2023 - State of the Recruiting Class

[Jiggafini19Deux]

100%

Same.

 

[tussin]

So was all the talk during the Kelly era about academic restrictions preventing ND from recruiting with the likes of the usual top-5 just complete bullshit? Did Kelly just not prioritize recruiting like Freeman or were some restrictions eased?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

So was all the talk during the Kelly era about academic restrictions preventing ND from recruiting with the likes of the usual top-5 just complete bullshit? Did Kelly just not prioritize recruiting like Freeman or were some restrictions eased?

It was always bullshit. Kelly just refused to put in the work.

 

[tussin]

It was always bullshit. Kelly just refused to put in the work.

That's infuriating in retrospect. A lot of posters on this board pushed the narrative as well. Not saying it was done with ill-intent, but I guess it just takes someone like MF to prove everyone wrong.

 

[NDMatt91]

It was always bullshit. Kelly just refused to put in the work.

Why recruit when you can spend your time golfing?

 

[NDMatt91]

That's infuriating in retrospect. A lot of posters on this board pushed the narrative as well. Not saying it was done with ill-intent, but I guess it just takes someone like MF to prove everyone wrong.

I didn't personally believe that narrative, but we were all lied to, whether we believed it or not.

 

[Rack Em]

I didn't personally believe that narrative, but we were all lied to, whether we believed it or not.

The Iraq War: South Bend

Starring:
Brian Kelly as George W Bush
Brian VanGorder as Dick Cheney
Mike Elston as Donald Rumsfeld
Bob Diaco as Jon Bolton

 

[Rizzophil]

The Iraq War: South Bend

Starring:
Brian Kelly as George W Bush
Brian VanGorder as Dick Cheney
Mike Elston as Donald Rumsfeld
Bob Diaco as Jon Bolton

Don’t forget Russian collision !

 

[tussin]

The Iraq War: South Bend

Starring:
Brian Kelly as George W Bush
Brian VanGorder as Dick Cheney
Mike Elston as Donald Rumsfeld
Bob Diaco as Jon Bolton

Frozen Five guest starring as Weapons of Mass Destruction.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

That's infuriating in retrospect. A lot of posters on this board pushed the narrative as well. Not saying it was done with ill-intent, but I guess it just takes someone like MF to prove everyone wrong.

I was one of the worst offenders. I was a believer in Kelly when he was spewing that garbage....turns out he was just not good at that part.

Mea culpa

 

[Luckylucci]

I was one of the worst offenders. I was a believer in Kelly when he was spewing that garbage....turns out he was just not good at that part.

Mea culpa

I was there with ya, to some degree. To which I think some of it was still warranted. Keep in mind that BK made the change because he did get his ass kicked by the school regarding the football programs academics. So, while BK clearly course corrected WAY too much and that seems obvious. There were very real reasons, like the admin destroying a portion of his legacy over academics the likes of which we have not seen from other big time football programs. That's very relevant to any conversation about Kelly's post 2013-14 recruiting.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

It was always bullshit. Kelly just refused to put in the work.

I think they did some work. They still brought in some good classes and prospects during that era.

They didn't go the extra mile and pick the high hanging fruit, though. Most of these prospects can make admissions with football even if they don't have 4.0 GPAs. This staff is going to at least get the Richard Young types in for a visit. Maybe they don't sign every one of those guys, but maybe they get one here and there. You can't win if you don't play.

I think more could have been done and this current staff's short stint with recruiting is early proof of that. You have to recruit top players because player development only goes so far. You knew what Kelly could do based on his previous efforts at smaller programs. He couldn't get over the hump at ND (championship) because they didn't go all in on recruiting. Freeman is going all in in terms of effort. I highly doubt they bend or break any rules. They're just going to hit the pavement hard and go after everyone.

Anything less than that and the results will be the same for him as they were for Kelly.

 

[Reaper97]

The Iraq War: South Bend

Starring:
Brian Kelly as George W Bush
Brian VanGorder as Dick Cheney
Mike Elston as Donald Rumsfeld
Bob Diaco as Jon Bolton

This is the dumbest shit post I’ve ever seen.
Just dumb shit.
I need to post some pics for you I have from over there when I was in a special unit of the mass graves & raped/deformed women & children because of the Iraqi government.
I was VERY happy to remove that regime.
I would be happy to remove you too.

 

[NDMatt91]

I'm not sure how different things are from an admissions standpoint from when Weis was here, but he got quite a few players with mediocre grades. Paddy Mullen had a 2.2 GPA entering his Senior year of HS, Robert Hughes and Ian Williams had GPA's in the mid-2's, and Louis Nix had a 2.5 GPA coming out of a public HS.

Really the only complaint I've had is with the stupid foreign language requirement. IIRC, back in 2012 we had to turn away Byron Marshall because of that requirement. He was a very good student and had an offer from Stanford but we couldn't take him.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I would really like to see three corners in this class. I am hard pressed to find a third right now after Gray and Bell. Tease wants to play WR and might be leaning to home state OU.

Maybe the third corner hasn't been offered yet. I feel great at WR and would feel even better with a QB in the class, but corner is really the area I'm looking at in terms of quality and quantity right now.

 

[Luckylucci]

I would really like to see three corners in this class. I am hard pressed to find a third right now after Gray and Bell. Tease wants to play WR and might be leaning to home state OU.

Maybe the third corner hasn't been offered yet. I feel great at WR and would feel even better with a QB in the class, but corner is really the area I'm looking at in terms of quality and quantity right now.

I think the answer is there will be no 3rd CB. They dropped Wagoner because they decided to not go after a 3rd. A mistake, IMO, but that seems like the decision for now.

 

[allenm5333]

I would really like to see three corners in this class. I am hard pressed to find a third right now after Gray and Bell. Tease wants to play WR and might be leaning to home state OU.

Maybe the third corner hasn't been offered yet. I feel great at WR and would feel even better with a QB in the class, but corner is really the area I'm looking at in terms of quality and quantity right now.

Might speak of what they think of Morrison and Mickey

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I think the answer is there will be no 3rd CB. They dropped Wagoner because they decided to not go after a 3rd. A mistake, IMO, but that seems like the decision for now.

Maybe not a mistake, but a risk for sure.

Maybe McCullough's son can flip from UC in the end.

 

[NDIrish88]

I think the answer is there will be no 3rd CB. They dropped Wagoner because they decided to not go after a 3rd. A mistake, IMO, but that seems like the decision for now.

Agreed. I think a 5th DB is needed.

 

[DONTH8]

This isn’t my fight, but is it possible you are taking this way too far? I’m not referencing your service to this country. The poster made a joke of politicians, which no matter the party, are fair game. Do you think this warrants violent comments or are you just having a bad day?

I have a few friends that served in the War in Iraq. I learned quickly that it wasn't to be used as a joke, so I can understand the frustration. I know Rack well enough to know that he doesn't mean ill by it. But Reaper can make the decision for himself here.

 

[AKRowdy]

Honest question, seeing how BK just appeared to do the bare minimum in recruiting… do you think he also did bare minimum in game prep? Leading to those big game blow outs or coming out unprepared against the like of night games in Miami/Michigan?

 

[benneboy]

Honest question, seeing how BK just appeared to do the bare minimum in recruiting… do you think he also did bare minimum in game prep? Leading to those big game blow outs or coming out unprepared against the like of night games in Miami/Michigan?

Lol no.

He didn't like to recruit but was a top 5ish head coach. If Freeman's as good a head coach as Kelly was, he'll get the statue Kelly never did.

 

[TorontoGold]

The Iraq War: South Bend

Starring:
Brian Kelly as George W Bush
Brian VanGorder as Dick Cheney
Mike Elston as Donald Rumsfeld
Bob Diaco as Jon Bolton

WHO SAYS I DIDN'T GET FIVE STARS

 

[IrishLax]

I didn't personally believe that narrative, but we were all lied to, whether we believed it or not.

It was literally a version of Battered Woman Syndrome. What happens in Battered Woman Syndrome is that with the cycle of abuse the victim starts to convince themselves of things like they "can't do better" or they blame themselves for the abuse or invent reasons that they shouldn't leave. In 2012, he sabotaged ND's trajectory by trying to go to the the NFL. In 2016, the team paid the price for his neglect and mismanagement. In 2021, he left and blamed everyone for why he "had" to leave. Throughout all of this, many people -- including myself -- were upset with Kelly but always came back to him being the "best" that ND could get for HC.

He spent so much time on the messaging... whether it was looking for "RKGs" or "shopping down a different aisle" or whatever... that the subtext was always that ND can't (or shouldn't) be recruiting a certain way. This was used as cover for how little he was working. And explicitly to cover for how little he was working, he did things like brand himself the "CEO" through the media.

I already said on here a few months ago that I'm personally just embarrassed that I believed even 10% of Kelly's bullshit about recruiting. He was clearly just lazy. That was his biggest vice, and his second biggest vice was that he was too transparently "me first" to connect with anyone on more than a surface level. I have no clue whether Freeman will win at ND as consistently as Kelly did the past few years, but he quite obviously works harder and is more authentic.

 

[Luckylucci]

Agreed. I think a 5th DB is needed.

I was hoping for 6, lol, after only taking 3 last year.

 

[WilliamWallace]

Honest question, seeing how BK just appeared to do the bare minimum in recruiting… do you think he also did bare minimum in game prep? Leading to those big game blow outs or coming out unprepared against the like of night games in Miami/Michigan?

Or the 2012 National Championship game, where we got beat in the tunnel before it even started. Probably wouldn’t have won that game either way, but yes absolutely could not get his teams motivated.

I’ve been beat on a little on this board because some didn’t like my posts about BK, and I don’t really care. I was done with him after the 2016 mess. Yes he turned ship around and won a lot of games. But barely scraping by the Temples of the world isn’t exactly success in my book. The playing down to competition was also very evident.

But, that’s over with, at least from him.

 

[GoIrish41]

This isn’t my fight, but is it possible you are taking this way too far? I’m not referencing your service to this country. The poster made a joke of politicians, which no matter the party, are fair game. Do you think this warrants violent comments or are you just having a

He’s a proud boy that he served. 🙄

 

[T-Boone]

This is true also/hopefully. Most of the LL podcast was incoherent rambling but Malik did slide in one decent point. They were willing to possibly hurt their relationship with Dante for CJ. They weren’t for Vizzina. The timeline is not the same but what does that tell you about their feelings on CJ.

By the time CJ was going to commit they probably also smelt a rat with Moore/his camp and how serious they were about ND.

 

[T-Boone]

Not gonna lie the offense makes me nervous. We’re so thin at QB, RB and WR.

And coordinator

 

[Luckylucci]