Fullback Tyler Gaffney committed to Stanford over Notre Dame Monday afternoon according to Rivals.com. Gaffney had eliminated USC over the weekend after canceling a scheduled trip to Los Angeles and was down to just Notre Dame and Stanford heading into today’s announcement.
This is indeed a big loss for the Notre Dame recruiting class this year. When Charlie Weis had an athletic fullback who could run the ball effectively in 2005 in Rashon Powers-Neal, the fullback was a well used option in the Notre Dame offense. Gaffney could have given the Notre Dame offense that dimension. With Asaph Schwapp deciding to enter the draft instead of coming back for a 5th year, it was also very likely that Gaffney would have seen very early playing time if he hit the gym hard this summer.
Having to see Gaffney every year in the annual Stanford game is not going to be fun either. Gaffney is just the type of back that excels at Stanford and gives Notre Dame fits.
