As recruiting reaches the home stretch this year, one of the bigger names left on the Notre Dame recruiting board is five star linebacker Christian Jones. The Florida native who at one point was considered a long shot for the Irish could be more likely than most people felt based on recent reports.
Florida State Blog Tomahawk Nation published a report on Wednesday stating that Jones has been working hard to get his academics in line in order to pass Notre Dame admission standards.
5* OLB prospect Christian Jones has been working in a credit retrieval program to try to pull up some of his grades. He is doing it to try and meet the Notre Dame admission standards and is leaning that way. [Jones has called this a “college credit program]
While the report states that the author doesn’t think Jones will end up with Irish, it certainly bodes well for Notre Dame that Jones is working on his academics to pass Notre Dame admissions. If Jones wasn’t seriously considering Notre Dame this most likely wouldn’t be the case.
Another report from the Alabama blog Capstone Report featured a Q&A with Jones that had some promising quotes for Notre Dame’s chances as well.
“The assistant Coach Afford is the coach that I’m closest out of all the coaches. He is very organized and has studied me . He knows my basketball schedule and my favorite food. He really wants me at Notre Dame, but I have to raise my grades because the standards are higher.”
Alford is one of the best recruiters on the Notre Dame staff and it appears that keeping Alford on staff is already paying off dividends on the recruiting trail for Brian Kelly.
The Caperstone Report feature on Jones also had another quote from Jones about what will factor into his decision that should give Notre Dame fans some hope.
“I’d like to play for a defensive system I’d fit in. We ran a 5-2 defense at Lake Howell and I played Outside Backer. Also academics will be huge in my decision. Football doesn’t last forever so I’m going to get my degree. Distance will not play a factor.”
Notre Dame has both excellent academics, and the 3-4 defensive system that Bob Diaco plans to install at Notre Dame perfectly suits Jones abilities perfectly. Jones projects as an outside linebacker/pass rusher in the new Irish defense.
While all of these quotes show that Notre Dame still has a great chance with Jones, the Irish will still face very stiff competition against the likes of Florida, Florida State, Alabama, Tennessee, USC, and Oklahoma.
Hey Oxygen, Boise State is winning with the 2 and 3 stars. Didn’t they beat Oklahoma a couple of years ago. And what about TCU. And Nebraska is coming to life too with their lowly recruits and they almost beat Texas. And what about Utah taking the Tide to the woodshed a couple of years ago. Chuck brought in a lot of that 4 and 5 star talent, but didn’t know how to coach them and they lost to the teams Kelly beat. I like to see an even distribution of 3-5 stars and I think Brian Kelly will bring them in when he has a chance to recruit them over a full year. We haven’t even seen a game yet, under Kelly and already so many of our so-called fans are so cynical, trashing Kelly. Some of yous guys need to give the guy a chance. You guys act like you never been to the dance before. It’s been a while, but it will happen. How about a little patience. Nana, who you calling a Tool???
“Boise State is winning with the 2 and 3 stars. Didn’t they beat Oklahoma a couple of years ago.”
Didn’t Boise State lose to Ty Willingham’s U-Dub(5-7
) team the next year after that “great win” over Choklahoma?
“And Nebraska is coming to life too with their lowly recruits and they almost beat Texas.”
Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades….
“And what about Utah taking the Tide to the woodshed a couple of years ago.”
Where did Utah finish this year? 24th in the rankings! Where did the Tide finish? Did you ever stop to think Bama gave up last year after the SEC championship game? Did it ever occur to you that maybe Bama didn’t want to play Utah, so they didn’t bother getting up to play?
“We haven’t even seen a game yet, under Kelly and already so many of our so-called fans are so cynical, trashing Kelly.”
There’s a little difference between a blindless fan(you) and objective fan(some of us). I shake my head in shame when I see fans like you, who think ND will be a top 5 team every year no matter what.. I’ve watch this program settle on coaches for 11 years now. So excuse me for being a little skeptical on the some of the kids Kelly is offering.
So what, he paraded through a weak confenece and beat teams ND lost to in closing minutes. It doesn’t change the fact he’s 0-1 in BCS bowls and his lost came to a mediocre Val Tech team but I guess you forgot that because his “stunning” 12-0 record clouds your memory..
You can’t argue with facts. You make a point…despite the fact that BK is 171-57-2, he hasn’t played too many tough opponents, but has Notre Dame played tough opponents recently?? The only 3 that come to mind are USC, Ohio St. and LSU. USC has embarrassed us and Ohio St. and LSU embarrassed us in BCS games. On top of that, ND is losing to Syracuse, UConn, Navy, Pitt, etc. and Cincinnati is beating these teams.
I see your point of view, but the fact is BK has won and I’m willing to say that he’ll win the games he’s supposed to (Syracuse, UConn, Navy, Stanford, Pitt) and maybe his way actually produces results against the USC’s of the college football world. I certainly don’t expect a championship in year 1, nor do I expect a BCS game in year 1, but I do think a 9-3 record is very possible. It would be nice to be better than that and look good doing it, but we have to give BK a chance to show us what he’s got on Saturdays.
The talent we have on the team is far better than Cincy and the teams on our schedule are no better than the teams on Cincy’s schedule. Common sense says that BK will be able to coach these kids a produce results. We still have to wait and see, but I’m thinking 9-3 will be a nice start.
I would be happy with 9-3 season next year. Hell even an 8-4 season would be good.
At any rate, we need to give this guy some time to bring in his kinds of athletes, to fill the team.
Still, I believe that Kelly will have the oppurtunity to attract much better athletes than he’s used to at his other schools, as he starts to show the country that he can win at ND.
I’m not sure who you wanted as our new coach, but we can’t do any worse than what Charlie did for 5 seasons (being uncompetitive against USC, getting slammed in BCS games, losing to Navy TWICE). If you were expecting Stoops, Meyer, etc. to come trotting over, get over yourself, it was never going to happen. No coach has ever made a lateral move to coach another team. And in ND’s case, based on the past several years, it would’ve have been a step back for those coaches. Kelly is the right guy given his resume, and I can’t wait to see what he does with this team.
Oxygen,
He is actually 0-2 in BCS games he lost to Va Tech the year before. He had a program at Cincy that wasn’t even the top program in his state and still won. He got throttled by a team that was better than his, there is nothing wrong with that. I also remember during Holtz’s run a cornerback who wasn’t recruited to play and walked on to be a starter and a very good one at that. High school recruiting ratings are shit. Get the player in and develop him. I do agree you need to some blue chippers, but you can win without having recruiting classes like Florida, Texas and Alabama are having.
Tim Tebow is projected as a pro safety or linebacker.
This recruiting class has nothing to do with next year. This team has a lot of talent, including a “5 star” quarterback, a 5 star wide receiver (floyd), a 5 star tight end, the top rated defensive player in all the land (Teo), etc. Some disagree, but if they win, they will be in the driver seat. This program has been lost in the wilderness for 20 years.
Heh have you guys seen this? Pretty brilliant about BC:
http://bostonherald.com/blogs/entertainment/the_assistant/?p=431
I think people are missing a major point here. He just got the job in December. Our last coaching change the recruiting class was horrible, but remember the best player out of the class was a 3 star saftey who is playing in the pros for the Broncos. An earlier post talked about Tennesse and USC not loosing recruits. Tennessee has lost some recruits and USC hired another douche bag like Pete Carrol and there is not change in the culture. We will be filling this class out with some quality atheletes. If we are able to close on a couple of 4 and 5 star recruits this class will jump up into the top 15. Some recruiting links has this class in the top 20. When CW took over I think the class ended up at 38. Kelly also wants to recruit players for his scheme on both off and def. I bet this class will end up a top 20 class.
Hey Recruiting Wonks!
Has anyone looked at the class size? What are we at 17 or 18?
22 to 25 fills out your class right? So here’s a question: If all
the 4s and 5s are taken, where does a coaching staff go? To expand:
among schools that are viewed and rated, the 2s and 3s might be known.
But what about amazing athletes at smaller highschools in the small
divisions? Are they even rated? I’m thinking not. Someone tell us.
Because if not, would an astute staff, instead of beating their heads
against a wall, just go where no one looked? What about the fast, quick
or gifted kid that still lives in small town America, or wants a small
setting? ND’s not a bad place for that type. And they probably haven’t
been called by anyone.
Thoughts?
I agree and have stated that before. Makes you wonder if all the time spent recruiting the Sentreal Hendersen type of recruits would be better spent on great “under the radar” types. I notice it in every city, all the attention on the bigger High Schools. ND needs to create strong bonds in the Catholic Schools (big and small) and dominate this market. These kids would jump at ND if offered 90% of the time. I just read something yesterday that showed 5 star recruits only pan out 40% of the time.
You have to even mix when recruiting. You have to go after the recruits you REALLY want, but you also have to go for recruits that may not be as highly rated, but still good players.
Putting all your eggs in the 2-3 star basket is the same as putting all your eggs in the 4-5 star basket. One way you, you may guarantee yourself a bunch of recruits, but you’re not sure what will be made of them, and the other way you may not get any recruits because all the big boys are after them. To be good, which BK has been able to do, you have develop 2-3 star players, but also make the 4-5 star worth the effort. I am not concerned about BK’s coaching abilitiesm but I don’t think focusing only on potentially underrated recruits is the way to go.
D. Jones never started at Cincy as a LB! He was second or third on the depth chart..
60% of the time, it works everytime! lol
I like Lou Holtz’s analogy of star rankings and taking 2 and 3 star players. “Sure, you’ll find a diamond in the rough every now and then, but you won’t make a living on it”! I think it’s quite evident that top recruits equal top teams.
BK has targeted a large number of QB’s.
At the high school level, QB is the most important position. High School coaches normally fill that position with one of their best atheletes.
With BK offering all these QB’s I think you will see him reposition some of these guys as DB’s, or linebackers. In BK’s first recruitment year this may prove to be very smart. These QB’s are smart, versital, and atheletic. Probably the next best thing to an acctual 4 star BD,Linebacker, or saftey.
Some of these QB’s that he has offered are in the 6’3 – 220lbs range.
Not that far off from being linebacker, CB, or saftey size. The country is loaded with fine high school QB’s. Only a very few will win a job as the starter on a college team. That leaves a bunch of fine athletes who will need to learn to play a different position if they want to play college football.
Wasn’t Golden Tate recruited out of high school as a 3 star running back?
Excellent points. YES, Golden was a RB in HS. I know it’s been mentioned plenty of times before, but Demetrius Jones started at LB for Cincinatti under BK and we all know where he started his college career and at what position. I think Shazam has an excellent point that HS QB’s tend to be one of the top athletes on the team. BK knows what he’s doing as he did with D. Jones.
Golden Tate was a 4 star runningback in a heavy runningback recruiting class that year..
Shazamrock,
Perfect point. Some here can’t read into what’s really being said. someone says, “mix in 2 and 3 star guys”,and the response is, “don’t recruit just 2 and 3 star guys”.
I have two concepts to divulge here:
1. Mix 4 and 5s with 2s and 3s. You don’t need all 20 to 25 recruits to be 4 and 5 star guys. In fact that’s impossible and even Florida and USC never did that. The greatest classes I’ve seen have at most 3 to 5 5 stars and and most 10 at 4 and above. So look at what we have. there might be enough 4 and 5 star guys already.
2. Who says the rankings in highschool are even accurate. As Shazam says, Tate was a 3 star RB. Oxygen says 4 star. Either way, no one knew he’d be that good. Can you guys tell me the rating system is accurate? And what about schools that don’t get rated? Is there some strong fast kid from Elmira, New York? ( Remember Ernie Davis anyone ), or Dover, PA? Give me a stopwatch, a leg press and a bench press, let me quiz a kid and I might be able to find someone who can play but who wasn’t at a school that gets rated.
All I’m saying is when the well runs dry on the obvious, instead of beating your head against the wall in a losing battle for some kid needing attention, look for the gem in the small school divisions.
ND got a verbal commitment some time back (at the start of the regular season) from high school DB Tony Jefferson. I think he is a 5 star recruit that is ranked 21st best overall. That lasted all of about 2 months. He then decommitted from ND and pledged UCLA.
Another month and a half passed, and he decommitted from UCLA, and stated that he was re-opening his recruiting. At that time it was said that USC had the inside track, but was being pursueded by half a dozen other schools. Just a couple of weeks ago he agian came out and has now pledged Oklahoma. Now I understand these are high school kids. A very confusing time in any young man’s life. But come on now. This isn’t rocket science. I’d be really interested to know what the combined expense was for all the colleges involved, to actively pursue this kid. Appears to those of us on the outside, that he could care less about wasting other people’s time and money. A spoiled brat that we are better off without.
Is anyone else completely feed up with hearing about Tim Tebow. As some of the nations top college Seniors prepare for the Senior bowl, all we hear about is Tebow. I’m beginning lothe him as much as Bret Farve these days. I also understand there is quite a stir over some anti-abortion commercial that he participated in that may, or may not, air during the superbowl. I wish I could abort him right out of the media all together.
Poor Michigan State. 2 more football players arrested. That brings the total to 11.
I still remember a few years back when they planted their flag at the 50 yard line on our field after a game. Screw them. I hope the arrest the whole damn team.
Lame Kiffin has been back at USC all of 10 days and has already racked up 2 more NCAA violations. How do they get away with it? Maybe it’s time for someone to investigate the investigators.
Speaking of USC. I just read where their starting QB (Matt Barkley) is going in for wrist surgery on his throwing arm. Said he played with the injury most of the year. But we just now hear about it? Our QB (Dayne Crist) had knee surgury and the media is writting him off for all of next year. Barkley has wrist surgery on his throwing arm just 90 days from spring practice, and they say it’s no big deal. I guess this is how USC gets to keep their favoriable preseason ranking.
I’m just wishing that BK can hold together a top 20 recruiting class. If he can do that, we will be OK.
Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddd
Breathe.
Calm down,
Yes, some recruits do give colleges the runaround.
Tebow’s big news because of how well he’s done in college, and how poorly he’s going to do in the NFL. No, it’s too late to abort him.
Yes, Michigan state is hilarious.
Yes, the violations will eventually catch up with Kiffin and USC. I don’t know when.
Barkley’s getting the attention because he was the starter as a true freshman. He’s going to be fine because, as you said, he played ALL year with the injury.
People question DC because he blew out his knee, he has very little experience, and he’s changing offensive systems.
And finally, BK’s not going to hold together a top 20 class. He’s already failed at that (not that I’m trying to rail against him for it, just that it’s already dropped outside of the top 25). He would have to PUT TOGETHER a top 20 class. But that distracts us from the point: when did he ever have a top 50 class at Cincy? NEVER. 70,80,51,53 Respectively for 06,07,08,09. Has that prevented him from winning? No. Does that mean ND recruiting will utterly drop off the map? Not necessarily, It only means that he didn’t NEED recruits to win. All I’m trying to say is, don’t pin your hopes and dreams on a factor that might only be a trivial part of the equation. Give the guy a chance. How about say A year before we start conversing about how miserable a failure he is because we the top recruiting school his first year here. (not that you were implying this Shaz, I just went on a rant… Like you did)
Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddd
Breathe.
Calm down.
There we go.
Serenity Nowwwwwwwwww
Goosfrabaaaaaaaaaa
Those recruiting classes BK had at Cincy were not good and yes he did win (the games on his schedule). BUT, Cincy got manhandled by Florida and that would have been no different with BK on the sideline. If ND is going to compete with Alabama, USC, Florida..etc etc.. BK needs to go after at least 10 – 15 4 and/or 5 star recruits a year. Now that he is at ND he will have the opportunity to do that. And with the fact that he can develop any type of athlete that just makes the situation for ND football even better. ND will win alot of games with BK but will ND compete with the big boys.. Thats the question. I DONT WANT THE CINCINNATI BEARCATS IN GOLD HELMETS.
Bill,
For some reason I just can’t get excited about this year’s
recruiting class. Actually recruiting in general.
Remember the good ol days with the anus eagle?
Angry Eagle commented on October 18th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Here somes BC (5-2 in a rebuilding year) to throw a little cold water on your moral victory, and set your harmless little football program back where it belongs.
I love how SC eases up, makes a few boneheaded mistakes, and allows ND to make it close after nearly making it a rout, and you morons get all excited. Face facts, you guys are Purdue right now, have been for 15 years, and will be forever. No conference, ugly chicks and a crappy cold weather campus = D1 medicority. Deal with it. Peace out.
Angry Eagle commented on October 18th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
It’s almost basketball season, and the girls team looks good. Sumpin’ to look forward to.
Angry Eagle replied on October 19th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I was just trying to help you guys out, Notre Dame is known for having a good girls basketball team. It’s a fact, look it up. Yeeesh, you try to be nice and put a positive spin on an otherwise moribund sports program…
Ahhh memories!
Please, no more “Anus Eagle” distracting us true ND fans from serious discussion of ND football. I’m sure if ND starts off poorly next season, “Anus” will be back with a vengeance anyway.
SFR,
I’ve learned that he is just like beetlejuice…. If you mention his name 3 times he suddenly appears.
He was right about one thing,
ND womans basketball team is pretty damn good!
Um Anthony Jefferson never even visited Notre Dame and he never gave a verbal. I don’t know where you go that info from. Please share….
You are correct when you state that he didn’t give ND a verbal. Brian Polian recruitd him and he verbally agreed to visit ND. The coaching staff set up several home games for him to visit, but he never showed.
He originally told ESPN that ND was his first choice. They printed that.
That was before the start of the 2009 season.
Other information about him was found here:https://www.uhnd.com/notre-dame-recruiting/4-star-lb-tony-jefferson-officially-visit-notre-dame/
The point that I was making was the amount of time and money invested(or wasted) by several collages on a player who seemed to be playing games.
He kept changing his mind throughtout the season, and that was even before any coaching changes. These are supposed to be recruiting visits for serious canidates, not weekend excusions or paid vacations.
I don’t see what the big deal is on all these recruits that don’t come or that leave. We should want kids that want to be at ND. I’m also confused by all the BK talk about whether or not he can recruit. This guy had to assemble a staff and develop relationships with the committed class over the last 2 months. There was going to be some fall-out as there is with any coaching change.
The reality is kids go to where they can win, get on the field, and hopefully be developed to go to the NFL. Look at Weis, he got the QB’s, TE’s, & WR’s because he gave them a great shot at going to the NFL. Why do you think Clausen came? He felt Charlie was the best coach to get him ready for the NFL. The reason ND can not get any OL or DL is because there is no evidence of NFL Development. Name the last really good OL/DL from ND. Justin Tuck is the only one I can think of since Holtz. I know there are more, but I’m having a hard time remembering, which is my point.
ND has been able to recruit good players, they just weren’t in a good system. I believe Kelly has a proven system and this will allow ND to be competive for BCS games each year. I believe that will get ND players looked at by the NFL, which will help recruiting. Again, winning will change everything. There is talent on this team and they are being coached by guys with A LOT of COLLEGE coaching experience. This staff is on the same page, which I think was not the case with the Weis staff, especially defense.
Next year will be successful just based on the talent, the schedule, and the energy of a new direction. Let this years recruiting shake out and get ready for a exciting 2010.
Watch your mouth Mr. Green Banshi. “Bite your toungue and shame the devil” is what my Mother always told me.
My deceased husband would knock your d___k in the dirt for talking like that. You tool.
To each his own, I see nothing wrong with what he said, “freedom of speech”. We dont live in a dictatorship where we are told what to say and how to act, its not 1960 anymore, ma’am.
Martin and Longo and Cooks are gonna work to create a nasty defense, with some bad muthas. Bring back the likes of Zorich and Stonebreaker and Crable and Walton and company – players to be feared, not worshipped for their five star pedigree.
BK has done a remarkable job so far keeping this class together. Lueders and Martin and Hurd were all waffling, long before BK became the coach at ND. Hell, Kelly beat Pittsburgh and Connecticut and Syracuse – the same teams that beat the great Weis hope. I am tired of hearing some of you guys whine about 5 star recruits. Ara and Lou didn’t have all of that five star talent and they could outcoach and beat the best. Give me someone with a ton of heart any day and I’ll take them over that 5 star garbage. We didn’t have 5 star recruits when we stormed Normandy and smashed the German army – what a bunch of crap. We had the wretched refuse. Get real.
Did Kelly visit in person with Blake Lueders? Never heard much on that. Maybe BL was not as high on Kelly’s list if he was waffling so much. I read his comments about the social scene and the weather and thought, “Is this a kid you win with??”
BK is a huge upgrade over CW. Lueders changed his mind because a Coach with no defensive reputation left? Lueders sounds like a kid who does not really know where he wants to go? Sounds like Stanford put on the Full Court Press recruiting him. Does not seem like BK and his crew did the same. Maybe I am wrong.
Yea he visited him like a week before Lueders hosted Polian and Hart at his house. The same people who recruited him to Notre Dame. Kelly has been on the job for roughly two months. Picture yourself in a new job for two months you can’t salvage everything. Let’s see what he does with next years class because there are are a TON of high profile recruits in the Chicago/Ohio part of the country.
IrishFan
That’s all irrelevant in that article. If Payton Manning wasn’t QB for the Colts, they wouldn’t be in the Superbowl. That’s point blank and period!
Dear Internet,
*Peyton
-Swell job out pointing out the ridiculously obvious. On a related note, this one just hit the press: If the broncos didn’t have John Elway, they wouldn’t have won either.
Irrelevant? What? It’s absalutley NOT irrelevant. The article wasn’t about Peyton, the ariticle was about Peytons supporting cast.
The article shows that a team, be it NFL or College can put together a very good squad without having 5 star all world athletes at every postion!
By definition, an NFL team is already made up of the best of the best, if you will. (Unless, of course, you’re the Raiders and draft a SS in the 2nd round that not even Mel Kiper had anywhere in his “draft bible”; this might well explain why the Raiders are where there at, and not where they used to be…. Sound familiar to anyone?) While we shouldn’t get too obsessed with what the recruiting junkies say, we shouldn’t trivialize the importance of recruiting as many blue-chippers to ND as possible. Then we do what CW couldn’t do: coach them up and instill fundamentals and toughness!
Good on ya IrishFan! That’s a great article, I’m glad you left a link for us to read.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been a bit disapointed in loosing Barr, Moeder, and that big name DE we lost last month.
The way that I had seen it is that, if BK was able to finally field a team full of 4-5 star kids, what could he do with them?
If he can train and coach 2-3 star athletes to perform at a very high level, he certainly can take 4-5 star kids to an entirely different level of success.
Most of know that the man has won, and won often with a bunch of kids that have not been recognized as the best in their state. Most of his teams have been fielded by kids that the big programs would have never, NEVER even looked at. And he still found a way to win!
Lets not forget that Kelly is taking over a pretty tallented group of kids at ND. Many of them haven’t developed at the level we would have licked under CW, but I have a gut feeling that BK will be able to work em’ and coach em’ to a level that we haven’t seen at ND for a long, long time.
When BK lead the Irish to several winning seasons, I do believe that the more talented kids will start giving ND a shot.
All that said though, the article that IrishFan submitted for us tends to disprove that a program may infact need 4-5 star kids to win. Well, I’m not sure I guess. A few here and there sure. But, in order for us to compete with a team like Bama, we’re going to need top tier kids and great coaching to win.
This is my guess:
Spond-ND
Massa-ND
James-ND
Ioane-ND
D. Riley-UCLA
B. Gaston Jr- Michigan State
G. Bernard- UNC
C. Cooper-Nebraska
C. Jones-FSU
S. Henderson-Ohio State
E. Ferguson-LSU
Kelly makes players play. He did it everywhere he went, no matter the talent. So let’s have confidence he can do it in South Bend.
(Side Note- I hope I’m wrong with all the ones on the bottom and they go to ND)
He makes players play, is that right, or did he coach in noncompetitive conferences. We all see what happen at Cincy when they went against 2 BCS caliber schools in Florida and Val Tech? The “RKG” or diamonds in the rough is not going to cut it, he’s not going to be able to recruit 20 players a year like at Boise and if so, you’re not going to have 20 diamonds in the rough. You might get one or two but not many.
whoa whoa, are you already calling bk a fraud? Calm down for a second. You have to look at things comparatively.
for instance, you can’t argue that because the kids he brought to GVS are inferior to florida’s athletes, then he is a poor recruiter. apples and oranges. take it one step farther, you can’t compare big east/cincy recruits to big 12/texas and sec/florida recruits because again, apples and oranges. even though they are both fbs division 1, it is just not a fair comparison (could urban have brought this class to utah? f*** no!!!) the question that then remains is, did he have the most talent in those non-competitive conferences? if so, then he recruited the best he could with shitty resources and it paid dividends. if not, then he knows how to coach up kids and beat teams with better athletes. in sum, he either recruited well in shitty conferences or he coached up his talentless kids to win conference championships…
either way, top to bottom nd will have the same or better talent then anyone on their schedule next year. if he continues his past trends and wins a bunch of games, the 4 and 5 star recruits will follow
Again, I don’t buy the win and they will come theory. Notre Dame went 3-9 and brought in one the top recruiting classes. So the win and they will come model is bullock!! They’re plenty of schools that didn’t have great season this year but still pulled top 25 recruiting class.
Secondly, can we please stop with the Urban Meyer comparisons. Kelly is no Urban Meyer! We’re losing Dlineman and Kelly is offering WR and QBs. Wanting a top safety to come to ND as a runningback? Wanted Barr as a wideout when Barr stated he rather gone in as a safety.
“the question that then remains is, did he have the most talent in those non-competitive conferences? if so, then he recruited the best he could with shitty resources and it paid dividends.”
You’re asking questions that are unknown on the account the guy never stay at a Dv 1 school long enough to coach his OWN recruits..
first of all, i didn’t compare kelly to meyer. i brought up meyer simply to show the discrepancy in recruiting (with the same coach) between one elite program and another second class program. it is a simple argument.
i dont have first hand knowledge of why these recruits are leaving, so i have no input on those points.
while we had a great recruiting class after going 3-9, that was also after back to back bcs appearances. recruits generally don’t get recruited for just one season.
point is well taken re leaving after 3 years…recruiting generally improved at cincy while he was there though
im not defending the current exodus of talent, im as anxious as the next guy, i just want to give him a chance before we bring on the hate
Yea I guess you’re right talent can never be developed:
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4857309&name=feldman_bruce&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d4857309%26name%3dfeldman_bruce
C,
I trust you’re right. As for ND football demanding respect from anybody, well, that privilege will have to be earned (or, rather, re-earned)on the field in the next few years. Frankly, ND has done nothing (on the football field) worthy of respect in a long, long time,C. It’s sad to say, but it’s the truth.
I think the respect he is demanding isn’t from other teams, but from the players to the coach. He’s right. Notre Dame should take everyone back to the days when this society wasn’t so narcissistic. Whether it’s Clausen comign to town in a Humvee wearing a fur coat, or some kid talking about no gettin dissed and getting his respect, Notre Dame should advertise that we don’t put up with that crap. I never want to see a kid who will some day pack a gun like Plaxico Burris on the campus of Notre Dame. Only if we teach it out of him.
Brian Kelly should certainly be one to do that.
Guys, I have to say, I’m not going to waste my time worrying about which recruits we get. Cincinnati went 12-1 this year. With a player who once was ND’s starting QB. UConn won a bunch of games with a QB who would have seen about as much playing time as Dayne Crist. Oh, and they beat us. It’s all how the coach puts the whole team together.
I’m already encouraged by the conditioning program. But we won’t know until about halfway through the season.
C-Dog,
I can’t help but think back to the last coach we had and his first recruiting class.
That class was thin. It was thin in numbers as well as talent. Throw in some transfers and injuries and three years later we paid dearly for it.
I think BK will win. And I think next years recruiting class will be back in the top ten. But what we need is consistancy. And that starts with this years class.
Shazamrock,
My point isn’t that the coaches should ignore recruiting, but that it’s not that relevant to our discussions. This staff will need to pick players that fit their personality as a staff. That is tough kids willing to be humble and do great things.
Kelly did more with less than Weis in terms of talent because he took care of all the details, either himself or through his assistents. His teams could play.
Weis has two top 10 to top 5 classes with experience and goes 7-6 and 6-6. Teams like Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina have been consistently winning more games with nowhere near the talent.
I really do think the coaching staff makes more difference than one or two highschool recruits. I’d want a mix of 4 and 5 stars with a group of 2 and 3 star guys with something to prove.
Talent means jack without character.
C-Dog,
You make an excellant point about high character guys.
In today’s world, I’ve seen too many of these high profile players, comming out of high school, who believe that just because they carry a 5 star rating that they are intitled to special treatment, even though they haven’t proven themselves or done jackshit on the field.
Some coach might ask them to learn or change positions that would better help the team, but they want to play where they want to play. And if they don’t get there way they immediately transfer.
I wish we could find more guys like Manti T’eo. A high Character, 5 star recrute and team player.
I like that Kelly isn’t letting recruits call the shots, this is Notre Dame and out football program demands your respect!!!
Well. unfortunately not a lot of believers in BK. He can only reverse this by kicking the crap out of the PAC 10.
We have to be hopeful that Kelly isn’t losing recruits but that the recruits are not being given a line of whatever they want to here.
Barr’s relative of former ND sounded like he wanted to tell Kelly where he was going to play. HE then chose a school which he had that pull. He looked like a stud but I don’t want the players telling the coach where they are going to play.
Bernard is a rb–Kelly offense isn’t desireable for a running back who wants to be part of a pro style offense.
Leuders spoke highly of ND recently and then change his mind????
Massa looks gd and if it includes James that is great.
but does that exlude hendrix????
Djuan Lewis ????
Here’s what’s disappointing. You have coaching turnovers at USC and Tennessee. Net results there: their classes get better; they add players and solidify commitments. For ND, we’re hemorrhaging recruits left and right. This has been very discouraging. Let’s hope BK and his staff turn it up here at the end and land a full class and get a few more highly rated recruits. If not, this class will not be in the top 20 or top 25 in terms of national recruiting rankings. (For those of you who don’t think that’s important, just look at the top 5 every year and see how they fare during the season just about every season. It’s no coincidence that recruiting heavy weights like USC, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, etc. are the top teams in the land!)
SFR,
I was thinking the very same thing myself. Then I talked to a friend of mine who pointed out that ND currently still ranks in the top 25 in this years recruiting battle. That is accually not so bad for a team that finished 6-6 with a 4 game loosing streak to close out the season, and failed to go to a bowl game.
Nothing was uglier than Charlie Weis first recruiting class. We paid for it 3 years later. If BK can salvage a top 20 class, I might have to consider it a success.
What’s disappinting for me is that it looked like CW and his staff were going to finally be able to address the needs on defense with this years signing class. Now
Cris Martin is gone, Lueders is gone, and Barr is gone among others.
Shaz,
IF BK salvages a top 25 class it’s a success! But that’s a big IF now. We need to land at least 2 more 4 or 5 star recruits. If so, we’re in the top 20 for sure. The point is to get the best athletes and then coach them up to maximize their natural talents. That’s what the last staff was unable to do.
I guess we better go after some more top offensive talent. With all the defensive commits changing their minds from ND, it looks like the only way we are going to win is by scoring 50 each game. Kelly decided to keep Alford(Running backs coach) then change him to receivers coach. I just don’t understand this move. If you were going to keep anyone it should have been Brian Poilan. You know, the guy who just took one of the few Indiana recruites that was committed to ND and got a verbal from him for Stanford. With any new coaching staff I normally say take a step back and let them do their job. Take a wait and see approch.
But I will offer a bit of advice. There are 10 days until signing day. Make damn sure that Louis Nix stays Irish!
Couldn’t agree more with Polian…Stanford took Randy Hart too
Leuders just dropped…two in 12 hours….good work boys
Well, another one bites the dust, won’t lose sleep over this one.
“I’ve narrowed it down,” Bernard said. “I just feel like Notre Dame is not the place for me. It’s down to Oregon State and North Carolina. I’m kind of torn”
Loosing Barr to UCLA wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I was really excited about this kid. Well, lets hope that we can still pick up some high impact players. We have a lot of solid athletes coming in so far, but a couple more Teo’s on the team would be great.
Atleast he didn’t go to USC.
Well, at least the “experts” over on scout.com are predicting we are going to get Matt James.
This is just GREAT news to wake-up to!
Jones would be such a huge get, have him and Manti in the 3-4 would be great for where this defense needs to grow. I am still skeptical about the DBs, I don’t think that is a problem that will be solved as quickly as the front 7 may be.
And hey, ND finally got a training table, hell I just assumed they already had one. I went to undergrad at Nebraska and they had a training table 10 years ago, maybe more… way to get on the bus Irish and realize that athletes need help with how to eat to maximize their performance.
Just read that BK offered a scholarship to Cincinnati Xavier quarterback Luke Massa, who will be coming up to visit with high school teammate Matt James at the end of the month. Never a dull moment around here!
Maybe that cements Matt James, because I really doubt we will get Henderson.
ANTHONY BARR TO UCLA………….
ARE YOU F’N KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!
This is a tough one. Guess we underestimated the effect of playing on the same high school team as Neuheisel’s kid. Sounds like he wanted to play safety and we said “you can play whatever you want, but while we’re out here in sunny California, we’re going to knock on safety Dietrich Riley’s door to see if he wants to some play safety for us.”
If you are 6’4″ 230 lbs. at 18, you are probably not going to be a safety. Our offense does not need another Eddie George. It would be nice to have him but if you could get this Jones kid, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over this one. We don’t need him as a back and who knows what kind of a linebacker or DE he would be?
I agree with you on that completely. BK had him pegged for the right spot – a receiver in the spread, basically getting the ball to him with a full head of steam. If Jones shows up, we are going to have one heck of a linebacking core for the next four years. We are also back to a real coaching staff again for the first time in over a decade as well so things are looking bright.
it sounds like the perfect storm for him to chose ucla over nd. we can still be hopeful about this class, but the number of prospects seem to be falling and the skepticism is mounting…less than two weeks and we find out who is IRISH!!
I heard that the kid(Barr) had a bad leg that he ijured early in the season. The last player who was in a simalar situation that we went ahead and offer a scholarship was James Aldredge.
We all know how that one turned out. He came no where near being the talent that he was before his injury.
On the Scout.com site, sounds like Gio Bernard is hardly committed.
When two blogs that follow other programs report that a recruit is working to get his academics to a level that would earn admission to Notre Dame it is noteworthy.
Christian Jones, we hope you are successful in your efforts to improve your grades. As a retired teacher, I encourage you to stay with your goal. It is never too late, and your effort will not go unnoticed. You are so correct that academics are important as a step in preparing you for your post-football life.
Come to Notre Dame where an education makes a differnce.We would like to see you playing next to Manti.
thanks. good article. I’m hopeful we land this kid. Great prospect and seems to ‘get’ ND.
I’m curious why you state that the report doesn’t state that he’s not leaning toward the Irish when the quote you picked seems to say exactly that: “He is doing it to try and meet the Notre Dame admission standards and is leaning that way.”
I don’t think it’s likely that any kid would put himself through these extra classes unless ND was his first choice. He certainly doesn’t need “credit enhancement” to enroll at FSU, Michigan or the U.
This would be a huge pickup for the Irish. This linebacker class would be amazing with Shembo and Moore already in the fold.
If you click through to the report it says that they think he is only doing the extra work to keep the option of Notre Dame open. I edited the wording so that it makes a little more sense.
[] brackets man, It makes it clear that you edited the quotes for clarity.
(That critique aside, Great reporting, I love it)
I Believe that Jones is now academically eligible for Notre Dame… This would be a huge pick up.
Go Irish.
his father(fsu grad) suprisingly loves notre dame for his son because of manti teo. he believes they could be a great core for the defense. i believe that as well.
i have been noticing that some of these key recruits that have nd in the mix have been trying to get their grades up. if they were going to the “other” schools, why do this? also, if seantrel maintains a b average(i think) for the rest of the school year, he will meet the ncaa min. so why is he retaking the act on feb. 6? maybe i am just reading into these things too much, but it doesn’t hurt to hope.
not exactly a flattering photo…most current players stress how important academics were in their decision, and a realization that there is life after football. to hear a recruit say it is very promising indeed. though, trying to bring your grades up the second semester of your senior year is probably a feigned attempt