That was my primary argument about him before the hire regarding that his lack of experience as a coach on a BCS level would negatively affect him if he were to come to a program like Notre Dame.
He brought over a staff that has followed him from GVSU through multiple stops however these guys are not used to recruiting Nationally, Alford is our only recruiter with a track record to go out of state to recruit players. I would've rather he kept Polian due to his California connection than Alford but thats how things worked out.
So before the infantry arrives to reinforce the word of Brian Kelly, the coaching change from Charlie Weis to Brian Kelly would not have negatively affected our recruiting to the point that it has. Kelly's primary recruiting responsibility has been to try to keep as much of the previous staff's commitments to remain with Notre Dame, after getting being sure of several players' motives he could focus on recruiting.
Brian Kelly's first 2 commitments came from Austin Collingsworth, the #121 ranked safety according to ESPN. Collingsworth was on Kelly's radar at Cincinatti but received a Notre Dame offer to fill a need. I've seen some of Collingsworth's ability and I think he will be solid at Notre Dame, but I dont feel he was worth a Notre Dame scholarship offer. You dont recruit players that you dont expect to ever start at your program, you should always target the most talented players and those you do expect to start.
Kelly followed up with an addition of Tate Nichols, the #101 ranked Offensive Tackle although he could project as a TE or OT in college depending on what the staff sees in him. We snagged him away from the trees. Obviously another guy that Kelly had on his radar from his time at Cincinatti and decided in order to fill a need he offered him a scholarship. To summarize this, guys who become tweeners as Tackles and Tight Ends rarely succeed in college or the NFL and they're rare in general. Some guys are naturals at either position and may have played both in High School but to grab a tweener at both positions makes his development very interesting.
During his recruitment of borderline top 100 recruits at their positions we end up losing out on our prized recruit for the 2010 class, Anthony Barr. I am not disappointed in his decision because I dont doubt his talent at all and I know he will be great anywhere. We also lose out on Giovanni Bernard, who could still remain committed but that seems unlikely at this point so close to NSD.
At this point it seems very likely that we are going to land Matt James, Danny Spond, and Jeremy Ioane. Thats solid, but not the great finishes were have been accustomed to with Charlie Weis despite sometimes losing guys on NSD. I'm just going to say that it smells a lot similar to the start of the Ty Willingham era.
