Brian Polian has been criticized quite a bit over the last few years for his coaching skills, but he has been getting some props for his recruiting prowess and Jeremy Crabtree of Rivals.com recently declared Polian as an early favorite for Rivals.com’s national recruiter of the year award.
Looking for an early candidate for Rivals.com’s national recruiter of the year? Check out Notre Dame assistant Brian Polian.
Since his arrival at Notre Dame in 2004 from UCF, where he had been that program’s recruiting coordinator, Polian has become one of the top recruiters in the Midwest and West. Last year, he reeled in five prospects: two five-star prospects and three four-star players. This year, he is responsible for five early commitments, including the nation’s No. 2 player in running back Cierre Wood of Santa Clara (Oxnard, Calif.) and talented linebacker Dan Fox of St. Ignatius (Cleveland).
Polian came under fire over the last few years for his work as an assistant coach working with both the secondary and linebackers at times. This off-season Charlie Weis made Polian strictly the special teams coach giving him complete control over a group that was run by committee last year.
His recruiting, however, has been a constant since he arrived at Notre Dame. Here’s a quick glance at every recruit he has been given credit for landing according to Rivals since getting to Notre Dame.
- 2006: Barry Gallup, Konrad Reuland, Will Yeatman
- 2007: Armando Allen, Jimmy Clausen, Taylor Dever, Brandon Walker
- 2008: Dayne Crist, Joseph Fauria, Anthony McDonald, Kyle Rudolph, Dan McCarthy
- 2009: Dan Fox, Marlon Pollard, Ben Turk, Cierre Wood, Nicholas Tausch
That’s a pretty impressive list of recruits. He started off a little slow, but his work the last 2+ classes now has been outstanding. Granted, Weis was recruiting Clausen personally, but Polian was still his wingman.
For as much criticism as he has received on the forums and blogs over the past few years, it is nice to see him getting some props for his recruiting skills.
holy crap did u guys here that Darrin Walls won’t be back for the 2008 season
Well, at least we don’t have a bunch of laissez-faire recruiting attitudes like the last two enigmatic drifters who called themselves head coaches.
idc who gets props or even who does the recruiting as long as we keep getting the type of talent we’ve been getting
Indisuptable recruiting evidence! Give the man credit and a raise!
I hate to sound like a diatribe on recruiting, but we have not, I repeat we have not seen this kind of recruiting since Lou Holtz!
This is going to PAY BIG DIVIDENDS SOON! It’s no wonder DomerDave is all excited, I am too! Is it September yet?