'16 CA QB Ian Book (Notre Dame Signed NLI)

[condoms SUCk]

Welcome Ian!! Glad to have you on board.

 

[Luckylucci]

If some have been listening to podcasts this shouldn't come as a surprise as this is the guy that some of them called. Will he get the big name billing, no. However, does this class need it? I'd say no. Per everybody, this is one of the guys we are watching and we moved on. So you either trust the staff or you don't. Pretty simple. I do knowing we don't need a home run.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Check out @PeteSampson_I's Tweet: https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/628784975395991553?s=09

Has anyone started to speculate this is a package deal?

 

[Calabrese's People]

My theory:
Convince Hunter that will will run Coach Sanfords offence, and he will still be at the helm in future years, by signing a hand-picked Sanford QB who will not put off Hunter from a depth chart perspective. If they are pushing as hard for Hunter as we all assume, this seems to be the perfect move to counter the Tennessee neg-recruiting.

Either way, its a great sign that Coach Sanford is getting more say/control over the qb personnel. I think we could be real fun to watch with him at the helm.

 

[SoIll]

I don't see the Tommy Rees comparison whatsoever. Tommy did good things for ND, but the kid wasn't exactly an athlete. Book has some athletic ability, and he can straight sling it. If he was 6'3+, he'd be a top 10 QB. Congrats to the young man.

 

[SoIll]

Poor mans Colt McCoy IMO

I can agree with that. Tommy Rees? No

 

[Whiskeyjack]

When we've got a comfortable 4Q lead (that's bound to happen at some point in the future, right?), I'm looking forward to saying, "Throw the Book at 'em!"

 

[alohagoirish]

IMO odds are very low this player will ever play at QB for ND.....nothing personal there , I mean he seems like a great kid and very smart. But I don't get this offer at all....this class will be Kelly's lowest ranked group as we roll into years 5 & 6 , not a good sign in my view.

 

[Johannes]

IMO odds are very low this player will ever play at QB for ND.....nothing personal there , I mean he seems like a great kid and very smart. But I don't get this offer at all....this class will be Kelly's lowest ranked group as we roll into years 5 & 6 , not a good sign in my view.

This offer/commitment is about depth insurance, not looking for a future starter. It has everything to do with the staff's pursuit of Hunter Johnson while making sure we're not stuck with Montgomery VanGorder behind center in 2017 after a freak injury(s) or unforeseen transfer (no insult intended toward MVG). I'm glad they're both taking a 2016 QB and keeping the door open for HJ next year.

As for the separate issue of class rank, I can only say that it's still early August and I trust the coaching staff over any recruiting analyst. When signing day comes I believe this class will provide the mixture of depth and immediate impact that the team needs.

Per Wiltfong, Sanford spoke with Hunter about Book and there is no problem. Wiltfong's confidence that Hunter ends up Irish is only growing.

 

[drake29]

I've been one of the biggest critics of Kelly's recruiting strategy over the past two years...that said, I actually like this kid for ND's offense. Similar to Golson - can scramble if he needs to buy time. Doesn't have EG'S arm but it's better than Tommy Rees'. His throw on the run at 1:12 is nice. Needs to work on touch passes but I think he's got a bit of upside. Trust me, I tried to hate his highlight but I couldn't do it.

 

[Irish YJ]

Moar 3 stars
The next Tom Brady

 

[ohara831]

Welcome aboard! Glad to have him Irish!

 

[Cackalacky]

Congrats to the kid. Welcome to ND.

 

[Johannes]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreND?src=hash">#WeAreND</a></p>— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrianKelly/status/628886150602694658">August 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Well, Coach Kelly is awake.

 

[Irishman77]

Conspiracy Theory: we accepted the commitment of a lower rates pocket passer with some mobility now before Hunter Johnson decides in order to show him the future of the offense and how it isn't just for dual threat guys like Winbush and Zaire. The commitment comes almost a week before what could be Johnson's last visit to ND before his decision. Kelly and the staff figure that with Johnson and Winbush 2 years apart the QB inbetween them (Book) doesn't need to be a 5 star so they took Book instead of waiting on a possible bigger fish later in the cycle.

Not a bad idea from the staff. I see Oak as your basic college spread QB that has accuracy, a decent arm, and some mobility. Should be able to run our offense if it comes to that.

now i don't have to post the same exact thought I had! wow...

 

[Irish#1]

6' pocket QB with some mobility. Maybe they think they found the next Montana.

 

[PANDFAN]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another note about <a href="https://twitter.com/ian_book23">@ian_book23</a>, he plays on a loaded 7-on-7 squad with Elijah Holyfield, Najee Harris and Lamar Jackson. Leads that group.</p>— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/628795806011633664">August 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
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CAN'T HURT OUR CHANCES W/ JACKSON

 

[dublinirish]

how is a kid from California on the same 7on7 team as a kid from Georgia?

 

[BGIF]

I don't understand all the fuss about his measurements. The O.P. citing 247 has him at 6-0, 175.

Now that he's committed to ND, 247 write up has him 6-1, 200 .

Rivals 6-0, 193

Scout 6-1, 193 4.75 (verified)


So the kid's added an inch and 25 pounds in his off season. Give him a year and Longo's conditioning program and he'll be 6-3, 225. Book it!

 

[palinurus]

You guys know a lot more than me about this stuff; I'm an extremely interested observer, with no direct knowledge of most of these guys (i.e., I know only what the rating entities write), and you may all be right, and the guy may be fantastic, but I just, philosophically, don't like the mindset that they'll offer and take because he won't scare off better recruits for the following year. I really don't think Urban was thinking like that when he recruited Miller, Jones and Barrett in three consecutive years. That seems like a loser mindset to me.

 

[BGIF]

AND, with offers from both Harvard and Yale we shouldn't be reading posts about academic suspension and eligibilty.

 

[PANDFAN]

PER WILTFONG---Sanford spoke with Hunter about Ian Book, everything is good there.

 

[PANDFAN]

plans on recruiting jackson, alloway, mckinley--247

 

[PANDFAN]

i had posted earlier in thread but they have disappeared...anyways

he and Hunter Johnson share the same QB COACH

The best way to describe Ian is his accuracy,” said The Range founder and Book’s personal quarterbacks coach Will Hewlett. “His efficiency and accuracy are on point. Very, very intelligent with the football. What you’ll notice when you watch his film is his level of athleticism to extend the play. Although he doesn’t fit the traditional dual-threat cat, the kid has some impressive feet and hips and is extremely elusive. He’s a legitimate 4.7 laser, he’s extremely fast, but you don’t see it as much with the way the offense is designed.

“The big thing why is he under the radar, he’s 6-foot tall. Add three more inches and he’d be in the same conversation with Jacob Eason and all those guys in my opinion.”

247

 

[Old Man Mike]

1). Any QB taken by Mike Leach is a good take --- has been said before above, but is the surest sign that the player is quality;

2). Any QB known well and offered by Coach Sanford is a good offer --- also noted above; these two things should mainly silence or at least create humility in IE negativity;

3). Having a solid QB between Wimbush and whoever comes in 2017 is so obviously smart at that position that it's a near necessity regardless of low scholarships this round;

4). I'd take a Tommy Rees all day as my insurance policy, and this guy looks to have at least that much potential;

5). "Kelly smarter'n I are"; so is Sanford.

Thanks for signing up, young Ian, and welcome to a fantastic university and football program.


p.s. as to our "low ranking class", that's numbers-dependent not quality-of-individuals-dependent. Notre Dame's average rated quality of verbal recruit is in the high 88s. Almost everybody in the nation [that is considered having a good start to 2016 recruiting] is in the 87-90 range. Only two programs are separate from this hoard: LSU and FSU, I think. We're not having a "bad" year, we're just having a low numbers year.

 

[aubeirish]

You guys know a lot more than me about this stuff; I'm an extremely interested observer, with no direct knowledge of most of these guys (i.e., I know only what the rating entities write), and you may all be right, and the guy may be fantastic, but I just, philosophically, don't like the mindset that they'll offer and take because he won't scare off better recruits for the following year. I really don't think Urban was thinking like that when he recruited Miller, Jones and Barrett in three consecutive years. That seems like a loser mindset to me.

It's a fair point, but I think QBs are a little different than other positions. Depth chart really matters for most of these top guys.

 

[connor_in]

Well, I'd say we had an interesting 8 hours yesterday afternoon to night, huh?

Welcome Ian! Good luck to you on your ND future.

 

[IrishLion]

ND appears to be heading towards having 12 scholarship receivers;

ND offers/flips a Mike Leach QB prospect;

BK has been over-infatuated with the passing game at times;

This commitment is just another note in my long list of collected evidence: Irish Air Raid comin'.

 

[palinurus]

My only comments on the "low ratings" issue is this:

1) I generally don't accept the "Kelly knows more than us" idea of judging recruiting. If we did accept this, there'd be no point talking about all this or analyzing anything he does. Sure, he "knows" more than us; but that doesn't bulletproof his decisions nor make them correct. People who "know more than me" in a lot of areas exhibit bad judgment all the time and often fail. The guy who told Unitas he couldn't play for the lousy Steelers probably knew more about football than a lot of people, too. The guy or guys who thought the Edsel would sell probably knew more than a lot of people who thought it was a dumb idea. Still, I get the point and agree with this much: Kelly has been a pretty good recruiter, and some of his coaches have been superlative (Heistand eg). They deserve forbearance.

2) My trust in Kelly et al. outweighs this point, but I do have this internal debate, hoping that we aren't becoming a 'system" recruiting program rather than an "eye popping talent 5 star" recruiting program. I mean, sure, it's fine to recruit to your system as you need to, but ND needs to recruit top talent if it wants to compete for titles. Cincinnati has to system recruit; Notre Dame should not. Not saying the 2016 class is a system class -- hell, it's not even in the books for six months -- but we can all see that, outside the OLine, the rating numbers are a little less than we'd hope, strictly from a "math" perspective. We can handle an "off" Top 15 class once in a while. But that voice tells me we don't want to make a habit on it.

 

[PANDFAN]

I built a relationship with coach Sanford when he was at Boise and I really liked him a lot," Book said. "Once he went to Notre Dame I wasn't really sure what was going to happen. I stayed in touch with him every once in a while and one day it got more serious and he told me he was going to make this thing happen, just stay with it, it could be a long ride.

"He said from Day 1 they're going to make this thing work. I stuck with it and I was going on vacation to the Caribbean on a cruise and he told me I had to visit. He asked me once I land in Miami if I could fly right up there and he said the visit is going to blow my socks off.

"I talked to my family and they said we should take the visit. It was really important that I visit there. I was blown away on the visit. I loved the staff. I really liked coach (Brian) Kelly. The football and the education speak for itself and the campus I really liked it."
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