2023 - State of the Recruiting Class

[IrishTusker]

You again are 100% correct. Between us losing again in prime time while being up by 21 points and the NIL that ND won’t ever be able to compete with. When the team steps on the field they just don’t play with that I want to demolish you attitude.

Freeman is a good recruiter but they are going a have their hands full. Looking at the schedule next year this is probably an 8-4 team that is going to get t-bagged in the first game of the season. Top recruits want to win a championship and I don’t believe ND will ever win another one. We keep say oh this recruiting class and then say well it be this recruiting class.

ND will be a top 8-12 team and we need to accept that.

You don't believe ND will ever win another one? Okay. We've seen tons of programs hire the right coach and turn things around quickly after decade(s) without a title. OSU, Texas, USC, FSU, Bama, etc.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Pretty spot on.

Trolls will troll

 

[BabyIrish]

I said a while back that this years class would end up around 6-10. After ESP it’s at what 6? Probably on signing day may be 7-8 after all teams classes are signed. We will need multiple classes in the top five and retain depth to be competitive and challenge for championships. I just don’t see ND getting to that level regardless of the coach.

This class currently at number 1 will not be number one at the end of the cycle. I’m hoping it’s higher than 6 but I’m thinking it will end up more like this years class at 6-10.

Not only are gonna have to continue to bring in top recruits. But also fend off tampering for our current committed recruits.

I generally don’t care where we are in the class rankings because a team can inflated numbers if they have more recruits than other schools. I personally care more about the class average rating. We usually finish in the 90-91 range. We need to start finishing in the 93 and up range to start competing and raising our talent level. We’re off to a great start with a 95 and half rating currently. I think we can finish in that 93 mark this year.

 

[IrishRazor82]

I generally don’t care where we are in the class rankings because a team can inflated numbers if they have more recruits than other schools. I personally care more about the class average rating. We usually finish in the 90-91 range. We need to start finishing in the 93 and up range to start competing and raising our talent level. We’re off to a great start with a 95 and half rating currently. I think we can finish in that 93 mark this year.

Agree. I think MF is going to have a big impact. It's anecdotal but the amount of friends or people on twitter I've seen prop up ND and Freeman who don't care about ND or even CFB at all is pretty eye opening. Whether we take a class large enough to actually be top 5 or if we just know we're top 5 based on average, I think this is the year we actually end with an elite class. We're currently #2 in class average (USC #1...).

 

[General Colon Bowel]

Agree. I think MF is going to have a big impact. It's anecdotal but the amount of friends or people on twitter I've seen prop up ND and Freeman who don't care about ND or even CFB at all is pretty eye opening. Whether we take a class large enough to actually be top 5 or if we just know we're top 5 based on average, I think this is the year we actually end with an elite class. We're currently #2 in class average (USC #1...).

The good thing about this class is we're in on a lot of elite 5* talent, but even if we miss out on all of it we're sitting pretty with a lot of top 100-top 250 guys at each position.

Miss on Moore and Nico? We're still in it with Arnold and Vizzina (both top 100 guys in their own right). No Proctor? Come on down Montgomery and Jagusah. No Haynes? Limar and Marquese. No Duce? Jaxon Howard. No AJ Harris, Caleb Downs? Muhammad, Gray, Yaites, Tease.

As of right now I feel really good at where we're at for every position except WR. Stealing Tate or Jalen Brown seems absolutely critical there, but elsewhere we are in a very good spot with a higher volume of blue chip recruits than I can remember in a while.

 

[Dale]

Stuckey has seen: Braylon James, Cayden Lee, Carnell Tate Jaden Greathouse, and Jalen Brown
Washington has seen: Harbor, Jason Moore
Hiestand has seen: Bisontis, Okunlola, Jagusah

Some revealing new coach priority checks.

 

[Irishnuke]

Hopefully someone is going to see M’Pemba!

 

[Rack Em]

Stuckey has seen: Braylon James, Cayden Lee, Carnell Tate Jaden Greathouse, and Jalen Brown
Washington has seen: Harbor, Jason Moore
Hiestand has seen: Bisontis, Okunlola, Jagusah

Some revealing new coach priority checks.

Rack Em has seen: Irishog's mom's boobs

 

[irishog77]

Rack Em has seen: Irishog's mom's boobs

True. Kind of creepy how you snuck a camera into her bathroom to do it though.

 

[Dale]

Stuckey has seen: Braylon James, Cayden Lee, Carnell Tate Jaden Greathouse, and Jalen Brown
Washington has seen: Harbor, Jason Moore
Hiestand has seen: Bisontis, Okunlola, Jagusah

Some revealing new coach priority checks.

Kasper, Keeley and Freeling

 

[Dale]

Loy dropping some very indirect hints in his 2023 names to know position breakdowns. Feagin was on basically a others section for RBs, as was Avery Johnson for QBs and Hanafin for WRs.

 

[NDdomer2]

Loy dropping some very indirect hints in his 2023 names to know position breakdowns. Feagin was on basically a others section for RBs, as was Avery Johnson for QBs and Hanafin for WRs.

Meaning expect these to be in the class?

 

[Dale]

Meaning expect these to be in the class?

Opposite. Basically excluded from top names to know and instead put in like a “others” section. I took it, for guys we likely lead for, as a not a take sign.

 

[arrowryan]

Loy dropping some very indirect hints in his 2023 names to know position breakdowns. Feagin was on basically a others section for RBs, as was Avery Johnson for QBs and Hanafin for WRs.

I saw that. He basically just repeated what he’s been saying for a while now. I don’t think it’s anything new.

Avery Johnson is a back up plan. Arkansas is recruiting him hard though. Nightmare scenario is Rees misses on the “Big 3” and Johnson commits to Arkansas because ND slowed played him. If you couldn’t tell, my confidence in this staff recruiting the QB position is at an all-time low.

 

[IrishRazor82]

So are there any WRs we're close to the top with besides Carnell Tate? We need to lock one down by summer, and get another on board before season at minimum. But do we have any traction with any?

Really hoping they can find one from the Midwest this year. We can't get pantsed again at signing day. I seriously think they should take Avery Johnson at WR assuming he can catch and would be interested. He's as fast as anyone I've seen in the 2023 class.

Avery Johnson, Kansas State Wildcats, Quarterback

Member of 247Sports' 2023 Freaks List. Two-sport athlete who shows some bounce on the basketball floor. Averaged 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.2...

247sports.com

 

[Free Manera]

So are there any WRs we're close to the top with besides Carnell Tate? We need to lock one down by summer, and get another on board before season at minimum. But do we have any traction with any?

Really hoping they can find one from the Midwest this year. We can't get pantsed again at signing day. I seriously think they should take Avery Johnson at WR assuming he can catch and would be interested. He's as fast as anyone I've seen in the 2023 class.

Avery Johnson, Kansas State Wildcats, Quarterback

Member of 247Sports' 2023 Freaks List. Two-sport athlete who shows some bounce on the basketball floor. Averaged 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.2...

247sports.com

Even assuming he would actually be better than the other options at WR, I don't think this is an option. He is being recruited by power 5 schools including some in the SEC to play QB.

 

[notredomer23]

So are there any WRs we're close to the top with besides Carnell Tate? We need to lock one down by summer, and get another on board before season at minimum. But do we have any traction with any?

Really hoping they can find one from the Midwest this year. We can't get pantsed again at signing day. I seriously think they should take Avery Johnson at WR assuming he can catch and would be interested. He's as fast as anyone I've seen in the 2023 class.

Avery Johnson, Kansas State Wildcats, Quarterback

Member of 247Sports' 2023 Freaks List. Two-sport athlete who shows some bounce on the basketball floor. Averaged 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.2...

247sports.com

Pretty sure Malik Elzy is high on ND. Not sure of his timeline. Rico Flores is another name ND thinks they have a good shot at

 

[stpeteirish]

Yeah we need to recruit some WR’s now……and get them to reclassify to 2022

 

[Dale]

Gallagher and Braylon James are the post coaching change names that I think have the most talk and winds could change moving forward. Need visits.

 

[domer13]

With the Zinter commitment, we are currently first in the 2023 Team Rankings on 247 with a score of 199.19. I used the Class Calculator to add the following names (mostly guys who we seemed to be leading for according to On3, plus Dante Moore) to see where we might be:

QB- Dante Moore
DL - Jason Moore
OT - Charles Jagusah
CB - Christian Gray
ATH/WR - Kaden Faegen
WR - Malik Elzy
WR - Ronan Hanafin
OL - Sullivan Absher (doesn't yet have a 247 Composite Score)

The 247 Composite Score with all of these guys came out to 278.91, which would have placed us just above Penn St. in the 2022 cycle. Adding Samuel M'Pemba, Carnell Tate, Justice Haynes, Jaxon Howard, Rodney Gallagher, Monroe Freeling, Jayden Greathouse, Daeh McCullough, and Micah Tease puts us at 319.95, which would have ranked 3rd behind A&M (330) and Bama (322) last year and first or second in each of the several years prior to that.

I wonder if any of the recruitniks on here have any other names that we might be clear leaders for, or others names to throw into the dream big list.

 

[notredomer23]

With the Zinter commitment, we are currently first in the 2023 Team Rankings on 247 with a score of 199.19. I used the Class Calculator to add the following names (mostly guys who we seemed to be leading for according to On3, plus Dante Moore) to see where we might be:

QB- Dante Moore
DL - Jason Moore
OT - Charles Jagusah
CB - Christian Gray
ATH/WR - Kaden Faegen
WR - Malik Elzy
WR - Ronan Hanafin
OL - Sullivan Absher (doesn't yet have a 247 Composite Score)

The 247 Composite Score with all of these guys came out to 278.91, which would have placed us just above Penn St. in the 2022 cycle. Adding Samuel M'Pemba, Carnell Tate, Justice Haynes, Jaxon Howard, Rodney Gallagher, Monroe Freeling, Jayden Greathouse, Daeh McCullough, and Micah Tease puts us at 319.95, which would have ranked 3rd behind A&M (330) and Bama (322) last year and first or second in each of the several years prior to that.

I wonder if any of the recruitniks on here have any other names that we might be clear leaders for, or others names to throw into the dream big list.

I think a lot of the elite receiver talent is contingent on getting Moore and getting him sooner than later. If they get him the floodgates could open.

 

[Dale]

On3 updated today, did a number on most of our commits. They don’t have a good history tool like 247 but a lot of downs besides Peyton Bowen and Keeley.

 

[NDIrish88]

On3 updated today, did a number on most of our commits. They don’t have a good history tool like 247 but a lot of downs besides Peyton Bowen and Keeley.

Yeah they gutted the rankings for ND

 

[Dale]

Ranking update reasonings are never good but I found theirs borderline bizarre.

Drayk Bowen and Flanagan are just wrong. I won’t accept their being legit reasoning to those spots.

 

[Rogue219]

On3 updated today, did a number on most of our commits. They don’t have a good history tool like 247 but a lot of downs besides Peyton Bowen and Keeley.

If anyone puts a tremendous deal of stock into these things, it's probably not going to be the best of days for him. I have always found the process to be incredibly subjective and lacking the amount of transparency I would prefer when it comes to something of the sort.

They added 70 new players to their top 300, for example. Not to be overcritical of these sites, but that's quite a reshuffling.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

On3 updated today, did a number on most of our commits. They don’t have a good history tool like 247 but a lot of downs besides Peyton Bowen and Keeley.

Any other teams get gutted?

 

[Crazy Balki]

I've seen a bunch of these ratings updates.

This is far and away the worst and least justifiable one from a ND perspective.

I don't care how many new players were added, Bowen is clear as a day a top 100 player. Like, how that is even up for discussion is beyond me.

Most of them weren't just modest drops either. They flat out tanked these kids.

I don't know how a site could lose all credibility with just 1 update, but On3 pulled it off. Had high hopes for them, but they are proving to be truly inept at their job. Just wow...WOW.

 

[IrishRazor82]

I've seen a bunch of these ratings updates.

This is far and away the worst and least justifiable one from a ND perspective.

I don't care how many new players were added, Bowen is clear as a day a top 100 player. Like, how that is even up for discussion is beyond me.

Most of them weren't just modest drops either. They flat out tanked these kids.

I don't know how a site could lose all credibility with just 1 update, but On3 pulled it off. Had high hopes for them, but they are proving to be truly inept at their job. Just wow...WOW.

They moved Bowen up, he's a top 40 player.

I won't have a feel for at least 1.5 years if these updates are good or bad.

 

[Dale]

They moved Bowen up, he's a top 40 player.

I won't have a feel for at least 1.5 years if these updates are good or bad.

Drayk Bowen

 

[Wild Bill]

I think a lot of the elite receiver talent is contingent on getting Moore and getting him sooner than later. If they get him the floodgates could open.

Can the same be said about Viz?

I have no idea who is better but if their talent levels are relatively equal I wouldn't mind landing the guy that can help pick up some weapons.