Many, many top athletes are in Catholic high schools yet we don't seem to get a higher percentage of them. Are they just going to Catholic schools because they have good teams, or is it parents going for the better education and better moral surrounding? You’d think the parents would be inclined to get them to Notre Dame for the education and a basis for a strong set of values for their life.
Offensive lineman Quenton Nelson is one of Notre Dame's nine incoming recruits from a Catholic school.
If someone is committed to living a Christian life, he can do it wherever he wants (ask Tim Tebow). Likewise if someone wasn’t to sow wild oats, that can be done anywhere too … even at Notre Dame.
With Catholic schools and Notre Dame’s football recruiting, it's not going to be like 40, 50 or 60 years ago where you had about 35 scholarships to give yearly and a vast majority of your class would be from such schools (oftentimes several from one school) because it was almost a mandate.
Even in Lou Holtz's first recruiting class in 1985, five players were taken from Chicago's St. Laurence (linemen Paul Glonek, Jeff Pearson, Mike Harazin and Tim Grunhard, and athlete Stan Smagala) and three from Chicago St. Rita (linebacker John Foley and linemen John Zaleski and Jason Cegielski).
Guess what? Glonek eventually was denied admission and Pearson transferred to Michigan State after his sophomore year. Harazin and Zaleski both left football, and Ciegelski transferred to Purdue. Foley's football career ended because of an injury.
The two least heralded players, Grunhard and Smagala, were outstanding and three-year starters.
It is often stated that the “base” of all Notre Dame recruiting must begin with Catholic schools. However, when I think about "base recruiting", two things come to mind. First is local geography where Notre Dame has a good history (Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Pennsylvania). Catholic schools are second. I believe a Notre Dame football recruiting class will annually be fortified by about eight to 12 such players — or about 33 to 50 percent of the class. Sometimes a recruit will have both the local element and Catholic school background.
For example, this February you had 23 players signed. Nine were from Catholic schools: Ohio's Jimmy Byrne (St. Ignatius), Florida's Corey Holmes (St. Thomas Aquinas), Ohio's DeShone Kizer (Central Catholic), New York's Peter Mokwuah (St. Joseph By-The-Sea), Maryland's Sam Mustipher (Good Counsel), Jersey's Quenton Nelson (Red Bank Catholic), Illinois' Niles Sykes (Montini Catholic), Texas' Nick Watkins (Bishop Dunne) and Chicago's Nic Weishar (Marist).
Nine out of 23 comes out to about 39 percent, which fits in with that 33 to 50-percent parameter. But that’s not even including “local” products who didn’t attend Catholic schools: Indiana’s Justin Brent and Drue Tranquill, Chicago’s Nyles Morgan and Ohio’s Daniel Cage. Local and/or Catholic school talent combined probably will likely form most of your class.
In the 2013 signing class it was 8 of 23 from parochial schools, which kind of meets that 33 to 50 percent standard per year. But that's not including getting a lot of other prospects from the base regions who did not attend Catholic schools, a la Steve Elmer from Michigan, Colin McGovern from Illinois or Mike McGlinchey from the Philadelphia region.
Defensive back Nicco Fertitta is from Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman.
The landscape has changed and you have to go where the talent is, which today is in more of the Sunbelt states, or the "Big 3" of Florida, Texas and California. Those states also could have top Catholic school prospects, but it's mainly about getting good academic/athletic fits anywhere, not just the Midwest or from Catholic schools.
Of the seven verbals so far for 2015, the two most recent are either from a Catholic school (Las Vegas DB Nicco Fertitta from Bishop Gorman) or the local base (Illinois offensive guard Trevor Ruhland). Even though Louisiana offensive tackle Jerry Tillery isn’t from a Catholic school per se, when you go to a place such as Evangel Christian, you’re in the ball park.
On April 19 at its spring game, Alabama had an amazing recruiting day by receiving four verbal commitments from five-star cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick and three other four stars in athlete Shawn Burgess-Becker, receiver Calvin Ridley and inside linebacker Leo Lewis.
Has Notre Dame ever come close to such a haul in one day, and could you ever see it happening?
Such a situation is unique, and at this point Alabama’s football program is on a different level.
In 2013 during a March 24 junior day, Notre Dame received commitments from offensive linemen Hunter Bivin, Colin McGovern and Mike McGlinchey, plus quarterback Malik Zaire, in about a 24-48-hour period. Cornerback Rashad Kinlaw (now dismissed from the team) then committed on March 26 and receiver Corey Robinson on March 27.
Alabama is recruiting right now the way Notre Dame did during a halcyon period from 1987-90 when the Irish were regularly in the top 5 and had four straight No. 1 classes.
We have no record of who committed when in the 1980s or 1990s because recruiting was so different back then with timetables and no Internet, but during the Dec. 8-10 football banquet weekend, 13 of the 24 official visitors eventually would commit to Notre Dame. This included future first-round picks Bryant Young, Aaron Taylor and Tom Carter, other pros such as Jim Flanigan, Lake Dawson, Pete Bercich, Anthony Peterson and Willie Clark, plus quarterback Kevin McDougal.
One week later, five of the seven official visitors would eventually commit and sign with the Irish, most notably fullback Jerome Bettis. The others also played in the pros: safety John Covington, defensive lineman Oliver Gibson, tight end Oscar McBride and center Tim Ruddy.
Jacob Eason's father, Tony, was a Notre Dame wide receiver and 1988 graduate.
Not coincidentally, Notre Dame had just achieved a school record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89, with a national title and No. 2 finish.
If you build it and win big, they should start coming.
The No. 5 24/7 prospect for 2016 is a QB named Jacob Eason. His dad is named Tony Eason (not the Illini QB and future New England Patriot and New York Jet)) and played wide receiver at Notre Dame in 1985 and 1986. Did his father graduate or did he transfer out after 1986? I'm trying to figure out the family's current affinity for Notre Dame.
Tony Eason enrolled at Notre Dame in 1984 as a receiver with Tim Brown and Reggie Ward, and he also was one of the best high school performers in the decathlon. He was from Snohomish, Wash., and that was a time when Washington was a good recruiting area for the Irish primarily because former coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Boulac was from Olympia, Wash.
Eason didn't play as a freshman but caught 11 passes as a sophomore, including a TD in a night game at home versus Michigan State. He played less as a junior in Lou Holtz's first year in 1986 (four catches) after getting in a little bit of hot water in the spring. He was not listed on the 1987 roster, which would have been his senior year, but that’s because a preseason knee injury basically ended his football career.
Eason graduated in 1988 from Notre Dame with a degree in economics. He lives in Lake Stevens, Wash., where his son Jacob is a star high school quarterback. The elder Eason would have had a medical redshirt in 1988, but that option was not exercised.
Which of the 23 freshmen from last year have used up a year of eligibility?
Ten used up a year of eligibility: running back Tarean Folston, receivers James Onwualu (now a Sam linebacker), Corey Robinson and Will Fuller, offensive lineman Steve Elmer, defensive lineman Isaac Rochell, Will linebacker Jaylon Smith (who played outside at Sam in 2013), safety Max Redfield, and cornerbacks Devin Butler and Cole Luke.
The following 13 preserved a year of eligibility: quarterback Malik Zaire running back Greg Bryant (medical), receiver Torii Hunter Jr. (medical), tight ends Mike Heuerman and Durham Smythe, offensive linemen Hunter Bivin, Mike McGlinchey, Colin McGovern (medical) and
John Montelus (medical), defensive lineman Jacob Matuska, Will linebacker Doug Randolph and Mike linebacker Michael Deeb. The 13th, cornerback Rashad Kinlaw, has been dismissed from the team.
