Recruiting Status '10

[NDinL.A.]

Not worth a damn, but hey, we picked up Austin Collinsworth, he's got potential All-American written all over him. I say we're done.

How anyone could get on Kelly over recruiting already is beyond me. So many ND fans were flipping out when a couple recruits said they hadn't heard from Kelly yet, and they saw him doing a bunch of interviews on TV/radio. Then the truth came out that he was in contact with all of the recruits, but because of the holidays and other things, he wasn't able to actually get them on the phone, but not through a lack of trying.

And then Saturday evening one of the recruits said that Kelly told him that he spent 7 hours watching tape of all ND commits the other day to get a better handle on what they can do. All 6 recruits (5 commits) that he hosted Saturday came away extremely impressed with Kelly and they firmly believe in him. Bruce Gaston Jr, according to Steve Wiltfong, almost committed on the spot but wanted to meet the defensive staff first. All signs point to Kelly being a great recruiter.

We shouldn't judge Kelly as a recruiter on this year's class. No way. In any coaching change, you're going to lose recruits. Happened to CW, and he was a great recruiter. Look at Urban Meyer when he went to FL. He was in the EXACT situation Kelly is in (big-time success at small school, coming to a big school with big time expectations); except he was at a place with tons of home grown talent. I think we can all agree that Meyer is a fantastic (cheating) recruiter. So when February comes, I want you to compare Kelly's class to Urban Meyer's first class:

Meyer's 2005 class had 18 players which included, per Rivals, 8 4 stars, 9 3 star and 1 2 star.

I would hardly call that a rousing success in either numbers or 'stars'.

We're in good hands with Kelly...

 

[JefMaj]

Not whining here... anytime you change coaches I expect ANY recruit worth a damn is a bonus.... Kelly will have to prove himself like any other coach... I think his first season will show teams what he can do... once the 2011 class sees the number of push-ups he's makin' happen in the stands... and a focus on fundamentals on defense... he'll/we'll be fine.

Remember, his D only gave up like... 15 - 17 points a game in 2008 and he started 10 new guys in 2009.

(actually it was 19 a game - however - 92 came in 2 games... Oklahoma and UConn...)

 

[JefMaj]

Notre Dame Football - Recruiting Expectations

 

[condoms SUCk]

good article, thanks

 

[JefMaj]

Notre Dame Football - Overview of 2009 and 2010 Recruiting

 

[JefMaj]

Notre Dame Enters Recruiting Dead Period: What Are Brian Kelly's Biggest Needs? | Bleacher Report

I know - it Bleacher... but it's a slow period and I found it on Blue Gold . com Gazzette...

 

[kjk184]

Are there any recruits playing the Under Armor game that have ND as finalists that are announcing today?

 

[NDinL.A.]

Are there any recruits playing the Under Armor game that have ND as finalists that are announcing today?

I don't think so...

 

[WabashFalcon]

The Crimson Tide just picked up a CB.

 

[BearGB]

Article by Brian Smith on ISD today about his personal philosophy on recruiting. It's a decent article, but when I was reading through it I thought he kind of "covered all of the bases" in a bad way. He went through the list of obvious recruiting tips which most people know, however, in my opinion, he failed to really stress which ones he felt were more important and which were less important.

For instance, in one part he essentially says that you need to get "x" amount of players out of Texas, California, and Florida. But then in another part he says that coaches shouldn't be focused so much on where the kids are from, rather they should know talent when they see it.

Again, he has been around a lot longer than me and knows much more about recruiting than I do, but I thought he kind of made some claims, and then covered his butt by saying that the other side of the argument may be true as well.

Anyway, enough of my talking... here's the article:
Notre Dame Football - The Recruiting Path To Success

 

[BearGB]

Here's a little bit of short-term good news: Eric Hansen interviewed Polian about the job switch and this was the last line of the article: "One thing he won't be doing is trying to poach players for Stanford who Polian was recruiting for the Irish in this cycle. Now next season ... "

Again, he may hurt us down the line, but it sounds like he is not going to go after Blake or anyone else, which is just reassuring to hear.

Here's the article: South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football: Kelly's current hot-button issues

 

[BGIF]

Is this the end of the USC Trojans' recruiting dynasty? - ESPN

By JC Shurburtt and Gerry Hamilton
Scouts Inc.

Four-star wide receiver Kyle Prater (Proviso, Ill./West) has backed off a verbal to the Trojans. The 6-foot-6, 210-pounder was an early enrollee and was only a couple of days away from heading to Los Angeles to start college. Expect him to take a long look at in-state Illinois and perhaps Notre Dame or some other programs now.

 

[BGIF]

U.S.C.’s Recruits Think Twice About Life Without Pete Carroll - NYTimes.com

By THAYER EVANS
1/9

If Carroll does leave U.S.C., Bob Lichtenfels, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com, said as many as seven of the players who have committed to the Trojans could sign with other teams.
“They feel let down and lied to,” Lichtenfels said. “It’s going to be tough for whoever to make that up.”
The biggest benefactor of Carroll’s leaving would probably be Florida, then Oklahoma, Notre Dame and U.C.L.A., Lichtenfels said. The Sooners’ class is second, the Fighting Irish’s is 18th and the Bruins’ is 24th, according to Scout.com. Some of those teams’ current recruits could have their scholarship offers pulled, he said.
“It’ll be wild,” Lichtenfels said.

 

[BGIF]

After Carroll talked to Baxter in a visit to his home last month, Baxter said he had just one question for him: “Are you going to stay?”
Baxter said Carroll looked him in the eyes and told that he would be at U.S.C. “I guess it’s business if that’s what you want to call it,” Baxter said.
And it is likely to cause broken dreams and plans for U.S.C.

Seems I read that comment within the past week regarding Kelly.

 

[BGIF]

5 Signed LOIs

5 Signed LOIs

Per Irish Illustrated

<TABLE class=header border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=leftheader vAlign=center noWrap>COMMITMENTS</TD><TD class=middleheader vAlign=center width="1%" noWrap></TD><TD class=rightheader vAlign=center width="1%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE class=data border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=header colSpan=5>Signed Letter of Intent</TD><TR><TD class=labelleft>Name</TD><TD class=labelcenter>Pos</TD><TD class=labelcenter>Ht/Wt</TD><TD class=labelcenter>Stars</TD><TD class=labelcenter>Rank</TD></TR><TR><TD class=dataplayer>Chris Badger</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>DB</TD><TD class=datacenter noWrap>6-0/178</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>

</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>41</TD></TR><TR><TD class=dataplayer>Spencer Boyd</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>DB</TD><TD class=datacenter noWrap>5-10/178</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>

</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>39</TD></TR><TR><TD class=dataplayer>Tai-ler Jones</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>WR</TD><TD class=datacenter noWrap>6-0/184</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>

</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>16</TD></TR><TR><TD class=dataplayer>Tommy Rees</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>QB</TD><TD class=datacenter noWrap>6-3/192</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>

</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>31</TD></TR><TR><TD class=dataplayer>Lo Wood</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>DB</TD><TD class=datacenter noWrap>5-10/160</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>

</TD><TD class=datacenter width="15%" noWrap>45</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[BCSorBust]

Call me an idiot but does the signed loi mean they are an early enrollee?

 

[Mattmags]

Call me an idiot but does the signed loi mean they are an early enrollee?

Yes

 

[BGIF]

Call me an idiot but does the signed loi mean they are an early enrollee?

Yes, otherwise they'd have to wait to sign until National Signing Day, Feb 3rd.

 

[RECON Daddy]

EEs

EEs

From NDatRivals - Rees, Boyd, Wood, Jones and Badger...All made it to campus and have enrolled.

 

[Praytorian]

Yay!!

 

[IrishBlood81]

sweet man. great news!


puravida
81

 

[Big23Head]

Next week will be big I think IMO. A lot of recruits are visiting USC and Florida this weekend so we should know some answers on key recruits.

 

[lovetheirish]

recruiting

recruiting

good day all irish fans,

i'm new here, so be gentle. i was wondering, who you all think we realistically have a shot at landing. i follow recruiting through rivals and scout everyday (not a member to either). seems like they give you a great shot of landing a certain player and then you go to another team and they say the same thing about the same player. just wondering if anybody has any inside scoop. thanks for baring with me. go irish!!!!!!

 

[irishff1014]

i agree i am new here aswell. I am a die hard fan. I just want to get so good athletes on that defense so that we can compete again. All the the recruiting sites give mutiple teams for each recruit.

 

[Big23Head]

A couple weeks ago I would have given you a list right away. Now I will preface my list with this: with the coaching changes and pure turmoil that seems to have gone on, I really don't know. A lot of guys we have interest in are visiting other places this weekend so next week should provide a clearer picture. I am not sure the "experts" even have an idea right now about a lot of recruits.

Here is my opinion though:
17 current commits (subtracting Gio for now)

Shot at:
Seantrel Henderson
Matt James
Corey Cooper
Bruce Gaston
Ego Ferguson
Danny Spond
Anthony Barr

I also think there will be a couple "surprises" or new last minute names, perhaps Tate Nichols, Dionte Ponder, and unknowns.

 

[ACamp1900]

Spond and Barr are probably the only two anyone can really expect at this point...

but that is not to say both are going to be Irish and others won't be... those are just the only two that look to be about 50/50 or better

 

[irishff1014]

would be sweet if we could get Barr,Spond,henderson,and cooper

 

[The Polish Irishman]

I think Spond and Nichol(if offered)

I think Henderson is going to O$U. If that happens I think we get James.

Not sure on Barr.

Some new names will show up in the next couple of weeks as the coaches hit the recruiting trail next week.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

I want that kid out in Hawaii. That safety, Jeremy Ioane or whatever his name is. I hope we offer him. Realistically speaking I think we land James, Barr, I think Tate Nichols will end up signing with us as well. I'm hoping to get 22-24 players this season. I think Spond ends up Irish as well. Seantrel is the one where it will be like last season with Te'O in my opinion. Would love to land a player again of that caliber. I still think we have a good shot at Christian Jones and Ego Ferguson, just my opinion.

 

[jason_h537]

Ioane is nowhere on Kelly's radar according to Rivals. Sentreal doesnt appear to be as interested as i once believed but from what i have read Ego Ferguson appears to be much more interested than previously thought. Christain Jones and Dietrich Riley appear to have a lil interest but both seem like long shots to me