(UHND.com) – Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis was not taking it easy over a backyard bbq this Memorial Day weekend. Instead, he was busy collecting the 13th verbal commitment to the class of 2008 in the form of defensive tackle Brandon Newman. Newman, in town for another unofficial visit, committed to Weis and defensive coordinator Corwin Brown giving the Irish their third defensive lineman in this class.
Newman (6’1”, 300) is the first true nose tackle among the three defensive line commits the Irish have already gained in this recruiting class. At 300 pounds already, Newman is big enough to step in now and be ready to play the in the middle of the Irish’s new 3-4 defense if he were reporting to Notre Dame this fall.
Last season Newman totaled 68 tackles including 22 for loss for his Pleasure Ridge Park High team earning him second team All State honors in Kentucky.
Notre Dame targeted Newman very early on in the recruiting process and was his second scholarship offer after in state Kentucky. Since then, other big name schools such as Alabama and Tennessee have started to show interest as well, but neither had offered before Newman committed to Notre Dame this weekend.
In this early stage of recruiting, Notre Dame already has more commitments along the defensive line this year than they had all of last year. Newman joins Sean Cywnar and Hafis Williams along the d-line in this class and is the only natural nose tackle of the bunch although both Cywnar and Williams could play in the middle if need be.
Corwin Brown has been working overtime already on the recruiting front and the fruits of his labor are already being seen with the success Notre Dame is having on the defensive side of the ball. Along with the three defensive linemen, the Irish also have three linebackers in Anthony McDonald, David Posluszny, and Darius Flemming.
