When Mike Haywood was hired by Charlie Weis four years ago, he brought with him the reputation of being a good recruiter with ties in Texas based on his work with the Longhorns. In practice however, Haywood was not much more than an average recruiter at Notre Dame. Will his replacement, Tony Alford, fare much better on the recruiting front? Time will tell, but it does sound like there is some potential here from Alford when it comes to recruiting.
According to the official release from Notre Dame, Alford has been responsible for recruiting the following areas throughout his 14 year coachin career – “California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Texas as well as Arizona, Colorado, Iowa and Michigan”
Notre Dame has done very well in recruiting in the midwest under Charlie Weis as well as in California, but has been a non factor in recruiting in Texas. Could Alford be the in to recruiting in Texas we had all hoped Haywood was going to be four years ago?
The South Bend Tribune had some quotes from Tom Lemming regarding Alford’s recruiting skills Monday.
“He certainly works hard at it,” Lemming said, “and that’s half the battle. But he’s never been at a school where he has had to knock heads with the top schools for a great player. So this is a chance for him to make a name for himself.
“I think it is realistic to expect him to land three to four great players in the class of 2010. We’ll know a year from now if those expectations are being met.”
It’s kind of odd that Lemming would say in one breath that Alford has never went head to head with big time programs and then that he expects him to sign three or four great players in 2010. This would be a huge upgrade over Haywood who according to Rivals.com has been responsible for just two commitments over the past two classes – Jonas Gray last year and Alex Bullard this year.
Alford is currently credited with three commitments for Louisville this year and four for last year. Three of the five commitments are from Texas while one is from Florida, one from California, and one from Georgia, and one from Illinois. None of the commitments however have been from prospects rated better than 3 stars according to Rivals.
If Lemming is right about Alford landing three or four great players, this will have been a fantastic hire by Notre Dame.
Amen C-Dog,
It would be exciting, these two guys know more about ND winning consistantly than the whole coaching staff combined and including 15 years deep into the contemporary fan base.
Well Well Well…. An interesting projection fromt he South Bend Tribune. Bryant Young and Tim Grunhard are rumored to be joining the Irish staff as grad assistants. Grunhard was on the 1988 team and Young was on the 1993 team. Both played in the NFL, with distinction. The buzz is how it will help recruiting, but I’m more hopeful on how these guys will actually help teach and motivate.
Very exciting if it pans out.