'15 NV TE Aliz'e Mack (Notre Dame Signed NLI)

[Whiskeyjack]

Anyways, it's not really relevant. But Mora wins about 90% of recruiting battles with ND and it's because he's a phenomenal salesman who also puts in tremendous legwork.

It's an uphill battle for ND to gain a commitment from any heavily-recruited kid from CA. If USC were on top, we'd be losing just as many West Coast kids to them. Mora deserves credit for taking advantage of USC's weakness, but a lot of his recruiting "victories" were very unlikely to leave the state anyway.

 

[IRISH in MT]

It's an uphill battle for ND to gain a commitment from any heavily-recruited kid from CA. If USC were on top, we'd be losing just as many West Coast kids to them. Mora deserves credit for taking advantage of USC's weakness, but a lot of his recruiting "victories" were very unlikely to leave the state anyway.

I agree. Mora is whipping up on U$C more than ND. We seem to only get 1 out of 4/5 to leave the state of Cali in the end. Always a bridesmaid, rarely the bride.

 

[Rocket89]

He has consistently whipped up on ND in recruiting battles and done it with hustle and a sense of urgency. It helps that A. Jones is already on the West Coast but how freaking smart was Mora to schedule that in-home immediately after the banquet visit. He was able to quickly squash any good feelings that might have been built from the visit, counterpoint anything ND said and got his word in edge wise right away which is now what Alize has most fresh to think about. This guy Mora just wants it more then ND.

If the shoe was on the other foot I doubt there'd be all this praise for Kelly.

UCLA and Mora just used their in-home on Jones is because we've had their commit on our campus twice since the season began. Pretty good hustle by ND.

 

[IrishLax]

It's an uphill battle for ND to gain a commitment from any heavily-recruited kid from CA. If USC were on top, we'd be losing just as many West Coast kids to them. Mora deserves credit for taking advantage of USC's weakness, but a lot of his recruiting "victories" were very unlikely to leave the state anyway.

Correct, it's almost all CA or "extended" out of state like Arizona and Nevada. Here's the grand sum of losses to Mora from out of state.

In 2012, Mora pulled Fuller (NJ). We got in late here.

In 2013, Mora pulled Massington (TX), Hollins (TX). We got in late with Massington and Hollins was a race to the finish.

In 2014, Mora pulled Kenny Young (LA).

But probably a dozen prospects in Mora's last 3 classes are guys ND heavily pursued out there and we finished second. It's staggering how much his effort in CA has dried up that well of talent relative to when Weis was on the job against his predecessors. I'm not all that mad... because Cali talent is almost always flaky and overrated... but it's annoying.

 

[Nick Setta]

Correct, it's almost all CA or "extended" out of state like Arizona and Nevada. Here's the grand sum of losses to Mora from out of state.

In 2012, Mora pulled Fuller (NJ). We got in late here.

In 2013, Mora pulled Massington (TX), Hollins (TX). We got in late with Massington and Hollins was a race to the finish.

In 2014, Mora pulled Kenny Young (LA).

But probably a dozen prospects in Mora's last 3 classes are guys ND heavily pursued out there and we finished second. It's staggering how much his effort in CA has dried up that well of talent relative to when Weis was on the job against his predecessors. I'm not all that mad... because Cali talent is almost always flaky and overrated... but it's annoying.

Didn't Devin Fuller not come to ND because Gunner Kiel commited and Fuller only would play QB?

 

[Rocket89]

Correct, it's almost all CA or "extended" out of state like Arizona and Nevada. Here's the grand sum of losses to Mora from out of state.

In 2012, Mora pulled Fuller (NJ). We got in late here.

In 2013, Mora pulled Massington (TX), Hollins (TX). We got in late with Massington and Hollins was a race to the finish.

In 2014, Mora pulled Kenny Young (LA).

But probably a dozen prospects in Mora's last 3 classes are guys ND heavily pursued out there and we finished second. It's staggering how much his effort in CA has dried up that well of talent relative to when Weis was on the job against his predecessors. I'm not all that mad... because Cali talent is almost always flaky and overrated... but it's annoying.

It's nowhere near 12 players where we finished second. That would be absurd. A quick check shows 18 players that both schools offered who signed with UCLA.

Ishmael Adams- Cal finished second. He did take an OV to Notre Dame.

Devin Fuller- Looked at him briefly before Kiel committed. He never visited.

Jordan Payton- Took an OV to ND but left Cal and UW classes before signing with UCLA.

Marcus Rios- Academic casualty. Might have picked ND.

Priest Willis- Never seriously considered ND.

Tahaan Goodman- Never seriously considered ND.

Craig Lee- Made his top 3 but was never serious about ND.

Nate Starks- Lost him when he was kicked out of Gorman.

Eddie Vanderdoes- Don't need to say anything.

Deon Hollins- We got a late OV, he wouldn't let Kelly do an in-home.

Eldridge Massington- Long-time USC commit, never seriously considered ND.

Austin Roberts- Indiana kid who we never got in with, didn't finish 2nd.

Matt Dickerson- Mora flipped him.

Zach Whitley-Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

Kenny Young- Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

Kylie Fitts- Longtime USC commit, we were in his top group at the end.

Isaac Savainnaiea- We got an OV but finished behind a few others.

Thomas Duarte-Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

So the list is basically: Rios, Starks, Vanderdoes, Hollins, Dickerson, and Fitts. Mora did a good job on the latter three. No doubt he's making our lives difficult but it's really not that bad, particularly if we steal Alize Jones.

 

[Domina Nostra]

It's nowhere near 12 players where we finished second. That would be absurd. A quick check shows 18 players that both schools offered who signed with UCLA.

Ishmael Adams- Cal finished second. He did take an OV to Notre Dame.

Devin Fuller- Looked at him briefly before Kiel committed. He never visited.

Jordan Payton- Took an OV to ND but left Cal and UW classes before signing with UCLA.

Marcus Rios- Academic casualty. Might have picked ND.

Priest Willis- Never seriously considered ND.

Tahaan Goodman- Never seriously considered ND.

Craig Lee- Made his top 3 but was never serious about ND.

Nate Starks- Lost him when he was kicked out of Gorman.

Eddie Vanderdoes- Don't need to say anything.

Deon Hollins- We got a late OV, he wouldn't let Kelly do an in-home.

Eldridge Massington- Long-time USC commit, never seriously considered ND.

Austin Roberts- Indiana kid who we never got in with, didn't finish 2nd.

Matt Dickerson- Mora flipped him.

Zach Whitley-Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

Kenny Young- Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

Kylie Fitts- Longtime USC commit, we were in his top group at the end.

Isaac Savainnaiea- We got an OV but finished behind a few others.

Thomas Duarte-Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

So the list is basically: Rios, Starks, Vanderdoes, Hollins, Dickerson, and Fitts. Mora did a good job on the latter three. No doubt he's making our lives difficult but it's really not that bad, particularly if we steal Alize Jones.

Dickerson's flip is the one in recent memory that sounded legit to me. Don't remember the details, though.

 

[Ironman8]

Fitts, Rios and Starks all wanted ND at some point in their careers as well. ND just couldn't take them.

 

[IrishLax]

It's nowhere near 12 players where we finished second. That would be absurd. A quick check shows 18 players that both schools offered who signed with UCLA.

Ishmael Adams- Cal finished second. He did take an OV to Notre Dame.

Devin Fuller- Looked at him briefly before Kiel committed. He never visited.

Jordan Payton- Took an OV to ND but left Cal and UW classes before signing with UCLA.

Marcus Rios- Academic casualty. Might have picked ND.

Priest Willis- Never seriously considered ND.

Tahaan Goodman- Never seriously considered ND.

Craig Lee- Made his top 3 but was never serious about ND.

Nate Starks- Lost him when he was kicked out of Gorman.

Eddie Vanderdoes- Don't need to say anything.

Deon Hollins- We got a late OV, he wouldn't let Kelly do an in-home.

Eldridge Massington- Long-time USC commit, never seriously considered ND.

Austin Roberts- Indiana kid who we never got in with, didn't finish 2nd.

Matt Dickerson- Mora flipped him.

Zach Whitley-Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

Kenny Young- Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

Kylie Fitts- Longtime USC commit, we were in his top group at the end.

Isaac Savainnaiea- We got an OV but finished behind a few others.

Thomas Duarte-Never seriously considered Notre Dame.

So the list is basically: Rios, Starks, Vanderdoes, Hollins, Dickerson, and Fitts. Mora did a good job on the latter three. No doubt he's making our lives difficult but it's really not that bad, particularly if we steal Alize Jones.

Man, ever since I ripped Hopkins over the Barnett thing you really make a painstaking effort to nitpick my posts. But when you're right you're right.

So "probably a dozen" I guess was a bit off shooting from the hip. Savainnaeia we finished 3rdish behind A&M. So a half-dozenish guys... I guess it's the few that stick out (Dickerson, Vanderdoes) that make it seem like more.

 

[Rack Em]

What on field success? No conference championships, averaging about 4 losses per season under Mora. Best bowl win is the Sun Bowl, which is something Kelly accomplished in his first year.

To be fair, that's probably Kelly's best bowl win. Beating Miami > Beating Rutgers.

And I was in El Paso for that game. I have no idea what happened during the game, but ND definitely won at tailgating.

I respect his his hustle. I tremendously respect it, if not outright envy it. But let's call a spade a spade... he's not selling substance.

Since all the race-baiters have been banned, I'll pick up the slack. That's racist.

 

[BeauBenken]

Dickerson's mother was/is ill, no? It was more of a stay close to mom rather than he was flipped.

 

[ResLife Hero]

Dickerson's mother was/is ill, no? It was more of a stay close to mom rather than he was flipped.

Thought it was his dad (could be wrong), and it sounded fairly serious. Unless that was a bogus story, I never got the sense it had anything to do with Mora or getting talked into flipping.

 

[BeauBenken]

Thought it was his dad (could be wrong), and it sounded fairly serious. Unless that was a bogus story, I never got the sense it had anything to do with Mora or getting talked into flipping.

Just looked it back up. You're correct. His father developed prostate cancer less than a month before the flip and his mother is also disabled. He was placed in a very hard situation. I'll be rooting for the kid.

“Calling [Denbrook] was a really, really hard thing to do, but it was the right thing,” Dickerson said, via MaxPreps’ Mitch Stephens. “I looked so forward to playing for the Irish. But I’m doing what’s best for my family and I.”

 

[Booslum31]

To be fair, that's probably Kelly's best bowl win. Beating Miami > Beating Rutgers.

And I was in El Paso for that game. I have no idea what happened during the game, but ND definitely won at tailgating.



Since all the race-baiters have been banned, I'll pick up the slack. That's racist.

Well played!

 

[tussin]

It's an uphill battle for ND to gain a commitment from any heavily-recruited kid from CA. If USC were on top, we'd be losing just as many West Coast kids to them. Mora deserves credit for taking advantage of USC's weakness, but a lot of his recruiting "victories" were very unlikely to leave the state anyway.

Seems like we have had a lot of luck recently with Texas, no? From my mile high POV, it appears that Cooks has been really successful there. Also, just taking a quick look at ESPN and 247 databases, Texas has considerably more 4-stars than CA.

 

[Chasey]

I keep waiting to see that either he decommitted or is now a ND commit. Of all the different recruits on campus i would love to know what his reaction is and will he be making a final choice.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Seems like we have had a lot of luck recently with Texas, no? From my mile high POV, it appears that Cooks has been really successful there. Also, just taking a quick look at ESPN and 247 databases, Texas has considerably more 4-stars than CA.

Absolutely. I'm at the point now where a 3 from TX excites me more than a 4 from CA. Far less likely to decommit or bust.

 

[Luckylucci]

Per Sampson he's hearing that the UCLA staff was prepared to take a commitment from Chris Clark is Alize hadn't reaffirmed his recruitment on Sunday night. Apparently Chris is lobbying the Bruin staff to take him.

Bad news is it sounds like Alize gave them reason to believe he's staying with UCLA. Good news is I continue to think this Clark situation could benefit us prior to NSD.

 

[GBdomer]

Not sure if this has been reported but basically ND is confident that he will end up in SB. But UCLA is also confident last night that gave him a reason to let them know Jones is coming. Basically Chris Clark is ready to commit to UCLA and ND isn't as confident as they were over the weekend

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Not sure if this has been reported but basically ND is confident that he will end up in SB. But UCLA is also confident last night that gave him a reason to let them know Jones is coming. Basically Chris Clark is ready to commit to UCLA and ND isn't as confident as they were over the weekend

Not sure how to reconcile those two statements, since:

• ND expected to wrap up his recruitment last weekend;
• Jones tweeted out a photo of himself in UCLA gear after Mora's in-home; and
• Mora is allegedly unwilling to accept a verbal from Clark.

Jones' recruitment is trending hard in a negative direction.

 

[koonja]

When is Clark's visit supposed to be?

Looks like 1/17 according to 247

 

[GBdomer]

Sorry Whiskey I confused by myself trying to type that. GBDomer not making sense? No way, basically ND is still confident with Jones but not as confident. Read Luckylucci statement, he makes sense

 

[koonja]

Who the hell grows up a fan of UCLA football? I have more tradition in my pants than they have in their whole football history.

 

[jerboski]

Surprised this is trending back to UCLA, Credit to UCLA staff for getting in his home right after the trip to get him refocused on UCLA. Mora has been a pain in our ass and looks as though it will continue

 

[NCND]

Who the hell grows up a fan of UCLA football? I have more tradition in my pants than they have in their whole football history.

Cade and Troy say what up playa?

 

[IrishLax]

If I had to guess, I'd imagine they gave him an ultimatum. Either stick with your pledge or we're taking this other guy. And he reaffirmed his commitment. Does that mean he ultimately sticks? Still not sure.

 

[koonja]

Cade and Troy say what up playa?

I don't even know who you're referencing which goes to show how much they've done nothing

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Assume he is referencing Troy Aikman and Cade McNown. I may have went with Ogden.

 

[Luckylucci]

If I had to guess, I'd imagine they gave him an ultimatum. Either stick with your pledge or we're taking this other guy. And he reaffirmed his commitment. Does that mean he ultimately sticks? Still not sure.

This is what I think happened and (to me) it doesn't really change my opinion of the situation. We've seen how hard selling or ultimatums have worked against coaches recently and not saying it will here but I don't view this as Alize suddenly realizing that he won't consider ND. Would I have liked him to tell Mora to F off then call Kelly an announce his commitment for ND, of course. However, I don't think thats very likely considering he does have a long term relationship with UCLA's staff.

 

[ND NYC]

If I had to guess, I'd imagine they gave him an ultimatum. Either stick with your pledge or we're taking this other guy. And he reaffirmed his commitment. Does that mean he ultimately sticks? Still not sure.

would love it if he said "sure if you must know, I'm all UCLA Mr Mora"...just to get him off his "ultimatum"...and then, when it mattered, signing the LOI, he signs with us.

ps when is the dead period for contacting recruits?