2018 - State of the Recruiting Class thread

[koonja]

This is a much better take than your original, "everything sucks because we haven't gotten commitments from guys that should be committing, even if my desire for their commitments doesn't match their stated timetables."

It was never 'everything sucks'.

It was 'what's going on with the summer recruits where ND had all the momentum, they visited, then crickets'. And Thomas/Oweh/every corner in the country is a large part of that.

I've never said ND's recruiting poorly overall. You find me saying that, I'll take a self ban.

 

[arrowryan]

Two recruits, no matter what position they play, make or break a class.

-It is obvious that the further Oweh's recruitment went along, the more it became about football and less about academics. Yet, the staff still recruited him hard and got him on campus. What else are they supposed to do? I credit them for fighting until the end.

-It is also obvious that Stanford is an offer that Booker wanted badly. Notre Dame has no control over that. Give them credit for identifying his talent early in the process and has been recruiting him hard ever since. I believe this is a guy we can get if we win 9+ games.

-Do I wish we had CBs in this class? Of course. But its freaking July and it is way too early to panic. We'll get ours.

All in all, Notre Dame is putting a really good class together considering they won just 4 games last season. I count 4 defensive studs that could make an immediate impact as true freshmen next Fall. The last time we could say that was in 2011 when Lynch, Tuitt, and Williams came in. Can we recruit certain positions better? Yeah. But taking the other really good kids in this class for granted would be very foolish.

 

[GowerND11]

Koon I told you in another thread...

You can talk all you want about closing. I get it, I agree I want us to close on a lot of top prospects. Sometimes we lose out. It isn't because all our coaches are just lazy as f***. It's because sometimes, a kid games teams by putting us in his top 5. It's because, he realizes we went 4-8 the year before. It's because other teams pay him, we don't.

You can rag on BK all you want, but you don't know what he's doing. He may well be up until midnight with a recruit, but if he doesn't want to pull the trigger, that's not on BK. And again, some of your examples, as others have pointed out don't matter in your argument since they aren't committing until later.

This is why I have backed off getting so upset with recruiting. It sucks when we lose a guy, it's great when we get one, but I've learned to not get so upset over what kids decide they want to do.

Maybe sit the next couple of plays out there champ.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

It was never 'everything sucks'.

It was 'what's going on with the summer recruits where ND had all the momentum, they visited, then crickets'. And Thomas/Oweh/every corner in the country is a large part of that.

I've never said ND's recruiting poorly overall. You find me saying that, I'll take a self ban.

Can you just take one, regardless?

 

[OCIrish]

Can you just take one, regardless?

Post of the day!!!!

 

[NDdomer2]

Speaking of Booker - anyone know whats going on there? is he waiting for OV's now? seemed like he def. had it narrowed down to 2 both of which hes visited.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

No way Justin isn't a defensive end. He's already close to 250 and has a similar frame to his brother.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

He's listed as a DE on 247, and people think he could grow into a WDE, but there's no way he's a DE?

To be clear, Beau said there is no way he isn't a DE.

 

[koonja]

To be clear, Beau said there is no way he isn't a DE.

Good catch. That makes me happy in case we strike out on other DEs.

 

[BeauBenken]

No way Justin isn't a defensive end. He's already close to 250 and has a similar frame to his brother.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

Correct, he's always been recruited as a Drop/WDE, though some think he could grow into a SDE.

He's listed as a DE on 247, and people think he could grow into a WDE, but there's no way he's a DE?

To be clear, Beau said there is no way he isn't a DE.

Good catch. That makes me happy in case we strike out on other DEs.

Yea, sorry for the confusion koon. Justin should be playing with his hand in the dirt.

 

[koonja]

Koon I told you in another thread...



Maybe sit the next couple of plays out there champ.

Can you just take one, regardless?

Post of the day!!!!

You guys are hurting my feelings. Does this mean I'm not going to make the cheer leading squad?

 

[Old Man Mike]

.......thread derailed.

Mods?

 

[Irishcop]

I know very little when it come to watching film and making evaluations but with a defensive staff that has produced pretty good results with far less talent that ND currently has and could possible bring in, is there really that big of a difference between 3,4,and 5 star players? I understand somethings can't be coached like size and speed, however when does having a really good coaching staff come into play? As a fan I would love to have all the stars the Alabama and Ohio State, but do how many stars a player has really make that much of a difference?

 

[Domina Nostra]

I know very little when it come to watching film and making evaluations but with a defensive staff that has produced pretty good results with far less talent that ND currently has and could possible bring in, is there really that big of a difference between 3,4,and 5 star players? I understand somethings can't be coached like size and speed, however when does having a really good coaching staff come into play? As a fan I would love to have all the stars the Alabama and Ohio State, but do how many stars a player has really make that much of a difference?

It's important for taking the "luck" factor out of the equation.

- Playing smart football as a team is more important that being uber-talented.
- But doing both makes you a powerhouse.
- Having depth to keep on doing both when injuries strike makes you a perennial contender.

 

[Irishcop]

It's important for taking the "luck" factor out of the equation.

- Playing smart football as a team is more important that being uber-talented.
- But doing both makes you a powerhouse.
- Having depth to keep on doing both when injuries strike makes you a perennial contender.

I didn't think about the injury bug thing.

 

[Wingman Ray]

It's important for taking the "luck" factor out of the equation.

- Playing smart football as a team is more important that being uber-talented.
- But doing both makes you a powerhouse.
- Having depth to keep on doing both when injuries strike makes you a perennial contender.

USC is a great example of a team that had top recruiting year in year out yet hasnt been a serious contender since the playoffs have been established.

I remember that year they had all that talent in the locker room fighting like thugs and losing to some crap UCLA team.

 

[Wingman Ray]

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.

Yeah I dont understand this. And honestly, I havent seen the great CB play anyway. Why did ND keep TL at the CB coach position when they were doing all the coaching change again?

 

[stlnd01]

It's important for taking the "luck" factor out of the equation.

- Playing smart football as a team is more important that being uber-talented.
- But doing both makes you a powerhouse.
- Having depth to keep on doing both when injuries strike makes you a perennial contender.

This is a really good way to put it.
And it's football. Injuries always strike.

 

[IrishLion]

Yeah I dont understand this. And honestly, I havent seen the great CB play anyway. Why did ND keep TL at the CB coach position when they were doing all the coaching change again?

They were relying on three true freshmen to play meaningful minutes last year.

One looked really good (Love).

One looked like he's going to be pretty good with more time, and is serviceable now (Vaughn).

One looked like he needs a lot of work (Pride).

That's not a bad return, considering they were true freshmen playing for BVG. They started to develop and show flashes once BVG was out.

Not to mention, Crawford and Watkins are both healthy (for now), which allows Pride and Vaughn to sit and learn a bit, which they need.

 

[zelezo vlk]

They were relying on three true freshmen to play meaningful minutes last year.

One looked really good (Love).

One looked like he's going to be pretty good with more time, and is serviceable now (Vaughn).

One looked like he needs a lot of work (Pride).

That's not a bad return, considering they were true freshmen playing for BVG. They started to develop and show flashes once BVG was out.

Not to mention, Crawford and Watkins are both healthy (for now), which allows Pride and Vaughn to sit and learn a bit, which they need.

On Mike Frank's 5 Idiots show last night, he reiterated that Vaughn should be a safety.

 

[IrishLion]

On Mike Frank's 5 Idiots show last night, he reiterated that Vaughn should be a safety.

I politely disagree with Mike Frank.

Safety is suddenly too crowded, especially if Coleman is legit and Gillman is available right away.

If Robertson/Studstill/Elliot all combine to offer a quality two-deep, Vaughn is better-served at CB, especially since he has shown that he knows how to turn his head and find the ball in coverage.

 

[Luckylucci]

They were relying on three true freshmen to play meaningful minutes last year.
One looked really good (Love).

One looked like he's going to be pretty good with more time, and is serviceable now (Vaughn).

One looked like he needs a lot of work (Pride).

That's not a bad return, considering they were true freshmen playing for BVG. They started to develop and show flashes once BVG was out.

Not to mention, Crawford and Watkins are both healthy (for now), which allows Pride and Vaughn to sit and learn a bit, which they need.

It seems that a lot of people forget that the plan was to have Watkins, Coleman, Crawford, and Butler vying for the starting CB spots. Watkins and Crawford got injured, Butler left the program, and Coleman wasn't able to stick at CB. With as good as Crawford has been while healthy and the significant progress Watkins is making since being healthy, it's easy to see a huge difference in play from our CB's last year, provided those guys didn't get hurt.

 

[BobbyMac]

On Mike Frank's 5 Idiots show last night, he reiterated that Vaughn should be a safety.

Of course he should but ND has a roster full of safeties and he's on the two deep at CB so he should stay at CB another year.

If he was in the Class of 2019, Elko might be looking at him as a Rover prospect. He was the same size and positional background as Elko's Wake Rovers and JOK. At 6-2.5, 209, he's a house at CB and just a sophomore.

 

[Irish#1]

Yea, sorry for the confusion koon. Justin should be playing with his hand in the dirt.

Impossible, we have turf. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[dwshade]

Vaughn is a CB all day long in my book. When you get a guy his size who can flip his hips the way he can you don't dare move him to safety. He's a rare commodity at CB.

 

[Irish#1]

It was never 'everything sucks'.

It was 'what's going on with the summer recruits where ND had all the momentum, they visited, then crickets'. And Thomas/Oweh/every corner in the country is a large part of that.

I've never said ND's recruiting poorly overall. You find me saying that, I'll take a self ban.

The only way you'll be happy, is if we have the recruits spread out their commitments so we get one a week. lol

 

[Bluto]

Of course he should but ND has a roster full of safeties and he's on the two deep at CB so he should stay at CB another year.

If he was in the Class of 2019, Elko might be looking at him as a Rover prospect. He was the same size and positional background as Elko's Wake Rovers and JOK. At 6-2.5, 209, he's a house at CB and just a sophomore.

Nothing wrong with a jumbo corner. Would actually be a bonus against run heavy teams and the quick screen game would it not?

 

[OCIrish]

You guys are hurting my feelings. Does this mean I'm not going to make the cheer leading squad?

Only if you ask nicely......

 

[IrishLax]

Vaughn is a CB all day long in my book. When you get a guy his size who can flip his hips the way he can you don't dare move him to safety. He's a rare commodity at CB.

Yup, think of what Seattle did with Browner years ago... in the right scheme jumbo corners are a huge value add because of how they can set the edge against the run and match up with 6'3"+ WRs and TEs that lots of teams use. You just can't ask them to do things they're not suited to do.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Yup, think of what Seattle did with Browner years ago... in the right scheme jumbo corners are a huge value add because of how they can set the edge against the run and match up with 6'3"+ WRs and TEs that lots of teams use. You just can't ask them to do things they're not suited to do.

Like what? Cover downfield? Serve ice cream at half time? What can't a jumbo corner do?

 

[irish o'phile]

A couple/few decent CBs and a speed WR would make this one of the best classes I can remember in recent years. Additionally, I don't sense any head cases in this class, as have been present in NDs other recent high rated classes. Maybe this one will mainly stay together for 4-5 years.