Notre Dame Gearing Up for Final Recruiting Push

As college fans eagerly await signing day, with their technological side-kick a mere inches away, college coaching staffs have no such luxury. Most are busy scurrying around the country, making the final rounds for 2015, while also checking out 2016 targets. Brian Kelly and his staff are no different. The last 2 weeks of recruiting are a blur for most coaches, as they pay final visits, burn their phones up, and have an insane amount of correspondence sent out, on the university’s behalf. All in the hopes of securing the commitment of young men that can change the future of their program, hopefully for the better.

Brian Kelly is obviously not in this alone, as he has some very strong assistants under the Notre Dame Umbrella. Tony Alford, Harry Hiestand, and Mike Denbrock are just a few of the staff that are integral pieces to the success of the recruiting process. Currently the Irish staff are busy making strong pushes for a just a few elite athletes that remain interested in Notre Dame, but remain uncommitted. Why still the strong push, even after months of recruiting? Because most of these athletes could be difference makers for the program. Make no mistake about it though, even without any of the remaining targets left on the Irish wish list, the staff at Notre Dame has done a solid job of recruiting for the 2015 class, as they have added some frontline talent, and depth to areas that desperately required it.

As busy as the staff has been slowly checking off the needs and wants list, there is still work to be done though. The Irish will have an in-home visit with four-star wide receiver, Equanimeous St. Brown, and still eagerly await on word from four-star running back, Dexter Williams. The previous Miami commit, has mentioned the Irish in a very favorable light as of late, but said he will not announce his decision until signing day. On top of that they are still trying to figure out how to fit in three-star cornerback, Jalen Julius into the program, and late word is that the Irish have made some major headway with four-star safety Arrington Farrar(previous Stanford commit), but nothing is a lock at this point.

Notre Dame also is still actively and aggressively recruiting safety prospects Justin Reid, Nathan Meadors, and Frank Buncom IV as they attempt to replace the recent loss of 4-star safety Prentice McKinney to North Carolina.  Reid will be on campus this weekend for an official visit but there is ground for the Irish staff to make up there.

Obviously there is still some work to be done before signing day, and from the looks of it, none of it will be easy. Irish fans will have an eager ear come February 4^th, as there is a list of talented athletes still sitting out there, uncommitted. Kelly and his staff has put in some solid work thus far, but can ill-afford to take their foot of the pedal during these last few days, if the goal is to finish out 2015 with an elite class.

In many ways being a college coach is tougher than being a pro coach. Not only are you selling yourself and the teams potential, but you are also selling a university, an academic program, a fan-base, and doing so to teenagers who, you guessed it, think like teenagers. The amount of pressure surrounding the whole idea of recruiting is so difficult, not only on the kids and their families, but on the coaching staff also. If Kelly and his staff finish the final few weeks strong, than they will most likely end up with the second best recruiting class under his tenure. The Irish have a solid core returning, and a strong final push in the class of 2015 will only add to that, and hopefully secure a solid future for Irish fans to enjoy.