The Brian Kelly recruiting train is picking up steam with Notre Dame receiving its fifth verbal commitment of the week and ninth overall on Wednesday in the form of offensive tackle Mattew Hegarty.
Hegarty (6-5, 265, 5.25) selected Notre Dame after collecting an offer list that represents a who’s who of college football. Florida State, LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, and USC among other schools all offered the blue chip tackle.
Hegarty was recently selected as the OL MVP at the National Underclassman Combine. Highlights from his one on one drills at the combine can be seen below.
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Securing a commitment from an elite offensive tackle this early in the recruiting process is impressive enough for a new staff. The fact that Kelly and company were able to pull Hegarty out of New Mexico, a state that rarely sends players to Notre Dame, makes the feat that much more impressive.
With the addition of Hegarty, Notre Dame is up to 5 commitments since the weekend. Elite tight end Ben Koyack committed on Monday while Tony Springmann, Jarrett Grace, and Conor Hanratty didn’t make it through the weekend before pulling deciding on Notre Dame.
The calendar still reads April and Notre Dame now has three offensive line commitments for the class of 2011 – all of which were highly sought after recruits recruited by the nation’s elite programs. The types of offensive linemen added to this class gives a hint as to the type of OL we’ll see Kelly target – versatile big men that can play multiple positions.
Hegarty joins Jordan Prestwood and Conor Hanratty along the offensive in this class. All three are capable of playing tackle on the college level although Hanratty is most likely destined for the interior of the line. Tony Springmann is also listed as an offensive lineman on most recruiting sites, however, he has said that he was recruited as a defensive end for the Irish.
If Kelly can keep this momentum going through the summer and into the season and back up what appears to be one heck of a sales pitch with a solid product on the field, this class could end up a very good first go round for the new Irish head coach.
This reminds me very much of the ERA Of Ara…
This is great news for all us subway alumni:: it remins me very much of the era OAra..
Keep em coming BK! Who know’s, maybe a few studs on the D are next. My pain of sc kicking are azz may soon be over within a few years. It’s been tough iving in sc land for quite some time. Go Irish!
Recruiting is going better than i thought it would to this point. Kelly can sell.
I can feel the excitement building.
This has been a great week for Coach Kelly and the Irish. I knew it was only a matter of time until his personality would start winning over stud recruits. We need to have a successful defensive season to bring in 4 and 5 star talent on that side of the ball. That has been our downfall since 2003.
IanY77 does bring up an interesting point. The 2010 and now 2011 class is predominately white. Not that I care either way, but I have noticed this as well. They all end up Blue and Gold in the end!!
GO IRISH!!
DOI,
Outside of an elite defensive tackle, I think we have great talent on our defense already. Having Kelly and his staff come in might just have saved some careers from being wasted. I think the talent has always been there, they just never were properly developed, or put in the right scheme to succeed.
On the offensive side, this is shapeing up to be one of the best offensive line hauls of all time. Can you just imagine what we would be looking at if the Matt James tragedy had been avoided?
Keep the train a rollin….Go Irish!
It’s starting to feel like the days of old. Back when ND was known for their offensive linemen. Big, strong, fast, athletic linemen who lead the way and dominated in the trenches. I’ve been missing a great running game as well. With the guys that Kelly has recruited up front so far, that great running game can’t be too far behind.
The future looks bright my friends!
Not a black kid from the South. Doesn’t count.
Kidding. This surpasses my wildest expectations so far. If Lynch is as close as we think he is, then holy crap.
Those type of athletes will be coming soon
we should be putting the whole ‘kelly can’t recruit top talent’ thing to bed pretty soon. i have been trying really hard not to get too caught up in the hype, but i can’t wait for the fall! stanford on september 25 will be my first home game since the bob davie era. go irish!!
Nice commit. Now we need defensive studs.