Early enrollment has now become common place at Notre Dame after being a late adopter to the practice. On Tuesday the latest crop of early enrollees will be starting classes at Notre Dame. The group includes the four newest members of the Fighting Irish and provides Notre Dame some much needed depth at some crucial positions. Here’s a rundown of all four.
Jerry Tillery – DT (6-6, 308 lbs – Shreveport, Louisiana)
Originally recruited as an offensive tackle, Tillery surprised many by revealing that he would be starting his career on the defensive side of the ball. Seeing a shorter path to playing time on defense, Tillery will give defense a try after playing both ways in high school. Considering he is enrolling early, Notre Dame can easily afford to give him an audition at defensive tackle and if it doesn’t look like defense is in the cards for him, he can move back to offense in the summer and not be behind any other freshman who enrolls in the summer.
At the same time, perhaps the staff will find another Jarron Jones in Tillery given their similar size and height. As an offensive tackle, Tillery is considered to be one of the top tackle prospects in the entire country according to all of the major services.
Despite being the first commitment in this year’s class, the Notre Dame coaching staff had a dog fight on their hands to get Tillery on campus early. LSU fought tooth and nail until the very end to pry Tillery away and keep the massive recruit in staff. In the end, Notre Dame was able to hang on and get Tillery on campus. Now they just need to figure out if he has a future on defense or if they will move him back to offense.
Wherever he ends up, Notre Dame landed an elite recruit both on and off the field. Despite the frequent visits to LSU throughout the process, Tillery is very much a “Notre Dame kid”.
Other Schools Considered: LSU
Star Rating: Consensus 4 star recruit
Rankings:
- Scout – 228th overall and 21st OT
- 247 Sports – 157th overall and 15th OT
- ESPN – 269th overall and 29th OT
- Rivals – 126th overall and 11th OT
Other Accolades:
- US Army All-American Bowl participant
- 2nd team 014 MaxPreps All-America (OT)
- American Family Insurance All-USA Louisiana Team (OL)
- 1st Team Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A all-state
- Times Picayune All-City Defensive Player of the Year for 2014
Tevon Coney – LB (6-1, 222 lbs – Palm Beach Gardens, Florida)
Another recruit whose path to Notre Dame wasn’t exactly smooth, Tevon Coney enrolled at Notre Dame this year after much speculation that he would end up staying somewhere in Florida over the last few months. Despite the repeated rumors, Coney always maintained that he was 100% solid with Notre Dame and he ended up being true to his word by enrolling on time.
Coney committed to Notre Dame in the fall after Notre Dame had reportedly lead for his services since the summer. The Irish then survived a late charge from both Miami and Florida – two in-state programs that recruited Coney right up until the last minute.
Given Notre Dame’s questionable depth at the linebacker position, Coney has a chance to play early since he will be participating in the off-season conditioning and spring football. Two two freshmen saw the field at linebacker for Notre Dame this past fall – Greer Martini and Nyles Morgan – and it’s possibly Coney can follow in their footsteps next season.
Other Schools Considered: Miami, Florida
Star Rating: Scout – 3 Star, Rivals – 4 star, 247 sports – 3 star, ESPN – 4 star
Rankings:
- Scout – #14 MLB
- 247 Sports – #11 ILB
- ESPN – #22 OLB
- Rivals – #11 ILB
Other Accolades:
- 1st Team Palm Beach Post All-Aream (LB) and Class 8A All Conference Team
- 2nd Team Florida 8A all-state, 1st Team All-County and All-Conference 8A in 2013
- Under Armour All-American Bowl participant
Micah Dew-Treadway – DL (6-5, 275 lbs – Bolingbrook, IL)
Dew-Treadway was one of a flurry of commitments for Notre Dame over the summer. He comes to Notre Dame as a raw defensive line prospect with a lot of upside, but will need some time to develop on the college level making his early enrollment a huge boost for his career development. Dew-Treadway is a consensus 3-star rated prospect but did have offers from Mississippi State, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Despite being a bit raw, Dew-Treadway was a Semper-Fi All-American where he got to spend time with fellow Notre Dame commitments Prentice McKinney (S), CJ Sanders (WR), Brandon Tiassum (DT), Bo Wallce (DE), and Miles Boykin (WR).
Even with enrolling early, a red-shirt season seems to be in the cards for Dew-Treadway as he adjusts to a much higher level of competition on the college level.
Ratings: Consensus 3-star prospect
Rankings:
- Scout – #34 DE
- 247 Sports – #37 SDE
- ESPN – #35 DE
- Rivals – #33 DT
Other Accolades:
- 1st Team Champaign News-Gazette All-Illinois selection
- Honorable Mention Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 8A All-State
- Honorable Mention Chicago Sun-Times All-Area Team
- Semper-Fi All-American Bowl participant
Tristen Hoge – OC (6-4, 276 – Pocatello, Idaho)
Hoge was another one of the earliest commitments in the class of 2015 along with Jerry Tillery and the since decommitted Blake Barnett committing to Notre Dame back in December of 2013. Like Tillery, he is also considered to be one of the best offensive line in the country as the consensus #1 offensive center prospect in the country. Given some of the shuffling of the deck along the offensive line at the center position, landing such a prospect will hopefully keep that from being an issue again in a few seasons.
The biggest challenge for Hoge initially will be adjusting to the level of competition since high school football in Idaho is not known to be particularly strong. Hoge, however, has the skill and potential to be a great offensive lineman on the college level – especially since he is getting an early start to his career as an early enrollee. At just 276 lbs currently, Hoge will also need to spend plenty of time in the weight room in order to bulk up enough to be ready to play against the bigger, faster defensive linemen he is about to start facing.
Hoge was at the Army All-American bowl with several other Notre Dame commitments and played every snap for the West Squad. Hoge was also named a captain for his team which speaks volumes to the leadership capabilities Hoge brings with him to South Bend.
Hoge’s parents actually bought a house in South Bend so they would be able to see all of his home games so Hoge has been around South Bend for a little while already.
Ratings: Consensus 4-star prospect
Rankings
- Scout – 45th overall, #2 OG
- 247 Sports – 89th overall, #1 OC
- ESPN – 142nd overall, #1 OC
- Rivals – 150th overall, #1 OC
Other Accolades
- 1st Team 014 USA Today All-America Team (OL)
- American Family Insurance All-USA Idaho football team (OL)
- American Family Insurance All-USA Idaho Offensive Player of the Year
- 1st Team 2014 MaxPreps All-America Team (OL)
- US Army All-American Bowl Participant
FWIW, Tevon Coney got a significant upgrade to #118 in the final Rivals rankings. Remember, he, Bilal and Barajas are the first LB recrits
brought induring a full one year cycle for Brian Van Gorder.
Notredame needs to take a page from ohio state and utilize the power run game more. You saw in that national championship game oregon defense wore down as the game progressed.
Meyer has never, and didn’t “utilize the power run”.