The note on "talent" without mentioning the 10% improvement in BCR since MF took over is hilarious too. ND is top 10 in BCR for 2023, and will only improve.

 

[ndfanatic78]

Listened to this last night. Can't say I disagree.

How can anyone listen to that guy. He could be Einstein smart and I still would turn his ass off. He has to be one of the most annoying people on the planet.

 

[ndfanatic78]

They are both black, and I remember the backlash that ensued after Ty was fired ( ND is racist). The backlash would be the same or worse now if we canned a black coach after 3 years. Have to give him 5 years Imo.

I remember a couple media talking heads bringing up the possibility of racism and Ty himself that is it. Besides that almost everyone agreed that Ty should be fired because of his record and lack of recruiting, his last class is still the lowest ranked of the post Lou era, It all lasted a week and then it was forgotten.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

I remember a couple media talking heads bringing up the possibility of racism and Ty himself that is it. Besides that almost everyone agreed that Ty should be fired because of his record and lack of recruiting, his last class is still the lowest ranked of the post Lou era, It all lasted a week and

It was a pretty big deal, but yes as like everything media moves to the next sin. Wilbon and a few others hammered us for a while. We took a PR hit.

My point still stands, 5 years minimum unless something incredibly weird and wild happens.

Oh, but Ty deserved to be fired, just looked bad.

 

[Sea Turtle]

How can anyone listen to that guy. He could be Einstein smart and I still would turn his ass off. He has to be one of the most annoying people on the planet.

He has an annoying voice, no doubt.

 

[Terry Jillery]

As long as we are third best program in Midwest we will remain 3rd best recruiter in Midwest.

 

[benneboy]

As long as we are third best program in Midwest we will remain 3rd best recruiter in Midwest.

Easy there. Michigan has the same number of playoff appearances as michigan state.

 

[Crazy Balki]

that's why I think this year is so huge because i'm not sure how an unbiased person can think we'll be better in 24 than this year or even 25. Freeman would have to get a lot of top level players from the portal.

Losing potentially hart, mills, estime, hartman, alt, fisher, botelho, baptiste, nana, botelho, cross, tyree, harper. Good chance the majority of these players are gone, and they are huge for this years success.

QB, DL, OL would be my biggest concerns for 24 and those are probably the 3 most important position/position groups.

You're not wrong. This is a big year.

That being said, while ND may lose most of those guys, ND has recruited a lot better in the past few seasons. The '22 class will be juniors, which is easily the most complete class ND has had in a while.

And I also think the portal will be a huge benefit for ND, especially if they need a good tackle. I think any quality LT would jump at the opportunity to anchor the line at ND, especially if Alt and Fisher have big years and go in the first round as expected. Kind of like how Michigan was able to bring in Oluwatimi last year to fill in the void at center.

Have to hope Angeli or Minchey make a jump, but if not, I could see them getting another stop-gap while Carr takes a year to develop. But being successful in '23 is going to make things a lot easier for Freeman on a lot of fronts.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Easy there. Michigan has the same number of playoff appearances as michigan state.

Michigan State only has 1 appearance, in 2015.

Michigan has 2. Tied with us.

 

[Crazy Balki]

How can anyone listen to that guy. He could be Einstein smart and I still would turn his ass off. He has to be one of the most annoying people on the planet.

I kinda like him from time to time. He makes it easy since you don't have to sift through a bunch of fluff to get to the meat of the argument.

That being said, yeah, his voice is grating.