Recruiting - The Final Push, Who's Left, Numbers

[PatsandBostonfan1975]

Who are you talking about here? If you are talking about Niklas then Alabama is not a player in his recruitment. However, he has scheduled a visit to USC, Stanford, and ND. All of these visits will take place in January with ND's visit coming January 29th.

no said that under ishaq

 

[Legacy]

Matt James' tragic death played a part in this, too. Otherwise....

 

[Irish Man3]

no said that under ishaq

Nobody was really talking about Ishaq, Niklas was the topic above your post so I was confused. My mistake if you meant Ishaq. I will agree with you that Alabama and USC are after him and he has shown little interest.

Rivals is reporting a new offer to a four star athlete. Any members check that out? Not sure if it is new or an old offer...

 

[Me2SouthBend]

I think that Rivals was talking about Clear.

 

[NewEnglandGuy]

After all the doom and gloom lately in recruiting (remember when we couldn't miss after McDaniel, Golson, and Okotcha committed) Tuitt's comments tonight got me to start thinking of the next upswing in this cyclical madness.

I love math, so lets start with another recap of where we stand on numbers and the most recent changes:

19 Current Commitments
19 Freshmen - Derek Roback transferred to Ohio
16 Sophomores - Shaq Evans transferred to UCLA and E.J. Banks is no longer enrolled
23 Juniors - Kelly granted a scholarship to Nate Montana
9 Seniors are eligible for a 5th year (not including walk on David Ruffer)

Which brings us to 86 TOTAL (limit is 85)

Now onto the discussion on where we go from here:

1. We keep everyone currently committed!!! There...I said it.

2. I still believe Montana does not receive another scholarship for next season. This would bring us back to the 85 player limit.

3. We lose Floyd and keep Rudolph. Kyle is rehabbing with Crist and they seem to have a tight bond. Also his injury is such where it may hurt his draft status and he may be best served to come back (and show he is not only healed but stronger). If an All American player can have a "break out" year, then look for him to break out...With Floyd leaving to support his family, we go under the limit to 84.

4. With Ruffer's comments on coming back for a 5th year as grad student, my impression was he would without a doubt if offered a scholarship. For a player who has not missed a FG in his career, we in New England call that one a "no brain-ah!". Now we are back up to the limit of 85.

5. As for the other 5th year players that are already on scholarship, we will keep 5 of the 9 (Gray, H Smith, Dever, Nuss, Romine) at the most. Only way Ragone comes back is if Rudolph leaves. This opens at least four spots and brings us down to 81 scholarships.

6. With these numbers. Our current class of 19 can at least grow to 23 without bumping anyone. The recent offer to the long snapper, Bryce Haynes, sort of throws a wrench into this thought process, but I believe the staff wants a RB, OLB, and 2 linemen (whether it be 1 OL and 1 DL or just 2 DL and move Carrico over to offense). Conventionally the new offer to Haynes could indicate the staff not being confident in filling the above positions, Nuss or Romine or both are not considered to return, or some other spot is opening up somehow...but I will not speculate. Of the recruits left, my predictions are in bold:

RB - Huggins Carlisle
OLB - IShaq
Linemen - Martin, Richardson, Clear, Haynes, Niklas, Scarlett, Chickillo
Dark Horse - Lyons

I feel our best chances are with Carlisle and IShaq, so maybe Haynes came on the scene when Kelly thought about our chances with the remaining line prospects. It also would not surprise me if the staff offered a spot to a player on the line like Flavin if we whiffed on everyone.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Since this emphasis [for a change on this board] is on the bigs, I buy it. We'll see if Kelly is thinking similarly. When you look at our current roster of the so-called offensive skill positions, we are loaded even considering the young end of the classes. When considering the DB side of the ball, Kelly has loaded us up there with this class too, as well as us being loaded at linebacker. It's O-line and D-line.

I'm wondering how effective a 6'8" DE will be unless he's a very unusual high-motor animal with a big line-of-scrimmage changing push. Maybe Tony Springman should consider becoming an NFL quality right tackle. But if so, can Brad Carrico be the powerhouse in the meathouse that we need opposite Stephon Tuitt? If not, we need a DE. If so we need another OT/OG/C-type. Can any of our recruits at linebacker be seen as growing into DEs? Or are young guys already on the roster capable of doing so? Does Diaco see a philosophy shift about speed vs power at DE? Does he envision more 4-3 in the mix? The Staff knows these things and we don't. Any way you slice it, we need more bigs more than we need more littles.

 

[rtrn2glory]

After all the doom and gloom lately in recruiting (remember when we couldn't miss after McDaniel, Golson, and Okotcha committed) Tuitt's comments tonight got me to start thinking of the next upswing in this cyclical madness.

I love math, so lets start with another recap of where we stand on numbers and the most recent changes:

19 Current Commitments
19 Freshmen - Derek Roback transferred to Ohio
16 Sophomores - Shaq Evans transferred to UCLA and E.J. Banks is no longer enrolled
23 Juniors - Kelly granted a scholarship to Nate Montana
9 Seniors are eligible for a 5th year (not including walk on David Ruffer)

Which brings us to 86 TOTAL (limit is 85)

Now onto the discussion on where we go from here:

1. We keep everyone currently committed!!! There...I said it.

2. I still believe Montana does not receive another scholarship for next season. This would bring us back to the 85 player limit.

3. We lose Floyd and keep Rudolph. Kyle is rehabbing with Crist and they seem to have a tight bond. Also his injury is such where it may hurt his draft status and he may be best served to come back (and show he is not only healed but stronger). If an All American player can have a "break out" year, then look for him to break out...With Floyd leaving to support his family, we go under the limit to 84.

4. With Ruffer's comments on coming back for a 5th year as grad student, my impression was he would without a doubt if offered a scholarship. For a player who has not missed a FG in his career, we in New England call that one a "no brain-ah!". Now we are back up to the limit of 85.

5. As for the other 5th year players that are already on scholarship, we will keep 5 of the 9 (Gray, H Smith, Dever, Nuss, Romine) at the most. Only way Ragone comes back is if Rudolph leaves. This opens at least four spots and brings us down to 81 scholarships.

6. With these numbers. Our current class of 19 can at least grow to 23 without bumping anyone. The recent offer to the long snapper, Bryce Haynes, sort of throws a wrench into this thought process, but I believe the staff wants a RB, OLB, and 2 linemen (whether it be 1 OL and 1 DL or just 2 DL and move Carrico over to offense). Conventionally the new offer to Haynes could indicate the staff not being confident in filling the above positions, Nuss or Romine or both are not considered to return, or some other spot is opening up somehow...but I will not speculate. Of the recruits left, my predictions are in bold:

RB - Huggins Carlisle
OLB - IShaq
Linemen - Martin, Richardson, Clear, Haynes, Niklas, Scarlett, Chickillo
Dark Horse - Lyons

I feel our best chances are with Carlisle and IShaq, so maybe Haynes came on the scene when Kelly thought about our chances with the remaining line prospects. It also would not surprise me if the staff offered a spot to a player on the line like Flavin if we whiffed on everyone.

VEry Nice work!! I like the breakdown, i was unaware we could pull Montana's away a year after giving it to him...no offense to the kid but I thought it was questionable in the first place to give him one...Seriously it's not like he needs it.

 

[TerryTate]

VEry Nice work!! I like the breakdown, i was unaware we could pull Montana's away a year after giving it to him...no offense to the kid but I thought it was questionable in the first place to give him one...Seriously it's not like he needs it.

Scholarships are one-year contracts. He was the third stringer at a county college. His dad is loaded. Seem like it's a no-brainer if we are tight.

 

[Irish in StPete]

New England

New England

I buy your analysis, it is excellent. You simplified the whole recruiting situation.
I printed it out and will use it as a guide. Thank you.

I hope that Ishaq and Carlisle commit, Coach Kelly can use the OLB and RB/slot
help. Carlisle and McDaniel could be great returning kicks and punts.

Keeping Nuss and Romine adds the experience needed for the 2011 season.
They may not be needed, or used, but it's nice to have them on hand.

Tuitt visiting Georgia Teck could be a problem----they were his 1st choice originally.

Of all the rest only Troy Niklas appears to be a Kelly RKD-----hope he commits too.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

Scholarships are one-year contracts. He was the third stringer at a county college. His dad is loaded. Seem like it's a no-brainer if we are tight.

totally agree with you. Let's be honest here, his family can more than afford the ND tuition and by no means do I mean to offend Nate, but he will not be winning any games for us in the future. He will be like 4 or 5 string on our roster behind crist, rees, hendrix, golsen and massa on board. I say we dont renew his scholarship and save it for someone else.

 

[ab2cmiller]

As long as Joe is OK with it. The last thing I would want to do is tick off possibly the greatest representative of ND.

Hopefully Kelly told the Montana family at the beginning of the year that we have some extra scholarships and we can offer a scholarship this year, but next year may be a different story depending on the recruiting class

 

[Irish in StPete]

New England

New England

Terrific summary of the recruiting situation New England.
Your math is excellent and you explained the whole thing very well.
Thank you.

Ishaq and Carlisle will be just fine, they would make this class a winner.

Nuss and Romine will bring experience to the line in case they are needed---ND has a bunch of young guys who lack that all important factor---but let's hope they are not used except when ND has the game well in hand.

Kick returns might be a plus if some one like George Atkinson can get up a head of steam and come charging out of the end zone going as fast as he can.

Punts are a different story---maybe Cam McDonald or Amir Carlisle can turn that event into a plus instead of a fair catch. ND should be receiving a lot of punts after the defence holds the opponents to 3 and out. Also, maybe only one kick-off return a game.

The recruiting gang has done a good job. So have you, NE. Merry Christmas to all.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

My question is why would we offer Ruffer a scholarship if we already have Tausch on scholarship and have Brindza coming in this year. I don't see the point. I know Ruffer has been automatic but I believe we would take a blue chip player over keeping a kicker for one more year.

 

[AlbuquerqueIrishFan]

My question is why would we offer Ruffer a scholarship if we already have Tausch on scholarship and have Brindza coming in this year. I don't see the point. I know Ruffer has been automatic but I believe we would take a blue chip player over keeping a kicker for one more year.

Yea, that is an interesting dilema. What will Kelly do??? The potential for some of these highly rated recruits is very tempting, but you gotta think that the kicker is probably going to win or lose some games for us next year. Ruffer is solid...Taush and Brindza have not proven themselves at that level. Tough call.

 

[NewEnglandGuy]

Think of it as more of which 5th year player would you rather have over Ruffer. I doubt we are going to sign more then 23 in this class (if we are lucky to even get to 23). We are realistically in it with only a handful at the moment. That is not to say more offers will not go out after the bowl game, but at this point it seems RB, OL, DL, and OLB is where the focus is. Therefore it would not be a blue chip recruit, rather another player in his class.

No way we take a back up player first. I think people forget how iffy our kicking game has been. I feel confident when this kid steps into a 40yarder...cannot remember the last time that happened. He is an invaluable part of our team and crucial for 2011.

 

[Veer option]

No way we take a back up player first. I think people forget how iffy our kicking game has been. I feel confident when this kid steps into a 40yarder...cannot remember the last time that happened. He is an invaluable part of our team and crucial for 2011.

I agree. It has been awesome having a dare I say dependable kicker this past season and a half.
Ruffer deserves his scholarship.

 

[jmurphy75]

Please don't take Ruffer for granted, people don't realize how important it is to have a consitstantly good kicker. He just makes kicking one less part of the game that we have to worry about.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Please don't take Ruffer for granted, people don't realize how important it is to have a consitstantly good kicker. He just makes kicking one less part of the game that we have to worry about.

I agree 100%. It wasn't long ago when our kicking was very , very inconsistent.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

Ruffer definently deserves the scholarship. Would love to have him back one more year for sure.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

I don't take Ruffer for granted and I believe that he has been a big asset to the team. Doesn't something seem weird about the situation though. For instance the Tulsa game, instead of playing conservative and letting him kick the FG for the win we try to score. I love Ruffer I think he's a great player but would you rather have Ruffer or a big time recruit?

 

[ab2cmiller]

I agree that Ruffer deserves a scholarship

NewEnglandGuy is 100% correct that Ruffer would never be offered a scholarship at the expense of not offering a blue chip recruit. Instead, some other potential 5th year player would not be offered.

I totally disagree with the insinuation that we don't have a reliable kicker if Ruffer doesn't return. Tausch made 14 out of 17 last year including 14 in a row and was a Groza semi-finalist. He was the 1st string kicker right up to the week before the first game of this year.

Is Ruffer a better kicker? I think everyone would agree with that based upon what he accomplished this year. But Tausch and Ruffer are a lot closer then some of you guys are making it sound. What Tausch accomplished as a Freshman was impressive, and I can only imagine he is getting better with more reps.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

I agree that Ruffer deserves a scholarship

NewEnglandGuy is 100% correct that Ruffer would never be offered a scholarship at the expense of not offering a blue chip recruit. Instead, some other potential 5th year player would not be offered.

I totally disagree with the insinuation that we don't have a reliable kicker if Ruffer doesn't return. Tausch made 14 out of 17 last year including 14 in a row and was a Groza semi-finalist. He was the 1st string kicker right up to the week before the first game of this year.

Is Ruffer a better kicker? I think everyone would agree with that based upon what he accomplished this year. But Tausch and Ruffer are a lot closer then some of you guys are making it sound. What Tausch accomplished as a Freshman was impressive, and I can only imagine he is getting better with more reps.

So would you rather have Ruffer or an extra offensive lineman for some depth next season. I just think he's somewhat expendable at this point. Trust me I understand how much Ruffer has meant to the success of our team but I guess it just comes down to numbers and who we can sign in the coming weeks.

 

[jmurphy75]

Did I miss something? Are we that close on numbers? I'm really not trying to be a smart add but the way it looked to me was that we still had scollie room because there is no guarantee that we land Williams,Nikklas,Carlisle, or Scarlett. I would understand using Ruffer's scollie on a guy we just couldn't' pass up but not on a guy that will just be a filler

 

[Irish Man3]

Ruffer can have Montana's scholarship. We have room for the elite talent left on the board. The coaching staff will deal with 5th year seniors accordingly. We'll be fine with numbers.

 

[Fan of the Irish]

Ruffer can have Montana's scholarship. We have room for the elite talent left on the board. The coaching staff will deal with 5th year seniors accordingly. We'll be fine with numbers.

This is what I have been saying all along, Montana can afford to pay for school and we definately don't need him as much as we do Ruffer. If anybody loses their scholarship id should definately be Montana.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Although the "logic" of such a decision is there, I feel very uncomfortable about stating it with that level of coldness. We owe Nate Montana a great thank you this season for being able to provide us a functional QB in one game and a back-up trustworthy enough that Kelly wasn't driven into desperation enough to cost Hendrix a year of eligibility. I just hope that Nate and the Montana family will take a bullet for the team, if that is necessary. And, given our struggles with these last few spots, it may not be.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

Although the "logic" of such a decision is there, I feel very uncomfortable about stating it with that level of coldness. We owe Nate Montana a great thank you this season for being able to provide us a functional QB in one game and a back-up trustworthy enough that Kelly wasn't driven into desperation enough to cost Hendrix a year of eligibility. I just hope that Nate and the Montana family will take a bullet for the team, if that is necessary. And, given our struggles with these last few spots, it may not be.

Yeah Montana really helped out this year. The only problem is he shouldn't be a scholarship quarterback on any team regardless if he's a legacy or not. I don't know if the numbers will present a problem or not, hopefully. Again as much as we know and can see what's going on with recruiting we truly don't know the extent of everything that is going on behind the scenes. I still think that we will sign a guy we really don't talk about much, maybe a Kelly project. I still think we get 2 or more players in this class.