So it’s Pretty clear I think that polian has been the guy who feeds info to the reporters on recruits. All sites seem to have no idea what’s going on right now
I have sat on this for a day but with Cristobal out our Safety who had a ND offer at one point and is committed to Oregon is thinking things over. I reached out to Elston and he responded to my text but hasn't followed up so they must not feel need to go for safety. He's has some offers and can stay with Oregon but I think their staff is about to blow up more so will see.
Imagine being a recruiting guy with nothing else in your life going on and you're not around when the HC for the program is blitzing recruits across the nation. Not a good look, Loy.
But I’m told four-star receiver CJ Williams and his family said all the right things to the Notre Dame coaching staff during and at the end of the in-home visit Tuesday night including that he is completely committed to the Fighting Irish. We’ll see if that holds up. If it does, it would be a far cry from what was going to take place leading up to the coaching change and even after it. Things looked rough for Notre Dame, but at least he is saying much different things to the staff now than before. Marcus Freeman did extremely well Tuesday night from what I am told, but if Williams truly sticks, the last few weeks is one of the best recruiting jobs I’ve seen in a while from Tommy Rees and Del Alexander, again, because of where things were trending compared to where things could potentially end up. From Loy
Need CJ really bad. Kid’s route running will Immediately get him on the field. Also need him for spring ball just for bodies haha I did hear some rumblings from sources that Notre Dame was more involved here than some realized. But I am hoping to hear more tomorrow. This is from Loy regarding Nick Evers
The fact that they aren't scrambling to find bodies at WR continues to suggest two things that have been thrown out there on the II pod: 1. Some or all of the upperclassmen are expected back 2. The belief they've hit on all 3 of the 2021 guys.
From Prister on the coaching assistant search Spoiler SPECIAL TEAMS Marty Biagi was a special teams analyst at Notre Dame in 2016 when the Irish finished 27th nationally in kick returns, led by CJ Sanders' two kick returns for touchdowns. From 2018-20, Biagi coordinated the North Texas special teams. In three seasons, North Texas had six special teams touchdowns, nine blocked punts and four blocked kicks. Their punt returners averged 10.1 yards over the three-year span. In addition to his special teams duties, he's coached DBs at South Dakota (2015) and Southern (2012-14), the latter of which had four kick returns and three punt returns for touchdowns in a three-year span. Purdue's return units struggled in 2021, but Biagi inherited a poor special teams unit. (Note: Irish Illustrated ranked Purdue's special teams last in this past summer's First-Rate series heading into '21.) Their kick coverage ranked 42nd. Their punt coverage was 66th with the 28th fewest attempted returns per game. Biagi is a two-time finalist for special teams coach of the year by Football Scoop. Has had a strong desire to be Notre Dame's full-time special teams coordinator since his stop here in 2016. You may remember a play he designed in North Texas' upset victory over Arkansas. He had his punt returner catch the ball and act post-catch as if he had signaled for a fair catch. Arkansas reacted accordingly -- as if the PR had called a fair catch -- and then the PR took off on a 90-yard TD return. DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR/LINEBACKERS There are a couple options here. Make Nick Lezynski linebackers coach and elevate Mike Elston to defensive coordinator and perhaps make Mike Mickens co-defensive coordinator/passing game. Or go outside the current staff and find a defensive coordinator/linebackers coach. When I asked Marcus Freeman about the DC role Monday, he said a decision would come after Notre Dame's Jan. 1 bowl game. That could very well mean he has someone in mind that is involved in a post-regular-season game that won't be available until later this month or in January. OFFENSIVE LINE We do not expect Jeff Quinn to return as offensive line coach. We do not expect former Notre Dame guard/assistant line coach Chris Watt to land the job. It's a bit early in his career for that. He's a viable candidate down the road in the not-so-distant future. We expect at this time that Quinn will coach the Fiesta Bowl. A name has emerged with Irish Illustrated, but we're going to have to let this play out for a bit before validating those involved. RECEIVERS Del Alexander is Notre Dame's wide receivers coach at least through the bowl game. He is a respected wide receivers coach in the Gug. But he does not fit the mold of Freeman's description of a "relentless recruiter." Again, with the coaches recruiting and an important bowl game to be played, this will play out over time. Not in a position to throw out names just yet.
it might also mean MF doesn't want the disruption of a new oline coach coming in while they are prepping for the bowl game. I think it's SUPER important to him and the team to win his first game and he doesn't want anything distracting from that including no new hires or even rumors of hires (note that Prister would not really release any names besides the ST coach who had previously been at ND)
I have such a hard time seeing those guys fitting in at LSU but I do like Denbrock and hope he does well there
It’s nice to validate no matter the $ pool and control bk has over the process he still can only hire his buddies
LSU fans on 247 are thinking Howard visited ND because of Kelly. Nope, it was entirely Rees and knowing the family. Without Rees, he never would’ve come by
Sinclair's latest recruiting article Spoiler When I wrote my Recruiting Rundown last week, Marcus Freeman hadn’t been named head coach even if all signs pointed in that direction. This week, while the Irish need to fill a few coaching vacancies, from Mike Elston to Marcus Freeman to Tommy Rees to Mike Mickens, the coaching staff moves forward mostly intact. Where the Irish make changes, we’ll likely see Notre Dame retool with quality recruiters. We were a decision or two away from watching the coaching staff fall apart, which would’ve toppled recruiting class along with it. Instead, Notre Dame lost just one three-star commit who is now seriously considering the Fighting Irish as he narrows his final decision (Devin Moore). First, let’s talk about one of the potential final pieces of the puzzle. BILLY SCHRAUTH “(Billy Schrauth) grew up on a farm out in Campbellsport which is just South of Fond du Lac. His dad is a huge guy as well. His oldest brother Sam, a very, very large guy. He played college football. And then the middle brother was Jake. He wasn’t quite as big as the other ones, but he was taller and more agile than Sam was. “Billy is the youngest and he got the best attributes of both of them. He got the size and he got the agility. So, he’s just bred for football.” Schrauth’s senior running back teammate Isaac Hyland expressed the above comments when I got on the phone with him in April. I already loved Schrauth’s physical talent, his nimble feet, his growth potential, and his character which is an exemplary fit for Notre Dame. Learning about his farm boy upbringing in a family of large, football-oriented men was almost too fitting in terms of interior offensive line potential. During my very first conversation with Schrauth well over a year prior to my chat with Hyland, the All-American offensive lineman explained how he’d tagged along with his older brother when he attended a football camp at Notre Dame years ago. When he took that trip to South Bend, Schrauth said he simply fell in love with Notre Dame. Much of this was due to attending Catholic schools since the age of three, as Schrauth explained it. And in having a full conversation with the four-star recruit, it was clear that he would fit right into the offensive line culture at Notre Dame. Back then, Schrauth was six-foot-five and roughly 280 pounds. By the beginning of last summer, he’d trimmed down considerably, a surprisingly lean, chiseled 280 pounds. In my mind, this made him even more enticing as a prospect. Recently, in coming across a few new photos of Schrauth, he appeared considerably larger. And when I looked into that, I was able to confirm that Schrauth stacked on loads of lean muscle, now up around the 300-pound mark. A commitment to Notre Dame seemed like a done deal until it wasn’t. I changed my prediction to Wisconsin at one point. But now, I believe the Irish will add Schrauth to the 2022 class. Through my sources dating back a few weeks, I’ve heard Schrauth has been trending toward Notre Dame. In that case, he would represent the fifth All-American offensive line commit, boosting Notre Dame’s O-Line class to the very best in the nation, in my opinion (and the data supports that claim). One of the longest-standing recruitments on the 2022 board seems it will end with a signature favoring Notre Dame next week when the Early Signing Period kicks off. And this would provide a major boost to Notre Dame’s class, its 16th All-American and a very highly-coveted prospect from Day One. 2023 DEFENSIVE BACK RECRUITING This Saturday, four-star cornerback Justyn Rhett is set to announce his commitment. And both recruiting analysts here at Irish Illustrated along with others have Rhett pegged to the Fighting Irish. Where Rhett sits in the Composite rankings today, if he chose Notre Dame, he’d be the highest-ranked cornerback added by the Irish since signing Gary Gray in 2007. Over Clark Lea’s final two recruiting classes – 2020 and 2021 – Notre Dame signed nine defensive backs. Of those nine, eight ranked as three-stars with just one four-star in Philip Riley who was in the bottom end of that category (No. 307 overall nationally). Although he joined the coaching staff late in the 2022 process (last January), Marcus Freeman has led his staff to a pair of four-star cornerbacks in Benjamin Morrison and Jaden Mickey. All-American Devin Moore de-committed last week but the Irish are working to get him back into the fold. And Jayden Bellamy ranks less than 100 spots outside of four-star status (No. 440 overall). With the No. 151 overall prospect in the 2023 class in Adon Shuler firmly pledged – notching eight interceptions, three returned for touchdowns en route to a state championship win – and Rhett potentially joining him this week, Freeman, Mike Mickens, and Chris O’Leary are headed in the right direction. We know additional defensive backs listed in the top half of the four-star category are seriously considering Notre Dame’s 2023 class. That includes safety Peyton Bowen and defensive back Micah Tease. Both are significant standouts in the Southwest in Texas (Bowen) and Oklahoma (Tease), a pool of defensive back talent the Irish seldom dip into. Notre Dame already carries three Top 75 commitments in the 2023 defensive front seven in five-star Keon Keeley (No. 23), Drayk Bowen (No. 38), and Brenan Vernon (No. 63). It feels like Freeman is bound to orchestrate the best defensive class we’ve seen at Notre Dame in more than a decade, an effort bolstered by a quality staff in Mike Elston, Mickens, and others. CHAPARRAL HIGH SCHOOL On Tuesday, Chaparral high school football’s Twitter account tweeted an image of Notre Dame coaches on campus visiting with elite defensive lineman Anthony Lucas. I connected with Chaparral head coach Brent Barnes following that visit. He shared some insight. On Marcus Freeman as the new head coach… “Well, I mean, it's always impressive when you have the head coach and about five of his staff flanked by his side. (Laughs). You know, that's certainly a statement and quite a thing to see, for sure. “They're a great group of guys. I've spoken with a few of those guys on the staff before. Coach Freeman, I hadn't met personally until today, but just from afar, I've been impressed with his career so far, and what he's done, and, really, what he seems to be all about. I think that you can really see that when you meet him. He's a great guy. I think he'll do great things there.” On Mike Elston… “Again, he's one of the guys that I recognize and that I've spoken to before and spent time with. Again, a great guy. One thing that kind of stands out with that group, it just seems like you have a good group of men. You know, guys that I think do things the right way. Mike's one of those (coaches) that's been around and done a great job where he's been. So, I've always been impressed with him at all the stops and places that I've been. I've actually spent time with him before at another school I was at. He's definitely a guy that I've just kind of seen around in different places.” On what Anthony Lucas showed as a senior… “It was really kind of what we expected, just his natural growth of what you see over the years. He's kind of settled into a real leadership on the team, too. He's been a captain for us, a real team leader. He's always been a great teammate. To see him kind of out in the forefront, and just his maturity. I mean, it's another year of growth personally too. Not just from the physical game. His game has obviously gotten better as he plays the game at a little bit of a faster pace and speed now. And I think just recognizes things, seems to have a better understanding of the game of football in general.” WHAT WOULD TAKING THE NEXT STEP LOOK LIKE? With Marcus Freeman as the new head coach at Notre Dame, as he stated, an emphasis will be placed on recruiting from his own role on staff, and in terms of who they hire to fill vacancies. With that, everyone is bracing for the Irish to take the next step on the recruiting trail. What would that look like? For starters, it means more talent throughout the Top 100-150 range. We shouldn’t necessarily expect Freeman and the Irish to immediately lure an Alabama-caliber class. After all, although it’s not entirely across the board, in some respects, Notre Dame is forced to shop down a different aisle. But with a revamped staff with Freeman at the top, the Irish can expand that aisle, push for prospects that may have been deemed out of reach in previous classes. Using the 2022 class as an example of taking the next step, maybe it would’ve meant pairing Jadarian Price with Nicholas Singleton or Dallan Hayden, signing Drew Allar, and rounding out the defensive class with Xavier Nwankpa and Anthony Lucas. That extra collection of big-impact players would help the Irish close the gap with those who win in the college football playoff, an added handful of early-impact, early-round draft pick types. As we know, Notre Dame already carries six commitments in the 2023 class: five-star Keon Keeley (No. 23 overall), linebacker Drayk Bowen (No. 38), Brenan Vernon (No. 63), Adon Shuler (No. 151), Cooper Flanagan (No. 205), and Sedrick Irvin Jr. (No. 255). Not only have the Irish tapped into big-time talent, but Notre Dame also landed key recruits out of the Midwest in Indiana (Bowen) and Ohio (Vernon) along with Florida in Keeley (Tampa) and Irvin Jr. (Miami). The Irish also hit out West in California (Flanagan) and in New Jersey (Shuler). Again, we’ve collectively predicted Top 150 cornerback Justyn Rhett to Notre Dame. And from there, the Irish would carry five commitments on defense. Clearly, that side of the ball will be well represented in the 2023 class. The most pressing needs are on offense. It starts at quarterback. If Notre Dame is a program that needs to lure a franchise quarterback every two cycles, well, the 2023 cycle needs a premium passer. And Dante Moore feels like Notre Dame’s best shot at pulling off that feat. With CJ Williams and Amorion Walker’s pledges in question, the emphasis on wide receiver recruiting in 2023 is at an all-time high. Could Marcus Freeman help bolster the recruitments on Carnell Tate, Jalen Brown, and Kyler Kasper? Will the next O-Line coach attract Kadyn Proctor or Chase Bisontis? How about freak tight end Duce Robinson? Until we see how the Irish fill out the coaching staff offensively, it’s tough to say. And it’s tricky to gauge how significant an impact Marcus Freeman will have on offensive recruiting. But we know his presence will be exponentially more valuable than what we saw from Brian Kelly. Will that include a surprising change-of-heart from a receiver set to commit to Oklahoma before Freeman swings him to Notre Dame as we saw with Tyson Ford? 20COMMENTS That’s what will be most interesting to watch in the coming year, in my opinion – how coach Freeman impacts recruiting on the offensive side of the ball. Tommy Rees will no longer go it alone in pursuing elite talent on offense. Going forward, Freeman will be by his side in targeting the nation’s best. the comments about Scrauth were particularly interesting...he doubled down in the comments saying his source was not the parents and he seemed quite confident BS was coming to ND...would be a MASSIVE pickup
The Three year OL haul would be outrageous: OT: Blake Fisher 4 Star #55 Tosh Baker 4 Star #100 Aamil Wagner 4 Star #134 Ty Chan 4 Star #138 Michael Carmody 4 Star #146 Caleb Johnson 4 Star #323 Joe Alt 3 Star #407 IOL Rocco Spindler 4 Star #60 Joey Tanona 4 Star #157 Billy Schrauth 4 Star #171 Ashton Craig 3 Star #505 Pat Coogan 3 Star #612 I really like odds of finding 5 damn good OL from that group in 2023 & 2024. 12 OL over 3 years is a good number but still wish ND would've taken a Guard in 2020 (Zinter and Skronski were the obvious misses that year in retrospect)
i get he might have always wanted to go to OSU but no way he was going to ND if he wanted to reclassify to 2022
You ever stop and think what would have happened if Freeman took the LSU job last year? I think we would have Matt Campbell now if that would have been the case
Lol the lsu mod said of lsu didn’t hire a good coach walker was going to commit to Tommy and nd, not bk.
Nah. We would have likely been completely out of the playoff hunt and definitely had a worse recruiting class to worry about protecting, so Jack would have been willing to wait for Fickell (who may not have made the playoffs without a win over #5 ND). Edit: Or Freeman would have saved Orgeron's job and Kelly would still be here. Or at USC.
I don’t see it happening but if Walker Howard someone flipped to ND, it’d be one of the funniest things I’ve seen
I absolutely think the LSU AD told Howard that he already had Kelly in the bag and that is what stopped that recruitment dead in its tracks.
They’d be left with 1 scholarship QB and a coach that has very little to sell when it comes to QB development