Brian Kelly addressed the media today as he introduced the Notre Dame class of 2014. Kelly broke down each and every recruit prior to answering questions. Here are the highlights of what Kelly had to say about each of the recruits Notre Dame signed on the offensive side of the ball.
Justin Brent – WR – ” We were looking for a physical player at this position, somebody that could impose their physicality, could run after the catch. His ability to run after the catch was very impressive for us and had, for us, some of the things, the traits that we were looking for at that particular time and that position. Really pleased about having Justin Brent as an early enrollee, so he’ll get a chance to play in the spring for us, as well. “
Alex Bars – OT – “Alex at the offensive line position, 6’6″, can play the tackle position, again, another young man that we got a chance to see in the summer, has a great pedigree, a couple of brothers that play college ball, dad played here at Notre Dame… You know, Alex is a young man that we think has all the gifts necessary to be a great student athlete here at Notre Dame. Coach Hiestand did a great job recruiting Alex, and our entire staff was involved in that process, as well.”
Jimmy Byrne – OG – “Really love the way Jimmy has progressed, especially his senior year. We liked Jimmy last year. He was an early offer for us and committed, and then really had a great senior year from our standpoint. Physical, moves his feet well, and again, I think what you’ll see with all of our offensive linemen, they all can get out and move their feet. They all have the ability to run block, pass pro.”
Corey Holmes – WR – “Really a precise route runner. Really like his game. He is a mature player. Very mature in the way he handles himself in the classroom. Off the field, really like everything about Corey Holmes. I can’t tell you anything I don’t like about this young man. His family is just a great fit for Notre Dame. Very mature kid, one that’s wanting to take on all the challenges of Notre Dame. He reminded me a lot, and I don’t like to make the comparisons, but he has a lot of the same feelings in terms of where TJ Jones developed, but he’s 6’2″. This kid is longer. He’s a bigger kid than TJ.”
Deshone Kizer – QB – “There’s so many things to love about DeShone. He’s 6’5″. I love that. He’s 212 pounds. I love that. So you can see you’ve got a tall, athletic quarterback who’s got good size. He’s going to be able to do the multidimensional things that we love. Now we’ve got three quarterbacks on campus that all do the same things. You don’t have to adjust your offense. All three of the quarterbacks, we finally‑‑ all do the same things.”
Tyler Luatua – TE – “As a tight end he’s a pass catching tight end. No, he’s not the 6’5″, 6’6″ tight ends that we’ve had, but he is a really good tight end. He can catch the football. He can block for us. He’s going to be able to do all the jobs that we have at the tight end position for us. And again, we think we got one of the best tight ends in the country in Tyler Luatua.”
Sam Mustipher – OG – “Here’s a powerful guy inside, and again, I think what stood out for us with Sam was his ability to move his feet again. All these guys can be big and strong and physical, but if they can’t move their feet, if they can’t bend, if they can’t get out of their stance and do a good job and moving and bending, then we’re moving on, and I think‑‑ I sound like a broken record with the offensive line, but those are the characteristics. They’ve got to be good people. They’ve got to be tough, competitive kids. They’ve got to be benders. They can’t be waist benders, they’ve got to be knee benders. And again, they’ve got to be able to move their feet.”
Quenton Nelson – OT – “Again, one of the best players in the country at his position, but physically strong, and at 6’5″, 300 pounds as a senior in high school, I mean, this kid can still move his feet and he’ll continue to work on that, and he’s a guy that is so focused on what he needs to work on, that’s what we loved about him. He wasn’t looking at his star rating, he was looking at the things that he needed to work on, and that’s all we needed to see from Quenton.”
[Read also: Quenton Nelson steals the show on Signing Day]Tyler Newsome – P – “We loved the pop that he had as a kicker, but we were most intrigued by his punting, and that’s an area that he’s going to continue to work on and continue to develop, but he was such an intriguing young man in all the kids that we saw that when we saw him punting, there was nobody that was even close to with the potential upside that he has.”
Nic Weishar – TE – “We could argue about this all day. He’s the finest pass catching tight end that we saw. You could argue about who it is, but we think he is. We love his ball skills, we love his ability to use his body to control defenders, has a knack of catching the football in the air and taking it away from people. He’s a guy that will have a great career here at Notre Dame. He’ll be that‑‑ he’s got that model and size that we’ve had here at Notre Dame. He’s not where Luatua is in terms of size right now. He’s going to have to get stronger.”
Yes, after 5 years, its time to run that offensive scheme we heard so much about prior to BK’s arrival. No excuses, it’s time to zip that offense for 2014.
Finally BK has three QBs with the same skill set and it will be four next year when Blake Barnett arrives. Its only taken BK five years to solidify this critical position but at least its finally done. Better late than never I suppose.