2018 - State of the Recruiting Class thread

[BobbyMac]

This thread is about where the class was, is and where it's headed.

Been catching a lot of good opinions in player threads about where this class is and I don't want them to get lost in the sands of time also, don't want to have to highjack a player thread for 3 pages to have a great convo then lose it when that player dumps ND and commits to School X.

So where are the Irish in regards to the '18 class Is it up? Is it down? Has it died after a hot start? Have deco's killed it? Are there any difference makers? What's needed from here on out? How does it compare to past classes not only as a final product but at the same period in the recruiting cycle (which is something I think gets lost in the thought process)

I'm going to start it off by bringing up a point about difference makers. ND doesn't have any #1 players at their positions per the all seeing eye of the recruiting industry BUT let's take a look at a few players and ask ourselves, who would you rather have instead of the current Irish commit?

Phil Jurkovec

First off, I love Trevor Lawrence. Love Love Love my fellow Trailer Park All Star. BUT from what I've seen in games, I wouldn't trade Phil J for not just Lawrence but for ANY other QB in this class. Now, I wouldn't cry if Justin Fields or Emory Jones where committed to ND instead but I don't ever think, I wish ND had a different QB commit like I did the last two cycles. All in all, FOR ND, the Irish have the #1 QB in this class.

Jason Ademiloa

Here is another case of ND getting the perfect player for them and in this case maybe the #1 player in the class at DT. Taron Vincent has been the #1 DT from wire to wire up until now and he doesn't impress me any more than Jay Ade. If there is anyone with more possible ceiling than JA it might be Greg Emerson of TN but he plays small ball and who really knows what you are getting with him. If I get to trade JA for anyone in this class (which does not have a Rashan Gary) I pass and am thrilled to have a player who is Irish to the core and a marketing professional for the class.

Derrik Allen

Allen isn't the highest rated S & he wasn't ever the highest rated CB when he was R&R'd there early on before he outgrew the position. But if you asked me to trade him for ANY DB in this class I'll tell you to kick rocks. I 100% believe Derrik Allen is the #1 college DB prospect in this class. He might have the highest floor of ANY recruit in HS. ND needs help in all aspects of passing defense and Allen will provide that. Most see him as the FS of the future(which I do as of now), but who knows? 6-2, 210+ going into his Sr year? It wouldn't surprise me if an ND D of the future had DA at Rover, Simon at LB, JOK at SS and Brian Williams at FS. who knows where these kids genes take them? So for me, ND has the #1 overall DB in the class because I can't give you anyone I'd trade him for.

George Takacs

Here's another #1 for me. Ruckert, Muhammad, might bring a higher tier, pure athlete or a more developed receiver at the moment but they wouldn't be bringing any skill set that isn't in South Bend already after last year's haul. What Takacs brings is the only 6-7, 100+ Sparq combo available. When size is considered, he's a top skill set athletic package. If you don't see the possibility of Troy Niklas 2.0 we aren't looking at the same prospect... Only Takacs is bigger. Sampson said on his podcast this week that "if" GT gets up to 250... Troy Niklas went to the NFL Combine at 270. I'll be shocked if Takacs isn't playing at 260+. He has the sort of frame that Central Michigan makes into 1st Round draft picks. For what TE U needs to complete the position, I wouldn't trade GT for anyone in this class. He's been my #1 since ND passed on Freiermuth and he committed to PSU. No doubt in my mind ND got the #1 TE for their needs.

I'll add some stuff later, gonna go binge a little Orange is the new Black before church.

Happy Fathers day to all the good ones!

 

[IrishLax]

My "state of the union" would be that the class sits on a knife's edge. They put in very good work early, but are in a situation where if they lose the class will fall apart... but if they win it's almost sure to be a top 10 group and the best rates since '13. There's some good with some bad, CB and WR recruiting are both unacceptable right now but we've done an excellent job with some elite guys like Allen and Jurkovec... both will be a war to hold onto though.

The most important recruits to close on: Simon and Griffith. I'm skeptical we land either, but both offer extreme talent + value and are great scheme fits.

Most irrelevant recruit people for some reason think is a "must get": Booker. There is nothing elite about him and he's unproven as a DL player. He's basically a shorter, slower, less athletic Sam Hubbard as a prospect... people are hoping he can turn decent frame + athleticism into productive DE play. He'd be a good add but is far from an instant impact stud or sure thing.

 

[Old Man Mike]

One random thought: in my years of following this stuff, the rapid set of signings in this class spoiled the fans. I'd not seen such a fast start combined with such highly ranked athletes since I've been on IE. My thought watching the commitments roll in was: What's going on? My second thought was: there just has to be some decommitment here with such early deciding studs.

As to the State of the Class as it is, therefore, it's my opinion that it's great. If Coach's staff mirrors what ND typically does between now and opening game, we'd be loaded. I'm looking for more physical people, and since St. Harry still has probably two adds, I'm confident in some good moments there.

I just badly want to hold what we still have on our list. This staff WILL add good missing pieces. With Jurkovec and Stepp and Takacs and what Harry will have, that will fill out a formidable offense --- Kelly's and Long's offenses automatically make WRs dangerous. Then I trust Elko --- I believe him to be a genius almost regardless of the raw material he has.

 

[IrishLion]

Need a burner at WR. Need a burner at CB. Need a pure pass-rush WDE.

A strong showing from Elko's D could get us in on the CB and WDE.

Gonna need BK and Long to dial in on the next Stepherson/Fuller type, because it's probably gonna be some obscure kid hidden away with 3 stars to his name. All the elite burners are spoken for or not interested.

EDIT: Forgot Austin. He might have the speed to be the deep threat of the class.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Winning cures most ills. If we truly win 10+ games and compete in every single one, then we can expect a great finish on the recruiting trail and some restored shine on the ND helmets.

What we need more than anything are secondary players who can ball hawk and lay the wood. We need a functional, top 25 defense so bad. It'll make playing ND football fun again and it'll pay dividends on the trail.

I have no doubts about our offense because we have tons of firepower and what appears to be a very competent OL. You win recruits when your WRs are putting up big #s, your TEs are making plays and your RBs are breaking big runs.

We need a top-25 defense to complement that offense. The season can't get here soon enough. I hope the young guys from this past class are transitioning well and ready to put in work because there are minutes to be earned.

 

[dublinirish]

the class hinges on Allen IMO

 

[NDohio]

Winning cures most ills. If we truly win 10+ games and compete in every single one, then we can expect a great finish on the recruiting trail and some restored shine on the ND helmets.

What we need more than anything are secondary players who can ball hawk and lay the wood. We need a functional, top 25 defense so bad. It'll make playing ND football fun again and it'll pay dividends on the trail.

I have no doubts about our offense because we have tons of firepower and what appears to be a very competent OL. You win recruits when your WRs are putting up big #s, your TEs are making plays and your RBs are breaking big runs.

We need a top-25 defense to complement that offense. The season can't get here soon enough. I hope the young guys from this past class are transitioning well and ready to put in work because there are minutes to be earned.

My gut tells me we win 8-9 games but we play a much more exciting brand of football and we have a fun, exciting team. What happens then? We are sort of winning but not in the playoff hunt, yet the football is a lot better than what we had in '16. Hopefully the coaches can build a good class based on that scenario.

I hope I'm wrong and we win 10+ games...

 

[BobbyMac]

I have no doubts about our offense because we have tons of firepower and what appears to be a very competent OL. You win recruits when your WRs are putting up big #s, your TEs are making plays and your RBs are breaking big runs.

So glad that is untrue.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I felt that Tyler Eifert and Kyle Rudolph were very exciting football players. TEs making plays can easily be "fun football."

Hopefully Mack will bring that back. Plus the rookies.

 

[NDdomer2]

So where are the Irish in regards to the '18 class Is it up? Is it down? Has it died after a hot start? Have deco's killed it? Are there any difference makers? What's needed from here on out? How does it compare to past classes not only as a final product but at the same period in the recruiting cycle (which is something I think gets lost in the thought process)

interested to see this breakdown

 

[IrishLax]

My "state of the union" would be that the class sits on a knife's edge. They put in very good work early, but are in a situation where if they lose the class will fall apart... but if they win it's almost sure to be a top 10 group and the best rates since '13. There's some good with some bad, CB and WR recruiting are both unacceptable right now but we've done an excellent job with some elite guys like Allen and Jurkovec... both will be a war to hold onto though.

The most important recruits to close on: Simon and Griffith. I'm skeptical we land either, but both offer extreme talent + value and are great scheme fits.

Most irrelevant recruit people for some reason think is a "must get": Booker. There is nothing elite about him and he's unproven as a DL player. He's basically a shorter, slower, less athletic Sam Hubbard as a prospect... people are hoping he can turn decent frame + athleticism into productive DE play. He'd be a good add but is far from an instant impact stud or sure thing.

So we got Simon, which I think was a great job of recruiting in a head-to-head battle with some other prestige programs. We are not going to get Griffith, which is a shame and DB recruiting is still super thin.

Who do people think are the most important players left on the board? Is Austin one of them? Obviously, ASB would be near the very top if he were realistic.

 

[Rizzophil]

So we got Simon, which I think was a great job of recruiting in a head-to-head battle with some other prestige programs. We are not going to get Griffith, which is a shame and DB recruiting is still super thin.

Who do people think are the most important players left on the board? Is Austin one of them? Obviously, ASB would be near the very top if he were realistic.

I'm going with the fact that we need 3 corners this cycle. Until we get at least two that's the biggest need

 

[OCIrish]

So we got Simon, which I think was a great job of recruiting in a head-to-head battle with some other prestige programs. We are not going to get Griffith, which is a shame and DB recruiting is still super thin.

Who do people think are the most important players left on the board? Is Austin one of them? Obviously, ASB would be near the very top if he were realistic.

Lax, I agree about the CB recruiting. I cannot fathom how this team, and being somewhat thin at the position, has been a problem to attract top flight talent....

 

[koonja]

For Lucci:

Two ways to look at this. On one hand, we're a ~10th ranked class after a 4-8 season, and if Lamb chooses ND today, that ranking gets even better. Very hard to be upset about that - at face value it's an incredible job by the staff.

However, CB and DE recruiting are completely ****ting the bed. We took zero corners last year, and can't get one on board. I don't know that we even have that many (any?) coming this summer, either. We're essentially praying we get a few 3-star guys, as there are no 4-star guys seriously considering us with visits in mind. Let's not even talk about 5-star CBs. Recruiting corners this year should be a cake walk, and we're not even close to 1.

DE: Thomas Booker and Jason Oweh should be easy sells. Each have ND in their top 3, have visited multiple times, and I'll be happy if we even get one of them. Don't tell me Oweh isn't looking for what ND sells. He's paid for 2 summer visits, has Harvard parents, and wants to play big time football. I get OSU, but you can make the argument that ND is a better football decision, since he'll be a 2-3 year starter here, and there's a very real chance he's never a starter at OSU due to their talent and depth. This is a guy the staff absolutely should have closed on.

Thomas Booker, same thing. He's down to Stanford and ND, and while he's been to ND several times, Stanford only once and with a late offer. They're also as far away as can be, and we're not closing.

So how do you look at recruiting. Face value? Then we're doing GREAT. Look at what the staff should be doing at positions of dire need? It's not as good as it looks. There are a number of other players that had us at the top, have visited over summer, and have faded into the abyss. But these are the big ones/big position.

 

[NDohio]

For Lucci:

Two ways to look at this. On one hand, we're a ~10th ranked class after a 4-8 season, and if Lamb chooses ND today, that ranking gets even better. Very hard to be upset about that - at face value it's an incredible job by the staff.

However, CB and DE recruiting are completely ****ting the bed. We took zero corners last year, and can't get one on board. I don't know that we even have that many (any?) coming this summer, either. We're essentially praying we get a few 3-star guys, as there are no 4-star guys seriously considering us with visits in mind. Let's not even talk about 5-star CBs. Recruiting corners this year should be a cake walk, and we're not even close to 1.

DE: Thomas Booker and Jason Oweh should be easy sells. Each have ND in their top 3, have visited multiple times, and I'll be happy if we even get one of them. Don't tell me Oweh isn't looking for what ND sells. He's paid for 2 summer visits, has Harvard parents, and wants to play big time football. I get OSU, but you can make the argument that ND is a better football decision, since he'll be a 2-3 year starter here, and there's a very real chance he's never a starter at OSU due to their talent and depth. This is a guy the staff absolutely should have closed on.

Thomas Booker, same thing. He's down to Stanford and ND, and while he's been to ND several times, Stanford only once and with a late offer. They're also as far away as can be, and we're not closing.

So how do you look at recruiting. Face value? Then we're doing GREAT. Look at what the staff should be doing at positions of dire need? It's not as good as it looks.

Not Lucci, but oh well...

The problem with all of this is that it is July. It's still summer. There is still a long way to go before we get too worked up over who we are not getting. If we are in November and we still aren't having any success at recruiting CB or DE, then panic. Your seem to always want the recruits to commit the moment their visit is over. That's just an unrealistic expectation at Notre Dame and someone that has been a fan as long as you have should know that.

That is what wears on many posters...

 

[koonja]

Not Lucci, but oh well...

The problem with all of this is that it is July. It's still summer. There is still a long way to go before we get too worked up over who we are not getting. If we are in November and we still aren't having any success at recruiting CB or DE, then panic. Your seem to always want the recruits to commit the moment their visit is over. That's just an unrealistic expectation at Notre Dame and someone that has been a fan as long as you have should know that.

That is what wears on many posters...

You're overgeneralizing my concern. I'm specifically talking about the the individual recruits that are ND type kids, that have visited ND at least once on their own dime this summer, have been open to committing, are positions of need, and are now fading.

Booker's visited twice and we didn't close. Oweh has too and he's about to choose either PSU or OSU. Etc.

If we're not getting a kid yet because he's said "I'm deciding on NSD", and/or hasn't visited, and/or isn't a position of need, etc - I couldn't care less. Those situations don't concern me.

But that's not the case for a handful of kids that have come through since II.

 

[tussin]

The problem with all of this is that it is July. It's still summer. There is still a long way to go before we get too worked up over who we are not getting.

This argument would hold a lot of weight if we were talking about OL or WR recruiting. But ND (in recent years) has not shown an ability to recruit cornerbacks at a high level. That trend is continuing this year and the prospects left on the board don't appear to be game changers.

 

[koonja]

This argument would hold a lot of weight if we were talking about OL or WR recruiting. But ND (in recent years) has not shown an ability to recruit cornerbacks at a high level. That trend is continuing this year and the prospects left on the board don't appear to be game changers.

And there's going to need to play early... And we need at least 3 of them... And they're NO where to be found. How many CBs do we have visiting from now until the season?

We should have an easy sell to a 5-star corner. New, proven DC, guaranteed PT, premier program, no current commits in last class or this.

But forget 5-stars. This should be the easiest sell for a 4-star CB.

But forget those too.

Where are the 3-star corners? There's such an opportunity at corner they should be beating down the door to visit.

 

[BeauBenken]

You're overgeneralizing my concern. I'm specifically talking about the the individual recruits that are ND type kids, that have visited ND at least once on their own dime this summer, have been open to committing, are positions of need, and are now fading.

Booker's visited twice and we didn't close. Oweh has too and he's about to choose either PSU or OSU. Etc.

If we're not getting a kid yet because he's said "I'm deciding on NSD", and/or hasn't visited, and/or isn't a position of need, etc - I couldn't care less. Those situations don't concern me.

But that's not the case for a handful of kids that have come through since II.

Oweh is going to OSU and always was if given the chance.

Booker is now the final leg you can stand on because we won the recruiting battles for Simon and Lamb.

 

[koonja]

Oweh is going to OSU and always was if given the chance.

Booker is now the final leg you can stand on because we won the recruiting battles for Simon and Lamb.

You don't lose on Oweh for the aforementioned reasons. You simply recruit him so hard because you have so much to offer for a kid like that (academics and football opportunities). That type of recruit has been so hard for ND to find at DE, you simply don't lose him after visiting twice this summer.

Booker - we all know the story. Burton and every other corner we can't get near campus, etc.

Acting like getting a couple of recruits means all the other summer recruiting of other kids went well, is dumb.

 

[Luckylucci]

For Lucci:

Two ways to look at this. On one hand, we're a ~10th ranked class after a 4-8 season, and if Lamb chooses ND today, that ranking gets even better. Very hard to be upset about that - at face value it's an incredible job by the staff.

However, CB and DE recruiting are completely ****ting the bed. We took zero corners last year, and can't get one on board. I don't know that we even have that many (any?) coming this summer, either. We're essentially praying we get a few 3-star guys, as there are no 4-star guys seriously considering us with visits in mind. Let's not even talk about 5-star CBs. Recruiting corners this year should be a cake walk, and we're not even close to 1.

DE: Thomas Booker and Jason Oweh should be easy sells. Each have ND in their top 3, have visited multiple times, and I'll be happy if we even get one of them. Don't tell me Oweh isn't looking for what ND sells. He's paid for 2 summer visits, has Harvard parents, and wants to play big time football. I get OSU, but you can make the argument that ND is a better football decision, since he'll be a 2-3 year starter here, and there's a very real chance he's never a starter at OSU due to their talent and depth. This is a guy the staff absolutely should have closed on.

Thomas Booker, same thing. He's down to Stanford and ND, and while he's been to ND several times, Stanford only once and with a late offer. They're also as far away as can be, and we're not closing.

So how do you look at recruiting. Face value? Then we're doing GREAT. Look at what the staff should be doing at positions of dire need? It's not as good as it looks.

Same response as last time. All you're doing is keep bringing up losing recruitments or recruitments that you think we'll lose. Notice how your first post had Simon going to UM and Lamb to UCLA, and you were flat out WRONG. On top of that you've continued to make up "facts" about these recruitments and pass it of as reality. Those are the two problems I have. At the end of the day, you could just say you were completely and utterly, couldn't be more wrong about the state of ND recruiting, but now you just bring up CB's and Booker/Oweh and leave out the other obvious WRONG examples you used before. It's pretty pathetic actually.

The reality is, ND is going to lose some recruitments, that's just the way it is. However, we are also going to win some, and as we are seeing right now, we can win some BIG recruitments against other big programs.

You said the staff can't close. Well Smith, Simon, and Lamb beg to differ. With Austin on deck but that wasn't good enough because they didn't do it when you wanted them too, lol.

You said we take a backseat to big programs. UM, Miami, UCLA, PSU, UW beg to differ.



The bolded, classic Koon either genuinely not knowing what he is talking about or purposefully misleading leading people because he's a troll. You can admit to either one. Booker spent over 1 month on Stanford's campus last summer taking classes. Plus he visited in April after his ND visit in March. He's spent substantially more time on their campus than ours and that was truly his dream school.

 

[Luckylucci]

Not Lucci, but oh well...

The problem with all of this is that it is July. It's still summer. There is still a long way to go before we get too worked up over who we are not getting. If we are in November and we still aren't having any success at recruiting CB or DE, then panic. Your seem to always want the recruits to commit the moment their visit is over. That's just an unrealistic expectation at Notre Dame and someone that has been a fan as long as you have should know that.

That is what wears on many posters...

Exactly, OV's haven't even taken place. There are so many recruits that want to visit that haven't because they can't. That's where OV's come into play. We are just now starting to get OV's scheduled, and like every single cycle, we'll see A LOT of OV's take place.

 

[Ndaccountant]

And there's going to need to play early... And we need at least 3 of them... And they're NO where to be found. How many CBs do we have visiting from now until the season?

We should have an easy sell to a 5-star corner. New, proven DC, guaranteed PT, premier program, no current commits in last class or this.

But forget 5-stars. This should be the easiest sell for a 4-star CB.

But forget those too.

Where are the 3-star corners? There's such an opportunity at corner they should be beating down the door to visit.

Once again ignoring the information posted before about "premier" CB's and where they stacked up in recruiting rankings.....hint...they are mostly 3-stars.

 

[koonja]

Once again ignoring the information posted before about "premier" CB's and where they stacked up in recruiting rankings.....hint...they are mostly 3-stars.

Skipping 5 and 4 star (because there are none interested), how many 3-star CBs are planning to visit ND this summer?

 

[condoms SUCk]

And there's going to need to play early... And we need at least 3 of them... And they're NO where to be found. How many CBs do we have visiting from now until the season?

We should have an easy sell to a 5-star corner. New, proven DC, guaranteed PT, premier program, no current commits in last class or this.

But forget 5-stars. This should be the easiest sell for a 4-star CB.

But forget those too.

Where are the 3-star corners? There's such an opportunity at corner they should be beating down the door to visit.

Not to mention the kind of class that ND is putting together on D this year, especially at LB and S. CB’s should be drooling to join this D class, but to your point none to be found.

Whether it is fair or not, I think we still have a BVG hangover w/ recruits and CB’s may want to see how the new D is going to look this season before giving ND a real look.

 

[BeauBenken]

You don't lose on Oweh for the aforementioned reasons. You simply recruit him so hard because you have so much to offer for a kid like that (academics and football opportunities). That type of recruit has been so hard for ND to find at DE, you simply don't lose him after visiting twice this summer.

Booker - we all know the story. Burton and every other corner we can't get near campus, etc.

Acting like getting a couple of recruits means all the other summer recruiting of other kids went well, is dumb.

Koon, you don't have to shoot 100% to have a good game.

I agree that everything we heard about Oweh early in the process would have suggested that we should have been able to snag him. But you could explain to some people 100x how an Android phone is more functional than an iPhone, but that doesn't stop them from getting the damn iPhone.

And now you're changing your argument. From the very beginning, many of your complaints lied in us not "closing" on recruitments of players that we lead for. Among those people were Simon, Lamb, and a few other names who everyone had to remind you had already established timeframes for their commitments.

Now we have managed to close on some of those names and you're just turning around and saying "well now look at this guy".

Fact of the matter is, if you wanted to state your problem with recruiting as "man, we really struggle with getting big time WDEs and CBs," you'd have a point. But your initial argument was, "we can't close on anyone," and a hint of "kids don't want to commit to us, they're looking for any excuse not to; everytime they visit, they push their timeline back." To this argument, multiple posters explained that many of those kids had a timeframe but it was later than you'd like.

Now we've closed on some of those prospects, but you're not willing to admit that maybe you overreacted with some of your original statements? C'mon now.

 

[koonja]

Koon, you don't have to shoot 100% to have a good game.

I agree that everything we heard about Oweh early in the process would have suggested that we should have been able to snag him. But you could explain to some people 100x how an Android phone is more functional than an iPhone, but that doesn't stop them from getting the damn iPhone.

And now you're changing your argument. From the very beginning, many of your complaints lied in us not "closing" on recruitments of players that we lead for. Among those people were Simon, Lamb, and a few other names who everyone had to remind you had already established timeframes for their commitments.

Now we have managed to close on some of those names and you're just turning around and saying "well now look at this guy".

Fact of the matter is, if you wanted to state your problem with recruiting as "man, we really struggle with getting big time WDEs and CBs," you'd have a point. But your initial argument was, "we can't close on anyone," and a hint of "kids don't want to commit to us, they're looking for any excuse not to; everytime they visit, they push their timeline back." To this argument, multiple posters explained that many of those kids had a timeframe but it was later than you'd like.

Now we've closed on some of those prospects, but you're not willing to admit that maybe you overreacted with some of your original statements? C'mon now.

I give the staff credit for getting Lamb and Simon. Those are huge wins, and I posted that in both threads.

But getting 1 player doesn't mean the recruitment of everyone else is all of a sudden rosey. The lack of interested 5 star, 4-star, 3-star CBs is mind blowing. We should have 3 corners on campus as we speak. Getting Lamb doesn't make this better, it makes the LB recruiting much better.

And they don't make Booker/Oweh's, and when they do, ND needs to get them. Don't give up at first sign of obstacle, that's so soft.

"OSU was always going to get him" I don't buy. He wouldn't have visited ND twice if he was always going to OSU. We had a chance, and we need him way more than OSU does. And they beat us.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I agree that everything we heard about Oweh early in the process would have suggested that we should have been able to snag him. But you could explain to some people 100x how an Android phone is more functional than an iPhone, but that doesn't stop them from getting the damn iPhone.

I don't think this is the right argument. It's not that he doesn't understand what ND is selling. It's that he's starting to buy into the idea that he has a chance to make millions in the NFL, and he thinks Larry Johnson and Urban Meyer are the best way to get there.

His parents are from Harvard. Well if Oweh was a world -class pianist, would they insist that he go to Yale, instead of Julliard, because the overall education is better but the music training is still excellent? Who knows.

The fact is that there are some guys like Booker and Oweh who don't chose ND despite fitting the profile. Booker because Stanford is apparently his dream school, Oweh because he's turning football first, and Ohio State is better than ND right now.

(And Ohio State got shut out--SHUT OUT--by Clemson in the playoffs on the big stage. Its almost as if Meyer was good enough to get the to the playoffs, but just ran into a better team!)

 

[NDohio]

I give the staff credit for getting Lamb and Simon. Those are huge wins, and I posted that in both threads.

But getting 1 player doesn't mean the recruitment of everyone else is all of a sudden rosey. The lack of interested 5 star, 4-star, 3-star CBs is mind blowing. We should have 3 corners on campus as we speak. Getting Lamb doesn't make this better, it makes the LB recruiting much better.

And they don't make Booker/Oweh's, and when they do, ND needs to get them. Don't give up at first sign of obstacle, that's so soft.

"OSU was always going to get him" I don't buy. He wouldn't have visited ND twice if he was always going to OSU. We had a chance, and we need him way more than OSU does. And they beat us.

So, which is it? Did ND give up at the first obstacle? Or did the coaches fight like hell to get him to keep coming to campus so maybe they could pull him away from Urban?

 

[koonja]

So, which is it? Did ND give up at the first obstacle? Or did the coaches fight like hell to get him to keep coming to campus so maybe they could pull him away from Urban?

At a certain point, it doesn't matter. There are some recruits that you cannot miss on. This was a cannot miss. 5-star upside DEs with elite academic backgrounds are unicorns. When they do show themselves, and they visit you twice, you cannot let them go sit the bench at OSU if you're ND.

It's like at work when you have a project that needs to be done. And the employees keep coming back saying why it's difficult, or can't be done. And you say it does not matter, it has to be done, I don't care what it takes. Those projects always get done.