When news broke on Friday that Cade McNamara, the first commitment for the class of 2019, was decommitting from Notre Dame it came as a surprise since just last week he had reaffirmed his commitment and was reported to be planning another visit to Notre Dame in the spring. Over the weekend, McNamara gave more details on why he decommitted though and it sounds like the Irish are completely out of the running at this point.
Here’s what McNamara told local NBC affiliate KRNV:
“Over the course over the past couple of months some things have been said, some things haven’t been done. Notre Dame just isn’t the best fit for me.” He also added, “I believe they (ND) might still try to recruit me. As of right now, I cannot see myself playing for Notre Dame just because I feel it’s not the best fit for me. That’s where I stand right now.”
That is quite a bit different than what he told the same news outlet less than a week ago. It also seems to insinuate that Notre Dame was not completely honest with him since his commitment. That is also a stark contrast to his statement on Friday when he said “I have a huge amount of respect for their program and wish them all the best.”
But such is life in recruiting.
McNamara also told KRNV that he is looking for the most competitive situation possible so that even if he doesn’t start in college he has a chance to make it to the NFL. Those comments are likely aimed at attempting to squash the notion that he did like how the Notre Dame depth chart developed with Phil Jurkovec‘s monster senior season adding to Notre Dame’s QB depth.
McNamara has also said that the influx of new offers did not alter his decision to decommit from Notre Dame.  The optics there are hard to ignore though. McNamara was not shy about talking about the new offers he received from USC, Michigan, Alabama, and Georgia. Compare that with how Phil Jurkovec handled the offers he received post Notre Dame commitment and the writing was on the wall here.
Whatever the real reason behind the decommitment, Notre Dame is left without a quarterback in the class of 2019 after essentially shutting down their recruiting efforts at QB last July following McNamara’s original commitment. With a depth chart featuring four quarterbacks who have a combined 13 years of eligibility remaining – Brandon Wimbush (2), Ian Book (3), Avery Davis (4), Phil Jurkovec (4) -though, Notre Dame doesn’t need to be in scramble mode here and can remain selective.
One thing to keep in mind here as well is that even though this appears to be a bit of a messy breakup, there is precedent for Notre Dame to get back in the mix. Just last year Notre Dame secured a spring commitment from Braden Lenzy only to lose him to Oregon in the summer followed by quotes from Lenzy in the fall saying he was lied to by the Notre Dame coaching staff. As we all know Lenzy eventually decommitted from Oregon after the season and is set to enroll at Notre Dame this summer with a chance to see the field early.
Lenzy was quick to tweet the now former Notre Dame commitment on Friday following the news.
Aye man best of luck to you and if you decide to join us in the future we welcome ya! Ik how hard of a decision it was to make and Ik what it’s like to receive hate.. keep your head up high and do what’s best for you and your family! Stay blessed ?? https://t.co/kmTeyYkGIs
— Braden Lenzy (@blspeedy21) March 3, 2018
Things can change in a hurry in recruiting so while the door with McNamara appears near shut right now, no door is ever completely closed until a letter of intent is signed.
So. McNamara commits to Michigan just 2 weeks later.
Two things:
1) How does someone switch from ND to Michigan ?!? By never planning on being at ND to begin with. A placeholder commit.
2) How do you get Michigan to ramp up their interest in you ? Commit to Ohio State. Or ND.
Well played.
Don’t blame the kid. Kelly is good at misleading.
Kelly isn’t even good at speaking. Boring, repetitive, uninspiring….awful.
Off topic, but a Fun Fact (especially for those who think Anchorman is really funny, or that, say a $3 million payday is the kind of money one might drop to one’s knees for. (…there might be someone out there, right?)…
Will Ferrell had to take an enormous pay cut to help reprise his role as Ron Burgundy in Anchorman 2.
And based on the returns form it, there are no plans for an Anchorman 3.
Because Will Ferrell isn’t a one-trick pony. And he has better stuff to do besides tired, old Ron burgundy shtick.
Can anyone out there name ONE QB who has played under Brian Kelly and has gone on to bigger and better things?
12 months ago all the talk was about Wimbush being the next superstar. After a mediocre season last year he is now fighting to be the starting QB.
McNamara has more than one reason for decommiting from ND, and I think that is one of them.
Kizer was drafted very high and left too early. You don’t commit to ND in the first place if you don’t feel like you’ll develop.
Kizer has a signed contract worth nearly $3M in guaranteed money.
Gee, Ron…that’s really long, and refers to football.
Need your meds refilled?
That’s not what I meant.
(And he’s playing for a team that was 0-16 last year and will probably draft his replacement in the draft.)
I hear you Terry, but judging a coach by how well his QBs transition to success in the NFL is tricky.
The alma maters of some of the QBs in the NFL playoffs last year include UCF, Miami (Ohio), Utah, Arizona, Cal, BC, Houston and Purdue.
Well, these truly are the End of Days.
Ron Burgundy has posted an original thought. On Football. Without any drive-by slur.
I’m off to stock up on gasoline.
Kelly’s best coaching job is with the defense.
Because he stays completely clear of anything to do with it.
No real reason to worry too much about this. these are 17 year old kids trying to make a huge decision on where to go for the next 4-5 years. He wasn’t recruited heavily early on in his recruitment, ND’s coaching staff found a gem and offered early, and he committed too soon to the only “Big Boy” recruiting him.
Now he’s getting new shiny offers from other programs, and we just signed a borderline 5 star QB one class ahead of him, with a (supposed) two way QB battle with two upper-classmen who have 2 and 3 years of eligiblity remaining. This kid doesn’t have to come here and quite frankly, I don’t blame him for looking for greener pastures when he’s coming in on the coat tails of a talent like Phil J.
Best of luck to him. If ND lands a top QB recruit like BW and Phil J every 2-3 years, all we have to do is find a “gem in the rough” in a Cade or Ian Book to give us options if anything happens. Sometimes these gems end up getting more national attention and they find a home elsewhere. Such is recruiting.
The kid is thinking Plan B
No. The kid is executing Plan A.
7 words
Good point Jeff, Plan B preparation is paramount to ones success.
Hey, more than 8 words!
Baby steps, Forrest.
Some day, you might walk without the crutch.
Who made this kid the second coming? Big deal we have almost a year to bring in another 4 star! Move on already!! Spend time on the guys already here. BIG PHIL scared off lil mac when he stood next to him!!
He better go some where he can play since he don’t like competition he wouldn’t play for Notre Dame anyway he is just a back up QB
He won’t come clean and admit using his ‘call option’ on ND as a catalyst to get other, better programs to offer him….because it makes him look bad.
Who would do that?
But if you need to make a ‘thing’ out of this, so you feel better that he’s a “low character kid” who doesn’t deserve ND —- by simply doing what more and more kids will keep doing as long as NDs is a program in limbo……
enjoy.
If he had any huevos he would be a preferred walk on at The Tree. Plays like a clone of Drew Brees.