'12 MD ATH Ronald Darby (Florida State Signee)

[FightingIrishLover7]

One in the LB corps, one in the secondary, now all we need is one in the trenches.

Too bad we lost Ian...

 

[Riddickulous]

Tee Shepard + Ronald Darby = best corner combination in college football in a year or two! With Jalen Brown and Josh Atkinson, this will be one deep secondary. Great DLine Great Linebacks Great Secondary coordinated by Diaco and coached by Martin, Diaco, Elston and Kerry Cooks!!!! I can't stand it! ND is going to dominate on D!

Wait until February before you exclaim how great the secondary will be.

Too bad we lost Ian...

Yes. I saw him on the sidelines at the spring game. Would've shouted in hopes of getting a wave or something but he was pretty far away.

 

[IrishInColumbus]

Tee Shepard + Ronald Darby = best corner combination in college football in a year or two! With Jalen Brown and Josh Atkinson, this will be one deep secondary. Great DLine Great Linebacks Great Secondary coordinated by Diaco and coached by Martin, Diaco, Elston and Kerry Cooks!!!! I can't stand it! ND is going to dominate on D!

I love the enthusiasm, but you need to calm down a bit. haha This does little more than put us on par with the college football elites.

Too many people assume that Notre Dame's general mediocrity the last 15 seasons has been because none of the players were elite. That is absolutely false. The Irish have been mediocre because teams have been incomplete, there have always been known weaknesses (and strengths) to the teams. Simply put, Notre Dame hasn't been able to "reload" like the top programs because they never had depth at every position. Not that other teams don't have some usual question marks before a season, they don't have nearly as many as Notre Dame. Typically (for them) it's just when the QB graduates; but for Notre Dame it's "how can we stop the run this season?" or "what happened to DB depth?"

Brian Kelly has made a better effort than all of the coaches since Holtz to have a complete team. It has shown in his recruiting priorities and methods.

Notre Dame won't "dominate" anything in two years. No one "dominates" college football, and no one ever will again (instead you see a lessened definition of a dynasty). The additions of Shepard, Darby, and others at every position can only put us on an level playing field--which hasn't existed for the Irish in over a decade.

I have little doubt that Kelly will accomplish that, thankfully.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Setting the argument of "excess enthusiasm" aside, my best guess vision of a growing defensive backfield of Shepard, Darby, Brown, Atkinson, Hardy, Farley, Badger sounds quite elite in both its potential and its depth. If we keep both of our DB coaches to train them up, we have every reason to believe that we are about to be extremely good "back there". We just have to get over the 2012 season when our current exceptional studs will be graduated. If Wood, Jackson, Motta, Slaughter, Collingsworth, and this year's rooks can accomplish that, we'll have put together about 6-7 seasons in a row of solid DB play by 2015. If this plays out this way, and I see no reason that it can't other than coaching losses or a rash of bad luck in injuries, Notre Dame will be undeniably back as far as DB play is concerned.

 

[rtrn2glory]

he looks bigger than he's listed on film, kid's a stud as a RB, i wonder if we may eventually have second thoughts on his position at the next level.

 

[Irish To The Core]

I AM enthusiastic and I stand by my statement. Best cornerback 1-2 in college football 2014. I have such faith in this staff to coach these kids up (and don't forget Atkinson and Brown) that I am calmly stating an obvious conclusion. I know the wait until February mantra, but I really feel that ND is a school that will be on the other side of the "poaching" equation for the next while. Kelly has assembled a staff which has infused every single player with a winning attitude and work ethic which will result in an awful lot of wins moving forward. They know how to spot talent, they know how to identify RKGs and they know how to speak to RKGs.

If that is enthusiastic...good. But it is not unrealistic.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Riddickulous
One in the LB corps, one in the secondary, now all we need is one in the trenches.

Too bad we lost Ian...

Let's talk about what's important. YOU are right on! We need a d-lineman with the locks! I am calling Louis in the morning.

On another note. Had a funny encounter with an Irish player this weekend, over hair. May start a thread; some people around here think short hair equates with performance or organized thinking . . . even the Bible says otherwise.

 

[D-BOE34]

The people creeping on Darby facebook.... anyway you can get him to just start on DGB now?

Please and thank you!

 

[Ironman8]

Pretty awesome that both Darby and Shepard are planning to enroll early. Will certainly help to bridge the gap after Gray and Blanton move on after this year.

 

[johnnykillz]

After understanding the early playing time potential, and seeing how well our EE's from this year are doing, I'll be surprised if we don't have ten each year...

Granted scholarship numbers allow it.

 

[irishandy]

Welcome to the family Darby, glad to have you! The coaches continue to pick up what ND will need.

 

[whiskeybent19]

Updated ranking on Scout (hadn't seen it posted). Now #1 CB, 5 star.....sweet!

 

[IrishLax]

Updated ranking on Scout (hadn't seen it posted). Now #1 CB, 5 star.....sweet!

wow really? they did updates again?

 

[Ironman8]

wow really? they did updates again?

It's funny, he seems to be the only one the updated at first glance.

 

[IrishLax]

It's funny, he seems to be the only one the updated at first glance.

yeah I see only minor shakeups... looks like Decker is #92 overall (think he was 90 before?)... I think Noor Davis dropped a spot from #6 to #7?

Leonte Carroo dropped a spot at WR and lost a star. It appears maybe they are doing are-eval of their "top" players or something like that.

 

[NewEnglandGuy]

Looks like Yuri Wright moved up to #6 CB as well...I still hope we pull out a Don Bosco kid.

But in order of who I would love to be our 5th DB in this class: Geno Smith, Agholor, and Shumate...recent offers make me worry these kids may not be as interested however.

 

[IrishLax]

Looks like Yuri Wright moved up to #6 CB as well...I still hope we pull out a Don Bosco kid.

But in order of who I would love to be our 5th DB in this class: Geno Smith, Agholor, and Shumate...recent offers make me worry these kids may not be as interested however.

I see what you're saying but there is a big part of me that loves the haul we have at DB and just hopes we keep it intact. Adding a stud safety would be nice but I don't think we can expect another top 10 CB to commit with the prospect of having to fight Tee/Darby for PT his whole career. That is unless Tee ends up playing safety. Only time will tell but I personally hope the staff focuses on using the remaining schollies on other positions.

 

[NewEnglandGuy]

Without a doubt we are going to take another DB, likely a safety...

2012 we will have:
Slaughter and Motta (both in their last year of eligibility)
Collingsworth (Jr) and Farley (So) (maybe Hardy (So) too if Wood, Jackson, and Atkinson/Brown hold it down on the edges with Darby and Shepard coming in for help).

Baratti and Badger are great but we could use an immediate impact guy ontop of a QB/ATH and a guy removed from football for 2 years...no knock on either of them but Kelly said we needed depth in the defensive backfield...when he said the same thing a year earlier about the Dline he signed 7 DEs.

Places we will overload this year: DB, offensive play makers (WR/RB), and OLine.

 

[rtrn2glory]

i thought slaugter had another year after 2012??

we will definitely take 1 maybe 2 more DB's in this cycle and if we have a chance at another one we like maybe 3...we really need to build our depth at the position.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

The more I hear about Darby the more I love this kid! Seems like he is doing a great job already in terms of trying to recruit other kids in this class, and the talent level of his speaks for itself. This kid seems to really have a good head on his shoulders. I'm feeling very comfortable at the CB now. We are really needing some playmakers at this position and the additions of Shepard and Darby is fantastic. I say we also pick up another star CB in this class if we can because depth is always an issue and it's really nice to have players to backfill if needed. I love what BK and his staff have done so far in the past recruiting class and a half. They have done an outstanding job in getting the players we need to make what was once a dismal defense into something special.

 

[IrishJimmy]

This is from my conversation with Ronald Darby.

Notre Dame Football: Ronald 'Speedy Lightning' Darby Prepares for Takeoff | Bleacher Report

 

[eNDzone]

This is from my conversation with Ronald Darby.

Notre Dame Football: Ronald 'Speedy Lightning' Darby Prepares for Takeoff | Bleacher Report

Found a smile on my face the whole time I was reading this.

 

[Irish4Life09]

Good to know he's going to be an EE. Can't wait to see this kid in blue/gold....VERY EXCITED!

 

[IrishBlood81]

yeah ^ Reading the article I figured he was going to be an EE so when I got to that part I was like "YES! I knew it!".
Can't wait to get 'im here!

 

[IrishJimmy]

Found a smile on my face the whole time I was reading this.

The excitement that he had about joining Tee Shep was awesome. I was also impressed that when I asked him if he ever watched Rocket Ismail highlights on you tube, he jumped right on it saying that he has many times. He was really impressed with the fans on Blue/Gold weekend, I talked to him in the bookstore with his coach and he was impressed then. Just wait until he makes an official during the season and sees the fans in full force. He was really excited about EE.

 

[Ironman8]

Nice Ronald Video. 2nd Fastest Indoor 200m runner in the world? That would have to be for his age, but still impressive. Can't wait for Tee and Ronald to show up next Jan.

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[FightingIrishLover7]

Nice Ronald Video. 2nd Fastest Indoor 200m runner in the world? That would have to be for his age, but still impressive. Can't wait for Tee and Ronald to show up next Jan.

Ronald Darby, is fast. really, really fast.

 

[Irish2015]

statistically is darby the fastest player that Notre Dame's had commited in quite some time?

 

[IrishLax]

I said this many posts ago... but he is an olympic level prospect if he were to go all in on track. He's a couple years of hardcore training and some designer drugs away from being a guy who could compete with the fastest in the world.

As far as football goes, expect Darby to be clocked in the 4.2 range by the time he's stepping on campus (which, incidentally, coincides with the peak of the indoor track season in the greater DC area).

 

[IrishLax]

statistically is darby the fastest player that Notre Dame's had commited in quite some time?

Probably ever. People are seriously not grasping just how fast a sub 6.3 55m dash (as a junior in high school) is... there is not one person out there in this class who can match his top end speed. Not in track, not in football. He is the fastest high schooler in the nation right now.

Would love to see his 10 and 20 yard splits for the 40 yard dash.