This is not a problem unique to ND. In fact, we have less players that leave early than most other top 20 programs. That either points to a very good culture at ND, or not enough talent (perhaps both).
Personally, I WANT more studs that have the opportunity to leave early. Not that I want them to leave, but if we have players playing so well that the NFL is noticing, that means we are probably playing well.
Oh, and I talked to someone yesterday that is acquaintances with Jerry and recently spoke to him. If Tillery gets some good feedback from NFL people, he’s as good as gone. The wear and tear on their bodies is a realization for these players much more than fans realize, and if you can get paid for playing, sometimes it is just too hard to pass up, even if you love school.
No, I get that. Careers are short, and guys should get paid. You only have so many snaps at any level, and like Bluto said, Tillery has taken a lot of them over the last three years. I don't begrudge the players making the decision, even if I lean towards thinking - for many of them - playing a senior year of college ball is better than being a mid/late round draft pick. (There are rare exceptions. Josh Adams, with his position and injury history, should go sooner than later, IMO.)
But I completely disagree that it's better for Notre Dame's program to have guys routinely jump to the pros after three years. Issues of culture aside, we just don't have the depth for it.
For one thing, we're always short of 85 scholarships, as many here love to point out. We don't have the numbers we need to start with. Then there's the honorable fact that we honor four-year scholarships and don't really process kids out of the program. So we're carrying more dead weight in our older classes than many other teams. We also don't take JUCOs, and transfers of any sort are rare, so not much replenishing with older, experienced, players. We've pushed a lot of freshmen to play early in recent years. But then, Notre Dame being the place that it is, sometimes it takes guys a year or to to acclimate, or they lose time to academics. We're not even necessarily getting three years out of our three-and-outs, then we lose them in their prime. And there's a strength and physical maturity that comes with spending four or five years in a college program, instead of three.
Look at Stanford. One reason they're so good despite not recruiting elite talent is their guys are experienced, and strong, and buy in to the culture of that program. And their depth chart is full of 4th and 5th year players. Because they lose very few players early to the draft.
To me, all that outweighs the recruiting benefit of pointing to a D Lineman who's taken in the fifth round and hangs around the NFL for a few seasons.
