great stuff!
Sounds like Austin has leaped ahead on the "next to commit" board!
1.) Austin
2.) Lynch
3.) Daniels
IMO
I have had a sip of the Brian Kelly kool aid, put it down... picked it back up... and now... like my College days...I just did a BK koolaid Keg Stand.... (what was my time?) GO IRISH
OMAR will be the next to commit! gonna be a force on the interior of the D-line!
I thought it was about Rodney King
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ND's got something like 95 offers out, 7 have committed to ND, 21 are committed elsewhere that leaves 67 possibilities plus anybody who changes their mind and those yet to be offered. I imagine if Pat Flavin was offered he accept immediately. There a couple of others who would pounce an offer before any of the 67.
Kyle Brinzda had visited ND's campus previouslybut I don't think anyone really considered him a viable prospect as ND only has around 20 scholarships available and recently took a kicker and punter. ND has an inordinate number of Special Teams scholarships on the team now. Most people thought the new staff would do a better job of coaching Special Teams so performance could improve without new scholarship kickers. Obviously Kelly didn't agree and Brinzda happened quickly (as least in public).
Matthias Farley also seemed to come out of nowhere. IrishEnvy started a profile on him the day after he was offered by ND. Three of the four recruiting services didn't have a profile for him or have him on their listed of interested prospects. Scout didn't have an article on Farley until he committed. Obviously the staff had contact with these prospects but it doesn't all get reported. The situation is fluid.
Of the 67 outstanding the most probable to me would be Ben Koyack or DaVaris Daniels. Both have been involved with ND for some time, both have been to campus, both were at the Blue & Gold game and got to see the differences between the Weis Offense and the Kelly Offense first hand. From reports both were impressed but didn't pull the trigger. The assumption is they wanted to go home and digest things rather then make a commitment during an emotional high. Reasonable to me.
After them Aaron Lynch is probable but I thought he wanted to make his decision before his senior season starts, not now. When a prospect states a timeframe for making his decision we put that in his Profile here. Chris Rock is another possibility but I don't recall reading a timeframe for him.
20 offers available(est.) and 9 commits already verbal-ed...wow! Thats got to help create a sense of urgency in a recruit when Kelly and staff come to the door!
Who is coming up with 20 available spots?
Even if players leave early, when has Notre Dame ever refused a 5th year to a player? We have 14 guaranteed open spots on the roster. that leaves 6 people with eligibility that will decide to not play next year or transfer. 20 seems like a stretch
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Kyle Brinzda had visited ND's campus previouslybut I don't think anyone really considered him a viable prospect as ND only has around 20 scholarships available and recently took a kicker and punter..
Who is coming up with 20 available spots?
Even if players leave early, when has Notre Dame ever refused a 5th year to a player? We have 14 guaranteed open spots on the roster. that leaves 6 people with eligibility that will decide to not play next year or transfer. 20 seems like a stretch
Might be wrong but pretty sure Kallen Wade, Paddy Mullen, and Leonard Gordon all had a year left and didn't take it/weren't offered a 5th year.
Most years the majority of potential 5th years don't get the 5th year. It used to be the guys in the trenches that got the 5th year at ND as they the OLs/DLs take more time to develop physically and the extra year is beneficial to their development. Davie's erratic recruiting ( No QBs one year then 3 QBs another) got much worse during Willingham's recruiting debacle when he failed to recruit OLs.
ND awarded an inordinate number of 5th years because of those recruiting problems, transfers, injuries, and ResLife.
ND now has got a full complement of 85 scholarships and has changed schemes on both sides of the ball. I don't see Kelly bringing back many of the 5th years.
5th years are never guaranteed. The head coach discusses with the potential 5th years what plans he has and guages their interest. IF the coach doesn't offer you a 5th year scholarship you don't get to apply for the additional year. Scholarships are issued one year at a time and ND expects student athletes to graduate in 4 years. The 5th year program is for graduate school candidates.
After being asked by the coach to apply for a 5th year, the athlete than has to apply to UND and a faculty committee reviews their applications. At ND if you don't get approved by the faculty committe, you don't get the 5th year.
Any EEs will be added to LAST year's scholly list. We may end up with more than just 20 guys.
Thank you BGIF for clearing that up in my absence.
In other news, there are rumors that Bubba Starling is thinking of committing. He plans on taking another visit to i believe Alabama, than may make a decision
ISD reporting Sterling Bailey making decision on May 14th, not really sure where we stand here and we've not done well with Bailey's in recent years. Athletic DE which we could use and has a good offer list. Cross your fingers. It is starting to feel like years since we've got a commit after a really busy week less than 7 days ago.